“… thy food is such
As hath been belched on by infected lungs.”
(Pericles act 4, sc. 6)
Comments. Excellent line to describe your disgust with a particularly bad restaurant, “Their food is such as hath been belched on by infected lungs.” Truth and tales abound about bad restaurants and bad food, depending also on taste, habit and fickleness of the judge. The inimitable William Cowper, for example, describes the following episode Continue reading
“…his wit is as thick as Tewkesbury mustard!”
(King Henry IV p2, act 2, sc. 4)
Comments. Excellent comeback especially appropriate for people who think of themselves as being witty when they are not. One such category is that of the critics, who, according to Anton Checkhov “…are like horse-flies which prevent the horse from ploughing.” While for Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), “Criticism is a study by which men grow important and formidable at very small expense.” Tewkesbury mustard was developed in the Cotswold town of Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire and gained notoriety in the 17th Century becoming a staple condiment of the kitchens of the time. Mrs. Darlington’s Continue reading
“Is it not strange that desire should so many years outlive performance?”
(King Henry IV p2, act 2, sc. 4)
Comments. Applicable to any aging Romeo. A modern equivalent is, “I still run after women but no longer remember why.” In his Anatomy of Melancholy Robert Burton, reflecting on the general cure for love-melancholy, says, “Although it be controverted by some, whether love melancholy may be cured, because it is so irresistible a passion, for as you know,
It is an easy passage down to hell,
But to come back, once there, you cannot well. (Virgil, Aeneid)
yet without the question, if be taken in time, it may be helped, and by many good remedie Continue reading
“God made him, and therefore let him pass for a man.”
(Merchant of Venice, act 1, sc. 2)
Comments. Perfect answer to the question, “What do you think of him?” when your opinion of the subject in question is negative. It is an insult that takes away the coarseness without removing the sting.
You may look at the page describing the book “Your Daily Shakespeare”, 1387 pages filled choc-a-block with over 10,000 situations you may find yourself in or involved with, calling for the perfect Shakespearean repartee Continue reading
“… The sweetest honey
Is loathsome in his own deliciousness,
And in the taste confounds the appetite
(Romeo and Juliet act 2, sc. 6)
Comments. This is for readers of this blog and website who may have a weakness for sugar and sweet things in general. Although, for the sake of accuracy, honey here is a metaphor for excess in love.
History and literature are filled with general advice on food and nutrition. Almost everything we eat or drink has at some time or other been denounced as illegal, immoral, irreligious or nasty. For example, according to Thomas Fuller (1608-1661) Continue reading
“Till now you have gone on and fill’d the time
With all licentious measure, making your wills
The scope of justice; till now myself and such
As slept within the shadow of your power
Have wander’d with our traversed arms and breathed
Our sufferance vainly: now the time is flush,
When crouching marrow in the bearer strong
Cries of itself ‘No more:’ now breathless wrong
Shall sit and pant in your great chairs of ease,
And pursy insolence shall break his wind
With fear and horrid flight.”
(Timon of Athens act 5, sc. 4)
Comments. This call to action is uttered by Alcibiades against the Athenian senators, Continue reading
“I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest.” (Much Ado About Nothing act 4, sc. 1)
Comments. In the chapter “Symptoms of Love”, of Robert Burton’s “Anatomy of Melancholy”, we find that ancient playwright Eustathius has his character “panting at the heart at the sight of his mistress,” he could not sleep, his bed was thorns. All (writers) make leanness, Continue reading
“I can easier teach twenty what were good to be done, than be one of the twenty to follow mine own teaching.”
(Merchant of Venice act 1, sc. 2)
Comments. An obvious truth with ample statistical support, recent and old. The Earl of Chesterfield (1694 -1771) became famous in literature through his letters to his son. Of which (the letters), Samuel Johnson said, “They teach the morals of a whore, and the manners of a dancing master.”
In fact the letters failed in their objective. When his son died at the age of 36, Chesterfield learned that he had married in secret; and, contrary to his advice, he had chosen a rather plain girl and of low birth. The idea of the letters may have come from Continue reading
“Pray you, no more of this; ’tis like the howling
of Irish wolves against the moon.” (As You Like It act 5, sc. 3)
Comments. Applicable whenever your hearing is exposed to loud and very unpleasant or distasteful music – e.g. when your neighbors rehearse with their hard rock group. General opinions about music have varied with the times. Philosophers in ancient Greece feared the effect of the lyre on the temper of the young. Nero, on the other hand, decided to learn to play the lyre and gave recitals during which listeners were of course supposed to approve Continue reading
“…Two of these fellows you
Must know and own; this thing of darkness!
Acknowledge mine.” (Tempest act 5, sc. 1)
Comments. The ‘thing of darkness’ is the monster Caliban of the Tempest. But the description fits anything that you particularly dislike or person you particularly dislike because of character or other issues. E.G. “This thing of darkness works in the same department where I work.” It can equally apply to any item you own but do not value much e.g. an old car, a tattered executive briefcase, a stained coffee mug etc. e.g. ‘This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine’.
You may wish to take a look at the page describing the book “Your Daily Shakespeare”, 1387 pages filled choc-a-block with over 10,000 situations Continue reading