Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

 

 I’ll so offend, to make offence a skill;

Redeeming time, when men think least I will.

  

Prince Henry

King Henry the Fourth Part I        Act I,  Scene ii,  Line 221

 

This is a short soliloquy that ends the scene. In this scene we’re introduced to Prince Henry (known as Hal to his drinking buddies), in a London tavern. At the end of the scene Prince Henry, alone and speaking to himself, talks about how he’ll shine all the brighter once he becomes king because of the low expectation he is raising for himself as a ne'er do well prince.

If I’m not mistaken, Hal’s father made a similar speech about himself before becoming king. At that time, he spoke of how King Richard was always in the public eye and that he, Henry, would be less in the public eye and therefore shine brighter, like the sun, when he was.

Like father, like son.

Like Father...

Like Son?

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

 

        O my poor father!

The heaven set spies upon us, will not have

Our contract celebrated.

 

Perdita

The Winter’sTale        Act V,  Scene i,  Line 202

 

Oscar’s my friend, he’s sick, and I’m a cop.
   -Murray the Cop

Okay, I’m reading today’s lines out of the blue without any idea of what’s going on here. They seem to be as completely non sequitur as the famous lines from The Odd Couple that I quoted above. But wait; I guess Perdita is saying that the heavens are doing both things: setting spies and keeping the contract from being settled. So, okay, it makes sense. Will just loves to leave key parts of a sentence (like the subject) out, doesn’t he?

But check out these next lines that follow,

Leontes
You are married?

Florizel
We are not, sir, nor are we like to be;
The stars, I see, will kiss the valleys first:-
The odds for high and low’s alike.

I love the stars will kiss the valleys first. In other words, the stars will fall out of the sky, or hell will freeze over, before we ever get married. But that’s gorgeous: The stars will kiss the valley first. Beautiful.

See, these are the hidden gems we find doing a random line a day. The stars will kiss the valley before I ever would have found this line otherwise!

The most recent pic of the six sibs.

The stars will kiss the valleys ere we pass up the chance to get a pic when we are all together. We just don't all get together in one place all that often any more.  

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

 

I thought ye would never have given out these arms till you had recover’d your ancient freedom: but you are all recreants and dastards, and delight to live in slavery to the nobility.

 

Jack Cade

King Henry the Sixth Part II      Act IV,  Scene viii,  Line 27

 

It’s Jack Cade the rabble rouser taking here, and his rabble is about to realize that they’re going to be better off remaining loyal to the king than they would be following him. Jack is only a few lines away from hightailing it out of there. Next stop for him is Iden’s garden, two scenes later, where he will find his end amongst the tomato plants.

I can think of a few big mouth world leaders that the world would be better off if they found their end amongst the tomato plants before they can do any more damage. Yes, the world today has quite a few Jack Cades. Quel dommage!

Well, I didn't have any tomato (or orange) pictures handy, so you'll have to settle for this picture of a banana. Yes, that's right, a banana. 

Feel free to call me a recreant or dastard if you like.  

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

 

 Bring in the banquet quickly; wine enough Cleopatra’s health to drink.

Domitius Enobarbus

Antony and Cleopatra      Act I,  Scene ii,  Line 12

The scene, at this point both before and after Enobarbus’s line, is about Charmian getting her palm read. We have Charmian, Iras, Alexas, and the Soothsayer on stage as Enobarbus makes his entrance. His line seems to be ignored by everyone present as they continue to discuss Charmian’s fortune based on her palm reading.

It’s a bit odd. 

Anything?

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

  

                          But hear thee, Gratiano:

Thou art too wild, too rude, and bold of voice,-

Parts that become thee happily enough,

And in such eyes as ours appear not faults;

But where thou art not known, why, there thy show

Something too liberal. Prithee, take pain

To allay with some cold drops of modesty

Thy skipping spirit; lest, through thy wild behaviour,

I be misconstrued in the place I go to,

And lose my hopes.

  

Bassiano

The Merchant of Venice           Act II,  Scene ii,  Line 184

 

Bassiano has told Gratiano that he can come with him to Belmont, and in today’s lines he’s telling him to behave.

Yes, I gave you two sentences. I did this because today’s random line is the one that begins Showing too liberal. Thus it has the end of one sentence and the beginning of another. But though I gave you ten lines, they’re an easy ten lines; easy to read and understand. At least, I think they are.

And here’s something interesting: the first line is an example of using a comma whilst addressing someone. But hear thee, (comma) Gratiano. Some would construe that as validation for using a comma in the sentence Thanks, Pete, when thanking Pete for something. Some would, but probably not me.

Before we accept that this is proof positive, we would need to consider a few things:
For starters, Will made up the rules as he went along.
For enders, we know that the only sanctioned copy of the plays was published after his death, and that the final say on punctuation and spelling in that printed copy was made by the guys who were doing the very laborious task of setting the type in the printing press, mostly letter by letter, and punctuation mark by punctuation mark.

So before we point to this and say, Ah hah! It must be right because that’s how Will does it! Before we say that, I would say… well what would I say? I would say it’s a nice Friday morning here in my safe and sound living room, and I would say to Will, Thanks for the example. That’s right, I’d say –

Thanks, Will.

 

Diane Hacker's The Bedford Handbook. The section on commas goes from page 382 to 408. That's twenty-six pages, but I couldn't find the answer to the question.

Thanks for nothing, Diane.

or should I say,

Thanks for nothing Diane.

Who knows?

 Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

 

I have a venturous fairy that shall seek

The squirrel’s hoard, and fetch thee new nuts.

 

Titania
A Midsummer Night’s Dream       Act IV,  Scene i,  Line 33

Bottom asked for hay, but I guess he’s gonna get nuts. He’s currently got the head of an ass, but he’s got Titania doting on him, and he’s got the fairies at his beck and call. He’s also not fully aware that he has the head of an ass, so it appears that Mr. Bottom is feeling pretty good about things just now. I suppose I would be pretty happy with his situation, at least on a temporary basis.
Bring on the nuts!

But wait, do I currently have the head of an ass without realizing it?

Am I wishing for hay but willing to settle for nuts?

Is the woman in love with me under some spell and not seeing me for who I truly am?

All interesting questions to think about, aren’t they? But let’s not dwell on it.

Again, bring on the nuts!

Oh wait, not those nuts!

No, I'm not referring to the two nuts in the picture; I'm talking about the tree nuts that my associate ate this weekend that landed us in the ER where this pic was taken. 

You gotta be careful with your nuts!

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

 

 

Three thousand ducats for three months, and Antonio bound.

 

Shylock

The Merchant of Venice            Act I,  Scene iii,  Line 56

 

A ducat, of course, is some form of old Italian money. Antonio bound means that Antonio will sign for it.

Three thousand ducats. Shylock opens the scene with those words as he and Bassanio are discussing the loan. Three thousand ducats. This three thousand ducats might be considered the piece around which this whole play revolves. It’s the three thousand ducats that Bassanio needs to buy his way into the Portia lottery, and it’s the unpaid three thousand ducats that leads to the trial scene and the pound of flesh.

Three thousand ducats. As is so often the case, in this story it’s all about the Benjamins.

 

A Benjamin!