# Prithee, speak'st thou to me in the honey-tongued wit of the Swan of Avon, absolute in their numbers as he conceived them **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [May 18, 2021, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330 "2021-05-18T00:56:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330/21 "2021-05-18T02:50:49Z")
So long a wait. This is thy fate! Thy barbs lodge not, and thou art but a toy to me! Forsooth, the game’s afoot. The stakes are great: thy kingdom’s wealth. But what else, I ask, can I gain by it? Thy power, that hath made thee so great, is gone. Thy glory will not endure even a shadow of its former value. Howe’er the man who once towered above the angels, Thou art but a man, And can be made to answer a man’s purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330/22 "2021-05-18T03:26:19Z")
Pray, do not mock me: I am a very foolish fond old man, Fourscore and upward, not an hour more nor less; And, to deal plainly, I fear I am not in my perfect mind. Methinks I should know you, and know this man; Yet I am doubtful for I am mainly ignorant What place this is; and all the skill I have Remembers not these garments; nor I know not Where I did lodge last night. Do not laugh at me; For, as I am a man, I think this lady To be my child Cordelia. – _King Lear_, V, vii ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330/23 "2021-05-18T03:35:19Z")
I cannot help it now, Unless, by using means, I lame the foot Of our design. He bears himself more proudlier, Even to my person, than I thought he would When first I did embrace him, yet his nature In that’s no changeling; and I must excuse What cannot be amended. - Coriolanus, IV, vii. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330/24 "2021-05-18T04:11:03Z")
A bard, they say? I nick thee nay! Algates I shall find a way, My sonnets gay, in fine array On any day, To grace the pages of thy brain. This is what I would not do: If to be loved by a queen Should be to be in servitude, I cannot be a slave to her, Or to the things that have her love. And yet I love to be loved by thee. On any day, by thy side I will see a merry, merry crew. And I’ll tell thee what I’ll do. I’ll take thee with me to-morrow, And, for the first time, thou shalt meet Two gentlemen, who like the rest Have much, much at heart, and do well. The first is the bard, The second, the gentleman. And, I say, 'tis a jolly night, For I know thou dost like to meet The merry, merry crew. We’ll laugh and talk About all this world. “How goes it, gentlemen?” I’ll ask them, "With what do you jest? “And in what kind of company?” If thou art indeed a bard, Prithee call me to thy side, A wag with a sword in his hand. Thy brow and throat I shall kiss As often as I sit by, And save thy sonnets from the fire. For I need not tell you, I think, A man may do anything, As long as he does his duty. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330/25 "2021-05-18T04:20:15Z")
Cite? ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330/26 "2021-05-18T04:30:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Cite? Out of my sight ! Thou dost infect mine eyes _Richard III; I ii_ ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330/27 "2021-05-18T04:32:47Z")
The unhappie imitator, I, Have abused you With diuerse stultiloquies, Stolne and surreptitious expressions Manifest from the Void. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330/28 "2021-05-18T04:42:22Z")
Aroint thee! — _Macbeth_, I, iii. 😊 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330/29 "2021-05-18T04:45:49Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Out of my sight ! Thou dost infect mine eyes The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. — _The Merchant of Venice_, I, iii. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330/30 "2021-05-18T05:19:58Z")
(Exit, pursued by a bear) _The Winter’s Tale_, III, iii ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330/31 "2021-05-18T12:37:17Z")
I’ll lug the guts into the neighbour room. _Hamlet_, III, iv ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330/32 "2021-05-18T12:50:59Z")
_Enter a Messenger with two heads and a hand_ – Titus Andronicus III.i. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330/33 "2021-05-18T12:53:55Z")
Enter the Corpse of Henry VI. – _Richard III_, I, II. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330/34 "2021-05-18T13:04:04Z")
Take up the bodies. Such a sight as this Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss. – Hamlet, 5.2 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330/35 "2021-05-18T13:24:09Z")
O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend The brightest heaven of invention, A kingdom for a stage, princes to act And monarchs to behold the swelling scene! Then should the warlike Harry, like himself, Assume the port of Mars; and at his heels, Leash’d in like hounds, should famine, sword and fire Crouch for employment. But pardon, and gentles all, The flat unraised spirits that have dared On this unworthy scaffold to bring forth So great an object: can this cockpit hold The vasty fields of France? or may we cram Within this wooden O the very casques That did affright the air at Agincourt? _Henry V_, I, i My favorite Shakespeare play (“The National Anthem in five acts,” Shaw joked). ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330/36 "2021-05-18T15:29:09Z")
Ding dong, Bard of Avon calling! - The Flying Karamazov Brothers production of _The Comedy of Errors_ ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330/37 "2021-05-18T15:35:03Z")
Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania. _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_, II, i Oberon’s first line in the play; I still ruefully remember it from a high school production, when one night I blanked on it. 😬 ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330/38 "2021-05-18T15:42:43Z")
How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank! The Merchant of Venice, V, i ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330/39 "2021-05-19T05:16:03Z")
To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, 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; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely, The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay, The insolence of office and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? — _Hamlet_, III, i ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2021, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330/40 "2021-05-19T14:33:01Z")
Soft you; a word or two before you go. I have done the state some service, and they know’t. No more of that. I pray you, in your letters, When you shall these unlucky deeds relate, Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate, Nor set down aught in malice: then must you speak Of one that loved not wisely but too well… _Othello_, V, ii [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prithee-speakst-thou-to-me-in-the-honey-tongued-wit-of-the-swan-of-avon-absolute-in-their-numbers-as-he-conceived-them/942330.md?page=3)