Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

                 

You weary those that refresh us: pray, let’s see these four threes of herdsmen.

 

-Shepherd

The Winter’s Tale                  Act IV, Scene iii, Line 338

Well, I’m at a bit of a loss this morning as to what to do with this line. I can give you a little context, but…

Hmmm, what to do, what to do.

Perhaps, nothing. We’ll do nothing. Though we all know - 

     Nothing will come of nothing.

Today's pic? Surely you must have guessed it: Nothing.

 Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

                 

Then none have I offended. I have done no more to Caesar than you shall do to Brutus. The question of his death is enroll’d in the Capitol; his glory not extenuated, wherein he was worthy; nor his offences enforced, for which he suffer’d death. Here comes his body, mourn’d by Marc Antony.

-Marcus Brutus

Julius Caesar                 Act III, Scene ii, Line 39

 

In other words, here comes trouble, though Brutus doesn’t yet realize it.

This is the scene after Caesar has been assassinated by Brutus and his cohorts. Brutus has now appeared before the citizens and explained that he loved Caesar, but he loved Rome more, and that Caesar, if left uncheckt, would have made himself emperor and all the citizens would have become slaves. He asks them who is offended by this, and they all reply none, upon which he makes the closing remarks that are Today’s Totally Random Lines.

Now he’s going to make the fatal mistake of leaving and letting silver tongued Marc Antony speak. Antony’s going to start with the infamous Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears, and by the time he’s done talking everyone is ready to go kill Brutus.

Marcus Brutus made the unenviable mistake of underestimating Antony’s ability to sway people with his words. It’s interesting to note that Brutus’s speech to the masses is written in prose, and Antony’s in verse, no doubt to highlight the eloquence of the latter’s and the lack of eloquence of the former’s.

Never underestimate the power of words. By the same token, never overestimate the intelligence of a mob.

I could easily go political here, but I won't. Instead, since there's talk of the capitol in today's lines, I'll give you a pic of my associates at the capitol. This pic is from an evening in 2012, back in somewhat less politically polarized times. If you want to go full-blown political with today's lines, that's on you.

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

                 

Why tender juvenal? Why tender juvenal?

 

-Moth

Love’s Labour’s Lost                     Act I, Scene ii, Line 11

Two Why? questions in a row. Yesterday Kent was asking the Fool why his question was foolish, and now Moth is asking Costard, his boss so-to-speak, why he is calling him a tender juvenal. Juvenal is pretty much equivalent to the word juvenile. Why?

Moth is sort of the Fool of this play. So many of the plays (particularly the comedies, but also a lot of the tragedies) have a Fool, and some call them Fools whilst in others you sort of have to pick out the Fool for yourself. I’m not sure if Moth is ever referred to as Fool in this play.

It would be handy if the Fools in real life (oh yes, there are Fools in real life; lots of them) were properly titled. It might just make things a little easier. On the other hand, it’s quite clear that in many of Will’s plays the Fool is the smartest guy out there. So, on second thought, I guess having them labeled in real life wouldn’t really do much good, would it?

They say (and I agree with them) that you can always tell a person's age by looking at their hands. 

Look how old this hand looks. Man, that's depressing. 

Clearly no tender juvenal here!

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

                 

Why, fool?

-Kent

King Lear                       Act II, Scene iv, Line 65

Kent asks why Lear has so few men with him, Fool says that’s a stupid question, and Kent asks why, fool; why is that a stupid question?

Fool answers with one of his patently riddley speeches, ending with an eight-line poem. Rather than give you the ten-line speech, I’ll give you the poem:

The sir which serves and seeks for gain,
   And follows but for form,
Will pack when it begins to rain,
   And leave thee in the storm.
But I will tarry; the fool will stay,
   And let the wise man fly:
The knave turns fool that runs away:
   The fool no knave, perdy.

I believe that last word, perdy, is pronounced such as it would rhyme with bird-eye, and it’s an archaic word meaning indeed or certainly.

Wow, now that I read that poem it makes me realize that I need to take a look at the ten difficult lines that precede it. Ahh, but do I have the time. Do you have the time? Let me give it a quick re-read.

Yup, as I thought, there’s a bit there to unpack. Yeah, I’m really fond of that unpack metaphor; almost as fond as I am unfond of the current use of the word hack. You won’t every hear me using that latter word to describe a better way to do something. Don’t ask me why; there’d probably be a lot to unpack there as well.

In any event, I think we’re going to leave the fool’s ten-line speech packed for now. Perhaps some other time we can revisit and unpack.

Patrice is currently in Cally visiting these two rascals. She is constantly on the move and has to do a lot of packing and unpacking; literally, not figuratively.

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

                 

The more degenerate and base art thou,

To make such means for her as thou hast done,

And leave her on such slight conditions.

-Duke

Two Gentlemen of Verona    Act V, Scene iv, Line 136

From what I can tell, he left her because she didn’t want him and wanted Valentine more. So how is that a slight condition, and how does that make him degenerate and base? I dunno, maybe I misunderstood it. I don’t know this play very well. I’ve only posted on it twelve times in the past six and a half years, and never on Act V. It’s not really high on my list of plays to see either.

The enclosed bridge in the background of this pic (taken in Manhattan this past weekend) made me think of the Bridge of Sighs in Venice. I've only seen pictures of that bridge, because I've never been to Venice. But Venice is very high on my list of places to see; much higher than Two Gentlemen of Verona.

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

                 

You know me well; an herein spend but time

To wind about my love with circumstance;

-Antonio

The Merchant of Venice                Act I, Scene i, Line 153

This is the first two lines of an eight-line reply that Antonio makes to Bassanio. I’m afraid that the entire eight lines in one sentence, so I’m going to have to give you the whole thing.

You know me well; and herein spend but time
To wind about my love with circumstance;
And out of doubt you do me now more wrong
In making question of my uttermost
Than if you had made waste of all I have:
Then do but say to me what I should do,
That in your knowledge may be me be done,
And I am prest unto it: therefore, speak.

Yup, there’s a period at the end, there, Yup, there is.

So Bassanio preceded this eight lines of Antonio’s with his little bit about shooting one arrow to find the first. Antonio realizes that Bassanio wants to ask something of him, and he takes the eight lines above to say Alright, already: just tell me what you need!
Bassanio’s reply begins with
In Belmont is a lady richly left.
And we all know where this is going.

Today’s lines, therefore, are eight lines of Antonio essentially telling Bassanio that he would do anything for him. This, among other lines, is the reason that many believe that the relationship between these two guys was more than just friends.

Isn’t it interesting, though, how careful Will is with this. Look at line four above,
In making question of my uttermost,
Uttermost what? Presumably uttermost love. Uttermost by itself can be anything: uttermost contempt, uttermost ambivalence. Did Will leave out the word love for the sake of not having it too obvious to Elizabethan audiences, or did Will have Antoino leave it out for some other reason?

See, that’s what I mean when I say that Will’s works are a treasure trove. They’re full of little nuggets like this that you can marvel over and look at from all sorts of angles.

Uttermost.

This young lady has my uttermost.

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

                 

Let us, like merchants, show our foulest wares,

And think, perchance, they’ll sell; if not,

The lustre of the better yet to show,

Shall show the better.

 

-Ulysses

Troilus and Cressida                         Act I, Scene iii, Line 360

Obviously, Ulysses is not talking about wares, he’s talking about warriors. The Trojans have just issued a challenge for the best of the Greeks to face off against Hector, the Trojan champion. Ulysses is alone with Nestor, arguing that they shouldn’t send Achilles, their best champion, but rather one of their lesser warriors. Why? There are two reasons, he says. Achilles is already overly proud and if he beats Hector he’ll be that much more unbearable to live with. And if Achilles loses, well then the Greeks have lost their best man. It’s a lose, lose.

Does Achilles go to face Hector? If so, does he win or lose? Stay tuned to find out. Actually, staying tuned won’t help because, as you know, tomorrow I’ll most likely be in another play. Oh well, check the Will’s Works, Pete’s Posts section of this blog. Maybe there’s a post there about the fight and its outcome. Maybe not.

 

Okay, so what do you suppose this is a picture of? Well, I'll tell you. I was sitting in my chair this morning and I looked down at my hand and noticed that the sun was glinting off one of the hairs on my hand in an odd way. So I took a pic and blew it up. Yup, that bright vertical line is the sun shining on a hair on the back of my hand. 

Relevance? 

I'm going to say that it's an example of lustre. What do you think of that?