Today’s Totally Random
Lines
O Helicanus, strike me, honour’d sir;
Give me a gash, put me to present pain;
Lest this great sea of joys rushing upon me
O’erbear the shores of my mortality,
And drown me with their sweetness.
Pericles
Pericles Act V, Scene i, Line 193
These five lines can be summed up with four words: pinch me, I’m dreaming.
Pericles has just come to the realization that the young woman he is talking to is his daughter, who he thought was dead. He tells his friend Helicanus to hit him; not because he thinks he might be dreaming, but because if he doesn’t get some pain right now, he might die of happiness.
Well, not exactly the same as “pinch me I'm dreaming,” but the same idea. Will takes three lines to say “Lest I
die of happiness.” Here’s where he proves himself the Poet Playwright.
Lest this great sea of joys rushing upon me
O’erbear the shores of my mortality,
And drown me with their sweetness.
Well, actually, the meter’s a bit questionable here, but oh well.
Forget about the meter, Mr. Blagys;
just keep scratching.
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