Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

 

And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,

 

Armado

Love’s Labour’s Lost            Act V, Scene ii, Line 892

Blows his nail is an idiom that means twiddles his thumbs. This is in the middle of a song that ends the play. I’m not quite sure who’s singing, even though I put Amado as the speaker, because the final two lines of the play, after the song ends, are credited to Armado.

Nevertheless, I like the song. Here it is.

 

SPRING

When daisies pied and violets blue

And lady-smocks all silver-white

And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue

Do paint the meadows with delight,

The cuckoo then, on every tree,

Mocks married men; for thus sings he, Cuckoo;

Cuckoo, cuckoo: O word of fear,

Unpleasing to a married ear!

When shepherds pipe on oaten straws

And merry larks are ploughmen’s clocks,

When turtles tread, and rooks, and daws,

And maidens bleach their summer smocks

The cuckoo then, on every tree,

Mocks married men; for thus sings he, Cuckoo;

Cuckoo, cuckoo: O word of fear,

Unpleasing to a married ear!

 

WINTER

When icicles hang by the wall

And Dick the shepherd blows his nail

And Tom bears logs into the hall

And milk comes frozen home in pail,

When blood is nipp’d and ways be foul,

Then nightly sings the staring owl, Tu-whit;

Tu-who, a merry note,

While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

When all aloud the wind doth blow

And coughing drowns the parson’s saw

And birds sit brooding in the snow

And Marian’s nose looks red and raw

When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,

Then nightly sings the staring owl, Tu-whit;

Tu-who, a merry note,

While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

 

I’m not sure what makes Joan greasy, but keeling the pot means cooling it. Maybe it’s a hot, greasy pot, and that’s how Joan got greasy. Who knows?

Okay, I was behind this car this morning. So, look at his taillights, which are also his blinkers. The one on the right points left and the one on the left points right. So when he's signaling to go right, the arrow points left, and visa versa. The heck with the greasy pot, I want to know who the idiot is who designed these taillights. 

 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

  

God’s arm strike with us! ‘tis a fearful odds.

 

Salisbury

King Henry the Fifth     Act IV, Scene iii, Line 5

Salisbury is talking about the Battle of Agincourt which the English are about to go fight. They are outnumbered roughly two to one by the French (yes, I had to Google that number) but they’re going to win, nonetheless. In fact, even with those odds, there will be approximately ten times as many French casualties as English; something to do with the use of the longbow. It's still considered by the English as one of their greatest military victories ever. No wonder Will made a play out of it.

So there's your expression for the day, to be used any time you're going into battle, figuratively or otherwise. God's arm strike with us!

So, God’s arm really did strike with them. God’s arm. Interesting.

 

Okay, it's not God's arm; but it is an arm. And a dirty keyboard, and a lamp, and a telephone, and a window, and a blue post-it note, and a this, that, and the other thing.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Whereto my finger, like a dial’s point,

Richard

King Richard the Second       Act V, Scene v, Line 52

So you’re thinking, ‘Ah, great- a nice short line.’ No such luck.

We’ve come to one of my favourite soliloquies. ‘Oh oh,’ you’re saying to yourself, ‘here he goes.’ Well, you’re right.

Okay, we have Richard sitting in his prison cell, contemplating life. He’s been deposed by Bolingbroke. This speech is broken into five or six parts. Let me first give you the start of the speech. I’m sure you’ll like it.

I have been studying how I may compare

This prison where I live unto the world:

And, for because the world is populous,

And here is not a creature but myself,

I cannot do it; -- yet I’ll hammer it out.

And then he goes on to talk about peopling his world with all the thoughts he can create. And he talks about himself playing different parts, before interrupting himself to talk about the music that he’s hearing in the distance. He connects the thought of the time being kept, or miskept, by the music to time in general, and gets into the section of the speech on time, and that’s where today’s line falls. Here’s that full section of his speech on time.

I wasted time, and now doth time waste me;

For now hath time made me his numbering clock;

My thoughts are minutes; and with sighs they jar

Their watches to mine eyes, the outward watch,

Whereto my finger, like a dial’s point,

Is pointing still, in cleansing them from tears;

Now sir, the sound that tells what hour it is,

Are clamorous groans, which strike upon my heart,

Which is the bell: so sighs and tears and groans

Show minutes, times, and hours:-- but my time

Runs posting on in Bolingbroke’s proud joy,

While I stand fooling here, his Jack o’th’clock.

Then he gets back to the music which he now finds maddening, for he sees it as a sign of love in this all-hating world.

One definition: posting means speeding. 

And that’s your lesson for today in King Richard the Second.

Time; twenty-first century time. 

No dial's point.

No bell.

And yet, it runs posting, posting on. 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

 

Caesar: and that, having in Sicily

Sextus Pompeius spoil’d, we had not rated him

His part of ‘the idls: then does he say he lent me

Some shipping unrestored: lastly, he frets

That Lepidus of the triumvirate

Should be deposed; and, being, that we detain

All his revenue.

 

Octavius Caesar

Antony and Cleopatra    Act III, Scene vi, Line 25

 

Well, where should we go with this? I suppose a bit of context is in order.

Caesar is talking with his flunkies about Marc Antony. Agrippa has just asked Caesar who Antony is accusing, and today’s lines is Caesar’s answer. He remarks that Antony is accusing Caesar (him), and that Antony1. Wants more of the spoils of the victory over Pompius, 2. Claims he lent Caesar some ships that were not paid back, and 3. Wants that they should ditch Lepidus (the third member of the triumvirate) and share his wealth. None of these three demands is making Caesar very happy.

Greed, it’s all about greed. I think greed might be the single most destructive human force; then, now, always.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

  

Come, recreant; come, thou child;

I’ll whip thee with a rod: he is defiled

That draws a sword on thee.

 

Puck

A Midsummer Night’s Dream       Act III, Scene ii, Line 410

 

This is Puck pretending to be Lysander as he lures Demetrius….
Wait, where is he luring Demetrius? I don’t remember. I’ve seen this stupid play live, and I’ve seen it at the movies, but I don’t remember this forest part very well: just a lot of people running around the forest. I know that Bottom ends up with a donkey head, and Titania falls in love with him, but I don’t recall why Puck is leading Demetrius and Lysander around right now.

I do know, however, that Puck reminds me of Ariel in The Tempest, leading Trinculo and Stefano around. For whatever that’s worth: not much, I suppose.

Well, I don't usually steal stuff off the internets, but as you can probably tell, this is a screenshot of an Instagram page. I've no idea who posted it, but I liked it. All seven of them are quite good. No, nothing to do with Puck or Lysander, or even Ariel: just some good words to live by.

Enjoy the weekend. 

 Today’s Totally Random Lines

  

We stood to’t in good time. Is this Menenius?

 

Junius Brutus
Coriolanus                              Act IV, Scene vi, Line

 

Junius Brutus hanging with the other useless politician Sicinius Velutus here. They are congratulating themselves on what a good job they did handling Caius Marcius Coriolanus and how content all the people now are. Here’s the first 9 lines of the scene leading up to today’s line.

We hear not of him, neither need we fear him;
His remedies are tame i’the present peace
And quietness of the people, which before
Were in wild hurry. Here do we make his friends
Blush that the world goes well; who rather had,
Though they themselves did suffer by’t, behold
Dissentious numbers pest’ring streets, than see
Our tradesmen singing in their shops, and going
About their functions friendly.

Velutus is referring to Coriolanus in these lines. Rest assured, Rome is going to be hearing from Coriolanus soon, as this happy little world is all going to go down the tubes when someone comes in to tell them that he has joined with the Volscians and is marching on Rome.

Whenever I look at this play I can’t help but think about 2023 politics. No, it’s not the same, but the play does center on some very short-sighted and stupid politicians. In this case they did their best to get rid of Coriolanus. Of course, Coriolanus seems like he’d be a pretty flawed leader as well. As with today’s world, any time you start talking about politics the only thing for certain that you can say about it is that it’s complicated. That, and the fact that many of the politicians are only out for their own personal interests. Actually, that last part is pretty simple.

This is one of those days where I looked all over for a pic, but came up empty. 

So, sorry, no pic today.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

As good cause as one would desire: therefore weep.

Celia
As You Like It                Act III, Scene iv, Line 5

This is Celia’s response to Rosalind’s question, 

But have I not cause to weep? 

And why does she have cause to weep? It’s because Orlando appears to have stood her up. Simple as that.

Now I forget exactly how this thing goes, but I’m pretty sure it’s an accidental standup, and that by the time this play is over Orlando and Rosalind will be happily together. Remember: it’s a comedy, not a tragedy.

I guess, by and large, we would like our lives to be lived out as comedies. Or at least we would if we were narrowed down to the choice of comedy or tragedy. I suppose that for most of us our lives stories fall somewhere in between. I think though, that the comedic parts are for the most part more enjoyable. Yah, let’s go with that.

This certainly looks like one of those comedic moments from the past. 

Yes, comedic times are good.