Hamlet

[ice nine]

I downloaded John Gielgud's Hamlet from iTunes and read along with it. I was aware that there were some memorable lines from the play (eg: 'Get thee to a nunnery', 'Something's rotten in the state of Denmark') A line that jumped out at me is from Act 3, scene 4 where Hamlet says to his mother, 'I must be cruel only to be kind.'

[alexv]

As WS and Nick Lowe say, you have to be cruel to be kind, in the right measure (for measure?),but by the same token if you are kind to the cruel you end up being cruel to the kind, or so the Jews said.

"He who is kind to the cruel is cruel to the kind"--Midrash

[Jack of All Parades]

Nicely turned Alexv but you only scratch the surface. Shall we bring it back to the 'Beloved Entertainer"?

Shakespeare abounds! Witness:

The musical accompaniment to songs with John Harle including the exquisite 'O' Mistress Mine where are you roaming?'

"Il Sogno" -the score to scenes from 'A Midsummer's Nights Dream'.

The dubious "Miss Macbeth" from "Spike".

The wonderful "Mystery Dance"
"Romeo was restless; he was ready to kill.
Jumped out a window 'cause he couldn't sit still.
Juliet was waiting with a safety net,
Said "Don't bury me", 'cause I'm not dead yet."

and let us not forget when asked in a 2007 interview who he would most liike to write a song with he answered "Shakespeare, I hear he's a pretty good writer".

Understatement!

[Jack of All Parades]

You may want to spread some 'love', Alexv, to Mr. Sexsmith and his song "Gold In Them Hills" for its judicious usage of Mr. Shakespeare[Or is that Mr. Lowe or Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford?], as well.