Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:

Sonnet 18                Third Quatrain

Well how about that. I’ll bet you have no idea what Sonnet 18 is. Let me give you the first few lines of it.

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate;
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimm’d;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:

So long as men can breathe, or eyes to see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.


Okay, I couldn’t help myself and I gave you all fourteen lines of it. Surely you’ve heard this one before. It’s probably the most famous of Will’s 154 sonnets.

I can’t help but wonder where Will came up with the idea of saying that words would give eternal life to someone, anyone. It’s an interesting concept. I wonder if it’s his, or one that he picked up somewhere. I would guess the latter, but who knows.

Yes, Will is definitely number one on my list of people, living or dead, that I’d like to have dinner with. Though I’m not sure I’d remember to ask him that question. I guess I’d better start making a list of questions so that I don’t forget.

You're going to start making a list of questions to ask William Shakespeare when you have dinner with him? 

Shall I compare thee to a nut job?