‘But if thou needs wilt hunt, be ruled by me;

Uncouple at the timorous flying hare,

Or at the fox which lives by subtlety,

Or at the roe which no encounter dare:

Pursue these fearful creatures o’er the downs,

And on thy well-breathed horse keep with thy hounds.

 

-Venus

Venus and Adonis                           Lines 673 - 678

 

There are all sorts of things to talk about here, but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to give you a little bit of context. 

Venus is talking to Adonis. She’s been trying unsuccessfully to seduce him throughout this poem, and now he’s told her that he’s going to go boar hunting tomorrow. Venus is fearful that he’s going to get himself killed by a boar, so she’s trying to talk him out of it. In this stanza she’s suggesting that he hunt rabbits, or foxes, or roes (fish eggs?) instead, and to stay on his horse with his dogs around him. It turns out that her fears are well based since Adonis does indeed manage to get himself killed in the boar hunt. Bummer. 

Anyway, I’ve been reading a book lately titled Shakespeare Of London. I don’t know, I just like reading about Will and about the world he lived in. This particular book’s got a 1949 copyright, so it’s not a recently written biography (the oldest Shakespeare biography that I’ve read so far is by J.Q. Adams with a 1923 copyright). I picked it up last weekend in a little used book shop in Stroudsburg PA called Carroll and Carroll Booksellers. A wonderful little shop, if you like books ( I don’t think they have a website, so you’re just going to have to make a trip to Stroudsburg if you want to check them out). I was doing a little reading of the book this morning whilst having my first cup of coffee, and I was on a section about the London playhouses being closed in 1593 due to the plague (and by the way, the steps that London took in response to the plague had a lot in common with the steps taken in 2020-21; go figure). So, since he couldn’t write plays, what do you think Will wrote in 1593-4? Yup, you guessed it: Venus and Adonis. And then I come down here to my office and what line do I randomly come up with? Venus and Adonis. Amazing.

Well, now that I’ve given you that little spiel, what else should we talk about? The fact that for two days in a row our random line ends with hound(s)? Yesterday’s hound was an insult (calling a man a dog) and today’s hounds are literal (talking about the hunting dogs). That’s a little bit random. Should we talk about the salacious language of the poem? Nah. In fact, I think I may have used up my ten minutes of fame for this morning, so we’ll just leave you to your own devices from here on in. 

But please, no boar hunting today. Or tomorrow. 

The aforementioned book.

 

Stain all your edges on me.—Boy! False hound!

 

-Caius Marcius Coriolanus

Coriolanus                      Act V Scene vi, Line 112

 

This is the last scene of the play and Coriolanus is seconds away from being slain by Tulles Aufidius and a group of his soldiers. When he says stain all your edges on me he’s talking about his red blood on the edges of their swords. He spits the word Boy at Aufidius and calls him a false hound. Aufidius had called Coriolanus a boy of tears a few lines earlier. I guess that not too many men like to be called boy. Here’s Caius Marcius’s full response.

        Cut me to pieces, Volsces; men and lads, 

        Stain all your edges on me.—Boy! False hound!

        If you have writ your annals true, ‘tis there,

        That, like an eagle in a dove-cote, I

        Flutter’d your Volscians in Corioli:

        Alone I did it.—Boy!

 Twice he calls Aufidius Boy. Earlier, when Aufidius had called Coriolanus a boy of tears he had called him Cauis Marcius, telling him that Coriolanus was a name that he stole.

         Ay, Marcius, Caius Marcius: dost thou think

Ill grace thee with that robbery, thy stol’n name

Coriolanus, in Corioli?

 Well they’re in Corioli now, and that’s the Volscian city that Coriolanus got his honorary name from. Early on in the play he had helped the Romans defeat the Volscians in Corioli. That’s what Coriolanus is referring to when he talks about being an eagle in a dove-cote.

So, yah, that should be a pretty satisfactory explanation of everything here. This really is one of my favourites of Will’s plays. I’m sure I’ve said that before, but, whatevs.

Sorry, no pic today. 

 

Give me thy hand. I do begin to have bloody thoughts.

 

-Stephano

The Tempest                    Act IV Scene i, Line 219

 

This is right before they see the clothes hanging on the line that Propsero has left out as bait, and it is also right before Prospero springs the trap and chases Stephano, Trinculo, and Caliban off with dogs.

Previous to today’s Totally Random Line is Caliban talking about killing Prospero so that Stephano could be king of the island. That’s why Stephano is having bloody thoughts, but these thoughts are interrupted by Trinculo, who sees the clothes, 

O King Stephano! O peer! O worthy Stephano! Look what a wardrobe is here for thee!

And then the two of them start fighting over the clothes. Note that the two humans are easily distracted. The sub-human Caliban is not fooled at all. What does that tell you?

I'm keying in on wardrobe, as opposed to bloody thoughts for today's pic. So, here's your favorite blogger with a new look. Actually, not a new wardrobe, but a new haircut, which is not the same thing, but at least it's sort of related. Isn't it?

 

 

Hail to thee, worthy Timon, and to all

That of his bounties taste!

 

-Cupid

Timon of Athens                      Act I Scene ii, Line 123

 

This is Cupid talking, but it’s Cupid in a masque, which is not to be confused with Cupid in a mask. Although, it is possible that he has a mask on. Confused? Let me explain. A masque is a show, sort of a pageant. It usually involves a bunch of people dressed up in elaborate costumes performing some choreographed display, often including music. Apparently, they performed masques in Shakespeare’s time. In this case, we are seeing a show within the play. Timon is having a masque performed at his home for his guests, and Cupid is one of the players in the masque. Capiche?

This is Walker the kudu. Now it may not seem like this picture has any relevance, but on the way driving in today I was listening to some music and George Benson's Ode to a Kudu came up. So in that sense, this is a highly relevant picture. In terms of relevance to today's Totally Random Line, well not so much.

 

O, behold,

The riches of the ship is come on shore!

Ye men of Cyprus, let her have your knees.

Hail to thee, lady! And the grace of heaven,

Before, behind thee, and on every hand,

Enwheel thee round!

 

-Michael Cassio

Othello                    Act II Scene i, Line 86

 

Well, I couldn’t give you just the one line I picked, which was Before, behind thee, and on every hand; that, at the very least needed the line before and after it to make it complete. And then I thought that since I was giving you three lines, I might as well give you the three lines previous to that which really make it fully complete. Then I started going back further and actually considered giving you even more, because in the paragraphs previous Cassio goes even further in his praise of Desdemona. He talks about a maid that paragons description and wild fame; One that extols the quirks of blazoning pens. He also talks about how the tempests themselves…do omit their mortal natures, letting go safely by the divine Desdemona. I never realized before how far Cassio goes in his praise of Desdemona. It becomes a little more obvious as to why Iago picked Cassio to make Othello jealous. The way he talks about Othello’s wife makes it already seem like he might have designs on her.

But hold on; there’s some interesting language in here that we should look at. First, the riches of the ship is come on shore! Sounds like a grammatical error: singular verb for a plural noun. However, it turns out that the ship’s riches is singular: Desdemona is come on shore.

How about the grace of heaven, before, behind thee and on every hand, enwheel thee round. It sounds pretty good, but what exactly does that mean?

And finally, how about being a maid that extols the quirks of blazoning pens? Got any idea what that means? Let’s think: a blazoning pen is a pen that’s writing something big or important. To extol is to praise. Uh, forget it.

 

In troth, I think she would.—Fare you well, then.

-Valeria

Coriolanus                      Act I, scene iii, line 109

 

This is Valeria talking to Volumnia about Virgilia. That’s a lot of V’s. Valeria has been trying to talk Vigilia, her friend, into coming out with her to go do something. Vigilia insists that she won’t leave the house until her husband Coriolanus is home from the battles. Volumnia, Coriolanus’s mother, has just said to Valeria, Let her alone, lady: as she is now, she will but disease our better mirth. That is what Valeria is responding to with Today’s Totally Random Line. In troth, is In truth. 

I find it interesting that these three women, the only women in the play other than a few unnamed extras, all have V names. And further, can you imagine any woman embracing the name Volumnia? It makes me think Voluminus and, ergo, Fatso. 

Volumnia will end up playing a small, but very pivotal, role in the play later on when she talks Coriolanus out of sacking Rome. But for today, she’s just the mother-in-law to Virgilia.

Finally, disease our better mirth. That's a very cool little turn of phrase. I like that, and perhaps I'll use that one, if I can manage to remember it. My wife is always calling me a party pooper. I'll respond with, What, are you afraid I'm going to disease your better mirth?

Yeah, she likes to enjoy life. I do my best not to disease her better mirth.

 

His speech was like a tangled chain; nothing impaired, but all disordered. Who is next?

-Theseus

A Midsummer Night’s Dream       Act V, scene i, line 125

 

Prologue

If we offend, it is with our good will.

That you should think, we come not to offend,

But with good will. To show our simple skill

That is the true beginning of our end.

Consider, then, we come but in despite.

We do not come as minding to content you,

Our true intent is. All for your delight,

We are not here. That you should here repent you,

The actors are at hand; and, by their show,

You shall know all that you are like to know.

 

This is the prologue to the play within the play, and it is what Theseus is referring to as like a tangled chain. I don’t know which of the players is speaking the Prologue, but I like to think it’s Peter Quince, the carpenter. 

I have to agree with Theseus, though, the line breaks and the punctuation, and the words are a little bit out of whack. The question is whether or not Prologue/Peter is purposefully doing it this way. Probably not. As far as Theseus's question of who’s next? Well, it's more of the Prologue, continuing to tell Theseus and the other viewers what’s happening next in the play. 

The play within a play takes up a major part of Act Five, Scene One, and since this is the last scene of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the play within a play and the play itself end almost concurrently. So that's kind of interesting.

Tangled Chains