Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

 

See, see, King Richard doth himself appear,

As doth the blushing discontented sun

From out the fiery portal of the east,

When he perceives the envious clouds are bent

To dim his glory, and to stain the track

Of his bright passage to the occident.

 

Duke of York

King Richard the Second        Act III, Scene iii, Line 66

 

Okay, fairly long line today, but eminently understandable, wouldn’t you agree? The Duke of York, here, is talking to Bolingbroke, the guy who’s about to supplant Richard and become Henry IV. York is the uncle to both of these fellows, and he’s sort of on the fence. He’s standing with Bolingbroke looking up at the castle, but he’s not crazy about the idea of deposing Richard. Richard is on the ramparts looking down on them. Richard knows, at this point, where this whole deal is headed.

I had to look up the word occident. I thought it meant the east when in fact it’s exactly the opposite. I should have realized that by the context since the sun does not usually set in the east.

Anyways, I think it’s a pretty apt passage, describing Richard’s awareness of his imminent downfall. I mean, honestly, how can you not appreciate this use of the English language? Read it again, and I hope you’ll agree. It's not Dante's inferno people, it's six lines written in perfectly comprehensible English. Here it is, so that you don't have to go to the trouble of paging all the way back to the top of this post.

See, see, King Richard doth himself appear,

As doth the blushing discontented sun

From out the fiery portal of the east,

When he perceives the envious clouds are bent

To dim his glory, and to stain the track

Of his bright passage to the occident. 

 

Mojo and I took the opportunity this morning to read scene three (it's a relatively short scene) whilst we listened to our Arkangel recording of it. We find that it's always much more enjoyable to hear the words whilst reading them.