My curses on her!

 

-Lear

King Lear                                Act II, Scene iv, Line 190

Wow! And he’s talking about his daughter. Goneril has pretty much thrown him out, and he’s come to Regan expecting to be welcomed. However, Regan is suggesting that he go back and apologize to Goneril. To which he replies, My curses on her! Well that’s a pretty strong statement, especially considering that he’s speaking about his daughter.

Again, wow. 

 

This here guy in the green whatever-it-is was backing up traffic on one of my trips out to western Pennsylvania one afternoon. I wonder if I was saying to myself, 'My curses on him!' 

Nah, probably not.

 

His face was as the heavens; and therein stuck

A sun and moon, which kept their course, and lighted

The little O, the earth.

  -Cleopatra

 Antony and Cleopatra                         Act V, Scene ii, Line 79

 

Antony has just died, a few pages back, and now Dolabella, one of Caesar’s lackeys, has come to talk to Cleopatra. I should say, he’s trying to talk to her, but she’s not listening to him, she’s just talking to herself, musing on her love, Antony. I like this passage and the way she describes Antony. Check it out.

 

Cleo

I dreamt there was an emperor, Antony:--

O, such another sleep, that I might see

But such another man!

 

Dol

                        If it might please ye,-

 

Cleo

His face was as the heavens; and therein stuck

A sun and moon, which kept their course, and lighted

The little O, the earth.

 

Dol

                        Most sovereign creature,--

 

Cleo

His legs bestrid the ocean: his rear’d arm

Crested the world; his voice was propertied

As all the tuned spheres, and that to friends;

But when he meant to quail and shake the orb,

He was as rattling thunder. For his bounty,

There was no winter in’t; an autumn ‘twas

That grew the more by reaping: his delights

Were dolphin-like; they show’d his back above

That element they lived in: in his livery

Walkt crowns and crownets; realms and islands were

As plates dropt from his pocket.

 

Dol

                        Cleopatra,--

 

Cleo

Think you there was, or might be, such a man

As this I dreamt of?

 

Dol

                        Gentle madam, no.

 

Oh yes there is, or was. At least as far as Cleopatra is concerned, there certainly was such a man.

And who do we have here? Well, it's someone who certainly thinks his face was as the heavens and that realms and islands were as plates dropt from his pockets. But such is not the case. This is Gaston, not Antony. Sorry Gaston.

 

It would become me

As well as it does you: And I should do it

With much more ease; for my good will is to it,

And yours it is against.

 

-Miranda

 The Tempest                  Act III, Scene i, Line 28

 

Well, back to The Tempest. And of course we have a pic for this one. Good line, good pic, good day.

So here is a pic from the book of this scene. That's a rough draft on the right and the finished product on the left. 

 

That, trusted home,

Might yet enkindle you unto the crown,

Besides the Thane of Cawdor. But ‘tis strange:

And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,

The instruments of darkness tell us truths,

Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s

In deepest consequence.—

Cousins, a word, I pray you.

 -Banquo

 Macbeth                                  Act I, Scene iii, Line 119

 

Good line today, folks. Here’s your context: Banquo and Macbeth have just finished talking to the witches who told the fellows that Banquo’s son would be king, and Macbeth himself would be Thane of Cawdor, and then king. As soon as the witches disappear Ross and Angus show up and tell Macbeth that he has been made the Thane of Cawdor by order of the king. Macbeth is instantly excited, and takes this to mean that all of the prophesies of the witches will come true. But Banquo, he’s a bit more circumspect, as noted by today’s line. And, of course, he is wise to be so. His words are quite prophetic.

They are really good words to listen to in a general sense as well. The instruments of darkness (and you can decide what those instruments might be, and from what darkness they come) tell us truths, and win us to our harm with honest trifles, only to betray us later to a very important consequence. So maybe we should be careful about who we listen to truths from, and from whom we accept honest trifles. Think about it. 

Well, I couldn't think of anything for a relevant pic today. However...this is a picture of the side of a Viking longboat taken in Oslo. You can see that some of the planks are original (dug up out of the ground at an archeological site), and some are new (added during the reconstruction). I think it's an interesting picture when you look close. Relevance? Well, the battle that Macbeth helped win, and for which he is being awarded the title of Thane of Cawdor, was fought against, you guessed it, Norway. This is laid out in the today's scene a few lines previous to today's Totally Random line. How about that?

 

I have great comfort from this fellow: methinks he hath no drowning-mark upon  him; his complexion is perfect gallows.

 -Gonzalo

 The Tempest                      Act I, Scene i, Line 28

  

What a great line! Gonzalo is standing on deck in a storm. People are running all over the place, and many are afraid that this is the end. But Gonzalo looks at one of the crewmen and decides that this fellow has the look of someone who’s destined to be hanged, not drowned. And so Gonzalo is now convinced that the ship is not going down, and there’s he’s in no danger of drowning. I love it.

 

Well today's pic is perhaps the easiest one so far to pick. It's a drawing of the immortal Gonzalo speaking this very line. How about that!

 

And do you tell me of a woman’s tongue,

That gives not half so great a blow to th’ear

As will a chestnut in a farmer’s fire?

 

-Petruchio

The Taming Of The Shrew          Act I, Scene ii, Line 206

 

Petruchio has decided to set his sights on Katharina, and the boys are trying to warn him what a shrew she is. His response is to name all the things he’s dealt with.

        Have I not in my time heard lions roar?

Have I not heard the sea, puft up with winds,

Rage like an angry boar chafed with sweat?

Have I not heard great ordnance in the field,

And heaven’s artillery thunder in the sky?

Have I not in a pitched battle heard

Loud ‘larums, neighing steeds, and trumpet’s clang?

And do you tell me of a woman’s tongue,

That gives not half so great a blow to th’ear

As will a chestnut in a farmer’s fire?

Tush, tush! Fear boys with bugs.

 

That Petruchio is a man’s man!

 

Given the mention of a chestnut in today's line, I guess it was pretty much inevitable that I would give you a picture of Chestnut.

 

But time hath rooted out my parentage,

And to the world and awkward casualties

Bound me in servitude. – [aside] I will desist;

But there is something glows upon my cheek,

And whispers in mine ear, ‘Go not till he speak’.

-Marina

 

Pericles                        Act V, Scene i, Line 93

 

Here we have Marina talking to Pericles, her father. But if I’m not mistaken, as of yet she doesn’t realize that this guy is her father, and nor does he realize that Marina is his daughter. It’s a pretty typical ending for one of Will’s comedies. And it’ll all be resolved over the course of this scene and the next. You can reason, though, that Will more than makes up for these ridiculously happy endings with the endings of some of his tragedies.

Now, as to the verbiage; I believe that time hath rooted out my parentage means that time has taken away her parents; or at least that's what she thinks. That’s interesting phraseology, isn’t it? I guess you could say that time hath rooted out my parentage too, since both of them have moved on. Right?

And here are those two parents, before time rooted them out on me. In this pic they are sitting with two of their grandchildren, also known as my two Cordelias. Time does march on, doesn't it. Yes it does.