Wouldst thou do such a deed for all the world?

 

-Desdemona

Othello                            Act IV Scene iii, Line 66

The deed that Desdemona is asking Emilia about is cheating on her husband. Emilia answers that if it was truly for ‘all the world’, she would do it, but not for anything less. Desdemona says that she wouldn’t cheat on her husband for anything. 

This is a very sad scene as Desdemona has sensed her forthcoming demise and talks about it with Emilia. Before they get into the discussion about cheating, Desdemona sings a sad song. I think you would appreciate it more if you heard Desdemona sing the song, but regardless, I think I’ll give you the words.

         The poor soul sat sighing by a sycamore tree,

                        Sing all a green willow;

        Her hand on her bosom, her head on her knee,

                Sing willow, willow, willow;

        The fresh streams ran by her, and murmur’d her moans;

                Sing willow, willow, willow;

        Her salt tears fell from her, and soften’d the stones;

                Sing willow, willow, willow;

        Sing all a green willow must be my garland.

        Let nobody blame him; his scorn I approve,

(Desdemona corrects herself after this line, ‘Nay, that’s not next’, but then continues.)

        I call’d my love false love; but what said he then?

                Sing willow, willow, willow;

        If I court moe women, you’ll couch with moe men.

And this leads to Desdemona asking Emilia the question which is today's Totally Random line. 

So sad.

You're wondering what the heck these are pictures of, and I'm going to tell you. The top one is an old black and white photo that my sister Jean took of the willow tree that was at the bottom of the street where I grew up. My dad always told us that my grandfather planted that willow. The picture below that is a pic that I just snapped of a piece of the tree in the photo. When they cut the tree down, forty or so years ago, I grabbed a piece of it to save. And I still have it. 

Sing willow, willow, willow.

 

 

O, that’s an honest fellow. –Do not doubt, Cassio,

But I will have my lord and you again

As friendly as you were.

 

-Desdemona

Othello                       Act III Scene iii, Line 5

The first part of this quote is Desdemona talking to Iago’s wife Emilia, and, of course, the one being referred to as an honest fellow is, you guessed it, Iago; good ‘ol, honest Iago. In the remainder of today’s Totally Random line she has turned to address Michael Cassio, assuring him that she will speak to Othello on his behalf.

So, this is line 5 of scene iii, a scene with 478 lines. This morning I listened to the full scene, about a half hour long. It’s a fabulous scene.  Othello walks into the scene a few lines down from today’s Totally Random line in perfect contentment. He leaves the scene some four hundred lines later convinced of Desdemona’s infidelity with Cassio and thinking about how he will murder her: Damn her, lewd minx! O, damn her! 

In between, honest Iago works his spell in the most dishonest way; good ‘ol honest Iago.

 

 

We four indeed confronted were with four

In Russian habit: here they stay’d an hour,

And talkt apace; and in that hour, my lord,

They did not bless us with one happy word.

 

-Rosaline

Love’s Labour’s Lost                 Act V Scene ii, Line 370

Russians, eh? How about that. Yup, this is Shakespeare, and yup, this is a Totally Random line. So…. Russians, eh? Not a lot of happy words coming out of Russian mouths today either, is there? Good ‘ol timeless Will.

 

Hath there been a time—I’ld fain know that—

That I have positively said ‘’Tis so,’

When it proved otherwise?

 

-Polonius

Hamlet                               Act II Scene ii, Line 153

So Polonius sounds pretty sure about whatever it is that he just told the King and Queen. What did he tell him? He told them that Hamlet is mad, and that the cause of his madness is that he’s in love with Polonius’s daughter Ophelia. Do you think ‘tis this, asks the King. It may be, very like, says the Queen. To which Polonius replies with today’s Totally Random line, and to which the King replies, Not that I know.

So, there you have it. Our friend Polonius has it all figured out, and when he says ‘Tis so, it is so.

Or is it?

So we went to a two hour art class a few years back, myself, Patrice, and Walker. The object was for everyone to paint the same picture, and the teacher walked us through the steps of doing it. 

Patrice's picture came out quite good, looking very much like the model picture that everyone was copying from.

Pete's picture? Well, not nearly as good as Patrice's, but not too bad.

And Walker's picture? It seems to have incorporated a snake and a spider into it. Is the young fellow mad, like Hamlet? No, I think not; just a bit more creative, I think. Yes, 'tis so.

 

 

Take him hence, to the rack with him! We’ll touse you

Joint by joint, but we will know his purpose.

 

-Escalus

Measure For Measure             Act V Scene i, Line 313

Well, it almost sounds like a continuation of yesterday’s line. Bind him to the chair! Send him to the rack! But not quite. This fellow’s not going to end up going to the rack or anywhere else. It’s the Duke, still in disguise, that they’re talking about sending to the rack. He’s seeing just exactly how the town is being run since he left Angelo in charge, and he’s telling them so. The Duke claims he’s just a visitor in Vienna,

 

        Where I have seen corruption boil and bubble

        Till it o’errun the stew – laws for all faults,

        But faults so countenanced that the strong statutes

        Stand like the forfeits in a barber’s shop,

        As much in mock as mark.

 

The forfeits in a barber’s shop are the teeth that the barber has pulled. Remember if you will, back in those pre-dentistry days the barbers were also tooth pullers, and they’d display these pulled teeth with pride, for people to see. The Duke is comparing the laws of Vienna to those teeth which could be as much in mock as mark, that is to say, mocked as well as simply observed.

For the umpteenth time I’ll say it and I’ll say it quite simply: The relevance of Will’s words is timeless.

Rather than give you a really appropriate pic (because I couldn't come up with one), here's sleeping Nutsy. 

She's oblivious to laws, teeth, and pretty much everything else, but she's cute; totally irrelevant to today's line, but cute.

 

Which is that god in office, guiding men?

Which is the high and mighty Agamemnon?

 

-Aeneas

Troilus and Cressida      Act I Scene iii, Line 232

Aeneas has a message for Agamemnon. He is speaking to the same, and I’m not sure if he actually doesn’t know that he’s talking to Agamemnon, or if he’s just pretending not to know it’s Agamemnon. Either way, don’t you think that Agamemnon has to be suspicious of someone praising him thusly?

I saw Bird, and I said Hi Bird, and he looked at me. 

Then I said Oh high and mighty Bird, the god of this household, guider of all cats. And he gave me this look. That's the look I would have expected Agamemnon to give Aeneas.

 

 

The earth can have but earth, which is his due;

Sonnet 74         Line 7

Ah, what the heck, I’ll give you the whole thing. It’s only fourteen lines and pretty easy to understand. The fell arrest in the first line is, I believe, death; just in case that was giving you trouble.

 

But be contented: when that fell arrest

Without all bail shall carry me away,

My life hath in this line some interest,

Which for memorial still with thee shall stay.

 

When thou reviewest this, thou dust review

The very part was consecrate to thee:

The earth can have but earth, which is his due;

My spirit is thine, the better part of me:

 

So, then, thou hast but lost the dregs of life,

The prey of worms, my body being dead;

The coward conquest of a wretched knife,

Too base of thee to be remembered.

 

The worth of that is that which it contains,

And that is this, and this with thee remains.

 

And there you go. I added the spaces between every four lines and that last two lines. I think it’s really easier to understand the sonnets when you take it this way. Each of those four line segments has its own piece of the total.

It’s pretty much the same theme as the summer’s day sonnet. That one ends with so long lives this, and this gives life to thee (I had to look it up). That poem talks about the poem giving the subject of the poem everlasting life. In this one we're talking about the sonnet giving him, the writer/speaker eternal life. Either way, the words grant eternal life, and the physical body is eventually just worm food. 

Well, we’re still talking about Will and his words four hundred years later, and Will is way past the worm food stage. Sooo…..words, eh?

No pic today. Just words.