“Methinks I am a prophet new inspired And thus expiring do foretell of him: His rash fierce blaze of riot cannot last, For violent fires soon burn out themselves; Small showers last long, but sudden storms are short; He tires betimes that spurs too fast betimes; With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder: Light vanity, insatiate cormorant, Consuming means, soon preys upon itself.”
I haven’t had time to update for awhile but I’m trying to catch up! This photo is so beautiful I thought it deserved its own, new post.
James Norton brings a moment from history to life as he performs a speech from Richard II — on the same spot where the real king was forced to abandon his crown.
The War And Peace star read from the Shakespeare play in Westminster Hall for a short film commissioned by the Globe theatre to mark the 400th anniversary of the playwright’s death.
His speech came from the deposition scene, in which the king recounts how he was forced to give up his throne by Henry Bolingbroke’s rebels.
Westminster Hall was built in 1097 by the son of William the Conqueror and extensively restored by Richard II. He was deposed there on September 30, 1399.
How many Shakespeare characters canonically had dogs I need to know.
I know Hotspur, and then Theseus had a bunch of hunting dogs that were really fancy hunting dogs and then one of the Mechanicals had a dog too. Maybe. I think it was Starveling (Moonshine) in the play but it could have belonged to any of them.
From there I don’t really remember. I feel like someone had one in Lear?
Beatrice has a dog! “I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.”
This is good
Hotspur and Beatrice bond over rather hearing their dogs bark than people be annoying.
Also historically Richard II had a greyhound named Mathe.
Don’t forget the most famous Shakespeare dog, and the only one who appears onstage – Launce’s dog Crab from Two Gentlemen of Verona.
Benvolio had a dog, Mercutio Claims Benvolio argued with a man who coughed and woke his dog.
Alfred the Great: buys just enough canned food and duct tape to the point where you’re not overly concerned but you are pretty sure he’s a doomsday prepper
Aethelflaed: fills three carts with snack cakes, those church basement paper cups, and generic brand soda because no one can negotiate a surrender on an empty stomach
Athelstan: that is far too much coffee
Aethelred the Unready: just buying every single item on his wife’s list. This is the fourth store he’s been to because Emma is very specific.
Cnut: only came here for all his Special Haircare Products
William the Conqueror: fills up a cart and just leaves without paying. just fucking books it to the parking lot I hate him
Matilda: comes in with three rowdy boys, tells them to not ask for ANYTHING, buys an armload of 5-hour energies, leaves with two rowdy boys
Henry II: walks around the store eating a bag of grapes he has not bought while Eleanor does the actual shopping
Richard I: will find a way to talk about his study abroad last year with the deli guy if it kills him. Is also texting his mom to ask what groceries he needs to buy because he has no idea
John: verbally berating everyone in customer service because they won’t let him return a dented can of peas that expired 7 years ago
Edward I: tries to use a 24 year old coupon to buy lentils in bulk (he doesn’t even like lentils?) and knocks over an elaborate pepsi display in a fit of rage
Edward II: has his card declined and demands to know why the cashier had to be so loud about it
Edward III: says “guess it’s FREE THEN HAHAHA!!!” when an item doesn’t scan right away. several items do not scan. Gets a veteran’s discount.
Richard II: that’s uhhh… a lot of advil there buddy
Henry V: also has his card declined but drops the “DO YOU KNOW WHO MY FATHER IS” line, is dressed like lucky luciano
Henry VI: begins to panic when Margaret leaves him in line for two minutes because she forgot eggs. the line is moving quickly…so quickly
Edward IV: he has one cart filled with wine. Elizabeth Woodville has another filled with kid cuisines.
Henry VII: pulls out the fattest binder you have ever seen and it’s filled with coupons. His transactions usually take 2 hours and he tsks the entire time.
Henry VIII: buys bags of charcoal and dog food just so he can pick them all up and be like “yeah this isn’t even heavy to me I don’t even feel it” also buys condoms and laughs nervously
Edward VI: literally just buying root vegetables even though he’s 9 because he is so weird
Mary I: just coming in for her weekly supply of “praying for you” cards, always gives exact change thank you mary
Elizabeth I (if these even count as medieval anymore): no longer allowed to do her own shopping after the sweet n low incident. Now a personal shopper gets her groceries for her. it is robert dudley
Happy birthday King Richard II! Richard was born on this day (6th January) in 1367. He already had an elder brother, but the death of little Edward in infancy, along with the death of Richard’s father the Black Prince, meant that Richard became King of England when he was just a child, on the death of his father King Edward III.
Today marks the anniversary of the coronation of King Richard II. He was crowned at the age of 10, on this day in British history, 16 July 1377. Richard would remain king until being deposed by Henry of Bolingbroke in 1399.
In 1392, the fifteenth year of King Richard’s reign, the king kept Christmas in splendid style at Langley near St Albans. With him were Anna [of Bohemia] his queen, four bishops, as many earls, the duke of York [Edmund of Langley], many lords and fifteen ladies.
On Christmas Day itself a dolphin arrived from the sea and sported in the Thames at London, getting as far as London Bridge. Perhaps it was an omen of the storms which were soon to follow within a week. When the citizens saw it, they chased after it, caught it though with difficulty and brought it back to London. Many were astounded on seeing the size of its body, which was quite ten feet long.
Dolphins are sea creatures who will follow men’s voices. They enjoy the playing of pipes, and often arrive in shoals for the music. Their headlong dives as they play in the waves signify the approach of storms. They are the fastest and most agile creatures of the sea. Often in their jumps they leap over the sails of ships. After mating, the females go off and give birth. The gestation period is ten months. Birth takes place on a summer’s day. They feed their newly produced young with their teats and pick them up in their mouths. They take care of their sick. They live for thirty years, as has been proved by the experiment of cutting off their tails. They have their mouths where other animals do, but they alone move their tongues in their bellies, contrary to the nature of sea creatures. The fins on their back are pointed and grow stiff when they get angry. When their passion dies down, the fins retract into certain coverings. Men say that they do not breathe when in the water but take in vital breath only in the air above. The cry, which serves them for a voice, is like a human cry. They have a particular name and, when they hear it, they follow the callers. This proper name for them is Simones. They hear men’s voices more quickly when the wind is in the north, but when the south wind blows, their hearing is blocked.
No matter where; of comfort no man speak: Let’s talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs; Make dust our paper and with rainy eyes Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth
