Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

The crown o’the earth doth melt.—My lord!

O, wither’d is the garland of the war,

The soldiers’ pole is faln: young boys and girls

Are level now with men; the odds is gone,

And there is nothing left remarkable

Beneath the visiting moon.

 

Cleopatra

Antony and Cleopatra    Act IV, Scene iv, Line 67

These are the first words out of the mouth of Cleopatra after Antony dies, admittedly a little hard to understand. Let’s take a shot at a Pete’s version this morning. I’ll enlist the help of G.B. Harrison’s footnotes. 

The crown of the earth melts.

Withered are the glories of war.

The guiding star has fallen.

Children are on the same level as grown men,

and there is nothing left remarkable beneath the visiting moon.

That's a little better, eh? I really like that last part, there is nothing left remarkable beneath the visiting moon. That really drives home the desperate tone of the whole thing, doesn't it?

Mr. Ham-it-Up decided that he wasn't interested in Cleopatra's words this morning, he just wanted to play the part of Antony. 

Yes Mojo, that's a very creditable dead Antony. Bravo.