Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

A valiant Greek, Aeneas,- take his hand,-

Witness the process of your speech, wherein

You told how Diomed, a whole week by days,

Did haunt you in the field.

 

Paris

Troilus and Cressida          Act IV, Scene i, Line 8                                    

 

This line and scene are confusing. It takes place on a street in Troy. You’ve got the Trojans Paris and Deiphobus, they’re brothers. You’ve got Aeneas and Antenor, they’re Trojan generals. And you’ve got Diomedes, a Greek general. What the heck is a Greek general doing on a street in Troy?

I wanted to listen to this scene to see if that gave me some clarity, but this play is missing from my hard drive, so I’ll have to fix that. I guess I could look a the Play Shakespeare App summary. Okay, Paris has brought Diomedes into Troy for the prisoner exchange. That, at least, explains what Diomedes is doing in Troy.

So, without getting into the details of who’s being exchanged for whom, Paris (the son of King Priam of Troy) is talking to Aeneas (one of the Trojan generals), about Diomedes (a Greek general). He’s bringing up the fact that Aeneas had said that Diomedes had haunted him on the battlefield for a week. And that’s pretty much all of Today’s Line.

I guess if we were watching the play we would know at this point (the beginning of Act Four) who’s who, and this dialogue would make easy sense to us. I guess. Although, I remember watching a tv show the other night and some lady showed up in a scene as though she were one of the regulars, and I had no idea who she was. Luckily Patrice did, so that was pretty helpful. That saucy little wench can be pretty indispensable at times, that’s for sure. 

 

 This guy, on the other hand…

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Nay, if an oily palm be not a fruitful prognostication, I  cannot scratch mine ear.—Prithee, tell her but a worky-day fortune.?

 

Charmian

Anthony and Cleopatra         Act I, Scene ii, Line 50

 

Worky-day. That’s the original form of workaday. Tell her an ordinary, mundane fortune, that’s what Charmian is saying.

Speaking of Charmian…

...our beautiful daughter-in-law is named Charmaine (slightly different spelling). 

Mojo loves going to visit Charmaine because she has a really nice house, and Mojo gets his own luxurious accommodations there. They are anything but worky-day. In fact, they are accommodations fit for a king; which of course, is what Mojo feels he deserves.

It's always quite an adjustment for Mojo when we come home from Charmaine's house. Luckily he has his friend to console him as he eases back into his worky-day accommodations. 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

O honey nurse, what news?

Hast thou met with him? Send thy man away.

 

Juliet

Romeo and Juliet           Act II, Scene iv, Line 18

 

Juliet is talking to Nurse whom she sent to bring a message to Romeo. She is very anxious to hear Romeo’s reply. 

Nurse is more like Juliet’s nanny, than a nurse. She’s the woman who’s been tending to Juliet her whole life. I’m not sure if that’s the reason she’s calling her ‘honey nurse’, or if it’s that she’s just over-excited to hear the news from Romeo, or perhaps a little of both. In any event, it’s a bit of a curious moniker, don’t you agree?

Honey nurse.   

I wish I had a honey nurse. I bet she'd feed me honey and hold me comfortably in her arms, not make me squeeze behind her neck like this bozo does.

I heard that.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

For what doth cherish weeds but gentle air?

 

Lord Clifford

King Henry the Sixth Part III      Act II, Scene vi, Line 21

 

Clifford is lying on the battlefield, wounded and whining about what a poor king Henry has been. Here, I’m going to give you a bit of it.

And, Henry, hadst thou sway’d as kings should do,

Or as the father and his father did,

Giving no ground unto the house of York,

I and ten thousand in this luckless realm

Had left no mourning widows for our death;

And thou this day hadst kept thy chair (throne) in peace.

For what doth cherish weeds but gentle air?

And what makes robbers bold but too much lenity?

So the gentle air in Today’s line is Henry’s gentle treatment of his enemies; and these same enemies, robbers (the Yorks and all those following the Yorks) are nothing but weeds. You gotta be a little bit tough with the weeds or they’re just gonna grow and take over. Right?

There, it’s a gardening metaphor. You can’t go wrong with a gardening metaphor.

 

And speaking of gardens: 

here is our ever vigilant Mojo, guarding against weeds in our garden. 

Go Mojo!

Weeds schmatz!

 I'm just here for the sunbeams. 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Ay, madam: he desires to make atonement

Between the Duke of Gloster and your brothers,

And betwixt them and my lord Chamberlain;

And sent to warn them to his royal presence.

  

Duke of Buckingham

King Richard the Third         Act I, Scene iii, Line 37

 

The ‘he’ in Today’s Lines is King Edward IV, Richard the Third’s brother. Richard starts off in this play as the Duke of Gloster and doesn’t become king until Act Four.

The ‘madam’ in Today’s Line is Queen Elizabeth, King Edward IV’s wife.

This play portrays Richard as a fairly petty and evil little man. History tells us that he wasn’t all that bad, and that whilst his brother Edward was king he was quite faithful to him.

Today’s Lines tell us that Richard (Duke of Gloster) was already making trouble and that King Edward was working on smoothing this trouble out.

That’s what Today’s Lines are about.  

Sometimes when we get into theses scenes that are all about the different royals, Mojo likes to strike his Mojo the First pose to show me that he too could have been a royal,

Yes, your royal highness, that is a truly regal profile. 

Yah, you bethch'a!

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

                                                   But now return,

And with their faint reply, this answer join:

Who bates mine honour shall not know my coin.

 

Sempronius

Timon of Athens           Act III, Scene iii, Line 26

This is the part in the play where Timon realizes that he’s running out of money and starts asking his friends for financial help. Sempronius is one of those friends, and he’s talking to Timon’s servant who’s been sent with the request for funds. As you can see, the answer is no. He’s using the excuse that Timon asked his other friends first, and they all said no. Sempronius is saying that he feels slighted that Timon didn’t ask him first, and therefore he is answering no, just like all the rest. It’s nonsense.

Timon’s servant ends this short scene, alone, with a soliloquy about the nature of man that is reflected in this situation. I’m tempted to put it here, but it’s sixteen lines long, and you probably wouldn’t read it. Oh, what the heck.

Excellent! Your lordship’s a goodly villain. The devil knew not what he did when he made man politic (crafty and self-serving),- he crost himself by’t: and I cannot think but, in the end, the villainies of man will set him clear. How fairly this lord strives to appear foul! Takes virtuous copies to be wicked; like those that, under hot ardent zeal, would set whole realms on fire:

Of such nature is his politic love.

This was my lord’s last hope; now all are fled,

Save the gods only: now his friends are dead,

Doors, that were ne’er acquainted with their wards

Many a bounteous year, must be emploly’d

Now to guard sure their master,

And this is all a liberal course allows;

Who cannot keep his wealth must keep his house.

                                                                    [Exit]

And that’s the end of the scene. Kind of interesting that this little speech begins in prose and ends in verse. What do you think of that?

I think you didn't finish everything on your dinner plate, Mr. Blagys. 

There's no sense wasting that; it would make a tasty little snack for me, that's what I think.  

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

This is the monstruosity in love, lady,- that the will is infinite and the execution confined; that the desire is boundless, and the act a slave to limit.

 

Troilus

Troilus and Cressida             Act III, Scene ii, Line 81

 

Well, we could get into context if we wanted to, but the nature of the line allows us to just take it at face value, and I think that is what we’ll do.

It’s very well put; but of course it’s Shakespeare, isn’t it. Will is infinite. I wonder if Will thought of this use of the word will as a pun? I mean, given the nearly infinite magnificence of the works that he produced (assuming he realized how great his works were), I can see where he was making a pun between will (unlimited desire) and Will (himself). Just a thought.

The second iteration is just as good, if not better: desire is boundless and act a slave to limit. Act a slave to limit. That’s really some awesome word work there, Will, I love it.

And don’t tell me that you couldn’t find a place to use that line. No, not every day; but there are times when it would be perfect. I’m pretty sure that Patrice would say that about half the projects that Pete proposes.

Pete

Look, if we get rid of that wooden deck outside our bedroom, we could build one out of stone. That would last forever, and we could also build a stone fountain into the face of it!

Patrice

You know, buddy, desire is boundless, and the act a slave to limit.

Another perfect example: See that little guy on the right? He'd give anything to be let loose on that squirrel he's eyeing right now. And if we let him loose? What then?

His will is infinite but the execution confined;

the desire is boundless, and the act a slave to limit.

Try telling him that.