Why then we kill all our women. We see how mortal an unkindness is to them, if they suffer our departure, death's the word.

-Enobarbus

                                   

Antony And Cleopatra                               Act I, Scene ii, Line 134

Well now this is a line that's a bit hard to make out. We're early on in the play, and we're in Egypt. Antony has just received word from Rome that his wife, Fulvia, has died. Now Enobarbus enters and the first thing Antony says to him is I must with haste from hence. And Enobarbus replies with today's Totally Random line. And it really does seem totally random. Enobarbus does not know of Fulvia's death yet, so what is he flapping about? Is he speaking figuratively or literally? About the women in Egypt or Rome (seems like it's Egypt)? Or maybe all women? Well, rather than try to figure it out, why don't we leave it alone and take a look at a couple of other interesting things from today's line. 

First off, and I'm not sure if I've mentioned this in the past, I really like the name Enobarbus. Maybe I'll use that for a pet if I ever get a male dog or cat or pig or whatever in the future. This guy's name is Domitius Enobarbus, but most of the time people just call him Enobarbus. He's the epitome of the old soldier. The guy who's the right hand man of the general. The grizzled veteran who's spent his life in the military. I've no idea what he's talking about here, but he nonetheless has some really good stuff to say elsewhere in the play.

Another thing, and on a separate issue. I didn't feel quite sure about the punctuation in this line, and so I did what I always do when uncertain: I went back to my copy of the First Folio. Right or wrong, I consider this my most reliable source. I know, I know, there are questions even about the First Folio and there are inconsistencies even within different copies of the First Folio. But it's the best I've got. And I can tell you that there were less commas and more periods in the Folio version. But unfortunately nothing that helped me to clarify the meaning. 

Now what? Well, I guess I'll just move on to the rest of my day and if anyone thinks they have some insight on this line you can let me know.

This is my old friend Ron, whom I haven't seen in quite a few years. He's the closest I can find to a grizzled old veteran. He served in the marines, but he didn't make a career of it. I think I might have used his picture in a previous post. I'll bet it was a post about Enobarbus.

By heaven, I hate him everlastingly

That bids me be of comfort anywhere.

-Richard

                                   

King Richard the Second                      Act III, Scene ii, Line 207

This is Richard’s outburst after Scroop tells Richard that his Uncle York has gone over to Henry Bolingbroke’s side, thereby dooming any chance Richard has of retaining the throne. Yeah, Richard is not really having a very good day, and it’s hard to blame him for saying what he did.

I think we’ve all had days when we might want to make this exclamation, so you can save it for one of those days. Hopefully you’ve not had too many of this kind of day, but chances are that you’ve had a few.

Be careful though, because this exclamation may not be the best to use in that it heaps some potentially everlasting hate on someone around you who probably is not to blame for the bad day you're having. So in that sense, you might want to be a bit careful about using it.

In any event, here’s hoping that today is not one of these types of days for you and that you don’t have too many (if any) of these types of days in your future. By heaven!  

 

This is a pretty blue sky day. No need for this exclamation today, by heaven!

So then, you hope of pardon from Lord Angelo?

-Duke

                                   

Measure for Measure                              Act II, Scene i, Line 1

Without getting into a lot of context, Duke is talking to Claudio who is, if I'm not mistaken, sentenced to death. And while today's Totally Random line is not that amazing, the Dukes next lines, after Claudio's response, really are pretty amazing. I was talking to my friend Donald recently, and he brought up the subject of spending time thinking about death. He was talking about a holy day that was set aside for that, and I can't remember if it was Jewish or Buddhist, or something else. In any event, I will give him this passage. 

I meditated on it this morning. I'm can't seem to find the right word to describe this passage, let's just settle for really, really good. And it requires some meditation to appreciate it. So be prepared for that. To start you off, when Duke says 'Be absolute' he means 'be resolved, or settled in mind.' So here is the entirety of Duke's response when Claudio says 'I have hope to live, and am prepared to die.'

Be absolute for death; either death or life

Shall thereby be the sweeter, Reason thus with life:--

If I do lose thee, I do lose a thing

That none but fools would keep: a breath thou art,

Servile to all the skyey influences

That do this habitation, where thou keep'st,

Hourly afflict: merely, thou art death's fool;

For him thou labour'st by thy flight to shun,

And yet runn'st toward him still. Thou art not noble;

For all th'accommodations that thou bear'st

Are nursed by baseness. Thou'rt by no means valiant;

For thou dost fear the soft and tender fork

Of a poor worm. Thy best of rest is sleep,

And that thou oft provokest; yet grossly fear'st

Thy death, which is no more. Thou art not thyself;

For thou exists on many a thousand grains

that issue out of dust.  Happy thou art not;

For what thou hast not, still thou strivest to get,

And what thou hast, forgett'st. Thou art not certain;

For thy complexion shifts to strange affects,

After the moon. If thou art rich, thou'rt poor;

For, like an ass whose back with ingots bows,

Thou bear'st thy heavy riches but a journey,

And death unloads thee. Friend hast thou none;

For thine own bowels, which do call thee sire,

The mere effusions of thy proper loins,

Do curse the gout, serpigo, and the rheum,

For ending thee no sooner. Thou hast nor youth nor age,

But, as it were, an after-dinner's sleep,

Dreaming on both; for all thy blessed youth

Becomes as aged, and doth beg the alms

Of palsied eld; and when thou art old and rich,

Thou has neither heat, affection, limb, nor beauty,

To make thy riches pleasant. What's yet in this

That bears the name of life? Yet in this life

Lie hid moe thousand deaths: yet death we fear,

That makes these odds all even.  

Like I said, you're going to have to spend a little time with it. But if you do, I believe you will find it worthwhile. Good luck!

 

This seems like a pretty good picture to get you in a meditative mood. Plus, it's got the sunset thing going for it; that whole sunrise, sunset - life and death motif.

                                 So merrily,

-Silence

King Henry The Fourth Part II        Act V, Scene iii, Line 21

When I was a kid reading Tolkien I would often skim, if not entirely skip, the parts where he went into song (especially when they got long) in his stories. I really enjoyed his storytelling and I found his verse more or less an unwanted interruption from the story. And besides, I reckoned, JRR was not poet.

Will is a poet, and this is a short song that he's added. It's a scene with Falstaff and the crew in an orchard. Here's the whole song. 

         Do nothing but eat, and make good cheer,
         And praise God for the merry year;
         When flesh is cheap and females dear,
         And lusty lads roam here and there
                           So merrily,
         And ever among so merrily.

And that's it; nice and short. Now when I read, or skimmed, or totally skipped Tolkien's songs (and a lot of them were really long; he often referred to them as 'lays') I assumed that he had written them. This was based on the fact that he was working in a purely fictional world and most of what was going on, including some of the language, was totally made up by him. It wouldn't have made sense for him to be using songs from the real world.

However, when I read/hear/see Will's songs, especially short little ditties like this, I can't help but wonder if Will wrote them or if they are something that was out there already and popular in his day. After all, Will's stories take place in the real world and he incorporates of lot of real stuff in his plays, especially his history plays like this one.

So what do you think? Is Will making up a song, or is this a popular little ditty of the day? I guess we could find a historian who might know the answer, but I sure don't.

Now clearly this guy was either making up the songs, or perhaps getting them from that guy with the beard, but either way they were not from our world!

You shall not have it, Diomed; faith, you shall not;

-Cressida

                                   

Troilus And Cressida                          Act V, Scene ii, Line 86

Cressida is talking here about a sleeve. As far as I can tell, a sleeve is just a sleeve. But in this case it’s a token. It’s a token she received from Troilus (who just happens to be in the bushes spying on her, apparently with one arm a little more exposed than the other) that she in turn gave to Diomedes (don’t ask me why) and now she realizes that’s a mistake so she’s taken it back and is telling Diomedes he can’t have it. Or, more specifically, “You shall not have it, Diomed; faith, you shall not;

Well I’m not going to get into that whole thing to try to explain exactly what’s going on here. I’ve got something more important to point out. It occurs to me that the play Troilus And Cressida is Will’s take on the story of the Iliad. And as such, it seems to me that rather than just call it Troilus And Cressida, perhaps he should have had a subtitle. Troilus And Cressida, Homer’s Iliad Retold. 

Now I can’t imagine where I got that idea. 

 

Available at www.pursuingwillbooks.com