Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

These be the stops that hinder study quite,

And train our intellects to vain delight.

 

King of Navarre

Love’s Labour’s Lost             Act I, Scene i, Line 70

I don’t know about you, but when I read those two lines I immediately thought of the internet, and specifically, surfing and scrolling. I’m pretty sure, though, that’s not what the king is referring to. Now, do we want to get into a discussion (lecture) about the evils of getting sucked into the internet for hours of surfing/scrolling, or should we take a look at what the king is actually talking about. Yes, of course: the latter. 

So here it is: 

This is the first scene of the play where they are setting up the premise of what the play will be about, which is that the king and three of his fellows have made a commitment to spend the next three years studying. During those three years, in order to facilitate their studies, they will limit their food intake, limit their sleep to three hours a night, and forego women completely. One of the guys, Berowne, is objecting and saying that he agreed to the three years of study, but not the bit about food, sleep and women. He says he can study just fine with those things in his life, but it is exactly those three things, not the internet, to which the king is referring in Today’s Lines.

Let me just say that I think the internet is a more relevant answer to the question of what the king is referring to. 

Anyway, it’s a pretty good play because with that setup there’s all sorts of things that can go wrong. The main thing that happens in this play is that the Princess of France comes to visit the king’s court with her entourage of women attendants. But we won’t get into the details because that’s the whole rest of the play. I think the better thing to do is to just take the king’s words as a proper warning of the dangers of internet scrolling.

So next time you click on Instagram, or Facebook, or even just to use the Google, remember the king’s words, 

These be the stops that hinder study quite,

And train our intellects to vain delight.

Do - Spend your time reading.

Don't - Spend your time surfing.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Master, be wise:  An if you give it her,

The devil will shake  her chain, and fright us with it.

 

Dromio of Syracuse

The Comedy of Errros          Act IV, Scene iii, Line 75

Just one more case of mistaken identity in this play of mistaken identities. This time at least we have a matched set of Dromio and Antipholus (both of Syracuse), but the courtezan they’re dealing with thinks that she’s speaking to the Ephesus pair.

A courtezan is defined in my Shakespeare glossary as a prostitute or a strumpet, and a strumpet is defined as a harlot, or prostitute, or whore. So no matter which way you look at it, the courtezan is a woman of less than stellar repute. The discussion centers around some jewelry, but neither Dromio nor Antipholus has any idea what she’s talking about, but Dromio is very wary of dealing with her and is warning Antipholus as such. 

Apparently Antipholus of Ephesus has had some dealings with this woman of ill repute, but I guess that’s not terribly relevant to our discussion of today’s line.

Actually, I’m not sure we have anything more to discuss about today’s line.

 Then, can I go back to sleep now?

Yes Mojo, you can go back to sleep now.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

                                             I saw you lately,

When you caught hurt in parting two that fought:

 

Marina

Pericles, Prince of Tyre        Act IV, Scene i, Line 88

Leonine has told Marina that that he’s going to have to kill her by order of his boss, the governor’s wife. Marina’s trying to talk him out of it by telling him what a good guy he is. Here’s what she says to him in full.

You will not do’t for all the world, I hope,
You are well-favour’d, and your looks foreshow
You have a gentle heart. I saw you lately,
When you caught hurt in parting two that fought:
Good sooth, it show’s well in you: do so now;
Your lady seeks my life; come you between,
And save poor me, the weaker.

Marina’s pleas are in vain and do nothing to change Leonine’s mind. However, luckily for Marina (depending on how you look at it), just as Leonine is about to kill her, a bunch of pirates show up and kidnap her. I suppose that’s what’s called out of the frying pan, into the fire?

System Note:

For reasons unbeknownst to this luddite, it is not possible this morning to upload a picture to blogger.com. That's a shame, because I had a really good shot of Mojo peeking out from under the blankets with a surprised look on his face. The caption was 

Frying pan? who said frying pan? Eggs? Maybe some scrambled eggs?

I'll be looking into this technical problem with the hopes of getting it resolved as quickly as possible.

 Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

‘Item, She hath a sweet mouth.’

 

Speed

The Two Gentlemen of Verona     Act III Scene i, Line 320

This is an odd little scene with Speed and Launce. These guys are listed in the cast of characters as clownish servants, so that should give you a heads up.

Launce has made a list of the virtues and vices of a maid that he is in love with. Now Speed is reading through that list. This item about a sweet mouth is listed in the vices section, so at first that seems a little puzzling. But the first vice is bad breath, and the second is a sweet mouth, to which Launce comments

That makes amends for her sour breath.

So, bad breath is a vice, and the sweet mouth is listed here to explain that there is an offset to it. The next one is that she talks in her sleep, but the one after that is that she is slow in her words, so I guess the sleep talking is not too bad. The list goes on, but you get the idea.

Item, she can’t sit in the passenger seat without telling me how to drive.
Item, she knows it bugs the heck out of me, so she tries really hard not to do it.

You should talk, Mr. Blagys. You’re constantly criticizing my driving.

Cut the chatter, and concentrate on the road, Mario. 

Who’s Mario?

Just drive, Mojo, just drive.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Come, where’s the chain? I pray you, let me see it.

Antipholus of Ephesus

The Comedy of Errors          Act IV Scene i, Line 58

It’s more shenanigans in Comedy of Errors this morning. I’m not sure what the specifics are regarding the chain, but I’m pretty sure it has to do with the fact that Antipholus of Syracuse was given it because he was mistaken for Antipholus of Ephesus. Those crazy Antipholuses!

Antiph-a-who, now?

 Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

I cry you mercy, then:

I took you for that cunning whore of Venice

That married with Othello. –You, mistress

That have the office opposite to Saint Peter,

And keep the gate of Hell!

  

Othello

Othello                    Act IV, Scene ii, Line 90

We’ve arrived at a point in the play where Othello has now been completely convinced by Iago’s machinations that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. She is not. He’s confronting her in this scene and has just asked her if she’s not a whore. Of course she denies it, and Today's Lines is his retort to her denial.

You can see by his rant, that Othello’s pretty much beyond reason at this point. I don’t think there’s anything Desdemona, or anyone else, can say that’s going to make him see the light. Poor guy. Poor girl! It’s a sorry, sorry situation, and it’s all the doing of that rat fink bastard Iago. It’s amazing to consider what some single human beings are capable of all on their own, isn’t it? Particularly scary in today's day and age. Try not to think about it, Pete. Try not to think about it. 

By the way, it never occurred to me that the offices of the gatekeepers of heaven and hell would be right across the hall from each other. I always pictured those offices as being right outside their respective realms and therefore nowhere near each other. But, oh well.

And that’s your takeaway, Pete? 

Well, it's better than thinking about that other thing.

This post reminded me of the time we went riding on the Linear Trail. All of a sudden Mojo starts belting out “Highway to Hell, we’re on the Highway to Hell!” at the top of his lungs. Boy, did we get some funny looks from people.

Come to think of it, I’m not sure if it was the choice of song or a singing dog that got the stares. I've told him time and again that he's got to watch the talking bit in public. Sometimes he just can't help himself.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

I know I love in vain, strive against hope;

Yet in this captious and intenible sieve

I still pour in the waters of my love,

And lack not to lose still: thus Indian-like,

Religious in mine error, I adore

The sun, that looks upon his worshipper

But knows of him no more

Helena

All’s Well That Ends Well             Act I, Scene iii, Line 207

Helena is describing to the Countess how she loves the Countess’s son, even though she knows that she can never have him and he will never love her. In fact, the son is completely unaware of Helen and her love for him, and when he finds out about it he wants absolutely nothing to do with her. So it turns out that she’s right about the hopelessness of her love. Well at least they’re all on the same page.

I tried to look up captious and intenible. I got that captious is spacious, and I think intenible is just a different way of spelling untenable. But you pretty much get the idea of pouring anything into a sieve: the sieve’s not going to hold anything - it just goes right on through. We get a pretty good idea of what she’s talking about without the two modifiers of the word sieve.

Anyway, I like the seven lines. They are a good exercise in reading something that’s worth reading. I say that because so much of what we devote our attention to is not worth our attention. And so much of it does not even require the much needed mental exercise of reading and having to think about what we’re reading. Yes, it’s a good seven lines.

Don't give me that look Mojo, I've seen you scrolling endlessly on your iPhone. You could use to spend a little time reading some meaningful lines just as much as the rest of us.