Mr Bombastic

Just let me know when you give up. I'll send you a PM with the answer. That applies to everyone.

bilordinary Loc: SW Washington

A Mid Summer Night Dream, this is what came to mind.

Mr Bombastic

I am so disappointed. No one knows the answer? What happened to our public schools? Such a shame.

son of witless

Uncle.

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

I do too and know it was based on nothing turned into something but dang if I remember.. Heck had to read it in 8th grade I think...everyone got in trouble?? OK liars then, spreading gossip...lolol

Hmm, like some in here...lololl

"Taming of the Shrew" but that was very much about something...lolo

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

<sigh>...don't tell give another hint.please.....

Mr Bombastic

I'll just go ahead and answer, since I can't stand reading about how ignorant you folks are. Wait. Did I say that loud? Oh well. Nothing is a double entendre, "an O-thing" was Elizabethan slang for "vagina", evidently derived from the pun of a woman having "nothing" between her legs. There. You all learned something new today. No. Don't thank me. Just doing my job.

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

Hush your mouth, mister...

pafret Loc: Northeast

A similar play on words occurs in Hamlet, when he is speaking to Ophelia:


HAMLET
Lady, shall I lie in your lap?
HAMLET
My lady, should I lie in your lap?

OPHELIA
No, my lord.
OPHELIA
No, my lord.

HAMLET
I mean, my head upon your lap?
HAMLET
I mean, with my head in your lap?

105 OPHELIA
Ay, my lord.
OPHELIA
Yes, my lord.

HAMLET
Do you think I meant country matters?*
HAMLET
*Did you think I was talking about sex?

OPHELIA
I think nothing, my lord.
OPHELIA
I think
nothing**

**In Shakespeare’s time, “nothing” (or “0”) was slang for the vagina.
nothing, my lord.

HAMLET
That’s a fair thought to lie between maids' legs.
HAMLET
That’s a nice thought to lie between a girl’s legs.

OPHELIA
What is, my lord?
OPHELIA
What is, my lord?

110 HAMLET
Nothing.
HAMLET
Nothing.

OPHELIA
You are merry, my lord.

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

Dear Mr. Bombastic your game was both imaginative and fun in testing the memory banks..

Shakespeare had many variants to words or even poems he composed..

Would you be kind enough to articulate the sentiments in this, which may not seem at first what you may think...

Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy Will,
And Will to boot, and Will in over-plus;
More than enough am I that vexed thee still,
To thy sweet will making addition thus.
Wilt thou, whose will is large and spacious,
Not once vouchsafe to hide my will in thine?
Shall will in others seem right gracious,
And in my will no fair acceptance shine?
The sea, all water, yet receives rain still,
And in abundance addeth to his store;
So thou, being rich in Will, add to thy Will
One will of mine, to make thy large will more.
Let no unkind, no fair beseechers k**l;
Think all but one, and me in that one Will.

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

Yikessssss, I didn't read THAT in 8th grade....

Mr Bombastic

At first glance, I'm thinking Will, is short for the male sex organ. What can I say? I have a dirty mind, from a misspent youth. But I found this. I though it was pretty informative. If this keeps up, I might start reading Shakespeare.

CliffsNotes:

The punning on the word "will" continues from the previous sonnet. The poet wants to continue his sexual relationship with his mistress, but she is already bursting with lovers: "Whoever hath her wish, thou hath thy Will, / And Will to boot, and Will in overplus." Here in just the first two lines, the word Will appears three times, but just who or what these Wills are remains ambiguous. One possibility is that each Will corresponds to the youth, the Dark Lady's husband, and even Shakespeare himself. Another possibility is that Will is a general term for lover; after all, one meaning of the word "will" during Elizabethan times was the male sex organ. Yet another, less bawdy possibility, is that the word Will refers to the weak personalities of her lovers, who are unable to decide their own fates because of the woman's strong, sexually magnetic personality; basically she controls them, and they have no free will to make decisions.

Because the woman already has several Wills, or lovers, the poet wonders why she does not accept him, his "will," as well: "So thou, being rich in Will, add to thy Will / One will of mine to make thy large Will more." Employing the image of the sea as a simile of the woman, the poet argues that the sea adds water to itself without exertion; so should the Dark Lady.

There is more than a little cynicism in the poet's admission of lust for a thoroughly disreputable woman. Begging to have sex with the woman, the poet barely masks his jealousy of the woman's many lovers: "Shall will in others seem right gracious, / And in my will no fair acceptance shine?" What is so wrong, he asks her, with his sex organ that she won't accept him as her lover? Sarcastically, he bawdily asks her why her own sex organ, which so easily accommodated other men's, cannot accept one more.

Sorry for copy/paste. I had a vague understanding what was going on, but not enough to articulate it. Call me lazy. I especially liked the last paragraph, in the CliffsNotes. Hilarious!

pafret Loc: Northeast

Shakespeare was a dirty middle age man and he is talking about penises, their large size and the lady's ability to accommodate them. He is not very complimentary to the lady since he implies that he could get an echo because of her large spacious vagina and he is pleading to be included among the many who have visited before him. If others, why not him? She is capacious, why not include his penis among the many.

Mr Bombastic

Nice summary. Concise and to the point.

badbobby Loc: texas

makes sense to me
but I did need to be told