That were hard to compass;

Because she will admit no kind of suit,

No, not the duke’s.

-Captain

                                   

Twelfth Night; Or, What You Will         Act I, Scene ii, Line 29

Twelfth Night, eh? Well I’ve been plucking random lines for two years, and I’ve certainly picked a few from this play, but I still really don’t have much of an idea what this play is all about. Now you might think that this would be hard to compass, but really it was pretty easy. You see, lots of times when I decide to post about a line from a play that I know little to nothing about, I’ll just pick something else from the line to chat about. For instance, in this case what about that word ‘compass’? Right here it’s a verb and it means ‘to achieve’. It’s a bit archaic to be using it as a verb in 2018; keep in mind that this line was written four hundred years ago. But in fact, if you look it up on MerriamWebster.com you will see that definition #3 under the transitive verb usage of the word ‘compass’ is ‘to achieve’. So there you go. And you thought that Will's works weren't written in modern English? Wrong.

You might have known that I'd throw a picture of a compass at you today. Yup, that's a compass sitting in the middle of my box o' memories to the right of my Darryl Strawberry/Vince Coleman ball. Funny thing: the top of this box, the end with the cassette tape on how to meditate (I don't use that much these days, regrettably) is facing north. That means the compass is pointing southwest. I guess this compass is getting old and losing it's sense of direction. I kind of feel that way myself sometimes.

Noble patricians, patrons of my right,

Defend the justice of my cause with arms;

And, countrymen, my loving followers,

Plead my successive title with your swords:

I am his first-born son, that was the last

That wore the imperial diadem of Rome;

Then let my father’s honours live in me,

Nor wrong mine age with this indignity.

-Saturninus

                                   

Titus Andronicus                           Act I, Scene i, Line 1

We’ve hit upon the first lines of the play Titus Andronicus. Now this play is mostly about the murder and mayhem that takes place between the Titus Andronicus family and the Tamora Queen of the Goths family. Saturninus, the guy here with the opening line does not play into this murder and mayhem in any major way. In this first scene he is vying for the throne with his brother Bassianus. Titus and Tamora will be entering the picture shortly and then all the fun will start. But of course, we’ve got to start the story somewhere, and this is it. This then, is the beginning. Saturninus speaks of nobility, justice, loving followers, imperial diadems, and father’s honours, and he ends with ‘indignity’. This last word is probably the only word in this opening speech that presages the activity to come.

Well here's an interesting picture. It's Saturnius, played by my brother Dave, and Bassianus, played by me. We were acting out this scene when we were young. Dave has just given the opening line, and I'm about to respond with the bit about Bassianus being 'gracious in the eyes of royal Rome.' I think Dave's doing a little bit of hamming it up, and he's clearly trying to use his size to intimidate me. But that's just my opinion.

Thou dost love her, because thou knowest I love her;

-Narrator

                                   

Sonnet 42                                                                             Line 6

Interestingly enough, this is one line up from a Totally Random line from a few years ago. So for starters I’ll give you a link to that post.

http://totallyrandomdailyshakespeare.blogspot.com/2016/10/thoudost-love-her-because-thou-knowst-i.html

Okay, that was from October 2016, over two years ago. Well now, having read that old post, I have to say that’s a pretty good post, and I’m not sure I can do much to add to that. And, in fact, even though the Totally Random line picked that day was     

And for my sake enough so she doth abuse me, 

as you can see I also added today’s line to that post. So it’s been done and I guess I’m finished with this line. 

As noted in that old post, maybe at some point I’ll get into the sonnets a bit more. But it is not this day.

A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the age of Men comes crashing down! But it is not this day!

Bonus quote today, instead of a picture. But maybe you will know where this quote comes from and you can picture the scene that goes with it? If you can't, ask any guy in the room.

The tyrannous and bloody act is done,-

The most arch deed of piteous massacre

That ever yet this land was guilty of.

-Sir James Tyrrel

                                   

Richard The Third                              Act IV, Scene iii, Line 1

Well this line has certainly piqued my interest. How about you? I mean, that is a pretty strong statement. 'That ever yet this land was guilty of'? That's saying a lot. And who is this Tyrrel guy anyway?

So here's the thing: I have a basic familiarity with this play, but I don't know all the details. I know that Richard was not a very nice guy and that he was probably responsible for the death of his two nephews, but I think that happens early on, if not at the end of Henry VI Part III. So I don't think that's what this is referring to. I could be wrong about that. In any case, I didn't read on this morning. I stopped right here with these three lines to write this post. Now I suppose I'll be going back to the book to see what this tyrannous,  bloody act is. However, I've decided to let this post sit where it is for today. Nope, not gonna tell you what the act is. As of right now, I don't know what it is. So you're on your own. 

Maybe I'll post the results of my further reading tomorrow. Or maybe not.
 

 

Okay, if you don't know what the tyrannous act is, do you know where these guys are standing? Maybe I'll tell you that tomorrow too.

Myself will straight aboard, and to the state

This heavy act with heavy heart relate.

-Lodovico

                                   

Othello                                            Act V, Scene ii, Line 372

This is the rhyming couplet that ends the play. There’s a few things worth mentioning here, without actually getting into the specifics of the words used.

First off, let’s talk about rhyme and rhyming couplets. Will likes to end scenes, long speeches and almost always plays with a rhyming couplet. I’m not sure why, but he does. It’s kind of a weird little thing. And, of course, there are some plays where he goes into extended rhyme. Again, I’m not quite sure why he does this. It’s interesting, but sometimes a bit perplexing. And whilst people don’t usually talk in rhyme, you have to remember that this is first and foremost written as a stage production. And it’s safe to say that whole groups of people don’t suddenly break into a choreographed song and dance production. And yet that’s what you’ll see in a Broadway musical. So, keep that in mind: it’s a stage production.

Secondly, about these two lines. It occurs to me as I read them that they could be used as the ending rhyming couplet for any number of Will’s tragedies. Don’t you think? There’s always a bunch of dead people and some survivor or other with the last words. Hmm.

One last thing: perfect iambic pentameter. I’m just saying.

 

We took a pic of this guy right before we went straight aboard. We weren't going to the state, nor did we have heavy hearts (we were on vacation!). Either way, this guy wasn't coming with us no matter where we were going. And I'm pretty sure that his name wasn't Othello, and that he was still alive. Also, I don't remember if we left him with a rhyming couplet, but I'm thinking probably not.