Lear - 'A journey, sir, shortly to go' .... Go where?
Tony
I've never been able to work them out....
Kent
I have a journey, sir, shortly to go;
My master calls me, I must not say no.
--
Thanks
Tony
John Dean
Tony <t...@lineone.net> wrote in message
news:8fn01n$qle$1...@supernews.com...
old & ill & therefore likely to die (partly, perhaps, of a broken heart)
or whether he intends to commit suicide like a Dark Ages Samurai is not
clear. Lear, his master, is calling from the grave
--
John Dean -- Oxford
I am anti-spammed -- defrag me to reply
john...@msn.com
Tony
I didn't think of that.... yes...it makes sense now you point it out ....but
it seems a rather strange way to say it....
Cheers
Tony
John Dean <john...@fragmsn.com> wrote in message
news:8fncjf$hia$1...@supernews.com...
Alfred Armstrong
Tony wrote:
>
> Hmmmm........
>
> I didn't think of that.... yes...it makes sense now you point it out ....but
> it seems a rather strange way to say it....
>
strange way'. Keep reading and you may find you like it.
--
Alfred Armstrong
http://www.oddbooks.co.uk/
"Christ goes deeper than I do, but I have had a wider experience" -
Frank Harris
John Dean
> Hmmmm........
>
>
> I didn't think of that.... yes...it makes sense now you point it out
....but
> it seems a rather strange way to say it....
>
>
Tony
> strange way'. Keep reading and you may find you like it.
> Alfred Armstrong
> http://www.oddbooks.co.uk/
> "Christ goes deeper than I do, but I have had a wider experience" -
What a patronising and idiotic statement.
I've been reading Shakespeare for 25 years, and don't need to be told to
'keep reading'.
I suppose some people have to show off, even when discussing points of
litterature.
Tony
bookbu...@my-deja.com
"Tony" <t...@mail.com> wrote:
> What do these lines in King Lear mean?
>
> I've never been able to work them out....
>
> Kent
> I have a journey, sir, shortly to go;
> My master calls me, I must not say no.
>
> --
>
> Tony
(quote)
KENT The wonder is, he hath endured so long:
He but usurp'd his life.
ALBANY Bear them from hence. Our present business
Is general woe.
[To KENT and EDGAR]
Friends of my soul, you twain
Rule in this realm, and the gored state sustain.
KENT I have a journey, sir, shortly to go;
My master calls me, I must not say no. (unquote)
If Lear "but usurp'd his life," or kept it without the right, then it
appears that what KENT next says implies that since LEAR died of a
broken heart, KENT, will follow him into the next world. KENT has
survived, like Edgar, by surrendering ego in his service to LEAR, so
will die, also?
But, I think the concept of pilgrimage is mentioned to describe these
characters "completing the circle," so maybe KENT hears a
Christain "master" now and will continue the "journey" as a pilgrimage?
bookburn
>
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
John W. Kennedy
Lear is set in pre-Christian times (in fact, the somewhat-historic
figure of Lear himself is identified with a pagan Celtic deity), and
Shakespeare, though he could be careless about anachronism on other
points, usually remembers to keep that straight, apart from the careless
use of Xtian oaths by non-Christian characters. (He also usually
remembers to keep "Britain" distinct from "England".)
--
-John W. Kennedy
-jwk...@attglobal.net
Compact is becoming contract
Man only earns and pays. -- Charles Williams
bookbu...@my-deja.com
> > > Tony
> -John W. Kennedy
Here's "pilgrimage" as it appears in Lear, anachronism or not: and it
is Edgar saying, V,iii: . . . .
List a brief tale;
And when 'tis told, O, that my heart would burst!
. . . . I ask'd his blessing, and from first to last
Told him my PILGRIMAGE: but his flaw'd heart,
Alack, too weak the conflict to support!
'Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief,
Burst smilingly.
Here we have 1)Edgar characterizing his journey as pilgrimage; 2)
indication that Edgar might follow his father's broken heart; and 3)
the suggestion that he has this "brief tale" to tell, perhaps something
like an Ancient Mariner?
How necessary the absence of Christianity is to unity of time and
place, I don't know. bookburn
Robert Stonehouse
>I didn't think of that.... yes...it makes sense now you point it out ....but
>it seems a rather strange way to say it....
It is strange, deliberately: the second line is an explanation to
help us understand it. At first it sounds as if he was just saying
'I shan't be here, I'm going on my travels'. It's not until we hear
the second line that the meaning hits us: 'I'm going after _him_'.
It seems to be typical Shakespeare to keep us fooled for a moment
and then knock us sideways with the meaning of what we have already
heard.
>John Dean <john...@fragmsn.com> wrote in message
>news:8fncjf$hia$1...@supernews.com...
>>
>> Tony <t...@lineone.net> wrote in message
>> news:8fn01n$qle$1...@supernews.com...
>> > What do these lines in King Lear mean?
>> >
>> > I've never been able to work them out....
>> > Kent
>> > I have a journey, sir, shortly to go;
>> > My master calls me, I must not say no.
>> >
>> > --
>> I take it to mean Kent anticipates death. Whether he just thinks he is
>> old & ill & therefore likely to die (partly, perhaps, of a broken heart)
>> or whether he intends to commit suicide like a Dark Ages Samurai is not
>> clear. Lear, his master, is calling from the grave
roger_st...@my-deja.com
"Tony" <t...@mail.com> wrote
Folks, this is an interesting question; subtle but interesting. Help
me to see if I am understanding Tony's initial question. What word is
the problem? *Master*? *journey*? I looked up *master* in my
lexicon so that I could find the line number in the play, and unless
I'm mistaken my old Bartlett concordance doesn't register the line --
which must mean that it is from a variant text than the one used by
Bartlett. *Master,* however, is a very common word in the play and
seems to be often used by Kent of Lear, which should come as no
surprise.
Can anyone supply a line number so we can look at the context?
> Hmmmm........
>
> I didn't think of that.... yes...it makes sense now you point it
out ....but
> it seems a rather strange way to say it....
>
> Cheers
>
> Tony
>
> John Dean <john...@fragmsn.com> wrote in message
> news:8fncjf$hia$1...@supernews.com...
> >
> > Tony <t...@lineone.net> wrote in message
> > news:8fn01n$qle$1...@supernews.com...
> > > What do these lines in King Lear mean?
> > >
> > > I've never been able to work them out....
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Kent
> > > I have a journey, sir, shortly to go;
> > > My master calls me, I must not say no.
> > >
> > > --
> > I take it to mean Kent anticipates death. Whether he just thinks he
is
> > old & ill & therefore likely to die (partly, perhaps, of a broken
heart)
> > or whether he intends to commit suicide like a Dark Ages Samurai is
not
> > clear. Lear, his master, is calling from the grave
> > --
> > John Dean -- Oxford
> > I am anti-spammed -- defrag me to reply
> > john...@msn.com
> >
> >
> >
>
>
roger_st...@my-deja.com
roger_st...@my-deja.com wrote:
> In article <8g1u4m$qup$1...@supernews.com>,
> "Tony" <t...@mail.com> wrote
>
Lear entry in the next column for the word *master*. Another frigging
*anomoly*!
R.S.
Rob
> In article <8g1u4m$qup$1...@supernews.com>,
> "Tony" <t...@mail.com> wrote
>
>
> Folks, this is an interesting question; subtle but interesting. Help
> me to see if I am understanding Tony's initial question. What word is
> the problem? *Master*? *journey*? I looked up *master* in my
> lexicon so that I could find the line number in the play, and unless
> I'm mistaken my old Bartlett concordance doesn't register the line --
> which must mean that it is from a variant text than the one used by
> Bartlett. *Master,* however, is a very common word in the play and
> seems to be often used by Kent of Lear, which should come as no
> surprise.
>
> Can anyone supply a line number so we can look at the context?
Look at the Finis and then look upwards six lines.
<snip>
Rob
hor...@mindspring.com
He is declining joint rule of the kingdom, feeling weary of the world,
and anticipating death and reunion with Lear.
"Tony" <t...@lineone.net> wrote:
>What do these lines in King Lear mean?
>
>I've never been able to work them out....
>
>
>
>
>Kent
>I have a journey, sir, shortly to go;
>My master calls me, I must not say no.
>
>--
>Thanks
>
>Tony
>
>
Audrey Lusk
marc hanson
Slimeball 4L
> Kent's master is Lear; the journey is death.
> He is declining joint rule of the kingdom, feeling weary of the world,
> and anticipating death and reunion with Lear.
> "Tony" <t...@lineone.net> wrote:
> >What do these lines in King Lear mean?
> >
> >I've never been able to work them out....
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >Kent
> >I have a journey, sir, shortly to go;
> >My master calls me, I must not say no.
> >
> >--
> >Thanks
> >
> >Tony
> >
> >
Margaret
My operant powers their functions leave to do.
And thou shalt live in this fair world behind,
Honored, beloved, and haply one as kind
For husband shalt thou...
If that's how the First Player's writer (or Hamlet?) says "I'm going to die,
I have a journey, sir, shortly to go;
My master calls me, I must not say no.
But then Shakespeare's audience will be paying attention by now - Claudius may still be canoodling.
John W Kennedy
to Claudius and Gertrude as “East Lynne”’s is to us.
--
John W. Kennedy
Algernon Burbage, Lord Roderick, Father Martin, Bishop Baldwin,
King Pellinore, Captain Bailey, Merlin -- A Kingdom for a Stage!
Margaret
Although I once saw East Lynne. It still works.