Bring out the significance in the lines -
"...
Tis an hour ago since it was nine,
And after one hour more t'will be eleven;
And so, from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe,
and then from hour to hour we rot and rot
and thereby hangs a tale."
- Jaques quoting Touchstone, As You Like It

I got the jest of the lines more or less, but can't explain it in words.

Question

Bring out the significance in the lines - 
"...
Tis an hour ago since it was nine,
And after one hour more t'will be eleven;
And so, from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe,
and then from hour to hour we rot and rot
and thereby hangs a tale."
            - Jaques quoting Touchstone, As You Like It

I got the jest of the lines more or less, but can't explain it in words.

anonymous · Answer

You would have to consider the lines in their context. I am not familiar with this play. 

Shakespeare can be difficult to grasp when you're first encountering him. Find an annotated version of the play. Read the notes. You really have to study Shakespeare. You can't just read him like you would read a novel, particularly a contemporary one. His language is very compressed. It's poetry and it's poetry very much from another time.