UPDATED September, 2010 – My new book, Hear My Soul Speak : Wedding Quotations from Shakespeare, is available now!

While working on my wedding book I’ve compiled and organized something like 150 “love quotes” by Shakespeare.  This was harder than it might seem, especially if you google the appropriate terms and discover dozens upon dozens of quote databases dedicated to the subject.  The problem is that most of them simply search the works for words like “love” and then say “Aha, a love quote!”
That’s not really good enough, is it?  I don’t expect that people searching for love quotes want to see something like “The course of true love never did run smooth.”  True, it’s a love quote. By Shakespeare.  But it’s not exactly romantic.
To balance out this trend I’d like to anchor some “love quotes” here, compiled by we fans of the bard who’ll pick only the best of the best.  Quality, people.  Not quantity.
Personally I like those quotes that are in a form where someone could say it to someone else.  The romantic stuff. Like these:

“I will swear I love thee infinitely.”  – Henry IV Part 1
“I will live in thy heart, die in thy lap, and be buried in thy eyes.” – Much Ado About Nothing
“I would not wish any companion in the world but you.” – The Tempest
“Sweet, above thought I love thee.” – Troilus and Cressida
“I do love nothing in the world so well as you.” – Much Ado About Nothing

(Long time fans will know that I had that first one engraved on an infinity bracelet for my wife).  I particularly like that Tempest one because the word love is nowhere to be found. So simple text searching won’t do it, you actually have to pay attention to what’s being said.
On the topic of love in general, there’s a couple I like just as well:

“If music be the food of love, play on.” – Twelfth Night
“Love is a spirit all compact of fire.” – Venus and Adonis

Anybody else got some favorites?

I have been truly criminally remiss in not pimping the holy heck out of Commonwealth Shakespeare’s production of Othello, now running for free on Boston Common.  The show had a bumpy time of it last year, losing their rich sponsors (thank goodness, they were ruining it) and going it on their own.  I’m very glad to have them back for another year, doubly so that they’re tackling one of the great tragedies!
I haven’t seen the show yet, we’re planning on going this weekend (Sunday, August 8).  I’ll be the one in the Mercutio Drew First shirt. 😉  If you see me, stop by and say hi!
Last year I bought a cool black hooded sweatshirt while I was at the show, and I’m upset that I’ve apparently lost it.  Speaking of which, when you go, remember to support the group by buying stuff.  It’s a free show but that doesn’t mean it didn’t cost anything to produce.  Put some money in the hat when it comes around.  Buy merchandise.  Every bit helps.  Let’s keep free Shakespeare on the Common going for our children to take their children.
UPDATE:  Review posted.  Loved it!

Don’t ask me how I found this, but I’m glad I did.  Somebody with a stronger constitution than I has done a satire of Jersey Shore in iambic pentameter. Unfortunately it stops just when it’s getting good (the author says in the comments that he was getting a headache, and I believe it).  Maybe a surge in traffic (and some comments) will motivate him to grab the Excedrin and bang out a longer piece?

Ok, best opening lines was fun, now let’s do best ending.  I don’t think I’ll stick with “ending line”, that might be a bit tricky to pull off.  Might not always work as just a single line, in other words.
Here’s the rules :

• Must be the actual ending.  Work backwards from the definite end of the play.  You can take as much of the last scene as you want, but it has to include the actual end.  So, in other words, I can’t have the big fight scene in Macbeth, I’d be restricted to Malcolm’s final speech, which isn’t nearly as interesting.
• “Best”, for the purposes of this game, has more to do with particularly memorable or poetic aspects of the actual words.  Not because the scene was particularly cool.

Romeo and Juliet’s got a good contender with the Prince’s line, “For never was a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”
Puck, of course, knocks it out of the park for Midsummer.  His whole closing speech, from “If we shadows have offended” all the way through to “Robin shall restore amends” is note perfect.
I think this category is interesting because it brings up those opportunities where we think Shakespeare should have ended, but didn’t.  The obvious case there being Hamlet, where “The rest is silence” has been the closing line for many a film version, but in the script Shakespeare has Horatio and Fortinbras go on for a few dozen more lines.

UPDATE: Did everybody see this?  Digg.com picked up a story that Gunaxin did on 20 best closing lines – days after we decided to do it :).  I wish I could figure out how to get some of that Digg traffic, I’m tellin ya!