Hey, J., guess what?
I just realized that Hamlet's cryptic "To be or not to be" speech suddenly becomes plain if you think of "be" as an active verb, synonymous with "bide." He's contemplating the risk of rebellion against a king, and trying to persuade himself that the risk is worth it.
To [bide], or not to [bide], that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep, to say we end
The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks
That Flesh is heir to? 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep,
To sleep, perchance to Dream; aye, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. There's the respect
That makes Calamity of so long life:
What do you think, makes sense?
-M.
--
I could not love thee dear, so much,
Loved I not honor more.
I just realized that Hamlet's cryptic "To be or not to be" speech suddenly becomes plain if you think of "be" as an active verb, synonymous with "bide." He's contemplating the risk of rebellion against a king, and trying to persuade himself that the risk is worth it.
To [bide], or not to [bide], that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep, to say we end
The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks
That Flesh is heir to? 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep,
To sleep, perchance to Dream; aye, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. There's the respect
That makes Calamity of so long life:
What do you think, makes sense?
-M.
--
I could not love thee dear, so much,
Loved I not honor more.
