T'were to consider too curiously, to consider so.

-Horatio

Hamlet                        Act V, scene i, line 212

Translation: You think too much, Hamlet. In fact, if you wanted to sum us this play in one sentence (and I’m not saying that you really could), you might use this line, You think too much, Hamlet. Though Will’s way of putting it is much nicer. T'were to consider too curiously, to consider so.

Hamlet spends an awful lot of time thinking, and re-thinking, in this play. Horatio’s response here is to Hamlet’s thought that it might be possible to trace Alexander the Great from his life, to his dead body, to that body rotting into dirt, and from thence to a cork stopping up a beer keg. That’s right, that’s Alexander the Great stopping up that keg of beer over there. Wow. 

Yes, I definitely feel like Hamlet a lot of the time. And just like him, I’m pretty sure that most of my thinking ain’t doing me much good.

 

Here's me with my Hamlet face; I'm thinking. I've no idea what I was thinking about, but I'm definitely thinking.

So, underneath the belly of their steeds,

That stain’d their fetlocks in his smoking blood,

The noble gentleman gave up the ghost. 

-Richard

King Henry The Sixth Part III           Act II, scene iii, line 20

This scene is taking place on the fringes of a battle. Richard is talking to Warwick and describing how he just saw the latter’s brother being killed by Clifford. He gave up the ghost. It sounds like there’s more than one person dying because he mentions their steeds, but he’s just talking about Warwick’s brother. At least, I think he is. And I don’t know who Warwick’s brother is. There are just way too many names in these history plays.

It’s a pretty interesting mental image, though. The guy is lying on the ground, presumably his horse is still standing over him, and this dying fellow’s blood is all over the bottom of the horse’s legs. Or maybe he’s underneath the belly of the horse that has fallen on him, like to Theoden on the Pelannor Fields. It could be just one more little thing that Tolkien borrowed from Will. I’ll have to go read that Tolkien passage again, won’t I.  

'To me! To me!' cried Theoden. 'Up Eorlingas! Fear no darkness!' But Snowmane wild with terror stood up on high, fighting with the air, and then with a great scream he crashed upon his side: a black dart had pierced him. The king fell beneath him.

That’s from chapter 6 of The Return Of The King. No question in that scenario; the horse fell on the king. I think I’d prefer to think of Warwick’s brother’s horse falling and lying on top of him as well. That is, if you don’t mind. Though, to be honest, I think the lines seem to be saying that the horse is still standing. Anyway, Tolkien's lines don’t really give any indication of being borrowed from Will. So at least we know that.

I can't really think of any way that these pics go with today's Totally Random lines, but I'm using them anyway.

I went for a walk today after lunch because it was a really beautiful day out. So I was walking by this abandoned, burnt-out factory. It was Winchester Repeating Arms at one time, but it's been empty for thirty or forty years. It's not much to look at. As I was walking I noticed something red stuck in that rusty fencing you see there, so I looked closer.

 

It says The search for love continues even in the face of great odds. 

So on the edifice of this wreck of a building we find this message of hope. I think it's pretty interesting, and now that I re-read today's Totally Random lines, maybe there is some correlation. 

What do you think?

Nay, come, agree whose hand shall go along,

For fear they die before their pardon come.

-Aaron

Titus Andronicus                                Act III, scene i, line 175

As you might imagine, considering that this is Titus Andronicus, there’s a bit more here than meets the eye. And that bit more is a bit gruesome. I’m not sure I even want to get into it. Freaking Titus.

 

Here's my hand, resting on my leg, and because I'm not in the story of Titus Andronicus, this hand is still attached to my arm. I'm very thankful not to be in the story of Titus Andronicus.

O ye gods,

Render me worthy of this noble wife!

-Marcus Brutus

Julius Caesar                          Act II, scene i, line 303

Well I suppose you think that I would just post a picture of my noble wife and be done with it. Perhaps I’ll do just a little reading to see if I can find out what in particular has happened for Brutus to be making this exclamation. I mean, it seems unlikely that he’s just sitting there eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and all of a sudden blurts out O ye gods, render me worthy of this noble wife! I guess it’s possible, but…

As usual, I’ve found something pretty interesting here. Brutus’s exclamation is in response to his wife’s questions about what’s bothering him. She’s noticed that he’s not sleeping, and that something’s really troubling him and she wants to help him, whatever it is. Little does she know, and he’s not going to tell her, that it’s because he’s plotting the assassination of Caesar.

Now, why is that so interesting? Because early today at breakfast I was talking to my wife about why she wasn’t sleeping well. I have to admit that I was not professing as strong a devotion to her as Portia was to Caesar, nor was she about to exclaim O ye gods, render me worthy of this noble husband! But just the fact that we were discussing the same thing is pretty interesting. And by the way, I’m almost certain that she’s not planning any assassinations. Jeez, I hope she’d not.

So here's the kitchen where yesterday morning we were discussing the sleep thing. I couldn't think of anything better for today's pic. Sorry.