Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

 

An honest man, sir, is able to speak for himself, when a knave is not.

 

Davy

King Henry the Fourth Part II              Act V, Scene i, Line 45

Davy is a really minor character, a servant of Justice Shallow, himself a minor character. The exchange betwixt the two is not to add anything major to the play, but rather to… well I guess I’m not really sure what it’s doing. 

The scene is one where Falstaff is arriving back home after fighting in the war, and Justice Shallow is welcoming him into his home. Most of the scene is the Justice rattling on about this, that, and the other thing, whilst interacting with Davy. I’m afraid we’d need to have a more intimate knowledge of the play to understand the significance of this scene.

But we don’t have that intimate knowledge, do we? Or do we really need it? 

This is a history play about the reign of King Henry the Fourth. The major players, with the exception of Falstaff, are actual historical figures. The main action of the play, though dramatized, is based on actual historical events, but, as noted, Falstaff makes up a significant portion of the play and he is a fictional character. Naturally, much of players he interacts with, including Shallow and Davy, are fictional as well. It helps to have fictional characters that the author can do what ever he wishes with when he’s trying to add humanity, and the realities of humanity, into a play about historical events. 

So let's just conclude that this scene is all about enhancing that humanitarian reality.

Well, I looked around for a pic to post, and I just couldn't come up with anything. You'd think that humanitarian reality would be something that would be easily illustratable, wouldn't you?

I Guess not. Sorry. 

 Today’s Totally Random Lines

  

They do me wrong, and I will not endure it

 

Gloster

King Richard the Third         Act I, Scene iii, Line 42

I want to give your Gloster’s whole rant, because I really liked it, but I didn’t want to scare you off, so I just gave Today’s Line up front. It’s the beginning of the rant and the first words he speaks as he enters the scene. As such it’s not completely evident who he’s talking about, but I think it’s better that way because now you can relate to the rant and apply it to whoever or whatever you would be ranting about in your own life. I think we all feel like Gloster some time or another. Here’s the whole thing.

They do me wrong, and I will not endure it:—
Who are they that complain unto the king
That I, forsooth, am stern, and love them not?
By holy Paul, they love his grace but lightly
That fill his ears with such dissentious rumors.
Because I cannot flatter and speak fair,
Smile in men’s faces, smooth, deceive, and cog,
Duck with French nods and apish courtesy,
I must be held a rancorous enemy.
Cannot a plain man live and think no harm,
But thus his simple truth must be abused
By silken, sly, insinuating Jacks?

There. What do you think? Don’t tell me you haven’t felt this way at times; or at least that you can’t relate to certain parts of this. And there’s some great language in there: silken, sly, insinuating Jacks?

By holy Paul, that’s a great line!

My new reading glasses. 

I'm trying to add a little flair, but don't be mistaken - No silken, sly, insinuating Jack am I!

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines(s)

 

 

 O, lest your true love may seem false in this,

That you for love speak well of me untrue,

My name be buried where my body is,

And live no more to shame nor me nor you. 

 

Sonnet 72               

That's kind of bleak, isn't it?

This is the third quatrain of Sonnet 72. Lots of times (usually?) I give you the whole sonnet, but in this case the third quatrain seems to do a pretty good job of giving us the essence of the whole thing (that, and the fact that I don’t feel like typing out the whole thing): Bury my name with my body and forget about me. That’s pretty much it.

I think this sonnet probably falls into a sequence, so that it’s part of a bigger thought. There’s probably a lot more to it to explain, or set up, as to why he’s asking us (or someone) to forget about him. 

The Sonnets, apparently, are pretty complicated. They supposedly tell a story in a sort of way, if taken in groups. And the stories belie the meanings of the Sonnets taken individually. 

Interesting, isn’t it? 

Today's pic: an unstuck sticker from the fabulous sticker book. 

A little bit interesting, eh?

Does that make it a little more interesting?

How about now?

Interesting?

Get the picture?

 

 Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

  

 Peace, break thee off; look, where it comes again!

  

Marcellus
Hamlet                                Act I, Scene i, Line 40

 

This is Marcellus’s reaction, as he interrupts Bernardo to point out that the ghost has reappeared. We’re in the first scene of Hamlet again. I say again not because we’ve been here recently, but because this scene is 176 lines long and this is the eighth time we’ve visited it. And, in fact, the very next line, spoken by Bernardo, is one that we picked previously,

In the same figure, like the king that’s dead.

So why didn't I pick another line? Laziness, I suppose. It's a nice, easy-to-understand line.

Peace, break thee off; look where it comes again!

Stop talking; look here it comes.

Let’s face it, you didn’t need Pete’s version there did you? I certainly hope not. 

Here's my little buddy sleeping with his friend. They get along pretty well, these two, and they're really sound sleepers. If the ghost of Hamlet's father showed up he'd really have to make some noise to wake these two up!

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

  

                        Stay, my lord,

And let your reason your choler question

What ‘tis you go about: to climb steep hills

Requires slow pace at first: anger is like

A full-hot horse, who being allowed his way,

Self-mettle tires him. Not a man in England

Can advise me like you: be to yourself

As you would to your friend.  

  

Duke of Norfolk
King Henry the Eighth          Act I, Scene i, Line 133

 

Well, here we are again, two days in a row in King Henry the Eighth, and two days in a row dealing with Cardinal Wolsey fallout. Today we’re at the very beginning of the play. This fellow in red seems to have everybody seeing red. How about that pun, eh?

The Duke of Norfolk is talking to Buckingham, trying to calm him down. The latter is fuming because who just left the room? Of course, Cardinal Wolsey.

I think today’s lines are a little hard, so I’ll give you Pete’s Version. Keep in mind that Wolsey just left the room and  Buckingham, really pissed off, is about to go chase after him because he’s sure the Wolsey is up to no good (spoiler alert: Buckingham is right). Norfolk wants Buckingham to calm down and slow down.

Slow down buddy, let your good sense prevail over your anger in what you’re about to do. If you’re going to climb a steep hill you need to start slow; anger is like a wild horse, who if you let him loose will quickly be tired out and not make it to the top of the steep hill. There’s no one in England who’s ever given me better advice than you. Advise yourself as well as you would advise me, and listen to that advice.

Questions?

No, that's not a horse that the mother of my child is sitting on; it's Tex, the mascot of the University of Texas. I'm guessing that Tex is a longhorn steer?

 Thankfully, Tex didn't go full-hot on her, because that wouldn't be a very good thing, and any self-mettling would have done a lot more than just tire Tex.  

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

  

If we live thus tamely,

To be thus jaded by a piece of scarlet,

Farewell nobility; let his Grace go forward,

And dare us with his cap like larks.

 

 Earl of Surrey

King Henry the Eighth          Act III, Scene ii, Line 281

 

Well, we were just in this scene, when was it? Let me check. Jeez, it was August 20th. It seems like yesterday. Do you remember? It was the line with the sacring bell, where we learned that the sacring bell is the little bell they ring on the altar at mass. 

That line was also the Earl of Surrey and it’s just a few lines further down from today’s. In today’s line, like that one, the Earl is berating the Cardinal, referring to him as a piece of scarlet. I get the feeling that he really doesn’t care much for Cardinal Wolsey, don’t you?

There's a scarlet stain on this old pocket knife. I'm pretty sure it's just paint, not the Cardinal's blood. Unless of course this knife once belonged to the Earl of Surrey. 

But I'm pretty sure it didn't. 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

The conclusion is victory: on whose side? The kings. The captive is enricht: on whose side? The beggars.

Boyet
Love’s Labour’s Lost             Act IV, Scene i, Line 75

Boyet is reading Don Armando’s love letter to Jaquinita. The letter is almost thirty lines long and it doesn’t make much sense. I think it’s supposed to be funny, but I have to admit that the humour is lost on me.

Yes, that’s right, Mr. Shakespeare-Lover here is admitting that the humour is lost on him. Nobody’s perfect: not Will, not Boyet or Don Armando, and certainly not Mr. Shakespeare-Lover me.

Well, these pics got nothin to do with nothin, but that never stopped me before.

This plant sat on top of my bookcase completely ignored for a few years. 

 The other day I decided to water it. 

The conclusion? Couldn't kill the darn thing if I tried.