Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Yea; and you knew me, as you did when you ran away by Gadshill: you knew I was at your back, and spoke it on purpose to try my patience.

Prince Henry

King Henry the Fourth Part II Act II, Scene iv, Line 310

I guess there’s a bit of context needed here, and I’m just not sure I’m up to it. This is Hal talking to Falstaff and they’re at the Boar’s-Head Tavern. Well let’s just talk about Hal for a moment.

A major part of the Henry IV plays revolves around Henry V. To clarify, Henry IV is Bolingbroke, the guy who unseated Richard II. As such Bolingbroke/Henry IV has quite a major role in King Richard the Second. But when we move into the Henry IV plays (there’s two of them), we find ourselves spending more time with Prince Henry (That’s Henry IV’s son, also known as Hal to Falstaff). Conversely, when we get to King Henry the Fifth (there’s only one Henry V play) that play is all about Henry V (formerly Prince Henry/Hal). Then, just to finish this thought off, when we move on to the Henry VI plays (there’s three of them, believe it or not), the only Henry we deal with is Henry VI (Henrys IV and V are dead before the Henry VI plays start). Of course, in those plays there are lots of very major players, but none of them are Henrys other than Henry VI.

I guess the point is that whilst Bolingbroke/Henry IV has a pretty major role in King Richard the Second, he doesn’t have that big a role in King Henry the Fourth Parts One and Two. Those, as well as King Henry the Fifth are dominated by Prince Henry/Hal/Henry V and, to a lesser degree, Falstaff. And a lot of their time together takes place at, you guessed it, the Boar's-Head Tavern.

Is that clear?

More to the point, does anybody care?

 

Honestly, Mr. Blagys, NO. I really don't give a rat's fanny about any of those Henry guys.

 I’m much more concerned about this little princess right here, and  -MORE TO THE POINT, as you would say-  What is she doing, Where is she taking me, and WHY AREN’T YOU STOPPING HER?!?

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Forget not, in your speed, Antonius,

To touch Calphurnia; for our elders say,

The barren, touched in this holy chase,

Shake off their sterile curse.

Caesar

Julius Caesar                 Act I, Scene ii, Line 7

Antonius (that’s Marc Antony) is about to run the Lupercal Race. Superstition says that the touch of a runner in this race will ward off sterility. That’s pretty random, isn’t it? I don’t remember Calphurnia’s (that’s Caesar’s wife) sterility being an issue in this play, but I don’t know the play all that well. I saw it performed at the Shakespeare Theater in Stratford (that’s Stratford, Connecticut) in 1972. I think that’s the only performance of it I’ve ever seen, and that was fifty-four years ago.

Antony’s reply is, I shall remember; When Caesar says ‘Do this,’ it is perform’d, and it just struck me, reading Antony’s line, why they decided to perform this play, a few years back, with Caesar dressed as Orange-Man.

Now, this post could go one of three ways from here: it could spiral down the Orange-Man rabbit hole (that’s a mighty big hole, and nobody wants that), it could pull up and get into some other Shakespearean aspect of the lines, or it could meander off in some other completely random direction. 

Well? 

So, where do you suppose Will came up with this bit about the Lupercal race and sterility? I think this is one more instance that gives credence to the Edward DeVere theory, but that’s a whole ‘nother rabbit hole that I’m not going down. Anyway, I don’t think Caesar even mentions Lupercal, he just refers to this holy chase. Lupercal is mentioned only in the notes (as far as I know), and they’re not Will’s notes. I should look in Asimov’s book on Shakespeare, but that’s not readily available.  Perhaps I should get off my fat ass, because not readily available means that’s what I’d have to do. Oh boy. So now we’re talking about the size of my ass, which isn’t all that large. It’s the belly that’s the problem.

Okay, so I think we’ve successfully steered the discussion away from politics, but at what cost? Hey, I wonder if the touch of these Lupercal runners would do any good shaking off the fat belly curse? But, where would I come up with a Lupercal Race runner anyway?

Well it just so happens, Mr. Blagys... 

No way, Mojo!

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

Since death of my dear’st mother

It did not speak before. All solemn things

Should answer solemn accidents.

Guiderius

Cymbeline               Act IV, Scene ii, Line 191

I’ll give you Guiderius’s full speech in a minute, it’s only six lines, but first I’ll give you some context.

Without going into the full story, Guiderius is talking to his father Belarius. These two, and Guiderius’s brother Arviragus, live in a cave. The two young men are actually sons of the king, and they ended up being raised by this guy Belarius in a cave. Don’t ask me how, I don’t remember the full story; just go with it. Anyway, as I said, Guiderius and his father are standing outside the cave, and they begin to hear solemn music being played in the cave where Arviragus is. When Guiderius says It did not speak before, he’s talking about the musical instrument (no, I don’t know what kind of instrument). Now, here’s the full six lines. 

What does he mean? Since death of my dear’st mother

It did not speak before. All solemn things

Should answer solemn accidents. The matter?

Triumphs for nothing, and lamenting toys,

Is jollity for apes, and grief for boys.

Is Caldwell mad?

Oh, one other thing: Guiderius and Arviragus are their original, real names. Belarius renamed then Polydore and Cadwal, and that’s the names these two guys know themselves as. Yeah, it’s a little confusing. Again, just go with it.

So, does it make sense now? Obviously Guiderius is saying he hasn’t heard solemn music since his mother died (Apparently these two guys weren’t infants when Belarius stole them and brought them to the cave; but that’s a separate issue). Then he says that there shouldn’t be solemn music without a solemn occasion (accident). What he doesn’t know is that his brother has discovered the dead body of Imogen in the cave (also a separate issue). Why should there not be solemn music? Only monkeys celebrate triumphs without a victory, and lamenting toys are grief for boys. The monkey part I understand; the lamenting toys not so much.

Boy, we’re spending a lot of time on these few lines. I'm not sure I'm getting anything out of this. How about you?

Boy, there are some days where this Shakespeare stuff just doesn't work for me.

And I think this is one of them.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Let me play the lion too: I will roar, that I will do any man’s heart good to hear me; I will roar, that I will make the duke say, ‘Let him roar again, let him roar again.’

 

Bottom

A Midsummer Night’s Dream  Act I, Scene ii, Line 66

I’m still not crazy about this play, but it’s starting to grow on me a little, and definitely my favorite part of it is the worker guys practicing and performing the play within the play. Today’s Line is near the beginning of the play where Peter Quince is assigning parts to everyone. Bottom, of course, wants all the parts. He’s pretty funny. 

Bottom is a good part in this play. If I was going to be in A Midsummer Night’s Dream I think I would want to play the part of Bottom. 

Look at me: eight lines in Twelfth Night and now I’m talking like an actor. Oh my.

Did somebody down there say something about a lion? 

I could play a lion.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

I’ll be at charges for a looking-glass;

And entertain a score or two of tailors

To study fashions to adorn my body:

Since I am crept in favor with myself,

I will maintain it with some little cost.

 

Duke of Gloster (Richard III)

King Richard the Third       Act I, Scene ii, Line 258

Richard (at this point he’s not the king yet, so he’s the Duke of Gloster) has just successfully wooed Lady Anne, whose husband Richard killed in the battle at Tewksbury. Yes, somehow or another he wins her over: Go figure. She then leaves, and Richard is left alone to congratulate himself on how clever he is.

He talks about the feat of getting her to agree to be his wife, and he then concludes that she must see him as something better than he sees himself. From the beginning of the play, he has referred to himself as misshapen and beggarly,

Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;

but here he concludes that this will no longer be the case.

Upon my life, she finds, although I cannot,

Myself to be a marvelous proper man.

I’ll be at charges for a looking-glass;

And entertain …

That’s right, he decides that he’s as good, and as good looking, as the next guy; if not better. I suppose winning the heart of a woman can do that to a guy?

Of course not, Mojo. Why on earth would I, or anyone else, ever refer to you as 'misshapen or beggarly'? For goodness sakes, you are as fine a looking specimen as ever walked on two, or four, feet; furry though those feet are. 

And yes, that shaved-shins look is fabulous. It almost looks like you're wearing capris; very European indeed! 

You didn't use my razor, did you?

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Well, go to, go to.

Paris

Troilus and Cressida      Act II, Scene i, Line 96

Oh my. I chuckled to myself as I read that. I’d been sitting here this morning, drinking my morning coffee, waiting for my morning coffee to do its job of waking me up, and feeling  a bit down: sleepy or down? Or maybe a bit of both. Hard to say sometimes. Anyway, I decided to do a Daily Random Line. For two reasons: one is that I like doing Lines and it’s easy to do Lines (that’s one reason), and two is that so, so many times the Daily Line gives me something relevant to my day. Today is no exception. Well, go to, go to. It’s just five words; five short and completely understandable words. There’s no early modern English issues here; no need to translate anything (I really hate the use of the word translate when we’re talking about Will’s stuff; I’m using it sarcastically here). And the fact that it’s repeated, go to, go to, is perfect. It needs to be emphasized. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or down, then just get at it. Get started. Do something! Go to, go to!

Going to is so often precisely my problem. I seem to be almost always (yes, almost) inclined to not go to. I’ve really no idea about the context of this line. It would seem that Paris is telling someone to go ahead and do something. Who he is telling, and what they are going to do, well, who knows. No, literally, who knows; but I don’t. And I don’t need to know. But there's no doubt about the fact that now and almost always I just need to GO TO!

I'm ready to GO TO, Mr. Blagys

 Go to where, Mojo?

I don't know. But I'm ready.

I can always count on you, can't I, Mojo.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Now, how  dost thou look now? O ill-starr’d wench!

Pale as thy smock! When we shall meet at compt,

This look of thine will hurl my soul from heaven,

And fiends will snatch at it. Cold, cold, my girl!

Even like thy chastity.

 

Othello

Othello                 Act V, Scene ii, Line 275

First off, the word compt at the end of the second line refers to reckoning, or the day of judgement. I know, it seems like an odd little word to have that meaning, but it’s what my on-line Shakespeare glossary says, and it makes sense.

So, what we have here is Othello, alone with the dead body of Desdemona. He killed her earlier in this scene and shortly after he did, he was brought to the realization by Iago’s wife Emilia that Desdemona had been faithful to him. Iago then killed Emilia and ran off. Now Othello is left alone to think about what he did.

In Today’s Lines he’s talking to the dead body of his wife. This look of thine will hurl my soul from heaven, and fiends will snatch at it. That’s a great line that creates a vivid image of him falling. I can picture the fiends grabbing at him. I can’t quite decide, though, what the look on her face is that causes his fall. Is it some sort of look of contempt. No, now that I think about it, it’s probably the look of complete innocence, and the look that her dead face is now showing. Othello (or should I say Will) does not attempt to describe that look, does he? How dost thou look now? O ill-starr’d wench! Pale as thy smock! That’s all he gives us. She’s ill-starr’d and she’s pale. Ill-starr’d is just saying that she’s unlucky, but that doesn’t really give us an idea of how she dost look now. I guess it’s just the look of innocence on a dead face, but I suppose you’ll have to decide that for yourself, won’t you.

I wanted to find a look on a face that might represent Desdemona's,  but I decided that was a lost cause. 

So I'm giving you this picture of Antonio and his arresting officer: a couple of good looks that fall somewhere between a snarl and a sneer.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

What storm is this that blows so contrary?

Is Romeo slaughter’d, and is Tybalt dead?

My dear-loved cousin, and my dearer lord?-

Then, dreadful trumpet, sound the general doom!

For who is living if those two are gone.

 

Juliet

Romeo and Juliet       Act III, Scene ii, Line 65

Romeo has killed Juliet’s cousin Tybalt in a fight and has consequently been banished. This is what Nurse has come to tell Juliet, but it’s going to take her a while to get the full message out. At the point that she’s speaking Today’s Lines, Juliet thinks that both of the guys are dead. This will be clarified momentarily, but Romeo’s banishment does not make her much happier than the thought of his death, and she’ll go on for another half page of moaning.

Funnily (at least I found it a little funny), a few lines up when Nurse is talking about Romeo she says O Romeo, Romeo. Whilst it’s not Romeo, O Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo, it’s still close enough to Juliet’s famous words to give pause. At least, it was enough to give me pause; I don’t know about you. But let’s face it, there are lots of things that give me pause.

Well, what on earth is giving me pause here?

Oh, that's right; it was these shoes that I saw when I was out and about yesterday. Thems is some stylin' wheels, eh? In fact, it looks like something that Romeo might wear!

 Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

That Julius Caesar was a famous man;

With what his valour did enrich his wit,

His wit set down to make his valour live:

Death makes no conquest of this conqueror;

For now he lives in fame, though not in life.

 

Prince

King Richard the Third     Act III, Scene i, Line 86

Richard has suggested that the prince reside in the Tower of London until his coronation, and so begins a discussion of the tower and Julius Caesar who, ostensibly, began the construction of it. Of course, at this point the prince, who is just a boy, has no inkling of Richard’s plans to eliminate him. The prince’s mother, on the other hand, has lots of inkling, and has taken herself and the prince’s brother into sanctuary somewhere outside London. It’s an interesting scene. Will paints a picture of an evil man who was able to fool a lot of people, not just young princes. It might be considered a cautionary tale. You should read it. Here, I’ll make it easy on you.

 

Richard the Third (Modern) :: Internet Shakespeare Editions

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Now is my turn to speak. Behold this child,--

[Pointing to the CHILD in the

arms of an ATTENDANT]

Of this was Tamora delivered;

The issue of an irreligious Moor,

Chief architect and plotter of these woes:

The villain is alive in Titus’s house,

Damn’d as he is, to witness this is true.

 

Marcus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus             Act V, Scene iii, Line 121

Well, it’s a fairly long sentence, that’s for sure; nothing new about that. This is from the last page of the play. It’s line 159 with this final scene ending on line 204.

They decide that Titus’s son (Marcus’s nephew) Lucius will be the new emperor. Pretty much everyone else who wasn’t already dead got killed earlier in this scene: Titus, Saturninus, Tamora, Lavinia…who did I miss? They will also decide, momentarily, to bury Aaron up to his neck so that he can starve, and to throw Tamora’s body to the carrion fowl. And then the play ends with a rhyming couplet,

Then, afterwards, to order well the state,

That like events may ne’er it ruinate.

Try as I might to not think about (and I do try very hard), these last two lines got me to considering our current political situation. Do you think we’ll ever get to the end of this nightmare that our state now endures? And if we do, will we put in place safeguards That like events may ne’er it ruinate?

God, I hope so.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

I write good creature; wheresoe’er she is,

Her heart weighs sadly: this young maid might do  her

A shrewd turn, if she pleased.

 

How do you mean?

Widow/Helena

All’s Well That Ends Well      Act III, Scene v, Line 69

The first three and a half lines are the Widow’s and the last half line is Helena’s. They’re talking about Helena’s predicament with Bertram, though the widow doesn’t realize that it’s Helena she is speaking with. As such, she’s being blunt, forthright, straight, and plain-spoken, because she has no reason to be otherwise. In other words, she’s being round with Helena.

I hope you realize the I used yesterday’s word today.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Pray you, be round with him.

Polonius

Hamlet                       Act III, Scene iv, Line 5

Blunt, forthright, straight, and plain-spoken: those are the meanings given for round in my on-line Shakespeare Glossary. This is Polonius talking to Gertrude. She’s called Hamlet to her room to question him about his odd behavior, and Polonius is about to hide behind the curtain to listen in on the conversation. But first he’s got to give Gertrude some advice, of course. I say of course because giving advice is Polonius’s main occupation.

Sometimes I feel like I’m married to Polonius, because I’m constantly getting advice on what to do and how to do it, especially when I’m driving. Oh well.

It's a good thing I don't do that to you, isn't  it, Mr. Blagys. 

Now, can you come over here and sit with me and rub my belly?

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Base slave, thy words are blunt, and so art thou.

Duke of Suffolk

King Henry the Sixth Part II     Act IV, Scene i, Line 69

 

Today is Labor Day, 2026, and since that is a celebration of the worker, I think that I will take off on the word slave in Today’s Line. After all, who is a harder worker than a slave?

Nowadays, here in the United States, in the world of 2026, the word slave has been under attack. I use the phrase under attack very purposefully. Words are important, and the proper use of words is important. In the case of the word slave, this word has been used historically to refer to pretty much any human being who has been enslaved by another human being. By enslaved, we mean that they have been subjugated and controlled by another human being and forced to do whatever this subjugator wanted them too. This has usually meant work, and lots of it. By historically, I mean to say the word slave has been used to refer to enslaved people for thousands of years.

Now, sometime in recent years, someone decided that the word slave was demeaning. Well, it is. They decided that slaves were people and should be recognized as such, and so they decreed that it would be good if we referred to them as enslaved people. In fact, they decided that it was so important that we do this, that we should not ever use the word slave; we should use the words enslaved person.

So, what do we gain by this. Well, on the one hand we give the folks in this country who are the descendants of slaves/enslaved people some consideration, or so they say (I am reminded of the time several years ago when I asked my daughter-in-law, who was born and bred in China if she found the word Oriental offensive; she asked me what I was talking about). On another hand we give many people, like myself, pause: the pause that comes when we stop to think about something to try to figure out what it means, and if it makes sense or not. Finally, on another hand we give some folks on the far-right of the political spectrum more fodder for their rants against the woke left, and that's the last thing they need.

Make no mistake, replacing the word slave with the words enslaved person is well intentioned. I can understand and sympathize with the intent. I think, though, that when we go so far as to trying to eradicate the word slave, and by extension the word master, well, I’m not sure we’re doing much good. If in conversation I say “I’ve always been a slave to my emotions”, do I need to be apologetic? If I refer to my bedroom as the master bedroom, am I wrong?

I don’t think I ever said to an apparent descendant of an American slave or ex-slave, “Hey Michelle, were your descendants slaves?” Why would I ever say that? Conversely, if for whatever strange reason I were to bring it up to Michelle, I probably would use the words enslaved people. But by the same token, I am not going to be eradicating any words from my vocabulary any time soon.

Well, I guess this has become a rant, and that’s the last thing I wanted it to be. I think I simply wanted to say that that sometimes when we attempt to show consideration for people by policing our language, we end up weaponizing that language more. And that’s not a good thing.

Yeah, I think that’s all I wanted to say; that, and Happy Labor Day.

Speaking of eradicating words: I'm pretty sure this guy eradicated the word labor from his vocabulary a long time ago (as if it was ever there to begin with).