Today’s Totally Random
Line(s)
Why,
fool?
-Kent
King Lear Act II, Scene iv, Line 65
Kent asks why Lear has so few men
with him, Fool says that’s a stupid question, and Kent asks why, fool;
why is that a stupid question?
Fool answers with one of his patently riddley
speeches, ending with an eight-line poem. Rather than give you the ten-line
speech, I’ll give you the poem:
The sir which serves and seeks for gain,
And follows but for form,
Will pack when it begins to rain,
And leave thee in the storm.
But I will tarry; the fool will stay,
And let the wise man fly:
The knave turns fool that runs away:
The fool no knave, perdy.
I believe that last word, perdy, is
pronounced such as it would rhyme with bird-eye, and it’s an archaic
word meaning indeed or certainly.
Wow, now that I read that poem it makes me realize
that I need to take a look at the ten difficult lines that precede it. Ahh, but
do I have the time. Do you have the time? Let me give it a quick re-read.
Yup, as I thought, there’s a bit there to unpack.
Yeah, I’m really fond of that unpack metaphor; almost as fond as I am
unfond of the current use of the word hack. You won’t every hear me
using that latter word to describe a better way to do something. Don’t ask me
why; there’d probably be a lot to unpack there as well.
In any event, I think we’re going to leave the fool’s ten-line speech packed for now. Perhaps some other time we can revisit and unpack.
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