Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Ah, Gaunt, his blood was thine! That bed, that womb,

That metal , that self-mould, that fashion’d thee

Made him a man; and though thou livest and breathest,

Yet art thou slain in him: thou dost consent

In some large measure to thy father’s death,

In that thou seest thy wretched brother die,

Who was the model of thy father’s life. 

 

Duchess of Gloster

King Richard the Second   Act I, Scene ii, Line 25

Okay then; here's where we're at: The Duchess of Gloster is the widow of Thomas, the latter being Gaunt’s brother. She’s talking to Gaunt about Thomas. Gaunt and Thomas were son’s of Edward III. The current king, Richard II is the grandson of Edward III. There are some, including Thomas of Gloster, who think/thought Richard to be doing a lousy job as king. Thomas has been eliminated by Richard’s people, and his widow wants Gaunt, her brother-in-law, to avenge Gloster’s death. Gaunt says, no; leave it to God.

Gloster’s widow is not particularly happy with that answer and leaves. She ends the scene with a farewell rhyming couplet.

Desolate, desolate, will I hence and die:

The last leave of thee takes my weeping eye.

Just a little bit maudlin, eh? A bit of a Debbie Downer.

A bit maudlin?!? Her husband was "eliminated" by her nephew, and her brother-in-law's not going to do a thing about it! 

Maudlin???

 

Oooh, go easy on that one, Mrs. B; that's the one you drew blood on last time.