Full many a glorious morning have I seen

Flatter the mountain-tops with sovereign eye,

Kissing with golden face the meadows green,

Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy;

Anon permit the basest clouds to ride

With ugly rack on his celestial face,

And from the forlorn world his visage hide,

Stealing unseen to west with this disgrace:

Even so my sun one early morn did shine

With all-triumphant splendor on my brow;

But, out, alack! he was but one hour mine,

The region cloud hath maskt him from me now.

Yet him for this my love no whit disdaineth;

Suns of the world may stain when heaven’s sun staineth.

Sonnet 33

We've picked a sonnet today, and I was with it right up to the last line, then Will lost me. I really thought I had it. I’ve got to tell you, the sonnets are tough. And part of the problem is that they’re not written separately, they’re supposedly part of some confusing long story.

Well let’s see, you can pretty much break a sonnet up into sections; lines 1-4, 5-8, 9-12, and the last two lines. Let’s try that with this one.

First four - I’ve seen many a glorious morning spread its brilliance over the world.

Second four - Then the clouds show up and hide the suns face.

Third four -  Just like that, my sun (my love? My son?) shone his brilliance on me, but then the region cloud  (not sure what that is) hid him/her from me.

Final two – Yet, in spite of this, my love for him/her is not in the least hidden. Sons or lovers of the world may hide when, or just like, the sun hides.

Well there you go; I think I nearly got it. What do you think?

 

Okay, here's a clear sky in Beijing. The only thing hiding the sun here is pollution. 

Not so; but I answer you right painted cloth, from whence you have studied your questions.



-Orlando



As You Like It                         Act III, scene ii, line 279





I don’t quite understand this line. Orlando and Jaques are going back and forth with witty comments, and then Jaques says

Your are full of pretty answers. Have you not been acquainted with goldsmiths’ wives, and conn’d them out of rings?

And Orlando answers with today’s Totally Random line. I’ve found explanatory notes in a few different places on this line that tell me that painted cloth is wall hangings painted with pictures and mottoes. But that doesn’t really help me too much. How about you?

Okay, here you go. Well, actually this is a tapestry, not a painted cloth. But it's definitely a wall hanging with pictures on it (and Jessica standing in front of it). Does this help?

This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth

The tender leaves of hope; to-morrow blossoms,

And bears his blushing honors thick upon him;

The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,

And – when he thinks, good easy man, full surely

His greatness is a-ripening—nips his root,

And then he falls, as I do.



-Cardinal Wolsey



King Henry The Eighth                 Act III, scene ii, line 353





This is a splendid couple of lines. It’s Wolsey reflecting. He’s alone, and he’s just learned that he’s fallen out of Henry’s favor and about to be shown the door, or possibly worse. I’m going to give you his whole soliloquy. It’s only twenty-three lines; I think you can handle it.

The line previous to it, spoken by Norfolk immediately before he leaves the room is

     So fare you well, my little good lord Cardinal.

Note the word little. Norfolk is being a bit nasty. As soon as he is alone Wolsey responds with



So farewell to the little good you bear me.

Farewell, a long farewell, to all my greatness!

This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth

The tender leaves of hope; to-morrow blossoms,

And bears his blushing honors thick upon him;

The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,

And – when he thinks, good easy man, full surely

His greatness is a-ripening—nips his root,

And then he falls, as I do. I have ventured,

Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders,

This many summers in a sea of glory;

But far beyond my depth: my high-blown pride

At length broke under me; and now has left me,

Weary and old with service, to the mercy

Of a rude stream, that must forever hide me.

Vain pomp and glory of this world, I hate ye:

I feel my heart new open’d. O, how wretched

Is that that poor man that hangs on princes’ favours!

There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to,

That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin,

More pangs and fears than wars or women have;

And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer,

Never to hope again.



Wow, there’s a lot going on there. First the stages of greatness compared to a flowers life, then the floating on a sea of glory imagery, then the stuff about princes’ favour, and ending with the fate/fall of Lucifer. Well you can’t sink too much lower than the fate of Lucifer, can you?


Now I try pretty hard to avoid getting political, but I sometimes I just can’t help myself. Nonetheless, I’ll keep it short and simple. When he starts talking about hanging on princes’ favour I began to think of the many people in DC over the past few years that might have felt the way Wolsey feels as they were shown the door. 
Well, what does this passage make you think of?

I don't know; somehow I thought this picture fit in. With all the talk of fame and glory (it's a pretty famous place), and blossoms with killing frosts (see the snow?), and the stream (hard to miss the stream); well this seemed to fit them all. No?

The gray-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night,

Chequering the eastern clouds with streaks of light,

And flecked darkness like a drunkard reels

From forth day’s path and Titan’s fiery wheels:

-Friar Laurence

Romeo And Juliet                    Act II, scene ii, line 1

And it goes on for a bit more, thirty lines to be precise. It would probably be worthwhile to give you the whole thing, so here it is.

The grey-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night,
Chequering the eastern clouds with streaks of light,
And flecked darkness like a drunkard reels
From forth day's path and Titan's fiery wheels:
Now, ere the sun advance his burning eye,
The day to cheer and night's dank dew to dry,
I must up-fill this osier cage of ours
With baleful weeds and precious-juiced flowers.
The earth that's nature's mother is her tomb;
What is her burying grave that is her womb,
And from her womb children of divers kind
We sucking on her natural bosom find,
Many for many virtues excellent,
None but for some and yet all different.
O, mickle is the powerful grace that lies
In herbs, plants, stones, and their true qualities:
For nought so vile that on the earth doth live
But to the earth some special good doth give,
Nor aught so good but strain'd from that fair use
Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse:
Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied;
And vice sometimes by action dignified.
Within the infant rind of this small flower
Poison hath residence and medicine power:
For this, being smelt, with that part cheers each part;
Being tasted, slays all senses with the heart.
Two such opposed kings encamp them still
In man as well as herbs, grace and rude will;
And where the worser is predominant,
Full soon the canker death eats up that plant.

This is Friar Laurence by himself in the garden. He’s talking mostly about the plants and the weeds, and most of it is a metaphor for life in general, or stuff that's going on in the play. It’s pretty good. Y’all have a pretty good sense of the plot of Romeo and Juliet. So why don’t you read it, enjoy the language, and think about the meaning and how it fits in with the story. To help you out a bit: an osier cage is a basket made out of willow branches, and mickle is a word that means great.

Okay, go for it.

Well, I didn't think I had a sunrise pic, but this is one. It's a little bit past sunrise, but not much. That's the eastern sky to the left there, and the ice on the trees gleaming in the rising sun.

Come, sermon me no further:

No villainous bounty yet hath past my heart;

Unwisely, not ignobly, have I given.

-Timon



Timon Of Athens                            Act II, scene ii, line 176





then must you speak/Of one that loved not wisely, but too well. Yes, that line is Othello speaking at the end of his play, but it reminded me of Timon speaking above. Timon has been very generous with his money and possessions, giving out gifts to all his friends. And now he’s realized that this might have been a mistake, proving that it is definitely not good to give unwisely.

Timon asked his buddy to sermon me no further about his unwise giving. But I bet they do a lot of sermonizing about giving, wise or unwise, in this place.

Peace, you mumbling fool!

Utter your gravity o’er a gossip’s bowl;

For here we need it not. 


-Capulet



Romeo And Juliet                                Act III, scene v, line 174





This is Capulet, Juliet’s father, telling Nurse to shut up. I guess that just about says it all.

I think we'd have to call this a Christmas bowl. I couldn't find a gossip's bowl. Heck, I don't even know what a gossip's bowl is; a bowl owned by someone who gossips? Well how am I gonna find one of those?

Will you think so?

-Iago

Othello                                                Act IV, scene i, line 1

Yes, it’s the first line of the scene. It’s the beginning of a conversation between Iago and Othello in which the former continues to stoke the latter’s thoughts of jealousy regarding the supposed, and non-existent, affair between Desdemona and Cassio.

It’s an interesting scene in that it starts in the middle of a conversation, practically in mid thought. Obviously Othello must have said something that Iago is responding to. We just have to imagine what that is based on the conversation that follows. What is the conversation that follows? Well I guess you’ll have to read or see the play, won’t you? Or should I say, ‘will you think so?’

 

Well now, what do you suppose this conversation with Evan is about, and why are we both smiling. Well, the smiles may have nothing to do with the conversation. Maybe we're just smiling because we're sitting at a swim-up bar in Maui. Will you think so?