Today’s Totally Random
Lines
Speak the speech, I pray you, as I
pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue:
Hamlet
Hamlet Act III, Scene ii, Line 1
Yes, that’s
Hamlet from the play Hamlet. It’s a very well known line. It’s Hamlet
speaking to one of the performers who have come the castle to put on a play. I’m
going to give you Hamlet’s full instruction to the player. It’s sixteen lines
and I wanted you to know that I was throwing it at you before you took a shot at
reading and understanding it.
Why am I insisting on giving you sixteen lines as opposed to two above? Well, you can stick with the two if you like, no one is forcing you to read the next paragraph. I think, however, that it’s a really good speech, and I wanted to give you the opportunity to read it. It’s got some wonderful language in there, and it’s not terribly difficult. So here you go.
Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue: but if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as lief (I would prefer) the town-crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus; but use all gently: for in the very torrent, tempest, and, as I may say, the whirlwind of passion, you give it smoothness. O, it offends me to the soul to hear a robustious periwig-pated fellow tear a passion (play) to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings (the playgoers in the cheap seats), who, for the most part, are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb-shows and noise: I would have such a fellow whipt for o’erdoing Termagant; it out-herods Herod: pray you, avoid it.
In those last two lines, from I would have such a fellow whipt, to the end, Hamlet is talking about avoiding over-acting: Termagant and Herod are classic villains.
So, whaddaya think? That wasn’t so bad, was it? Or perhaps you’re thinking, Shoulda stuck with the “Speak the speech trippingly on the tongue”, and left it at that, Pete. We didn’t need to hear Hamlet rattle on and on about overacting!
Yeah, you’re right: I often don’t know when to shut up and leave well enough alone. Oh well. Perhaps Hamlet and I have that in common.
And there he goes again: comparing himself to Hamlet. Oyyy!
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