Inertia and more rambling about medieval poetry
I think I'm developing an allergy to something. I've been having random bouts of itching for the last few days, which also happened to my sister when she developed an allergy to dust. Also, my face feels rather like it does when I get sunburned. Maybe I did get sunburned? But I don't look sunburned...
I haven't graded any papers or done anything productive, either, except that I cleaned my living room. I hope I'm not actually allergic to dust, as it would mean I'd have to clean more. Cleaning sucks.
And I spent far too much time pondering this poem, an attack on Richard II's favorites written in 1399. There's a bit of an interesting puzzle in it in that everyone in it is referred to elliptically, either through puns on their names (in the cases of Bushy, Bagot, and Greene, who have eminently punnable names), or through allusions to their heraldic devices, thus Gloucester is a swan, Arundel a steed, and Warwick a bearward. Henry Bolingbroke, in this poem, is a heron, and I can't figure out why, as it doesn't seem to have a heraldic significance. I did a bit of googling on medieval bestiary lore, and turned up this and, even more interestingly, this. Although the really neat stuff in the second link -- the association with penance and Aesop's fable of the heron-king -- really only applies to stuff that happens after this text must have been written (it would have to have been written after Bolingbroke's return to England in early July 1399, and though the poem forecasts the execution of Bushy and Greene, the last lines indicate that it hasn't happened yet. It actually did happen 29 July 1399, ftr). So it's a bit of a mystery, as far as the symbolism goes, I guess, especially if all the other references to people are heraldic or puns. The editor on the website glosses the references to the peacocks and geese as being about the Neville and Percy families, but the older editor's interpretation of it as a reference to the lords and commons makes just as much sense (though it leaves out some major players).
Medieval poetry is so much fun, isn't it? Okay, fine, I think it is, anyway.
In other news, I finally caught the Drom finale from last season. Didn't pay enough attention to comment. KHC really is a fine-looking guy though. ;-)
And in chat, the conversation (at least a few minutes ago) was about what kind of things are better when they're on fire. Cheese yes, cows and OT, not so much. I love chat.
I haven't graded any papers or done anything productive, either, except that I cleaned my living room. I hope I'm not actually allergic to dust, as it would mean I'd have to clean more. Cleaning sucks.
And I spent far too much time pondering this poem, an attack on Richard II's favorites written in 1399. There's a bit of an interesting puzzle in it in that everyone in it is referred to elliptically, either through puns on their names (in the cases of Bushy, Bagot, and Greene, who have eminently punnable names), or through allusions to their heraldic devices, thus Gloucester is a swan, Arundel a steed, and Warwick a bearward. Henry Bolingbroke, in this poem, is a heron, and I can't figure out why, as it doesn't seem to have a heraldic significance. I did a bit of googling on medieval bestiary lore, and turned up this and, even more interestingly, this. Although the really neat stuff in the second link -- the association with penance and Aesop's fable of the heron-king -- really only applies to stuff that happens after this text must have been written (it would have to have been written after Bolingbroke's return to England in early July 1399, and though the poem forecasts the execution of Bushy and Greene, the last lines indicate that it hasn't happened yet. It actually did happen 29 July 1399, ftr). So it's a bit of a mystery, as far as the symbolism goes, I guess, especially if all the other references to people are heraldic or puns. The editor on the website glosses the references to the peacocks and geese as being about the Neville and Percy families, but the older editor's interpretation of it as a reference to the lords and commons makes just as much sense (though it leaves out some major players).
Medieval poetry is so much fun, isn't it? Okay, fine, I think it is, anyway.
In other news, I finally caught the Drom finale from last season. Didn't pay enough attention to comment. KHC really is a fine-looking guy though. ;-)
And in chat, the conversation (at least a few minutes ago) was about what kind of things are better when they're on fire. Cheese yes, cows and OT, not so much. I love chat.