Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

‘Tis strange that they should so depart from home,

And not send back my messenger.

  

Lear

King Lear                       Act II, Scene iv, Line 1

 

‘Tis strange.

It seems like lots of stuff appear to Lear as ‘strange’ in this play. He’s going to see his messenger, Kent, in the stocks momentarily, and he’ll think that strange as well. He’ll think it worse than murder.

Sometimes I wonder about Will’s characters and I think to myself that they are beyond reality. Like Lear; how can anyone be that stupid. But then there always seems to be something that shows up in my own reality that proves me wrong. Like Iago in Othello. I’m always thinking that it’s unreal that no one realizes that he’s a rat bastard until the end. But then I see someone in my world who is adored by millions even though to me it’s pathetically obvious that he’s a rat bastard. Then I realize the reality of Will’s characterizations.

So as far as Lear goes… well that’s just the way he goes.

At least he’s not a rat bastard.

I was determined to find a pic for today. I found this one that's a few years old. It's a pretty awesome evening sky out my office window.

Would Lear have found this sky strange? who knows. 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Marry, then, sweet wag, when thou art king, let not us that are squires of the night’s body be call’d thieves of the day’s beauty: let us be Diana’s foresters, gentlemen of the shade, minions of the moon; and let men say we be men of good government, being govern’d, as by the sea is, by our noble and chaste mistress the moon, under whose countenance we steal.

 

Sir John Falstaff

King Henry the Fourth Part I       Act I, Scene ii, Line 29

 

And so, for two days in a row, in Totally Random fashion, we have a line (or lines) from Sir John Falstaff. This is Act I, Scene ii of the play and the very first appearance of Sir John in Shakespeare’s works. In fact, Falstaff begins the scene with Prince Harry, whom he calls Hal.

Now, Hal, what time of day is it, lad?

They go back and forth a bit before Falstaff gives us today’s lines which paint a pretty good picture of what he’s about, or at least part of what he’s about. I’m tempted to type out a bigger section of this scene. It’s quite good, and for the most part easily accessible (understandable). Here’s a link to the scene on-line. This link has a bunch of notes at the bottom to help you with words and references that might be difficult. It’s just over two hundred lines, and it will give you a very good flavor of the character of Sir John Falstaff.

 

Shakespeare's King Henry IV 1.2 - Prince Hal in London with Falstaff (shakespeare-online.com)

 

So there you go; a little homework for you today. Enjoy!

 

No time for a pic today. Get out your reading glasses, and get going!

 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Embowell’d! If thou embowel me to-day, I’ll give you leave to powder me and eat me too to-morrow.

 

Sir John Falstaff

King Henry the Fourth Part I       Act V, Scene iv, Line 111

 

Embowell’d means disemboweled, and by that I believe we’re talking about disembowelment as part of the burial process. To be truthful, I’m not completely sure about that.

However, I am sure about this: Hal has just finished fighting and killing Hotspur in the middle of a battle. Immediately after that he comes upon the body of Falstaff. Thinking Falstaff to be dead he makes a few comments over the body, ending with

Embowell’d will I see thee by and by:

Til then in blood by noble Percy lie.

Well it turns out that Falstaff was faking being dead to avoid fighting. He continues the fake until Hal leaves, and then he sits up and begins with Today’s Totally Random Line. He then goes into a discussion with himself, convincing himself that faking his own death was the right and proper thing to do. He proclaims

The better part of valor is discretion; in the which better part I have saved my life.

So if you ever hear someone use the phrase discretion is the better part of valor, you can just reply with Sir John Falstaff, King Henry the Fourth Part I, Act Five, Scene Four.

As usual, no need to thank me. 

And this is a picture of that person's jaw dropping in amazement when you show that you can quote exactly where Discretion is the better part of valor comes from.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

  

A noise within crying ‘Room for the Queen!’

Enter Queen Katherine, usher’d by the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk: she kneels. The king riseth from his state, takes her up, kisses and placeth her by him.

 

Stage Direction
King Henry the Eighth                  Act I, Scene ii

 

It was such a long stage direction, and those are so rare, that I decided to give it to you as today’s line. I think I’ve done that before, haven’t I?

This gives us something to consider about Will’s works especially, but also about drama in general: it’s all about the dialogue. I guess that’s obvious, but I think sometimes we overlook it. It does give me pause to wonder, and I think I’ve voiced this thought before too, what kind of writer Will would have been if he was writing in some other form. Well, we have a taste of this with his few long poems and his sonnets. But I can’t help but wonder what he would have been as a novelist, or even an essayist; or maybe a biographer - perhaps even an autobiographer.

In the meantime, I guess we just have to spend our time marveling at what he was able to do with dialogue. It’s an interesting thing to think about.

I've decided to try my hand at sketching, so that on those days where I can't come up with a picture I'll just torture you with one of my own.

 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

As one relying on your lordships’s will,

And not depending on his friendly wish.

 

Proteus

Two Gentlemen of Verona             Act I, Scene iii, Line 61

 

Okay, first context (not that I knew it; I had to read it on my Shakepseare App): Proteus’s father asks him what’s in the letter he’s reading. Proteus answers that it’s from his buddy Valentine who wishes that Proteus would join him at the emperor’s court. And Proteus’s father asks the lad what he thinks about Valentine’s wish.
Proteus’s answer is Today’s Totally Random Line: he will do what his father wants, not what his friend wishes.

Interesting. He will do what his father wants. Well first off, he’s lying to his father because the letter is actually from Proteus’s girlfriend, but he doesn’t want his dad to know he’s reading a love letter. So in that respect, he’s already doing what he thinks his dad won’t approve of. Secondly, he has no desire to go to the emperor’s court because that would take him away from his girlfriend. Thirdly, he’s gonna do what his father wants him to do? What world is this?

You know, kids marching to their own drum, and not the tune that their parents want them to march to, has got to be as old as time itself. So, I’ve got to believe that there were people in the audience in 1590 who would have a good scoff at this line, if not an outright laugh. And of course, the line could be delivered with a number of different tones and emphases (that’s the plural of emphasis; I had to look it up) to add to the effectiveness of the line. But I digress.

Perhaps Proteus should have just been up front with his dad? And by the way, forget about being careful what you wish for, Proteus needs to be careful what his friend wishes for. Or, more precisely, he needs to be careful what he tells his father that his friend wishes for. Well now, that’s a bit convoluted, isn’t it.

My newest Blackwing. It's the Independent Bookstores special edition that Nina and Jeff brought me back from Cally. I didn't wish for it, I just got it. 

Sometimes it's best not to wish for anything, just be happy with what you've got and with what you get. 

 Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

                 Answer my life my judgement,

Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least;

Nor are those empty-hearted whose low sound

Reverb no hollowness.

Kent

King Lear               Act I, Scene i, Line 149

 

Kent is the voice of reason from the very start in this play. He states it right at the beginning, but Lear refuses to listen. If he’d just listened to his man Kent, he could have avoided pretty much the whole mess. Imagine, Lear listens and realizes that Cordelia should get as much of the kingdom, if not more, than the others. At the very least, if the other two still treat him badly he can just go to Cordelia. Of course, then you don’t get the Tragedy of King Lear, do you?

Life’s funny, isn’t it. It’s also kind of important to avoid the life-changing mistakes like the one Lear made. Also important to maybe listen to the advice of those who are close to you, those whom you trust. Lear didn’t even give Kent’s words the slightest consideration. What the heck?

Once again, two Cordelias.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

And what is a stone, William?

  

Sir Hugh Evans

The Merry Wives of Windsor        Act IV, Scene i, Line 28

  

Well, for three reasons I was sorely tempted to pick another page today: this is the fifth time on this page, it’s Merry Wives (I’m not crazy about Merry Wives), and it’s the second time I’ve been in this particular conversation (in fact, I’ve picked the line following this one, so I’ve clearly spent time with Today’s Line already). But I felt like not using the Random Line picked would be a slippery slope, so I stuck with it.

Nonetheless, I could use a good hard and fast rule about when I can pick another line. One rule I stick with is to not use a line in the same paragraph that I’ve been in. By paragraph I mean an uninterrupted block of text, prose or verse. Also, I’ve more or less developed and stuck to the rule of only five Random Line picks to a page, and then I pick another page. Is that enough? Let’s see, 5 X 1249 pages = X, and X divided by 365 is 17 years and 40 days. So the 5 lines on a page rule gives me Random Lines until I’m roughly 83. Hmmm. I guess I can stick with that.

 

But I’ll tell you, all of this makes me wonder: what is a stone?

Is this a stone?

 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Strike, drum.

 

Benvolio

Romeo and Juliet                   Act I, Scene iv, Line 113

 

Here is the last line of the scene, and then these guys march off to the party at Capulets. To be clear, there actually is no drum involved, and we can assume that one of the guys pretends to play a drum. The stage direction says They march about the stage and stand to one side.

They’d been discussing dreams for a large part of this scene, with Mercutio going on and on about dreams. Romeo seems to think that his own dream the previous night is a harbinger of something bad, but he doesn’t say, or doesn’t know exactly what.

Anyway, they end the dream talk to get to the party.

So what do we think this guy's dreaming about? Probably about how he loves to bug Sam. 

Oh yah, he can be a pesky little fella. 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

There is a river in Macedon; and there is also moreover a river at Monmouth:  it is called Wye at Monmouth; but it is out of my prains what is the name of the other river; but ‘tis all one, ‘tis alike as my fingers is to my fingers, and there is salmons in both.

 

 

Fluellen

King Henry the Fifth                     Act IV, Scene vii, Line 32

  

This is Fluellen, the Welsh guy, and Gower. They are two soldiers in Henry’s army, and they are shooting the breeze during a respite in the battle. Prains is Will’s way of making fun of Fluellen’s Welsh accent. He means brains. Then Fluellen starts mixing up Macedon with Macedonia, and it goes on from there. I guess it’s a little comic relief added into this history play.

These guys are hanging out in a small tributary of the Moanachira River. 

I wonder if Fluellen could mix up Moanachira with Monmouth or Macedon?

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Hail!

 

Second Witch

Macbeth                  Act I, Scene iii, Line 107

 

Hail to you all. That’s our line of the day and our word of the day. Hail! It doesn’t get much shorter than that.

I really enjoy finding little gems all the time in Will's works even though I know that his works have been pored over and examined ad infinitum, so that I'm certainly never the first to discover these gems. This morning I noticed that the witches start this play, and they end their brief opening with

Fair is foul and foul is fair:

Hover through the fog and filthy air.

And then here in scene three Macbeth shows up for the first time in the play, and his first line is

So foul and fair a day I have not seen.

Obviously Will is keying in on foul and fair. I wonder how many more times it shows up in the play. I’m going to check the end.
Well, there’s Siward referring to his son who died in battle

Had I as many sons as I have hairs,

I would not wish them to a fairer death.

So he’s got fair and death in the same sentence. Yes, that’s a continuation of the same thought, right to the end. Let’s take it as a way of knowing that a (the?) main theme of this work is the juxtaposition of foul and fair.

And we’ll leave it at that.

It occurs to me that just about everything has a foul and fair side to it. And if that's the case, than I can give you a picture of anything to illustrate that. 

So I took the most recent pic off my phone, and this is it.

 I don't know why I took this picture, but I'm sure there must be something foul and something fair about it. N'est pas?

 

 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

I remember a mass of things, but nothing distinctly; a quarrel, but nothing wherefore. - O God, that men should put an enemy in their mouths to steal away their brains! That we should with joy, pleasance, revel, and applause, transform ourselves into beasts.

 

Cassio

Othello                   Act II, Scene iii, Line 287

These are the lamentations of a man who got drunk and did something stupid. Of course, he got set up by good ol’ honest Iago, but nonetheless, he did get drunk, and he did do something stupid.

I wonder what percentage of us human beings have done that: Gotten drunk and done something stupid? I guess I could take a poll, but I probably won’t. I can tell you that nowadays I just do stupid things without getting drunk.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Then hast thou all again.

 

Helena

All’s Well That Ends Well     Act III, Scene ii, Line 108

  

This is one of those days where I can’t quite figure out what the line of the day is. I know, you’re saying ‘What are you talking about Pete?’ Well, it’s not one of those nice clean lines that’s a complete thought and sentence. In fact, the words previous to the line above end with a semicolon, so that this is not really the beginning of a sentence. And then another sentence starts on this same line in the book, but that line goes on for quite a bit.

So I took a shortcut and gave you five words. And I’m not sure whether you should feel cheated or grateful. It seems to me that if you’re actually interested in Will’s works you would feel cheated, but if you’re someone reading this for some other reason you might be thankful that you only got five words. If that’s the case, you’re welcome.

I see that I haven't posted in a few days, and I know that's because I've been having trouble finding a pic. I wrote a few posts this week that didn't get posted. So I'm definitely posting today even though I still don't have a pic. 

Wait a tic...of course I have a pic: it's Nina's birthday! That's the little scooch, bottom left, with her sister and cousins. 

Happy Birthday Scooch!

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

But, before God, Kate, I cannot look greenly, nor gasp out my eloquence, nor I have no cunning in protestation; only downright oaths, which I never use till urged, nor never break for urging.

  

Henry

King Henry the Fifth            Act V, Scene ii, Line 143

  

Well if you think that’s long, I’ve only taken a few lines out of Henry’s speech to Katherine. He goes on and on. He’s trying to talk her into marrying him, whilst struggling with a language barrier. Neither his French nor her English is very good, so it’s a difficult conversation in which he’s doing most of the talking. Somehow or another he succeeds.

Historically, this is an attempt to unite the leadership of England and France. Henry V has conquered most of France and now has made a treaty with French King Charles by which Charles gets to remain king of France for his lifetime, but upon his death the rule passes to Henry. Henry indeed succeeds in marrying Katherine, but then will  die fairly young, and the plan to unite the countries falls apart with Henry VI who assumes the kingship as a child and never really grows into the job.

Bottom line: if Henry had lived a full long life, and if his son were a bit more capable of a leader, France and England might be one nation today. And if wishes were horses beggars would ride. Hey, is that a Shakespeare line? Nah, just looked it up. It’s an old Scottish nursery rhyme.

See, not everything is Shakespeare! BTW, no extra charge for the history lesson today.

Okay, I spent a good ten minutes or so looking for a pic for today. I give up. 

I guess I don't have as much perseverance as Henry had.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

Come, where is this young gallant that is so desirous to lie with his Mother Earth?

Charles
As You Like It   Act I, Scene ii, Line 191

Charles is the professional wrestler who’s come to town and is ready to challenge anyone who wants to wrestle him. Orlando, the protagonist of our story, is going to wrestle him. Charles is boasting that whoever wrestles with him will end up losing. As you know, Orlando wrestles him and wins. It just goes to show you that it doesn’t pay to be a braggart.

I don’t care for braggarts. It’s funny, but it seems that many people do, and I’ve never quite understood that. It would seem that Will didn’t care for braggarts too much since he has this guy lose the match. So perhaps Will and I have that one thing in common?

Buster Mojo seems to be pretty comfortable with me, and since I'm not a braggart, I'm going to assume that he doesn't care for braggarts either. 

So that makes three of us, so far: Will, me, and Mojo.

 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

So foul a sky clears not without a storm.

 

King John

King John               Act IV, Scene ii, Line 109

 

I haven’t been able to make time for Will much this week, due mostly to the presence of Mojo and the absence of Patrice. But today I felt I just had to get back to it, so I’m taking care of it here at work. I’m picking today from an online source, not the hardcopy book I usually use. And what an appropriate line! The skies in these parts have been very clogged with Canadian forest fire smoke this week. They are clearer today, and there has not been a storm to clear them, but I’m thinking that a storm would be the best way to really clear them up.

It occurs to me that King John was probably not talking about Canadian forest fire smoke when he mentioned foul skies.  As I read through this scene, I find that it’s a tough one. I’m not sure what his foul sky refers to. I’m pretty sure it’s figurative as opposed to the literal one we’ve been dealing with here in the northeast.

Ah well, let’s just leave it at that and move on.

 I took this pic of the parking lot at the height of the smokey skies the other day. If you look closely, you can see the yellow spot on most of the windshields. That was the reflection of the sun through the haze. It was rather strange. It reminded me a little bit of the description of the Dead Marshes from Tolkien.

Foul sky indeed.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

If you shall chance, Camillo, to visit Bohemia on the like occasion wherein my services are now on foot, you shall see, as I have said, great differences betwixt our Bohemia and your Sicilia.

Archidamus

The Winter’s Tale                          Act I, Scene i, Line 1

Well, it’s the first line of the play, so I couldn’t cut off the sentence, now, could I? These are two lords talking and just sort of introducing the audience to who the main characters are and where this play is set. Not too much to say about this.

So perhaps you won’t mind if I key in on the word betwixt? It’s simply an older version of between, obviously, but oh, so much more delightful. Don’t you agree? But let’s just keep that betwixt you and me, eh?

My associate requested that I pick him up a Bai. Well, it turns out I had a choice betwixt four different flavors. Do you think I managed to choose correctly?

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Of one or both of us the time is come.

 

Earl of Warwick

King Henry the Sixth Part II         Act V, Scene ii, Line 13

We are in the midst of the battle of Saint Alban’s, and Warwick is talking to Clifford. He’s telling Clifford that one, or both, of them is going to die. Then the Duke of York shows up and tells Warwick that he wants to fight Clifford. In the end Warwick leaves, and York kills Clifford. So Warwick turned out to be right, it was Clifford whose time had come, though not at the hands of Warwick. Warwick survives, so it wasn't both of them whose time had come.

Your time has come. We say that to mean your time to leave this earthly existence has come. But we just say your time has come. I guess you could say that to someone who was waiting for their turn to use the bathroom, but if you did, they would probably look at you funny. 

If I was waiting to use the bathroom, and you came out and said Your time has come, this is probably how I would react.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Such Brooks are welcome to me, that o’erflow such liquor.

  

Sir John Falstaff

The Merry Wives of Windsor         Act II, Scene ii, Line 151

  

Well it turns out that a Mr. Brooks is at the door, and he’s brought some liquor with him. Falstaff is making a pun with the guy’s name. Pretty funny, eh?

What would you like to talk about? Drinking? Puns? Falstaff? Nothing? We could do nothing. Even though nothing will come of nothing, occasionally nothing can be a good thing.

Well here's something that's not nothing. It's a hole in the text. What the heck? 

And who are we going to hold accountable for this?

Oh well, too cute to be mad at.