Today’s Totally Random
Lines
Prepare
there,
The duke is coming: see the barge is ready;
And fit it with such furniture as suits
The greatness of his person.
Sir Nicholas Vaux
King Henry the Eighth
ActII, Scene
i, Line 97
The duke
referred to above is the Duke of Buckingham, and he has just been sentenced to
death. The barge they’re talking about is the barge that will take him to his
execution, presumably at the Tower of London. The duke is still well loved, and
Sir Nicholas is trying to make sure he is still being treated as befitting his
state, but the duke will have none of it.
Nay,
Sir Nicholas,
Let it
alone; my state now will but mock me.
When I came
hither, I was lord high constable
And Duke of
Buckingham; now, poor Edward Bohun.
Edward Bohun:
that name certainly does not have the regal ring to it that the Duke of Buckingham
does. But Edward/the duke is being realistic; he knows that his goose is cooked.
It’s hard to imagine being so accepting of one’s fate as he is. What’s even
harder a lot of the time, at least I think it is, is knowing when to accept,
and when to fight to change it. It gets back to that saying: Give me the
strength to change what I can, the patience to accept what I can’t, and the
wisdom to know the difference. Gotta have the wisdom. I guess Edward
Bohum’s wisdom tells him his fate is sealed. Poor guy.
No comments:
Post a Comment