Today’s Totally Random
Line(s)
What, art thou faln? – What subtle hole is this,
Whose mouth is cover’d with rude-growing briers,
Upon whose leaves are drops of new-shed blood
As fresh as morning dew distill’d on flowers?
-Quintus
Titus Andronicus Act II, Scene vi, Line 199
Yes, Quintus, your brother has faln (fallen) into a hole. And in a moment you will too. Then Aaron will lead Saturninus to you both, sitting in a hole with his murdered brother, Bassianus. To be sure, that Aaron is a clever fellow.
But forget about Aaron. Let's look at and appreciate the language here for a moment. The hole is subtle, the briers are rude-growing, and the dew is distill'd on flowers. Even in this early work of Will's, it is quite obvious that he's not just a dramatist, but rather a poet-dramatist. He just can't help but show it.
What must it have been like to speak with this guy, or rather to listen to this guy speak. I can’t help but wonder if he thought in this type of language and what came out of his mouth in his every-day speech. This guy, Will Shakespeare, clearly walked alone.
No pic today, just words.
3 comments:
What is the layman definition of a rude-growing brier??
Well, briers are shrubs, and rude-growing, well that's straight forward. N'est pas?
I guess I don't know the nature of the word/phrase "rude-growing".
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