Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)           

           

Let us all ring fancy’s knell;

-Singer

The Merchant of Venice              Act III, Scene ii, Line 69

For the third day in a row we have an anonymous speaker, or in this case singer. This is the scene in Belmont where Portia tries to talk Bassanio into waiting a while before he makes his stab at picking the right casket. He insists and heads off to try his luck, she makes a little speech about the situation, and then some anonymous singer comes in and sings a song.  

        Tell me where is fancy bred,

        Or in the heart or in the head?

        How begot, how nourished?

                Reply, reply.

        It is engender’d in the eyes,

        With gazing fed; and fancy dies

        In the cradle where it lies.

                Let us all ring fancy’s knell;

                I’ll begin it,-- Ding, dong, bell.

And, of course, a knell typically refers to a bell ringing for a funeral. Yes, I looked it up to be sure.

I dunno, but it seems like Bassanio is just rushing into this deal. Portia wants him to wait a few months, I think just because she wants to have him around for a little while. If he tries to pick the right casket and fails, he’s got to leave immediatement. But of course – SPOILER ALERT – he’s not going to fail.

It’s an odd little song, and Will’s songs always get me to wondering whether he wrote it, or if it’s some song of the day. I’ll never know, that’s for sure.

Naturally, I pulled out my little book about Shakespeare's songs. Believe it or not, it has four pages about this song, but none of it about the origin of the song (though I've only skimmed it so far). 

I think I'm going to need to read this whole little book. Wish me luck.