Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

If music be the food of love, play on;

Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,

The appetite may sicken, and so die.

 

Duke of Illyria

Twelfth Night; Or, What You Will  Act I, Scene i, Line 1

I had thought to give you just that one first line, since it's a pretty famous line on it's own, but the next two lines finish the sentence and, more importantly, the thought. And the thought of the first line is terribly incomplete without those two additional lines.

So, just to be sure we’re all on the same page, surfeit is excess, or overindulgence, or even a disgust caused by excess. I believe what the Duke is referring to when he talks about the appetite sickening and dying, is the appetite for love, not for music. Much of this play is based around the duke’s unrequited love for Olivia, and so Will is getting right to that point in the first line of the play: the duke is tired of getting nowhere with his love for Olivia and would just as soon that his love sicken, and so die.

For all you who have heard that one line, If music be the food of love, play on; and thought that it was a positive sentiment about music and/or love, well, it’s not. And doesn’t that just show you how easily you can pluck a few words out of a sentence, or paragraph, or whatever, and with a lack of context completely misrepresent what’s being said.

Now it's one thing when this is done unintentionally (as with most of the people who might chance to quote this line), and an altogether different thing when done with full intent (as with modern day reporting on people or events). So let this line be a lesson to you.

  

What’s the lesson?

I feel like that's the exact some position you were in yesterday, Mojo.

                                        That’s the lesson?

No that's not...    

                            ...Oh never mind!

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

I kist thee, ere I killed thee: no way but this,

[falling upon DESDEMONA]

Killing myself, to die upon a kiss.         [Dies]

 

Othello

Othello                     Act V, Scene ii, Line 360

 

 

There you have Othello’s last words, and nearly the last words of the play, as he stabs himself and dies upon Desdemona's body. 

Cassio and Lodovico have a few more words to say, but nothing as final as Othello’s utterances. Here, why don’t I give you the rest, to the end of the play. 

 

Cassio

This did I fear, but thought he had no weapon;

For he was great of heart.

 

Lodovico [to Iago]

More fell than anguish, hunger, or the sea!

Look on the tragic loading of this bed;

This is thy work: the object poisons sight;

Let it be hid. Gratiano, keep the house,

And seize upon the fortunes of the Moor,

For they succeed on you. To you, lord governor,

Remains the censure of this hellish villain;

The time, the place, the torture. O, enforce it!

Myself will straight aboard, and to the state

This heavy act with heavy heart relate. [Exeunt]

 

It almost seems like Will should have ended with Othello’s words, don't you think? Oops, there I go again, trying to improve upon Will’s work.

 

You can’t edit the words of William Shakespeare, Mr. Blagys.

 

I know Mojo, I know. I just get a little carried away sometimes.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

I hear how I am censured: they say I will bear myself proudly, if I perceive the love come from her; they say  too that she will rather die than give any sign of affection.

 

Benedick

Much Ado About Nothing    Act II, Scene iii, Line 227

Benedick has just been eavesdropping on Leonato, Claudio, and Don Pedro. However, these three know that Benedick is listening to them, and they are playing a trick on him. They are talking about how much Beatrice has been professing her love for Benedick (she has not), in an attempt to trick Benedick into pursuing Beatrice.

Now, in Today’s Lines Benedick is talking to himself about what he has just overheard. It’s a fact that Beatrice and Benedick are fond of each other, but neither has wanted to admit it and they both show their fondness by verbally sparring with each other. But after hearing these guys talk Benedick has decided to pursue Beatrice. As he ends his self discussion he sees Beatrice approaching. Here are the last lines of his talk with himself,

When I said I would die a bachelor, I did not think I should live till I were married.—Here comes Beatrice. By this day, she’s a fair lady: I do spy some marks of love in her.

And here we go.

That's it; that's the spot. Right there; don't stop.

Well, what do you think, Mojo; will Benedick and Beatrice end up together?

Benedick and Beatrice who? 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

A cloak as long as thine will serve the turn?

 

Duke of Milan

Two Gentlemen of Verona   Act III, Scene i, Line 131

 

That’s a somewhat odd line made odder by turning it into a question. I feel compelled to find out what’s going on.

Ahh, it appears that the Duke and Valentine are having a discussion about hiding a rope ladder underneath one's cloak. So, the question makes some sense. 

Now, do we want to know why Valentine and the Duke are talking about hiding a rope ladder underneath one’s cloak? No? Are you sure?

Yes, quite sure, thanks.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

‘Aroint thee, witch! The rump-fed runyon cries.

First Witch

Macbeth                Act I, Scene iii, Line 6

We’re on the heath at the opening of scene three, and this is where Macbeth and Banquo first meet the three witches. The three witches are talking to each other here, before the two guys enter.

For clarity, aroint means be gone, away with you. Ronyon is a mangy creature; a term of abuse for a woman. Rump-fed? Well you’ll have to work that one out as best you can on your own. As far as I know, a rump is a rump. 

Here is the full reply of the First Witch when asked where she’s been.

A sailor’s wife had chestnuts in her lap,
And muncht, and muncht, and muncht:-
    ‘Give me,’ quoth I:
‘Aroint thee, witch!’ The rump-fed ronyon cries.
Her husband’s to Aleppo gone, master o’th’Tiger:
But in a sieve I’ll thither sail,
And like a rat without a tail,
I’ll do, I’ll do, and I’ll do.

So I thought that Asimov might have something on Aleppo and master o’th’Tiger in his book on Shakespeare, but nope, all he has to say about these lines is

For some thirty lines they (the witches) engage in witch-ish mumbo jumbo, and talk of killing swine and putting curses on sailors. It has nothing to do with the play, or, for that matter, with the witches. It is merely there for atmosphere, and, undoubtedly, to please King James.

So there you have it. Today’s Line is part of a section of witch-ish mumbo jumbo. At least, as far as Isaac Asimov is concerned, that’s what it is.

What do you think of that?

  

Ahheehhhhhhhh

That's Mojo doing his best Lurch. 

That's what Mojo thinks of that.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

My life itself, and the best heart of it,

Thanks you for this great care: I stood i’the level

Of a full-charged confederacy, and give thanks

To you that choked it.

 

King Henry

King Henry the Eighth      Act I, Scene ii, Line 1

Henry is thanking Cardinal Wolsey for rooting out a conspiracy that could have taken the life of the king. The only problem with this is that the accused, Buckingham, is innocent and that it’s Wolsey who is the rotten apple in the bunch. Oh well, that’s politics eh?

But rather than digress into a discussion of modern day Wolseys and Buckinghams, let take a look at Will’s language instead. I think we’ll find that much more satisfying.

I stood i’the level of a full-charged confederacy, and give thanks/To you that choked it.

There’s three parts to that that I’d like to look at separately:

I stood in the level,

A full-charged confederacy,

You that choked it.

He stood in the level. I’m not sure if the level is synonymous with a gun sight, or whether it’s something else, but it is an interesting phrase, much more interesting and prosaic than saying that he faced it. And, no, don’t throw that no unneeded words nonsense at me. Strunk and White does not apply to William Shakespeare.

A full-charged confederacy. No, it’s not just some guy who’s got some treasonous plans, it’s a confederacy, and a full-charged one at that; not just some half-assed thing.

You that choked it. That’s right, Wolsey didn’t just stop it, he choked it, he throttled it, he put his hands around the throat of the confederacy and squeezed the airpipe shut until it was dead. 

So you see, if you take a close look, you can really appreciate Will’s language. And you can enjoy it.

 

Or you can just sleep through it.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

O, my old master! Who hath bound him here?

Dromio of Syracuse

The Comedy of Errors       Act V, Scene i, Line 339

Okay, last act and scene of the play. Here is where everyone figures out who everyone is. 

This is Dromio of Syracuse talking to Aegeon who is being led away as a prisoner. Remember, Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse were raised by Ageon before they took off to search for the other Dromio and Antipholus, so of course they're going to recognize him when they see him. Now finally, here in the last scene, line 339 (the play ends with line 426) they come across Aegeon, and a few lines further down, the mother they haven’t seen in I don’t know how many years. 

It all gets tied up with a nice pretty bow; kind of like a Hallmark Christmas movie.

Hallmark Chris....

This is making absolutely no sense at all to me.