Away with him, I say! Hang him with his pen and inkhorn about his neck.

-Jack Cade

King Henry The Sixth Part II             Act IV scene ii line 105

They’re gonna hang the guy because he knows how to read and write. Ooof!

There’s been a lot written (and spoken) about how timeless Will’s works are. Looking around at the world today, and reading this line certainly affirms that notion. I’m not sure if it’s because Will was so good at writing, or if it’s just because we’ve progressed so little as a society. Either way, it can be downright depressing sometimes. Oh well, gotta keep moving forward, eh?

 

What do you think of my new license plate frame? This is what I'm moving forward with.

I escaped upon a butt of sack, which the sailors heaved o’erboard, by this bottle!



-Stephano



The Tempest                            Act II scene ii line 127



 A butt of sack is a barrel of liquor. The reason it is easy for me to remember that sack has to do with liquor is that I remember, way, way, back in the day, Frank Gifford (any of you boys and girls remember Frank Gifford?) doing a television commercial for Dry Sack Sherry. That, and the fact that I’ve been reading a bit of this Shakespeare stuff, so I probably would have picked up on it by now anyway. But there is that Gifford thing.

Okay, here's a pic of me now, and here's a pic of me around the time I would have seen that Frank Gifford Dry Sack ad. So that Dry Sack ad got stuck in that young kid's brain and it's still there in that old guy's brain. That just seems to defy logic, doesn't it?

This music makes me mad; let it sound no more;

For though it hath holp madmen to their wits,

In me it seems it will make wise men mad.

Yet blessing on his heart that gives it me!

For ‘tis a sign of love; and love to Richard

Is a strange brooch in this all-hating world.

-Richard

King Richard The Second                       Act V scene v line 62

These six lines are the end of sixty-five lines of Richard’s rambling. He’s alone in a prison cell and his cousin Bolingbroke has taken over the throne. Richard knows that his goose is cooked (in fact, he’s dead by the end of this scene) and so he’s musing about life in general. You get a pretty good idea of where he’s going with the first few lines of the soliloquy:

            I have been studying how I may compare

            This prison where I live unto the world:

            And, for because the world is populous,

            And here is not a creature but myself,

            I cannot do it;--yet I’ll hammer it out.

And it goes from there, flitting back and forth from one thing to another. Towards the end of the soliloquy some soft music can be heard playing in the distance. And then he ends with today’s Totally Random lines.

Throughout the whole thing, as he moves from one thing to another he also moves from one opinion to another about many of the different subjects he touches on. He does it in the start: how I may compare, but I cannot, and yet I’ll do it. And so he does in these last six lines. Music makes me mad, but blessing on the giver of music; It’s a sign of love, in this all-hating world. 

And just as contrasting, Richard is living now, and in a few more minutes he’ll be dead. 

It’s a pretty interesting sixty-five lines, but is this Will’s summation of existence? I hope not.

 It doesn't appear that these two coconuts in prison are ruminating about life and existence. I'd say they're just enjoying getting their picture taken. I suppose that's a good way to be. Of course, they're neither alone, nor stuck in that cell. They're just taking a tour of Alcatraz.

Look, the unfolding star calls up the shepherd. Put not yourself into amazement how these things should be: all difficulties are easy when they are known.

-Duke

Measure For Measure                        Act IV scene ii line 196

Okay, we have a good one today. I guess this line takes a little bit of explaining, but once done I hope that you will agree with me that it’s a fabulous line and quite quotable/usable.

First, the context: The Duke, disguised as a friar, is giving instructions to the Provost regarding Claudio. These instructions go against what Angelo (the guy that the Duke left in charge) has told the Provost to do. The Duke is telling the Provost about what’s going to be happening in the next few days. He, the Duke, knows because he’s the one calling the shots behind the scenes. And the Provost is getting a bit befuddled by all this. The lines above are said to the Provost to settle him down.

Next, a little help with the meaning: the unfolding star is the morning star that appears and lets the shepherd know that morning is imminent so that he can let the sheep out of the fold. He has gathered them close together for safety for the night, and now they can begin to wander about again to graze or do whatever sheep do. So the star that he sees is the unfolding (letting them out of the fold) star. If you need help imagining that, take a look at this illustration of this line.

https://shakespeareillustration.org/2016/06/28/look-the-unfolding-star-calls-up-the-shepherd/

So the Duke is telling the provost, Listen, don’t be amazed. The shepherd has a star for an alarm clock, and we don’t understand how that works. So just accept that it is what it is.

Now read the lines again.

Makes sense? I think it does. And it’s a great line; great to be used anytime you’re trying to tell someone not to worry because, well, it is what it is. In fact, you can get away with just the first line about the shepherd and the unfolding star. It’s saying ‘it is what it is’ but with style and beauty; because, of course, it’s Shakespeare.

This is me and the girls at the ruins of some ancient Roman baths in Paris. Nina had just finished saying that she wondered how it was possible that something built so long ago was still here. Naturally, I seized on the opportunity and replied, "Look, the unfolding star calls up the shepherd." In retrospect, I'm not quite sure they understood what I was saying. What do you think?

What a Herod of Jewry is this!--O wicked, wicked world!--One that is well-nigh worn to pieces with age to show himself a young gallant! What an unweigh’d behaviour hath this Flemish drunkard pick’d--with the devil’s name--out of my conversation, that he dares in this manner assay me? Why, he hath not been thrice in my company!--What should I say to him?--I was then frugal of my mirth:--Heaven forgive me!--Why I’ll exhibit a bill in the parliament for the putting-down of fat men. How shall I be revenged on him? For revenged I will be, as sure as his guts are made of pudding.


-Mistress Page



The Merry Wives Of Windsor                 Act II scene i, line 29



This is Mistress Page's tirade about Sir John. She's a married woman and she's just finished reading a love letter from Sir John.  A bill for the putting-down of fat men. Wow!

Okay, this is a comedy and it was written as a vehicle for the character of John Falstaff. Sir John made his first appearance in King Henry The Fourth Part I, a history play. He provided quite a bit of comic relief in that play and its sequel so that Will brought him back in a play that was purely comedy. And here is one of his foils in this play, Mistress Page- one of the titular merry wives, going on about Falstaff’s shortcomings. I didn’t know where to break in or cut off so I gave you the whole bit that she goes into directly after reading Sir John's letter. Thoughts?

This one looks like she could exhibit a bill in the parliament of the putting-down of fat men, doesn't she? I'm not sure, but I think she's my great-grandmother.