Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

 

Why keep we her? The Grecians keep our aunt:

Is she worth keeping? Why, she is a pearl,

Whose price hath launcht above a thousand ships,

And turn’d crown’d kings to merchants.

 

Troilus

Troilus And Cressida        Act II, Scene ii, Line 80

 

Okay, this scene is the Trojans discussing whether or not they should give Helen back to the Greeks. The Greeks have just sent someone to tell the Trojans that if they send Helen back now, the Greeks will forget all this ever happened and go home.

Well now, let’s recap a little, shall we?

Paris went to Greece and stole Menelaus’s wife, Helen. By some accounts she left willingly with Paris, but in any event, he took her back to Troy and that’s what started this whole imbroglio. The Greeks came to get her back and have now been laying siege to Troy for how many years?

Troilus, Hector, Helenanus, and Paris are all sons of Priam, the king of Troy. They’re considering this latest Greek proposal. Hector has started the discussion with the argument that they should surrender Helen to the Greeks. Today’s Totally Random Lines are in the middle of Troilus’s argument for doing no such thing. The first line about the Greeks keeping the aunt is a little confusing because it’s a bit of a red herring. Apparently, before the Paris/Helen thing ever happened the Greeks had kidnapped Hesione, a sister of Priam. Will is having Troilus throw that out as though it were a reason for the kidnapping of Helen, but it’s not and it’s got nothing to do with Helen. After that first line, Troilus is just talking about Helen. The famous launched a thousand ships line? That’s Christopher Marlowe’s from his play Doctor Faustus. It’s not Will’s creation.

How do I know all this? I don’t, or I didn’t. I found the bit about Aunt Hesione in Asimov’s Guide To Shakespeare and the Marlowe tidbit in the G.B. Harrison footnotes of my anthology.

Anyway, the Trojans decide, for better or worse, not to surrender Helen, and the fighting goes on. And on, and on, and on. I guess it still hasn’t stopped, has it?

Here is where I've been and why there have been no posts in the past week and a half. Where is this? The Galapagos Islands. Yes, I was visiting the iguanas and tortoises and sea turtles and blue footed boobies. It's an amazing place, and a place where the land and the animals are completely protected. It got me to thinking that those islands are better off without humans, and wondering if this whole planet might be better off without us. At the rate we're going, we may find out. 

Not a very pleasant thought, eh?

 Today’s Totally Random Lines

  

Thy love! Out, tawny Tartar, out!                              

 

Lysander

A Midsummer Night’s Dream         Act III, Scene ii, Line 263

  

This is Lysander reacting to Hermia when she says, 

Why have you grown so rude? What change is this,
Sweet love?

Lysander is acting under a spell whereby he now only has eyes for Helena, even though Hermia is his girlfriend. Tawny Tartar is a bit redundant and refers to one of a dark complexion. So, I guess, without using any really objectionable words, Will is being a bit…umm what’s the word I’m looking for…racist? Well, that might be a bit strong, but if you were looking to take that track the course is clear. I, for one, will not be going down that road today.

In fact, and for what it’s worth, Lysander seems to be an equal opportunity slanderer, as a few lines farther down he continues, calling Hermia,

                                       You dwarf;

You minimus, of hind'ring knot-grass made;

You bead, you acorn.

Ahhh, acorn! Now we're getting down to it!

And here you go: a picture of my associate with his Acorn. 

I doubt he ever realized just how Shakespearean he was being by calling his mother an Acorn.

 Today’s Totally Random Lines

  

                            The time is troublesome.--

 

Cymbeline

Cymbeline                      Act IV, Scene iii, Line 21

 

Sometimes, when the line seems fit to it, I like to just apply it to my world and completely ignore the actual context. And this is definitely how I feel today. To me, the time is troublesome.

    I feel that the time is troublesome: the wars, the politics, the guns, the poverty.

    I feel that the time is troublesome: to be so fat, so thin, so stuck and stressing about retiring and so much else.
Battleship wrecked on dry land. Am I that Battleship?

Never mind that, forget the battleship. Life is sweet. That's the battleship's song. Listen to the song. Be grateful. And that is key. Be grateful.

Sometimes the words and the music put together can mean so much.
Natalie Merchant – Life Is Sweet.

Meditate on this song. Wonderful, just wonderful. Hopefully it takes a little bit of trouble away.

Natalie Merchant - Life is Sweet Live (youtube.com)

 

 Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Be certain what you do, sir, lest your justice

Prove violence; in the which three great ones suffer,

Yourself, your queen, your son

Antigonus

The Winter’s Tale            Act II, Scene i,  Line 129

Leontes has just passed sentence on his innocent wife. Antigonus and some others are trying to talk sense into him. They will fail. Simple as that: they will fail. And they will also prove to be correct: Leontes, his wife, and his son will suffer. 

Shoulda listened.

Well, it’s Jan 1, 2024. Or, as it could easily be seen, another day. The earth doesn’t care that it’s the first day of a new year because as far as the earth is concerned it’s just another day.

Suppose I should use this time each day to journalize a bit. Perhaps see if each day I can journalize enough to come ‘round to something that’s relevant to Today’s Line.

So, New Years. Do I need a resolution. If I do resolution, which I have indeed been thinking of doing, I should be certain of what I am doing- certain that I’m doing the right thing. Ahh, see, there you go. I’ve come ‘round to it already, haven’t I?

Here’s another thing I decided to be certain about. When I got up this morning and came out to the living room and when I looked at Mojo’s bed it looked empty. I assumed that he was asleep under the blanket, but it didn’t really look like there was any lump there. But I assumed that he must be there. He is pretty small. Well anyway, after sitting here a while I decided that I needed to be certain that he was actually there. So I walked over closer to his bed, and I saw the blankets move just a little bit.

I'm certain that Mojo is there. 

 Today’s Totally Random Lines

  

Got’s will and his pleasure, captain, I peseech you now, come apace to the king: there is more goot toward you peradventure than is in your knowledge to dream of.

 

Fluellen

King Henry the Fifth          Act IV, Scene viii,  Line 3

 

Fluellen, a Welshman, is Will’s attempt to write in a dialect which mispronounces the English language. He does it in other places as well. I’m not completely sure what Fluellen is talking about in Today’s Totally Random Lines, but I do know that Got is God, peseech is beseech, and goot is good. No it’s not Groot. Nor am I Groot.

I am, however, sixty-seven years old should not be waffling about retirement. At least that’s what they all tell me. What’s that got to do with Fluellen, or Henry the Fifth or William Shakespeare? Probably nothing; and we all know what will come of nothing. 

That's right, it's a sticker day. 

Do we think that this penguin is Welsh? Probably not.

 Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

I thank you, gentle servant: ‘tis very clearly done.

 

Sylvia

Two Gentlemen of Verona              Act II, Scene i,  Line 103

 

Well first off, she’s talking to Valentine, so I think she’s being less than fully serious when using the word servant here. On the other hand, I don’t really know much of anything about this play, and particularly about this scene, so who knows; maybe she thinks Valentine is a servant. 

We’d have to delve in and get some context to find out, wouldn’t we. Well, we’re not going to be doing that. Nope, we are not. Don’t let that stop you though. Go for it! Act two, scene one. If you find out what’s going on be sure to let us know.

Here's Nutsy and Scout from a Christmas past. 

They were gentle, but certainly not servants.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

  

Observe how Antony becomes his flaw,

And what thou think’st his very action speaks

In every power that moves.

 

Caesar
Antony and Cleopatra                      Act III, Scene xii,  Line 36

  

So what’s Caesar saying here? At this point in the play Caesar has come to Rome to open up a can of whoopass on Antony. So let’s take a crack at it. Observe how Antony becomes his flaw. I’m not sure what flaw he’s talking about. Is it Antony’s obsession with Cleopatra. He’s become Cleopatra? That doesn’t sound quite right, does it?

And what about the rest? How about if we change the word order a little. His very action speaks what thou think’st, and that action speaks in every power that moves. Any clearer? Not really. What he’s doing is what you think he’s doing, and when he does it everything/body knows it? No? Well that’s all I can get out of it. Maybe I’ll listen to it and see if it gets any clearer. I’ll let you know.

You know, if I can diverge here for a moment, I’ve been posting to this blog for over seven years now. I’m not proud. But in that time I’ve made mention of, and posted pictures of, many of my family. Many times when I have done this I have forwarded a link to them to see it. And yet, in all that time there is only one of them, wait - maybe two, who take any time to look at this on a regular basis. I think if any of them posted to a regular blog I would be a little interested in it. Well Pete, what if it was about a subject that you couldn’t care less about? Okay, maybe I should rethink this thought.

Oh well. Observe how Pete becomes his flaw. 

No pic today. I got nothin'