Affection faints not like a pale-faced coward,

But then woos best when most his choice is

froward.

 -Narrator

Venus and Adonis                           Line 570

If you recall, or even if you don’t, we started this Blog off with Venus and Adonis back in August. So this is our second visit to this poem. You can look at that first post here if you want.

Today’s line comes earlier in the poem though, right after Venus finally (this is line 570, after all) gets Adonis to allow her to have her way with him. And I think the line is saying that the difficulty in seducing him made the lovemaking that much better. There, simple as that. And by the way, that last word is not a typo. It’s not supposed to be forward. The word is froward and it means perverse, obstinate, willful, ungovernable. There, you learned something new. Or maybe you were already familiar with froward?

In any event, I guess this is a sentiment that you might hear often and about all sorts of things. And especially if you're young. "You know Dougie, you’ll appreciate that (fill in the blank here) so much more if you have to work and earn your own money to buy it." But will Dougie really appreciate it more? Will he?

This is a portion of the Snow Village stuff that we set up every Christmas Time. I like looking at it a lot, but it takes a lot of time and effort to set it up. Would I like looking at it as much if it didn't take all that time and effort to set up. Now that you mention it, I think I would. Oh well, so much for that theory.

Whether it be the fault and glimpse of newness,

Or whether that the body public be

A horse wherein the governor doth ride,

 

-Claudio

 

Measure For Measure   Act I, scene ii      Line 156

We'll keep today's post fairly short.

Claudio is talking about the duke’s new deputy who is enforcing an unused law about lecherous behavior to have him, Claudio, locked up. Claudio is saying that he’s not sure why the new deputy is enforcing this law. Whether it’s just because the guy is new at the job, or whether the guy is enjoying having power over the people. He speculates in the next lines that maybe the deputy is just trying to make a name for himself.

So we’ve been on this very same page just about a month ago. At that time we were talking about Claudio’s sister entering the cloister. And that has to do with tonight’s line as well. That line about his sister is that he wants his friend Lucio to go to his sister in the cloister and ask her to speak to the deputy on Claudio’s behalf.

They’re going to try everything they can to deal with this deputy. After all, the penalty for the law that the deputy is enforcing is for Claudio to lose his head. So that wouldn’t be real good for Claudio.

This is a picture of me while my mom was reading this play to me when I was little. I was excited that I got to act out the part of the governor riding the horse of the body public. But then mom explained to me that it was just a figure of speech and that there wasn’t actually a horse being ridden in the story. She got into the whole figurative vs literal language thing, and that was a bit of a buzzkill. But is was helpful that she explained it to me. And then she changed my pants for me. That was pretty helpful too.

With tearful eyes add water to the sea,

 

-Queen Margaret

King Henry The Sixth Part III       Act V, scene iv   Line 8

Dedicated to Spike and Noah

There’s really more to this line than what’s here. The sentence, and thought, begins before this line, and as you can see by the comma it continues after this line. But this line, all by itself, is particularly appropriate for today’s mood, and I say kudos to the die which once again appears to be anything but random. We're just going to go with the eight words of the line above. Let me explain.

My posts run about twelve days behind the day that I originally pick the line and write the posts. That is to say, I began this project of picking Random lines on August 1, but for the first ten days I did the writing just on a word document. I wanted to see if I would want to continue to do it before I actually took the time to start a blog. Well I did like doing it, so on August 10 I started posting. And I started with the August 1 Random line. Since then I’ve missed a few days of posting, but I never miss a day of picking a line. Long story short, I end up posting my blog posts about twelve days after I actually pick the line and write about it. It works out well, and it gives me a chance to clean up the writing a bit before I post it.

Why am I telling you this? Yes, there is a method to my madness. This random line is from November 17. Those of you who are diehard readers of this blog (yes, both of you) might recall that November 16 was the first date since I began on August 10 that I didn’t post. And on the following morning I pulled this line. Well the reason I didn’t post on November 16 was because I was pretty upset. On that day we said good-bye to two friends who had been with us for quite some time. They were both very old, and very sick, and their time had come. But it was a bad day for all of us here at the homestead. So with tearful eyes, we did add water to the sea, and I was as usual amazed at the appropriateness of the Random line.

I couldn't have done this post twelve days ago. But I can do it now, as now, our lives go on.

That's Spike on the left, and Noah on the right. They were only a few years old at the time, as this picture is quite old. That little guy in the middle was a neo-nate, and now he stands about 5' 8'', and  he's doing quite well thanks. But our friends Spike and Noah have left us, and we're sad about that.

‘Tis no matter: ne’er a fantastical knave of them all shall flout me out of my calling.

-Sir Oliver Martext

As You Like It     Act III, scene iii  Line 102

I thought this Sir Oliver Martext fellow was a pretty minor character, so I decided to google him to see what was out there on him. I found an interesting blog post suggesting that Sir Oliver Martext is a clue pointing to the conclusion that Christopher Marlowe wrote As You Like It. You can read about that if you like. Here’s the link: http://marlowe-shakespeare.blogspot.com/2010/10/significance-of-sir-oliver-mar-text-in.html

In any event, apparently Sir Oliver appears only in this scene with three speaking lines, and is mentioned in one other scene. And yet he gets the final line, alone, in Act III Scene iii. He’s been called out as a fellow who is incapable of performing a legitimate wedding and so Touchstone, Audrey , and Jaques head off to find a proper vicar. At which point Sir Oliver says ‘No matter, these knuckleheads aren’t going get me to change my calling by insulting me.’

Considering that there is no real character development of this guy, and no further appearances by him, it’s hard to see what this line has to do with anything, or what purpose it has. So maybe that lends credence to that blog post referenced above. Or maybe not. Who the heck knows?

What do you think?

Looks like these folks are looking for the Vicar to perform a christening. I hope the Vicar hasn't been flouted out of his calling!

O my dear father! Restoration hang

Thy medicine on my lips;

 -Cordelia

King Lear             Act IV, scene vii Line 26

I consider this a beautiful line. I believe there is no truer love expressed in all of Shakespeare’s works than the love shared between Cordelia and her father. And maybe that’s just the father of two Cordelias talking, I’m not sure.

In any event, Lear wakes up after this line and he and Cordelia have a reconciliation as only Shakespeare would paint it. Yes, they both end up dying a few scenes further down the road, but for now they are still both alive and together. If you have a daughter, or perhaps if you are a daughter, you might want to read the scene. It’s pretty short.

http://shakespeare.mit.edu/lear/lear.4.7.html

Remember, long story short, Lear gave his kingdom to the two daughters who falsely told him how much he loved them. Meantime he very foolishly rejected the third daughter Cordelia, the one who truly loved him, because she would not give him false flattery. The other two daughters ended up turning him out of house and home, and he wandered the heath in a storm going quite nearly mad. Now Cordelia is back, she’s found him and is looking after him.

I’ve got no more to add today.

Two Cordelias

Is it possible disdain should die while she hath

such meet food to feed it as Signior Benedick?

 

-Beatrice

Much Ado About Nothing           Act I, scene i       Line 112

So the key word in this line appears to be ‘disdain’. What exactly, and I do mean exactly, is disdain. It’s a not uncommon word, but do we really know its specific meaning. It’s a feeling of contempt for someone or something regarded as unworthy or inferior. That’s from merriam-webster.com. So this is a pretty good insult. As long as we’ve got Signior Benedick around, we’ll always have someone that we feel is contemptible. Well it turns out that these two, Beatrice and Signior Benedick have a bit of a running feud going on. They’ve not started some specific argument in this scene, but rather they are continuing something that appears to have been going on between them for some time. And it gives me great wonder as to whether or not there is really any disdain here, or whether they might not actually like each other and are simply using this ongoing spat as a way to continue to be able to interact with each other. I guess we’d have to either finish the play, or at very least read the summary, but I’m betting that they end up together before it’s all over. Any takers?

Okay, I read the last scene of the play. I win.

My friend is treating me with a certain amount of disdain by refusing to be photographed with me. But whether or not it's disdain, dis Spain.

They clepe us drunkards, and with swinish phrase

Soil our addition; and, indeed, it takes

From our achievements, though performed at height,

The pith and marrow of our attribute.

 

Hamlet

Hamlet                 Act I, scene iv    Line 22

This is Hamlet, one of the greatest, and perhaps the saddest, of Will’s creations. And this is a fabulous line. He starts out, in today’s Totally Random line, talking about the Danish people generally and excess drinking and celebrating specifically. He then immediately progresses in the lines that follow to talk about ‘particular men’ specifically (and I can’t but help feel that he’s referring to himself), and bad habits or aspects, ‘some vicious mole of nature’, generally. In both cases he’s remarking that one bad thing (in this case of the Danes, over-celebrating) can overshadow all the good things (again, in the case of the Danes, their good reputation).

Here, I don’t do this too often, but please read the whole passage. It’s not that long; twenty-six lines. If I can take the time to type it out, you can at least read it. It’s a little tough, but you can do it. I have faith in you. The custom he’s referring to in the beginning is drinking and revelry, and ‘they clepe us’ means  ‘they describe us’. The guts of this passage start on line 11, ‘So, oft it chances…’. Now give it a shot!

         Ay, marry, is’t:

         But to my mind, though I am native here,

         And to the manner born, --it is a custom

More honored in the breach than the observance.

This heavy-headed revel east and west

         Makes us traduced and taxed of other nations:

They clepe us drunkards, and with swinish phrase

Soil our addition; and, indeed, it takes

From our achievements, though performed at height,

The pith and marrow of our attribute.

So, oft it chances in particular men,

That, for some vicious mole of nature in them,

As, in their birth, --wherein they are not guilty,

Since nature cannot choose his origin,--

By the o’ergrowth of some complexion,

Oft breaking down the pales and forts of reason;

Or by some habit, that too much o’er-leavens

The form of plausive manners;--that these men,--

Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect,

Being nature’s livery, or fortune’s star,--

Their virtues else—be they as pure as grace,

As infinite as man may undergo—

Shall in the general censure take corruption

From that particular fault: the dram of evil

Doth all the noble substance of a doubt

To his own scandal.

I guess I cheated to get to that last line: The dram of evil doth all the noble substance of a doubt to his own scandal. But it’s a good one (I think a famous one? Okay, sidebar here: apparently this last line is famous for confusing people. Well I’m not interested in that; I’m interested in the main thought of this passage, i.e. that one fatal flaw can ruin a person. So that’s where we’re going with this post.), and the follow through and re-statement of today’s Totally Random line: and, indeed, it takes from our achievements, though performed at height, the pith and marrow of our attribute. So please forgive me for cheating.

I’m not sure what Hamlet considers his own ‘dram of evil’ or ‘particular fault’, but I believe he’s saying that he’s got one and that it’s overshadowing all the good stuff he’s got. Maybe his indecisiveness or his inability to take action? Whatever it is, it's got him down.

How about this guy? What's his particular fault? I'm thinking it's not just one thing, if you know what I mean.