Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

           

I have been closely shrouded in this bush,

And markt you both, and for you both did blush:

I heard your guilty rimes, observed your fashion,

Saw sighs reek from you, noted well your passion:

Ah me! says one: O Jove! the other cries:

One her hairs were gold, crystal the other’s eyes:

You would for paradise break faith and troth;

And Jove, for your love, would infringe an oath.

 

King

Love’s Labour’s Lost                    Act IV, Scene iii, Line 140

 

This is a fairly memorable scene from Love’s Labour’s Lost. The king and his three buddies show up one by one, each moaning to themselves about being in love (remember, they all took an oath to swear off women). As each one shows up, the previous one hides to eavesdrop, and then they each come out of hiding one by one. The king is the second one to advance from his hiding place and he’s chiding Dumaine and Longaville. Browne will advance in a moment and address them all.

Now here’s the thing: I saw this play performed live less than six months ago. And yet, I do not remember this scene from that production. I certainly remember going to the play, and the play in general, and I also remember that I could not understand most of what the actors were saying. It seemed to me that that were not enunciating their words clearly; except for Don Adriano de Armando. The young fellow playing him did an excellent job of speaking clearly. As for the rest, whilst they all seemed to be doing a credible acting job based on their tones and actions, I couldn’t understand what the heck any of them were saying. And it didn’t matter whether they were speaking words written in 1595 or 1995, I just couldn’t make out the words. Now, was it because of my hearing? Was it because they were talking too fast, or too slurred? Was it because they were all speaking with a southern accent? Belikes, it was a combination of all of the above.

In any event, I’m familiar with today’s scene, but I don’t remember it from that performance. And that’s too bad.

This is a crimson bee eater. It's a very pretty bird. Why am I giving you this picture? Well, I just realized that I've complained about Shakespeare productions for two days in a row. So, no more complaining for now; just a picture of a very pretty bird. 

How's that?

Hold on; I just looked up the spelling to see if I needed to hyphenate bee-eater. I do. I also need to correct myself. It's a carmine bee-eater, not crimson. 

Carmine Bee-Eater.