ANTONY The time of universal peace is near. Prove this a prosperous day, the three-nooked world Shall bear the olive freely. #AntonyandCleo_2026 Act IV s6 (4-6)

SOLDIER Who? One ever near thee; call for Enobarbus, He shall not hear thee, or from Cæsar's camp Say ‚I am none of thine.‘ #AntonyandCleo_2026 IV,5,7-9 William Shakespeare Arden, London/New York 1967

„Die Gräfin Lydia Iwanowna schrieb gewöhnlich zwei- bis dreimal täglich an Alexej Alexandrowitsch. Sie liebte diese Art, mit ihm umzugehen, weil sie, im Gegensatz zu ihrem persönlichen Verkehr, etwas Elegantes und Geheimnisvolles an sich hatte.“  #TolstoyReadalong Anna Karenina V,23

ANTONY Fare thee well, dame, whate’er becomes of me. This is a soldier’s kiss. #AntonyandCleo_2026 Act IV s4 (29-30)

Along the way

ANTONY O love, That thou couldst see my wars to-day, and knew'st The royal occupation, thou shouldst see A workman in't. #AntonyandCleo_2026 IV,4,15-18 William Shakespeare Arden, London/New York 1967

#TolstoyReadalong Anna Karenina V,22 „Sie machte ihn…zu einem leidenschaftlichen und treuen Anhänger jener christlichen Bewegung, die sich neuerdings in Petersburg ausbreitete. (…) Allerdings fühlte Alexej Alexandrowitsch dunkel, dass die Vorstellungen dieses Glaubens leichtfertig und irrig seien.

#balzactogether all-- on june 1, we begin with Le Pere Goriot or Old Goriot. I'll be reading the Norton Critical Edition.

„… zwischen ihnen herrschte schon lange die stillschweigende Übereinkunft, dass sie beide mit Arbeit überlastet und immer in Eile seien.“  #TolstoyReadalong Anna Karenina V,21

“Melville’s grave is most notable by the empty scroll.” #MelvilleMonday www.themontrealreview.com/Articles/I_w...

Ahoy, Shipmates & Friends! Happy #MelvilleMonday ! 🐳 “. . . all is glee, fishy glee, and frolicking fun; light hearts and light fins, gay backs and gay spirits.—Swim away, swim away! my merry fins all. Let us roam the flood . . .” 🐟🐟🐟 ~ Mardi and a Voyage Thither V.1, C48

Stone by stone, month by month, the tower rose. Higher, higher; snail-like in pace, but torch or rocket in its pride. The Piazza Tales. The Bell-Tower. Happy #MelvilleMonday, dear friends!

Happy #MelvilleMonday 🐳! „Diptych was inspired by Japanese gyotaku printing, a tradition dating to the 19th century of pressing fish against paper to document prize catches and keep records.“

ANTONY Grace grow where those drops fall, my hearty friends; You take me in too dolorous a sense  #AntonyandCleo_2026 IV,2,38-39

ENOBARBUS To be furious Is to be frighted out of fear; and in that mood The dove will peck the estridge; and I see still, A diminution of our captain’s brain Restores his heart. When valour preys on reason, It eats the sword it fights with. #AntonyandCleo_2026 Act III s13 (195-200)

ANTONY O that I were Upon the hill of Basan, to outroar The horned herd  #AntonyandCleo_2026 III,13,128-130 William Shakespeare Arden, London/New York 1967

The seemingly spontaneous semblance of beauty for its own sake which is characteristic of the work of art is, paradoxically, the result of very deliberate arrangement of the component parts. #SundaySentence W. G. Sebald Silent Catastrophes, Essays Tr. Jo Catling

„Alle wünschten im stillen nur, es möge schnell zu Ende gehen; sie sprachen das aber nicht aus, sondern verabreichten ihm Arzneien, suchten nach anderen Arzneien und Ärzten und betrogen ihn, sich selbst und einander.“  #TolstoyReadalong Anna Karenina V,20

CLEO. Tell him from his all-obeying breath I hear The doom of Egypt. THIDIAS. 'Tis your noblest course: Wisdom and fortune combating together, If that the former dare but what it can, No chance may shake it. Act III s13 #AntonyandCleo_2026 Wisdom lost out for them, this time. (3/3)

„sie legte die Selbstbeherrschung und Umsicht an den Tag, durch die sich Männer vor einer Schlacht oder überhaupt in gefährlichen Minuten auszuzeichnen pflegen - in jenen Minuten, wo ein Mann beweist, was er wert ist …“  #TolstoyReadalong Anna Karenina V,19

CAESAR (To Thidias) To try thy eloquence, now ‘tis time. #AntonyandCleo_2026 Act III s12 (26)

CÆSAR … women are not In their best fortunes strong; but want will perjure The ne'er-touch'd vestal  #AntonyandCleo_2026 III,12,30-32 William Shakespeare Arden, London/New York 1967

ANTONY O, whither hast thou led me, Egypt? See, How I convey my shame out of thine eyes By looking back what I have left behind Stroyed in dishonour. #AntonyandCleo_2026 Act III s11 (51-54)

„Auf dem Tisch standen Medizinflaschen und eine Wasserkaraffe in peinlicher Ordnung, daneben lag ein Stapel Wäsche und Kittys Broderie anglaise, während auf dem Nachttisch am Bett ein Trinkglas, eine Kerze und Tabletten bereitgestellt waren.“  #TolstoyReadalong Anna Karenina V,18

#AntonyandCleo_2026 Week 4 begins May 22- Shakespeare was a realist as well as a romantic, a skilled politician as well as a supreme poet…perpetually both inside & outside the action, both an emotionally involved participant in the world he created & a wryly detached commentator upon it. RSC intro.

ANTONY Pray you, look not sad, Nor make replies of loathness; take the hint Which my despair proclaims. Let that be left Which leaves itself  #AntonyandCleo_2026 III,11,17-20 William Shakespeare Arden, London/New York 1967

„… da sie es für ihre unbedingte Pflicht hielt, ihm zu helfen, zweifelte sie auch nicht daran, dass das möglich sei, und ging sofort ans Werk.“ #TolstoyReadalong Anna Karenina V,17

SCARUS I never saw an action of such shame: Experience, manhood, honour, ne’er before Did violate so itself. #AntonyandCleo_2026 Act III s10 (22-24)

SCARUS The greater cantle of the world is lost With very ignorance, we have kiss'd away Kingdoms, and provinces. #AntonyandCleo_2026 III,10,6-8 William Shakespeare Arden, London/New York 1967

„… zutiefst blieb er unzufrieden mit sich und mit ihr. Mit ihr, weil sie es nicht über sich gewinnen konnte, ihn fortzulassen, wenn es nötig war … Und mit sich selbst war er unzufrieden, weil er nicht fest genug geblieben war.“  #TolstoyReadalong Anna Karenina V,16

ANTONY Gentle Octavia, Let your best love draw to that point which seeks Best to preserve it. If I lose my honour, I lose myself. #AntonyandCleo_2026 Act III s4 (20-23)

„woran dachtest du eigentlich?“ „Ich? Ich dachte (...) ich muss jetzt diese Knopflöcher ausschneiden, weisst du.“ “Nein, sage mir, woran du gedacht hast“, bestand er auf seiner Frage. (…) “Woran ich gedacht habe? Ach, nur an Moskau ... an deinen Nacken...“  #TolstoyReadalong Anna Karenina V,15

SOLDIER O noble Emperor, do not fight by sea! Trust not to rotten planks. Do you misdoubt This sword and these my wounds? #AntonyandCleo_2026 Act III s7 (61-63)

ANTONY We'll to our ship, Away, my Thetis! #AntonyandCleo_2026 III,7,59-60 William Shakespeare Arden, London/New York 1967 Thétis dans son char marin pour l'opéra Alceste Vers 1677/1678 Jean I Berain Louvre

#MelvilleMonday What we call Fate is even, heartless, and impartial; not a fiend to kindle bigot flames, nor a philanthropist to espouse the cause of Greece. We may fret, fume, and fight; but the thing called Fate everlastingly sustains an armed neutrality. - Melville, White-Jacket (c. 1850)

CESAR Be you not troubled with the time, which drives O'er your content these strong necessities, But let determin'd things to destiny Hold unbewail'd their way. … You are abus'd Beyond the mark of thought #AntonyandCleo_2026 III,6,82 ff William Shakespeare Arden, London/New York 1967

The perfect bookends for #MelvilleMonday ! 🐳 (Although, somewhat impractical) “A vast form shot lengthwise, but obliquely, from the sea.” Moby-Dick

“The end of the hawser-like rope winding through these intricacies, was then conducted to the windlass, and the huge lower block of the tackles was swung over the whale; to this block the great blubber hook, weighing some one hundred pounds, was attached.” #MelvilleMonday

Ahoy, Shipmates & Friends! Happy #MelvilleMonday ! 🐳 “All the past a dim blank? Think of the time when we ran up and down in our arbor, where the green vines grew over the great ribs of the stranded whale. Oh, Yillah, little Yillah . . . am I forever forgotten?” ~Mardi C45

“Some ships sail from their ports, and ever afterwards are missing, Starbuck!” “Truth, sir: saddest truth.” Moby Dick. CXXXV. Happy #MelvilleMonday, dear friends!

"See! Moby Dick seeks thee not. It is thou, thou, that madly seekest him!" Moby Dick. CXXXV. Happy #MelvilleMonday , dear friends!

Happy #MelvilleMonday 🐳 „The blue-nosed boatswain, complexioned like slag, Like a blue Monday lours—his implements in bag.“ Herman Melville BRIDEGROOM DICK 1876. John Marr and Other Sailors with Some Sea Pieces. Peter Monamy Ships in Distress in a Storm c.1720–30 TATE

ANTONY Gentle Octavia, Let your best love draw to that point which seeks Best to preserve it. If I lose my honour, I lose myself. #AntonyandCleo_2026 Act III s4 (20-23)

„Da verstand er erst, was er damals noch nicht begriffen hatte, als er sie nach der Trauung aus der Kirche führte: dass sie ihm nicht nur nahestand, sondern dass er nicht mehr wusste, wo ihr Wesen aufhörte und seins anfing.“ #TolstoyReadalong Anna Karenina V,14