A bit more Bardolatry: #2

The other day I gave you an excerpt from Troilus and Cressida, one of the very greatest plays Shakespeare ever wrote.  The passage I quoted dwelt on the subject of Time, that mysterious entity through which we all pass and which fascinated Shakespeare because he refers to it constantly throughout his plays and poems.

Here is a quotation from that equally 'mysterious entity', Jaques, from As You Like It, II.vii.  Here Shakespeare wittily but also somewhat mournfully describes Time as lived through a mortal life.  

JAQUES

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. 

We are all, until the end of days, subjects of Time.

 

Comments

[David Duff]

Sorry, 'Whiters', bloody-bloody Typepad was playing up and I could not rid myself of those double "constantlys", so I had to wipe the whole thing, including your comment, and start again.

[Whitewall]

Well executed nonetheless!

[Whyaxye]

Where do you put yourself, DD? I ought by rights to be at the stage of "The Justice", but seem to have missed out somewhere.

I like the idea of young men being "bearded like the pard" - those embarrasing little tufts they grow to convince themselves they have grown up.

[Andra]

I'm pretty much up to the sans everything stage but it doesn't seem to matter..........still on the planet, which must count for something.
The question is .... are you having a good time?
For me, so far, the answer is yes and so I'm sticking around.

[Timbo]

In "Quartered Safe Out Here", his autobiography about his time in the XIVth Army, George Macdonald Fraser muses about whether our Will ever served in the military. An interesting subject.

[Kevin B]

As you say David, Will's fascination with time very much informs his poetry. Today I made a rare excursion to the cinema, (for something other than an opera relay), and after the obligatory half hour of ads and trailers saw the new film of Macbeth*.

It's very gory though it sticks closely to the language and the plot of Shakespeare's original but has an added realism since the movie was filmed in the bleak highlands of Scotland.

And back to the topic of the post with Macbeth's fatalistic acceptance of his wife's death.

“To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”

*The movie's on at my local Vue till Friday and then it'll probably turn up on Film4 since they are co-producers. It's worth seeing if you get the chance.

Oh, and I'm probably a six and a bit.

[David Duff]

'W', alas, I am definitely on "the lean and slipper'd pantaloons" section but SoD would have me believe I've actually reached the "second childishness" phase!

Andra, you are right, I really have been one of the lucky people and, 'frankly, my dear', I don't give a stuff whatever happens next because the rest of it has been excellent.

Kevin, I have been humming and haa-ing over whether or not to see that film but you quoting that superb speech have convinced me. By the way, have you booked for the 'Henry V' simulcast on the 26th?

Timbo, there has always been the mystery over the period between when he left Stratford and when he reached London. Of course, he was a married man with three children so somehow I doubt he would have joined an army. There is also a lot of speculation based on his apparent knowledge of ships but, dammit, who knows?

[David Duff]

Timbo, I would also add that I suspect, Obviously I cannot know, that WS was a very quiet man, the sort that would buy his round in the ale house as part of the fraternity but he would be the quiet, listening, observant one. I've never been much of a listener which is why I am so bloody ignorant!

[Kevin B]

David, my next 'Shakespeare in the cinema' experience will be on October 17th when Verdi's opera Otello will be broadcast live from the Metropolitan Opera NY.

The opera is very much based on Will's play but with the added glory of terrific music and wonderful singing. You should give it a try and if you ever get the chance to see Verdi's Macbeth, that's worth a look as well.

As for Henry V, I'm still mulling it over but I might well give it a go. Isn't it grand that we can get so much culture from all over the world down the local flea pit.

[Cuffleyburgers]

Duffers, thank you for your efforst to bispel the fog of my utter ignorance of the bard.

Really looking forward to "to be or not to be..."

[Mayfly]

'Twere all one
That I should love a bright particular star
And think to wed it, he is so above me:
In his bright radiance and collateral light
Must I be comforted, not in his sphere.

Story of my life.....

[David Duff]

Sorry, Kevin, but opera performers will keep repeating the same phrases over and over, and I sit there muttering, 'Just get on with it!' Mind you, I except Mozart's naughty but funny ones.

We aim to serve, Cuffers.

Oh, but Miss Mayfly, if only you had declared your love for me at the time I would have given you all the comfort you needed! And surely I wasn't that superior, was I, well, except in talent, of course, darling?
Eh? What? You didn't mean ME!