He seems to be a stranger; but his present is

A wither’d branch, that’s only green at top;

The motto, ‘In hac spe vivo.’

 

-Thaisa

Pericles                           Act II, Scene ii, Line 45

 

Let’s see, Pericles is traveling, he gets shipwrecked and washed up on the shores of a strange land (with his armor, of course) and immediately decides to take part in a knights tournament, where the winner will get the hand of the King’s daughter. In this scene the knights are parading in front of King Simonides and his daughter Thaisa. She describes each knight in turn as they pass the reviewing stand, and Today’s Totally Random Line is her description of the last knight, who just happens to be Pericles. The motto, ‘In hac spe vivo’ translates to ‘In this hope I live.’ At least, according to G.B. Harrison that’s what it translates to. If I’m correct, the wither’d branch and the motto are seen on Pericle’s shield (which must have washed up on shore with his armor).

So, what’s it all mean Basil? I suppose the hope is in the green leaves that exist on the wither’d, dying branch, green leaves signifying life? That seems to make sense.

Here you go- perfect example. You can see all the dead branches, but there's still live branches in there too. Well, I cleared out all the dead and it turned out that there's two separate rhododendron bushes in there: one mostly live, one all dead. I got rid of the dead one, and now the live one looks like it might do okay. 

How about that!

 

 

If I begin the battery once again,

I will not leave the half-achieved Harfleur

Till in her ashes she lie buried.

 

-Henry

King Henry the Fifth                      Act III, Scene iii, Line 8

 

King Henry is outside the gates of the French town of Harfleur, talking to the governor of the town (you’d think it would be a mayor, but what do I know). He is telling him that if he surrenders his town, the English will show mercy. He is also telling him that if he makes Henry take the town by force, Henry will not attempt to hold back his men from pillaging. Henry goes into significant detail as to what that pillaging will entail.  

         The gates of mercy shall be all shut up;

        And the flesht soldier, -rough and hard of heart,-

        In liberty of bloody hand shall range

        With conscience wide as hell; mowing like grass

        Your fresh-fair virgins and your flowering infants.

 

He goes on, array’d in flames…waste and desolation…heads dasht to walls…infants spitted on spikes for thirty-four more lines, ending of course with a rhyming couplet. By the end of his speech I’m shouting at the governor Surrender the town! Surrender the town! Thankfully, he does. I hope the French were good to their word!

So what do we have here, and how could it possibly be relevant. Well, let me tell you. The relevance is war, and the ravages of war. I think it's safe to say that's a takeaway from today's line. On a similar note, owing to the news of Russians fleeing Putin's new draft (presumably to escape being involved in the ravages of war), I thought it would be interesting to do a little research on the fellow who's name I bear, who supposedly fled Lithuania in the late 1800's, similar to today's Russians, to escape being conscripted into the Russian army (and avoid being involved in the ravages of war). The first thing I needed was a date as to when John Blagys did this fleeing. Luckily my sister has spent the time working on this stuff and I was able to do a screen print from an Ancestry.com page of a 1910 census page. There he is, at the top of the page, and if you zoom in you will see that column 15 is Year of Immigration to the United States. John put in 1891. Now I have to do a little history research and see if the family story makes sense based on what was going on in Lithuania and Russia in that year. 

Wish me luck. 

 

 

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.