Upon a wooden coffin we attend;

 -Duke of Exeter

 King Henry The Sixth Part One         Act I, scene i, line 19  

This is the first time that we’ve picked page one in my compilation. Since this is the first play in my compilation, and the plays in this book are placed in the order in which Will wrote them, this tells us that this is the nineteenth line that he wrote in his career. However, it should be noted that the exact order in which he wrote the plays is unknown, and there are quite a few other lists which do not have this as his first play. Nonetheless, I believe we are safe in saying that this is one of the first lines in one of his very earliest works. Upon a wooden coffin we attend; The play starts with Bedford, Gloster, Exeter, Warwick, and the Bishop of Winchester bemoaning the recent death of Henry V. And so, this is the beginning of the reign of Henry VI.

 

And isn’t it a little interesting that Will starts his cannon off with an ending. One of the themes that I see in his works occurring over and over and over is the idea of contradiction, and appearance vs reality, or maybe better put, things being opposite of what we expect, or what they appear to be. Is it an ending or a beginning? Why do you suppose he does this? Maybe because every ending is a beginning, and because all the explicating of life (and he does a lot of explicating of life, in fact that’s all he does) involves two sides of a coin – never just one side. An ending and a beginning. Hmmm, a bit philosophical.

 

 

Now take this picture for example. It's a lot a grays, light and dark. And it doesn't really look like anything, and yet, it must be something. I think it might be an extreme closeup of something that would be entirely recognizable if it were taken and viewed from another angle. But I don't know for sure. So what is it? Beginning or end? You tell me.

 

 

 

 

Must I go show them my unbarb'd sconce?             must I

With my base tongue give to my noble heart

A lie that it must bear? Well, I will do't:

 

-Caius Marcius Coriolanus

 

Coriolanus                                          Act III, scene ii, line 109

 

It’s the fabulous play Coriolanus again. Fabulous, fabulous. Caius Marcius Coriolanus is in trouble with the people because he can’t help but speak his mind. And his mind tells him that the people are pretty much just worthless rabble. But his mother, friends, and advisors have talked him into going in front of the people and telling them whatever they want to hear. He has finally decided that he will go along and do this, and that’s what today’s line is. Must I with my base tongue give to my noble heart a lie that it must bear? That’s a fabulous line. I told you; it’s a fabulous play.

 

Anyway, it really is a conundrum for him, and it’s hard to figure out who’s right and who’s wrong. On the one hand, Caius Marcius is pretty uppity, and he feels that he’s much better than the common man. On the other hand, in many respects maybe he is. And this is the honest side of him that he displays. So that makes him not the nicest guy, but at the very least an honest guy. And now he’s going to forgo that honesty and be the man that the people want. Seems like a bit of a Kobayashi Maru, a no-win scenario, for Caius. 

 

               This is my unbarb'd sconce (my bare head). Not too much thinning, eh?

A fine volley of words, gentlemen, and quickly shot off.

 

-Silvia

 

The Two Gentlemen Of Verona             Act II, scene iv, line 30

 

Now just to be clear, the two gentlemen that Silvia is addressing are not the titular two gentlemen of Verona. She is speaking to Valentine and Thurio. The two gentlemen of Verona are Valentine and Proteus. I’m not sure who this Thurio fellow is.

But Silvia is right, it is a fine volley of words. It’s just a bit of a quick back and forth that she’s reacting to, with Valentine and Thurio each taking shots at one another. So, yes, I believe we can call it a volley.Here's a picture of my associate from a few years back. He's climbing on some cannon at Gettysburg. These cannon would have created a volley that your probably would not want to be a part of; a volley of destruction as opposed to a volley of words.