What’s the matter,

That in these several places of the city

You cry against the noble senate, who,

Under the gods, keep you in awe, which else

Would feed on one another?

 

-Caius Marcius

Coriolanus                      Act I, Scene i, Line 181

I’m not sure where to go with this. We’ve posted on this scene a few times already, and Coriolanus is a complex character. But then, who of Will’s characters isn’t?

How’s about this: rather than talk about it, why don’t we take a look/listen? I’ve found this scene on YouTube. It’s the Ralph Fiennes version and it’s fabulous. They’ve set the tale in the twenty-first century, but they’ve kept Will’s words, albeit abridged. In fact, this first scene is severely shortened, but Today’s Totally Random Line made the cut. It’s right past the two minute mark in the video.

Check it out and let me know what you think. I think Fiennes is brilliant.

 

(139) The Tragedy of Coriolanus - Act 1, Scene 1 - YouTube

 

 

Hold; get you gone, be strong and prosperous

In this resolve: I’ll send a friar with speed

To Mantua, with my letters to thy lord.

 

-Friar Laurence

Romeo and Juliet            Act IV, Scene i, Line 122

 

Good ol’ Friar Laurence. We’ve talked about him before; a piece of work. He’s setting Juliet up right here with his infamous plot of faking her death so as to be able to get away with Romeo. And we all know how well that works out.

Not.

 

Oh my, two pics in a row of maps! Well, I like maps (if that wasn't already obvious). And this one (cut and pasted from Google Maps)  shows you the distance from Verona (upper center) to Mantua (it's down in the bottom left outlined in red - the word 'Mantua' is not on the map). You can see from the scale in the bottom right of the map that the distance from Verona to Mantua is about fifteen miles. So, do you think that Friar Knucklehead will get the message to Romeo in Mantua? No, of course he won't.

Oyy!

 

 

What, gone, my lord, and bid me not farewell!

 

-Duchess of Gloster

Henry the Sixth Part II           Act II, Scene iv, Line 85

 

And here’s Gloster’s reply to his wife as she is being led away to banishment on the Isle of Man. 

Witness my tears, I cannot stay to speak. 

He doesn’t appear to be all that upset that he’s probably seeing his wife for the last time ever. If I’m not mistaken though, Gloster will be meeting a bad end fairly soon, so don’t waste too much time thinking poorly of him. He’s not worth it.

Just in case you were wondering, the Isle of Man is that little island between the United Kingdom and Ireland. If you look close, you can see it, and right below it you can see 'Man'. 

So, you get your daily Shakespeare and a geography lesson, all in one today. No extra charge.

 

Let me excuse thee: ah, my love well knows

Her pretty looks have been mine enemies;

And therefore from my face she turns my foes,

That they might elsewhere dart their injuries:

 

-Sonnet 139

Line 11

Here is the third quatrain of the Sonnet 139. Since each quatrain is built around one thought, it seems reasonable to give you those four lines together. Q1 one addresses the lover, asking that he or she not wound the writer of the sonnet by looking at him. Q2 asks him or her to just tell the writer that he or she loves someone else, don’t show him. The third quatrain, above, admits that his love is indeed sparing him the pain of his or her looks, but the final couplet pleads the opposite – for him or her to just go ahead and put him out of his misery.

Yet do not so; but since I am near slain,

Kill me outright with looks, and rid my pain.

 

Well, what do you think? No pic today, just words. And hopefully thoughts.

 

Your son, my lord, has paid a soldier’s debt:

He only lived but till he was a man;

The which no sooner had his prowess confirm’d

In the unshrinking station where he fought,

But like a man he died.

 

-Ross

Macbeth                          Act V, Scene viii, Line 42

The unshrinking station. I love that. You don’t hear that being used, but you could. Will is talking about a battle station, but you could apply this to any station in life. A parent’s need to always be there to care for a kid is an unshrinking station. A breadwinner’s need to always be supporting their family is an unshrinking station. It goes on and on.

So that’s our two words for the day: unshrinking station. Got it?

Keeping up on this blog is an unshrinking station.

 

Soft and swiftly, sir; for the priest is ready.

 

-Biondello

The Taming of the Shrew                Act V, Scene i, Line 1

This is the scene where Lucentio is sneaking off to marry Bianca. Today’s Totally Random Line is Biondello speaking to his master, Lucentio. Most of this scene takes place without Lucentio and Bianca, but they show up towards the end of it, married. That’s about it. That’s about all I’ve got today. Sorry.

I was talking to my daughter this morning, and she mentioned something about one of my blog posts. I told her that I was unaware that she read my blog. She replied that she just looked at the pictures and read the captions. 

Here's a pic of the caption reader.

 

 

 

Marcus, unknit that sorrow-wreathen knot:

Thy niece and I, poor creatures, want our hands,

And cannot passionate our tenfold grief

With folded arms. This poor right hand of mine

Is left to tyrannize upon my breast;

Who, when my heart, all mad with misery,

Beats in this hollow prison of my flesh,

Then thus I thump it down.

-Titus

Titus Andronicus                             Act III, Scene ii, Line 11

Man, I remember why I found Titus so upsetting. When they’re not hacking people to death, they’re laying this language on me. Just read that out loud to yourself. The language is alive.

Sorrow wreathen knot

Cannot passionate our tenfold grief

Tyrannize upon my breast

Hollow prison of my flesh

Thus I thump it down

Oyy! Read the whole passage again.

And again.

Can you hear the genius of the writer? Please tell me you can. Or maybe you’re just not listening.

No pic today; just words.