Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

  

There all is marr’d; there lies a cooling card.

Suffolk

Henry the Sixth Part I                   Act V, Scene III, Line 84

 

Oy! Marr’d I think is marred; mar – botch up.

But a cooling card? And where is there?

Okay, I think the there that he’s referring to is the fact that he has a wife. So I guess the cooling card means the thing that’s going to put a damper on what he’s thinking about (actually, I'm not guessing; I found one of my books with a footnote on cooling card). What’s he thinking about? He’s thinking that this Margaret lady he’s talking to is beyond mighty fine, and that he’d like to have his way with her. But the fact that he’s married is going to botch things up and put a damper on any plans he has about going after Margaret.

How’s that?

Ohh, that's not a cooling card, that's a business card. Who are you trying to fool?

I do like the cooling card phrase, though. I'd like to remember and use that one. But you know me; I'll forget. And my forgetfulness will be the cooling card on using the phrase the cooling card.

Oy. 

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

 

See, see, King Richard doth himself appear,

As doth the blushing discontented sun

From out the fiery portal of the east,

When he perceives the envious clouds are bent

To dim his glory, and to stain the track

Of his bright passage to the occident.

 

Duke of York

King Richard the Second        Act III, Scene iii, Line 66

 

Okay, fairly long line today, but eminently understandable, wouldn’t you agree? The Duke of York, here, is talking to Bolingbroke, the guy who’s about to supplant Richard and become Henry IV. York is the uncle to both of these fellows, and he’s sort of on the fence. He’s standing with Bolingbroke looking up at the castle, but he’s not crazy about the idea of deposing Richard. Richard is on the ramparts looking down on them. Richard knows, at this point, where this whole deal is headed.

I had to look up the word occident. I thought it meant the east when in fact it’s exactly the opposite. I should have realized that by the context since the sun does not usually set in the east.

Anyways, I think it’s a pretty apt passage, describing Richard’s awareness of his imminent downfall. I mean, honestly, how can you not appreciate this use of the English language? Read it again, and I hope you’ll agree. It's not Dante's inferno people, it's six lines written in perfectly comprehensible English. Here it is, so that you don't have to go to the trouble of paging all the way back to the top of this post.

See, see, King Richard doth himself appear,

As doth the blushing discontented sun

From out the fiery portal of the east,

When he perceives the envious clouds are bent

To dim his glory, and to stain the track

Of his bright passage to the occident. 

 

Mojo and I took the opportunity this morning to read scene three (it's a relatively short scene) whilst we listened to our Arkangel recording of it. We find that it's always much more enjoyable to hear the words whilst reading them. 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Where are they? Gone?—Let this pernicious hour

Stand aye accursed in the calendar!-

Come in, without there

 

Macbeth

Macbeth                          Act IV, Scene i, Line 134

 

Well, that doesn’t sound very positive, does it? This is our buddy Macbeth reacting to the visions of the future that the witches have just provided him. Now they’ve vanished and Lennox is about to enter.

That’s a pretty heavy exclamation. Let this pernicious hour stand aye accursed in the calendar.

Well, happily for me, that’s not the way I feel about my current hour, or, hopefully, any hour. I guess it’s good to be me, and not be Macbeth.

I was trying to come up with an appropriate it's good to be me pic. I came up with an endless list of why it's good to be me, but not an endless list of pics. So I'm giving you a pic of my latest Blackwing Volume. 

Simple pleasures, and it's good to be me.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

 

No, sir; their hats are pluckt about their ears,

And half their faces buried in their cloaks,

That by no means may I discover them

By any mark of favour.

 

Lucius

Julius Caesar          Act II, Scene i, Line 73

 

 

This is Lucius’s answer to Brutus who’s asking the former if he knows who the guys who at the door are. And how does Brutus respond to Lucius?
Let ‘em in.

That’s right. Not Let them enter, or even let them in; just let 'em in. That seems pretty slangy for old Will. 

And once again, what’s with the hats in old Rome. I really need to see one of these hats. I just can’t picture a guy in a toga with a hat on. Can you?

Well, now wait just a minute. Here's my young associate in a rain poncho, which you might just say resembles a toga, with a hat on. And a fine chapeau it is!

Do you suppose the fellows at Brutus's door had hats like this?

 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

But by ten words, my lord, it is too long,

Which makes it tedious; for in all the play

There is not one word apt, one player fitted:  

 

Philostrate

A Midsummer Night’s Dream         Act V, Scene i, Line 64

 

Philostrate is talking about the play that Peter Quince and his buddies have prepared for them.

One has to wonder (or at least I do) if Will was being self-deprecating when he talks about the poor quality of the play.

Is’t possible?

Speaking of self-deprecating, I want to get one of these outfits. Not that I have a use for it, but it's just one of the coolest get-ups I've ever seen. 

 

 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Upon his hurt she looks so steadfastly,

That her sight dazzling makes the wound seem three;

And then she reprehends her mangling eye,

That makes more gashes where no breach should be;

His face seems twain, each several limb is doubled;

For oft the eye mistakes, the brain being troubled.

 

 

Narrator

Venus and Adonis                  Line 1068

 

Yup, I gave you a whole stanza of the poem. I guess I could have just given you the line, but what’s the fun in that?

This is Venus looking at Adonis who’s been gored by the wild boar. I think her lover is dead at this point. This stanza seems to be saying that she is seeing things even worse than they are, that all his wounds seem multiplied by her grief.

Does that make sense? If you looked at someone you loved who had been mauled to death by a wild animal would you be seeing it worse than it was? I dunno; I guess so.

For oft the eye mistakes, the brain being troubled. 

That's a good line. let's let that be our takeaway for today. Okay?

 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

I thought as much.

 

 

Cleon

Pericles                   Act I, Scene iv, Line 62

 

He thought as much. He thought what? He thought that the ships on the horizon were coming as conquerors. He was wrong. The ships on the horizon were coming with food to aid them in their time of famine.
So he thought he thought as much, but what he thought was not what was, in fact, what was.

What do you think about that?

I think it would have been pretty cool for Pericles to show up in a ship like this one. 

Can't you just see him leaning off the bow in front yelling,

"I'm the king of the world!

And I've brought a whole bunch of corn!"