Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Give place: By heaven, thou shalt rule no more

O’er him whom heaven created for thy ruler.

 

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York

King Henry the Sixth Part II         Act V, Scene i, Line 106

 

Well this is a longish passage by the Duke of York and, thus far, I have no idea whatsoever or whomsoever he’s talking about.

Okay, got it. Went back and read the whole scene; not too long - couple of hundred lines - and not a lot linguistic curve balls. Overall, an easy and pleasant read.

So this is Richard Plantagenet, that’s Richard III’s father, telling Henry that Sixth that he, the Duke of York, is the rightful king. And here we go, right back into the Wars of the Roses.

Yes, Richard is pretty adamant that it’s he who should be king, and he’s letting everyone, including King Henry, know. Of course, he himself is going to get killed before he can become king, but his two sons, Edward and Richard, will both get their turns on the throne.

What a gorgeous day it is here in the Shire, and I’m very glad that I don’t have to worry about going to fight for either Richard or Henry in some stupid contest for the crown. Can you imagine? Luckily, we have a democracy where we vote for the leaders, and have peaceful transitions of power. Can you imagine if we had a system where the leader was the one who could raise the biggest army of armed citizens who would fight to put him in power. That’s more than just a bit scary, isn’t it.

Okay, better put my head back in the Shire.

 

I'm sorry, sometimes I can't help myself. On the other hand, this is the day that we honor those who gave their lives for the freedom of the democracy that I was talking about, so I guess we really should spend some time now and then thinking about it, and appreciating it. Right?