Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

How art thou out of breath, when thou hast breath

To say to me that thou art out of breath?

 

Juliet

Romeo and Juliet                   Act II, Scene iv,  Line 32

 

Well now, it’s hard to argue with that logic!

It has just occurred to me that there are two levels of pertinence for this pic:

1. That is a bubble gun in my hands (albeit in the shape of a turtle), and if you look close you can see the bubbles. That's why the little munchkin is smiling. So, no breath needed to blow these bubbles; they can be blown even if you're completely out of breath.

2. Note the orange tee shirt I'm wearing and the nice round shape of that oversized belly. Yesterday it was noted by someone close to me that I seemed very out of breath from just walking up one small flight of stairs. Hmmm. Big belly, out of breath. 

Big belly needs to go. 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Methought that I had broken from the Tower,

And was embark to cross to Burgundy;

And, in my company, my brother Gloster;

Who from my cabin tempted me to walk

Upon the hatches: thence we lookt toward England,

And cited up a thousand heavy times,

During the wars of York and Lancaster,

That had befaln us.

 

Duke of Clarence

King Richard the Third                 Act I, Scene iv,  Line 13

 

I was wont to give you the rest of this speech, and if I was a better and faster typist I well may have. But alas, no. Rather, let me tell you about it. In his dream his brother accidently pushes him overboard, and Clarence describes, in wonderful detail, seeing amazing things underwater before drowning. Then he tells about his experience of crossing into hell and dealing first with his father-in-law Warwick, who accuses Clarence of getting him killed at the battle at Tewksbury, and then furies and fiends, who come and overwhelm Clarence before he finally wakens.

It’s quite a vividly, terrifying dream. I took the opportunity to listen to this exchange on my Arkangel Shakespeare this morning. It’s about a half page long, if you’re interested in reading it. Here it is.

Shakespeare's Richard III Act 1 Scene 4 The Murder of Clarence (shakespeare-online.com)

You have to read from the beginning of the scene up to line 60 or so to get the whole dream. Sixty lines. You can do it.

So, a few personal thoughts. One is that I, coincidentally had a very vivid dream last night that stayed with me. It was nonsensical, mostly with unknown people and places, but it stuck with me after waking. Because it was so nonsensical I won’t try to describe it. I only bring it up because it seems so coincidental that today’s line would be about a vivid dream.

The other thing that struck me in today’s line was Clarence’s lines about looking back toward England and thinking about the thousand heavy times,/ During the wars of York and Lancaster,/ That had befaln us. The thousand heavy times. Exactly. And what good came of it. I’m waiting. What good became of those thousand heavy times of war. Exactly: Nothing.

So what’s changed since Will wrote these lines. We’re still experiencing vivid dreams, and we’re still experiencing the heavy times of war. Oh sure, when I talk about the latter I’m talking about the world at large, not Cheshire Connecticut. But it’s all the same.

I guess this is one of the reasons I read Shakespeare and one of the reasons I find it so relevant.

But enough about dreams. 

Doesn't someone have a birthday today?

 Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

I say, we will have no more marriages; those that are married already, all but  one, shall live; the rest shall keep as they are.

 

Hamlet

Hamlet                            Act III, Scene i,  Line 150

 

Yes, Hamlet. This is the famous scene (heck, most of the scenes in this play are famous) that begins with the To be, or not to be soliloquy and then goes into Hamlet talking to Ophelia whilst Claudius and Polonius eavesdrop.

Now the thing is, most of this conversation between Hamlet and Ophelia is steeped in nuance, double-entendres, and you-name-it's. In other words, Good luck trying to understand it!

Okay, I’ve come to a conclusion, I’m not smart enough to appreciate much of Shakespeare. Yes, I said it; but hear me out.

I started reading Harold Goddard’s The Meaning of Shakespeare recently. I’ve got three of these kind of books: Goddard, Harold Bloom, and Marjorie Garber. Each of them begins by talking about Will and his writing and then goes into discussing the plays one by one. Each of the three authors discusses the plays in, more or less, chronological order, with the goal of showing not only how the plays are related, but how Will progresses in his writing career. Each of the authors considers Will a genius.

I have yet, and probably never will, read any of these books in entirety, end to end. Generally, I’ll read the chapter on one particular play or another, or maybe the chapter on one play in each of the three books; and even that can be a struggle.

The problem is that as I read, it feels like each of these authors knows every line of every play by heart. As such, they are able to understand and interpret each little nuance to a degree impossible to a mere mortal like me. It almost feels, sometimes, like I’m trying to understand a paper written by a chemist. Even if I had a basic understanding of chemistry and the periodic table (which I don’t), I’m not going to be able to understand a paper written by a chemist who is intimately familiar with all, or most, of the laws of chemistry and how they relate to each other. Capeesh?

So, what to do? Yes, what to do?

Well, I have thought that my blog is a good alternative to the Harolds and Marjorie for this exact reason. It’s written by a mere mortal, me, who does not have this superhuman understanding of Will’s works. I probably have a bit more knowledge of his works than the average human, but probably no more than the average bardophile. And because of that, my blog is more understandable (and relatable?). Certainly it would be much too simple to interest the aforementioned trio (two of which are dead anyway, and I doubt the third one cares much about my blog), but perhaps not too simple for the average high school English teacher or garden variety bardophile; maybe even a total Shakespeare neophyte or two, like Ron or Mike. 

And so, that’s how it be, or not be.

Pete reading Harold Goddard: Ummmm....

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

 

The spirits that know

All mortal consequences have pronounced me thus,

‘Fear not, Macbeth; no man that’s born of woman

Shall e’er have power upon thee.’—Then fly, false thanes,

And mingle with the English epicures:

The mind I sway by and the heart I bear

Shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear.   

 

Macbeth

Macbeth                         Act V, Scene iii,  Line 8

 

One with sensitive and discriminating tastes, especially in food or wine.

One devoted to sensual pleasure.

Those are the two definitions of epicure from MW online. The first is the modern definition and the latter is archaic. You can sort of see how one begot the other, but it’s more the archaic version that Macbeth is using here.  

We’re near the end of the play and things are starting to turn bad for Macbeth, but he remains defiant. After all, the witches who know all have told him that no man can kill him. Right?

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

And, as he drinks his draughts of Rhenish down,

The kettle-drum and trumpet thus bray out

The triumph of his pledge.

 

Hamlet

Hamlet                   Act I, Scene iv,  Line 10

 

…the king is feasting and every time he drinks, trumpets, drums, and cannon make their joyful noise in celebration.

There, instead of Pete’s version I gave you Isaac’s version this morning. So that’s right, every time the king drinks there is a musical salute with a cannon. It sounds a bit much, doesn’t it; sort of like a backwards drinking game. Instead of drinking every time something happens, something (in this case a musical and cannon salute) happens every time he drinks. I guess it’s great to be king. Sort of.

 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

I shall do’t, my lord.

 

Sir Thomas Erpingham

King Henry the Fifth      Act V, Scene i,  Line 292

That’s a pretty long name: Sir Thomas Erpingham. I don’t recall ever running into this fellow before, but it looks like we've visited this page twice previously, so…   In any event, he sounds like a solid guy. I shall do’t, my lord. It’s a no-nonsense reply to the king who has told Sir Thomas to gather all the nobles and meet them at his tent. So, Mr. No-Nonsense Sir Thomas is now Mr. Errand-Boy. He has to go around the camp and gather up all the nobles to meet at the king’s tent. I guess I should say Sir Errand Boy. Either way, I feel pretty certain that he’ll get the job done.

Good ‘ol Sir Thomas Errand-Boy Erpingham.

 

Well, I've got nothing further on Sir Thomas Erpingham, but I do have something on this little cutie; she's forty-two years old today! That's right, and just as cute as she was thirty or so years ago. 

Happy Birthday Jess!

 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

 

The queen, the courtiers: who is that they follow?

And with such maimed rites? This doth betoken

The corse they follow did with desperate hand

Fordo its own life: ‘twas of some estate.

Couch me awhile and mark.

 

Hamlet

Hamlet                      Act V, Scene i,  Line 225

 

Quick vocab check: corse is corpse and couch is lie hidden. And, by the way, MW has one modern meaning of couch as to lie in ambush. I’m just saying. Maimed rites simply means that the burial they’re watching is not being performed with the proper rites and of some estate means rich and/or important.

Okay, with all that, you shouldn’t need Pete’s Version. See, it's written in plain, modern English. Almost.

Obviously what Hamlet and Horatio are witnessing is the burial of Ophelia. They just don’t know, yet, that it’s Ophelia. That information's not going to go over well with our titular hero. 

Now, in my world the verb form of couch (or in this case recliner) has a slightly different meaning.