"My comfort is, I am sure Jane will die of a broken heart . . . "
Today's quote is one of many ridiculous but comical assertions by Mrs Bennet, the hypochondriacal and often unwittingly hilarious mother in Pride and Prejudice. The eldest Bennet daughter, Jane, has been disappointed in love, and Mrs Bennet is having a bit of a conversation with her second-eldest daughter, Lizzie.
"Oh, well! it is just as he chooses. Nobody wants him to come. Though I shall always say that he used my daughter extremely ill; and if I was her, I would not have put up with it. Well, my comfort is, I am sure Jane will die of a broken heart, and then he will be sorry for what he has done."
Today's quote pairs exceedingly well (in a way), with this poem by Sara Teasdale.
I Shall Not Care
by Sara Teasdale
When I am dead and over me bright April
Shakes out her rain-drenched hair,
Tho' you should lean above me broken-hearted,
I shall not care.
I shall have peace, as leafy trees are peaceful
When rain bends down the bough;
And I shall be more silent and cold-hearted
Than you are now.
Teasdale's lines rhyme XAXA XBXB, with the X lines being written in iambic pentameter (five iambs per line -taDUM taDUM taDUM taDUM taDUM), but with what is known as a "feminine" ending, meaning that the lines actually have eleven syllables, with the last one being unaccented. The first rhymed line in each stanza is in iambic trimeter (three iambs per line - taDUM taDUM taDUM), and the final line being in iambic dimeter (two iambs per line).
It's a clever poem in what it says, and in how Teasdale's use of metre gives greatest weight to the closing line of each stanza, both of which beg to be read more slowly than what precedes them, thereby giving them auditory weight and emotional impact far beyond their physical size.
"Oh, well! it is just as he chooses. Nobody wants him to come. Though I shall always say that he used my daughter extremely ill; and if I was her, I would not have put up with it. Well, my comfort is, I am sure Jane will die of a broken heart, and then he will be sorry for what he has done."
Today's quote pairs exceedingly well (in a way), with this poem by Sara Teasdale.
I Shall Not Care
by Sara Teasdale
When I am dead and over me bright April
Shakes out her rain-drenched hair,
Tho' you should lean above me broken-hearted,
I shall not care.
I shall have peace, as leafy trees are peaceful
When rain bends down the bough;
And I shall be more silent and cold-hearted
Than you are now.
Teasdale's lines rhyme XAXA XBXB, with the X lines being written in iambic pentameter (five iambs per line -taDUM taDUM taDUM taDUM taDUM), but with what is known as a "feminine" ending, meaning that the lines actually have eleven syllables, with the last one being unaccented. The first rhymed line in each stanza is in iambic trimeter (three iambs per line - taDUM taDUM taDUM), and the final line being in iambic dimeter (two iambs per line).
It's a clever poem in what it says, and in how Teasdale's use of metre gives greatest weight to the closing line of each stanza, both of which beg to be read more slowly than what precedes them, thereby giving them auditory weight and emotional impact far beyond their physical size.