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This is one of Paul Crowley's posts about Sonnet 18 that he
says I never presented an argument against.
from: "Paul Crowley" <***@slkjlskjoioue.com>
Local: Mon, Nov 17 2003 9:06 pm
Subject: Sonnet 18
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1. Shall I compare thee to a Summers day?
2. Thou art more louely and more temperate:
3. Rough windes do shake the darling buds of May,
4. And Sommers lease hath all too short a date:
5. Sometime too hot the eye of heauen shines,
6. And often is his gold complexion dimm'd,
7. And euery faire from faire some-time declines,
8. By chance, or natures changing course vntrim'd:
9. But thy eternall Sommer shall not fade,
10. Nor lose possession of that faire thou ow'st,
11. Nor shall death brag thou wandr'st in his shade,
12. When in eternall lines to time thou grow'st,
13. So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
14. So long liues this, and this giues life to thee,
This poem is recognised as one of the most
beautiful of the sonnets and nothing I say
below should be read as detracting from its
qualities as a poem -- in the abstract manner
in which is it conventionally read. The poet
intended that reading. But he could not have
achieved that -- and the rest of its beauty
without building it upon a structure of multi-
layered meanings (nearly all which he made
obscure to the naive reader).
I do not know why this should be so. I'm sure
that no one else knows, nor has ever known --
not even the poet himself. All we can say is
that the method works. The formula appears
to be: encode density of meaning to the
maximum possible extent, while respecting
grammar, metre and verse, and leave the rest
to the magic of the language.
We do not have to understand those multi-
layered meanings in order to appreciate that
the poem is beautiful, but that appreciation
will be only of its top-most layer. It is
probably analogous to the love a child has
for a nursery rhyme.
Our poet also seemed to apply the rule that
he would only encode public meanings, or
those which would be available to posterity
as, nearly always, his images seem to have
such an origin; he has left us plenty of
clues as to their source.
1. Shall I compare thee to a Summers day?
The comparison of a person to a summer's
day is extraordinary -- almost magical. It is
commonly regarded as a supreme example of
Shakespeare's poetic imagination -- as, indeed,
it is. Helen Vendler writes: "What is the most
beautiful thing, the 'summum bonum', in an
(English) world? -- A summer's day."
The poet was teasing us. He knew that was
how we would read it (and the whole sonnet)
but in his mind he had other aspects of "a
summer's day". One is the transient nature of
its existence. Think of it in the context of his
adored's beauty. Would she have wished that
last but a day?
The comparison is far from 'pure imagination'.
Shakespeare's genius lay in knowing how to
recruit into his poetry images he encountered
in other circumstances. The poet and his
addressee knew of another beauty, that did
gloriously, but briefly, flower; and it is to this
he asks: 'Shall I compare thee . . ?'.
It is not too difficult to guess to whom the
phrase 'Summers day' refers -- once we know
that the addressee of the sonnet was Queen
Elizabeth, and to whom she was, at one stage
in her reign, constantly compared.
I strongly suspect that there was a particular
and immediate source for 'a Summers day',
and I describe a possibility in a note below.
2. Thou art more louely and more temperate:
Of course, Elizabeth comes off much more
favourably in this comparison. The poet
meant 'lovely' to be taken by his addressee
in the usual sense, but he had others also in
mind. 'Lovely' had a wider range of meanings
at the time, with its oldest senses being:
'loving, kind, affectionate'; 'amorous'; and
'friendly, amicable' (see OED). Taken in this
sense, the comparison was barbed.
Recent events had shown that the quality
Mary, Queen of Scots, most conspicuously
lacked was temperance. The poet may have
been referring back to elaborate plans for a
meeting between the two queens about four
years previously (in 1562):
"In London the prospect of the encounter was considered
sufficiently certain for the actual masques to be devised which
were to entertain the two queens, the chosen allegorical theme
being the punishment of False Report and Discord by Jupiter
at the request of Prudence and Temperance. The detailed and
long-winded plans for the masques -- three nights of them -- were
vetted personally by Cecil and much courtly care was exercised
in the delicate task of balancing the allegorical compliments to
both royal ladies . . " (Antonia Fraser *Mary QS* page 168)
3. Rough windes do shake the darling buds of May,
This sonnet was written around April 1566
after the first 'rough patch' endured by Mary
-- the murder of David Riccio (on 9 March)
by her husband, King Henry (Darnley), Lord
Ruthven and several more of the Protestant
nobility:
" . . a few minutes later there was a far more astonishing apparition
up the staircase -- Patrick Lord Ruthven, with a steel cap on, and
with his armour showing through his gown, burning-eyed and pale
from the illness of which he was generally thought to be dying on
his sick-bed in a house close to Holyrood. So amazing was his
emergence at the queen's supper party, that the first reaction of
those present was that he was actually delirious, and had somehow
felt himself pursued, in his fever, by the spectre of one of his
victims.
[ as in Macbeth -- PC ] Ruthven -- who did in fact die three months
after these events took place -- was a highly unsavoury character,
popularly supposed to be a warlock or male witch, or at any rate in
Knox's phrase to 'use enchantment'. However, his first words left the
queen in no doubt as to what had brought this death's head to her
feast. 'Let it please your Majesty,' said Ruthven, 'that yonder man
David come forth of your privy-chamber where he hath been overlong.'
Mary replied with astonishment that Riccio was there at her own royal
wish, and asked Ruthven whether he had taken leave of his senses. . ."
(op. cit. page 252.)
abbreviation for 'Mary'. 'Rough winds' is
based on 'Ruth-ven'. 'Ruth' was a contemporary
Scottish form of 'rough' (see OED under 'ruth',
'routh' and 'rough'); the poet takes 'ven' as
based on 'vent' = 'wind' in French (pronounced
without the 't').
Another sense is that some windy (or
wordy) persons had turned rough.
" . . Damiot talked of his unpopularity. Riccio said grandly:
'Parole, parole, nothing but words. The Scots will boast but
rarely perform their brags.' Mary took the same line. Melville
tried to warn her also of what was going on . . . Mary replied
that something of the sort had also come to her own ears, but
she had paid no attention since 'our countrymen were well-
wordy' . ." (op. cit. page 249.)
There is a minor pun on 'darling/Darnley'
('darling Darnley' had highly effeminate looks
and had been young and pretty enough, at
least until recently).
present tense in line 3 suggests that Mary was
currently enjoying vigorous sexual relations --
(possibly with Riccio). 'Darling buds' refers
in the political sense to the infant in her womb,
and in the bawdy one to her breasts; similarly
'shake' and 'rough winds' (in the sense of
'windings') alludes to sexual intercourse. It
was still possible for our poet to joke about the
intensity of Mary's passion for Darnley (and
Riccio?) and to speculate on the nature of their
love-making.
The line is an astonishing combination of the
meteorological /horticultural and the political,
both set against a gloriously bawdy image of
the entwined royal couple writhing in passion.
4. And Sommers lease hath all too short a date:
'All too short a date' refers to the sudden end
of David Riccio in both the obvious sense and
in other ways. His shortness of stature and his
ugliness were well-known. Mary was remarkably
tall to those times, and Darnley was even taller.)
Also the poet commonly bawdily puns on 'all' =
'awl' = 'penis'. He may be implying (in 'all too
short') that Riccio's penis was too short for the
Queen.
'Date' was a Scottish word: 'to pet, fondle, caress,
make much of'. See OED under 'daut'. (This
sense may, or may not, be related to the modern
usage of 'date' as a romantic appointment.)
Mary's summer passion for Darnley had been
remarkably intense but, in the nature of such
things, had a short lease of life. As Burghley
famously remarked: "Nuptiae Carnales a laetitia
incipiunt et in luctu terminantur."
There is something in 'Sommers lease' that
I cannot see. (John Somers was a high
ambassadorial official, and may have had
dealings with Riccio.)
A broader sense of line 4 may also be
addressed to Elizabeth. If she was to have an
heir of her body, she needed to get on with it.
5. Sometime too hot the eye of heauen shines,
The 'eye of heaven' is the sun -- a symbol of
royalty. Here the poet beautifully exploits the
bawdy potential of a 'hot' and a royal 'eye'
opening into a royal 'heaven' -- alluding, of
course, to the intensity of Mary's sexual
passion in her brief marriage with Darnley, and
the allegations of an affair with Riccio. 'Shines'
may reflect the sense of 'taking a shine' -- even
if the OED does not record this until 1848.
6. And often is his gold complexion dimm'd,
Line 5 refers to the (Queen in a sexual passion).
Line 6 refers to the King. There may be bawdy
allusions here, but "dimm'd" would refer to his
'eclipse' by Riccio, to his bouts of furious anger,
to his frequent illnesses (probably from syphilis,
pock-marking his face), to his regular shortages
of cash, and to his various 'changes' in religion.
'Complexion' often meant religious affiliation,
with 'gold' being associated with the Papacy
Darnley had been brought up a Catholic but he
started off in Scotland as Protestant (absenting
himself from the nuptial mass for his wedding);
he then seemed to revert to Catholicism carrying
lighted tapers through the streets of Edinburgh
at the feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary
on 2 Feb 1566 -- a notably Catholic gesture --
which would have lit up his complexion. That
light was then dimmed by his plot with the
Protestant nobles to murder Riccio and seize
power from Mary. She then persuaded him to
join with her in the suppression of those same
nobles.
Darnley was addressed as 'King Henry' but he
was essentially only a consort. Even though
he had little interest in administration, he
constantly demanded the 'crown matrimonial'
which would grant him power equal to Mary
while she lived and would have continued
after her death if he survived her. Mary and
the Scottish parliament would not grant this,
leading to rows about the manner in which
they should sign documents and, in particular,
on the way their images should be presented
on coins.
"Certainly her violent infatuation for Darnley had not survived
the onsets of pregnancy, and she could after all no longer share
the pleasures of hunting and hawking which both had once
enjoyed so keenly. On 20 December, Bedford from Berwick
reported that, 'The Lord Darnley followeth his pastimes more
than the Queen is content withal; what it will breed hereafter
I cannot say, but in the meantime there is some misliking
between them.' On 25 December Randolph noted that 'a while
ago there was nothing but King and Queen, now the Queen's
husband is the common word. He was wont in all writings to be
first named: now he is placed second.' The relative placing of
the two names Henry and Mary was at the heart of the
mysterious matter of the silver 'ryal', a new denomination of
coin introduced shortly after their marriage at a nominal value
of thirty shillings. This 'ryal' showed the heads of Mary and
Darnley facing each other on one side, and on the other in
Latin a reference to their marriage - 'Whom God has joined
together, let no man put asunder'. In December Randolph also
reported that this coin had been withdrawn from circulation in
Scotland, because the names of the royal pair were engraved on
it in an unusual order as HENRICUS & MARIA D. GRA. R & R.
SCOTORUM. Randolph represented Mary as now regretting
the prominence given to Darnley's name, which for once
preceded that of the queen. " (Antonia Fraser *Mary QS*
page 240)
The 'dimming of the gold complexion' is
probably also a reference to the dispute
about these images, with the poet thinking
of gold coins.
7. And euery faire from faire some-time declines,
The decline of 'faire from faire' refers mainly to
the deterioration of the royal marriage. Both
Mary and Darnley were known for their striking
beauty. ("In these portraits Darnley appears at
first sight like a young god, with his golden hair,
his perfectly shaped face with its short straight
nose, the neat oval chin . ." -- op. cit. page 220.)
It would also refer to the erosion of beauty with
age and illness, with particular reference to that
of Darnley, Mary and Elizabeth.
There may be other allusions as well, with a
pun on 'Ver' being likely; a 'Venus & Adonis'
relationship (of some sort) between Oxford
and the Queen is likely.
8. By chance, or natures changing course vntrim'd:
Both Mary and Darnley were known for their
addiction to card-playing and gambling -- as
was not uncommon among courtiers of the
day. 'Chance' or 'hazard' was a common card
game played by courtiers. The poet is
suggesting that a major reason for the decline
in the marriage was Darnley's generally
dissolute behaviour, particularly during
Mary's pregnancy.
Another reason for the decline was 'natures
changing course' -- where 'nature' is Mary (or
Elizabeth, or women generally). 'Untrimmed'
alludes viciously to the knife used to 'trim'
Riccio. (He had ~60 stab wounds, the fatal
ones probably from Darnley's dagger, wielded
by a Douglas relation.)
'Untrimmed' is also IMO used in a political
sense (even if the OED's first report in this
sense is 1682). OED 5 'trimmer' = 'one who
inclines to each of two opposite sides as
interest dictates'. Darnley seemed to exist
by 'trimming', and Mary had shown plenty of
devious 'trimming' in order to escape from her
captors.
'Untrimmed' also had a bawdy sense. 'To
trim' was to deflower or possess a woman.
AARON (TA V.1.89) . . .
'Twas her two sons that murder'd Bassianus;
They cut thy sister's tongue and ravish'd her
And cut her hands and trimm'd her as thou saw'st.
LUCIUS O detestable villain! call'st thou that trimming?
AARON Why, she was wash'd and cut and trimm'd, and 'twas
Trim sport for them that had the doing of it.
behaviour since coming to the throne -- of
turning down numerous proposals of marriage.
He is, as ever, warning of the danger of this
conduct -- faire England will decline its
'untrimmed' faire queen.
9. But thy eternall Sommer shall not fade,
The sestet focuses more on the English
Queen, but with allusions to Scotland, as
in 'fade' which was a Scottish form of 'feud'
at the time (see OED). States and monarchies
did not fade away; but they were destroyed
by feuds.
'Eternal' had another sense: a derogatory one
(which it still retains) for a period of time that
has lasted much longer than it should. Here
Oxford is being sarcastic. He shared the
common feeling that the duration of Elizabeth's
'summer' had become unconscionable. Mary's
pregnancy had emphasised the lack of
seriousness in Elizabeth's conduct in the
1560s, in particular the slow, reluctant manner
in which she 'sought' a husband.
10. Nor lose possession of that faire thou ow'st,
'Owe' also meant 'own' -- and our poet must
necessarily pun on it. The 'faire' that Elizabeth
both owned and owed was her virginity -- and
through that -- her realm. The poet is implying
that her continued possession of former will
destroy that of the latter. She owed England
duties -- which she was not performing.
11. Nor shall death brag thou wandr'st in his shade,
There is a reflection back to the dreadful
events in Scotland. The poet hopes that his
own queen will never see violent death
visited on her favourites in her presence.
The line hints at the bawdy sense of 'small
death' (orgasm); i.e. the Queen will not
enjoy this, if she is relying on poetry for her
immortality.
12. When in eternall lines to time thou grow'st,
These lines have a scolding tone (which
became more strident in sonnets 1-17,
written a few years later). Like the rest of
the nation, he desperately wanted her to
marry and have an heir, and grow in 'loins'
and in family lines of descent, rather than
just in lines of poetry. 'Eternal' is again
used ambiguously.
13. So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
The two 'long's of the couplet pun on the
'long couple' (Darnley and Mary both being
remarkable for their height and slenderness).
" . . her height, when described, is always commented on with
admiration. This may be in part due to the fact that, although tall,
Mary had extremely delicate bones . . . combined to give an
appearance of graceful elongation: it also made her an excellent
dancer . . in a manner calculated to dazzle the public eye at a
time when the personal image of a sovereign was of marked
consequence. . ." (op. cit. page 77.)
" . . It was Darnley's height which was considered at the time to
be his main physical characteristic -- had not Elizabeth called him
'yon long lad' when she pointed him out to Melville? -- and he
was fortunate in being slender with it, or as Melville put it, 'long
and small, even and straight'. His elegant physique could hardly
fail to commend itself to Mary for two reasons. Firstly, beautiful
as she was, Mary was nevertheless tall enough to tower over most
of her previous companions, including her first husband Francis.
The psychological implications of this height can only be guessed
at, but as Darnley was certainly well over six feet one inch . . "
(op. cit. page 221.)
with 'breathe' being partly ironic, or used in
the sense of 'breathe out' (through multiple
stab wounds) and/or OED 16: 'to lance [a vein]
so as to give blood'. The poet believes that
more deaths likely to follow (including that
of Darnley?) in the desperate confusion of
Scottish politics, created largely by Mary's
intemperate decision to marry him. The future
is uncertain: 'so long . . as eyes can see'.
There is probably a pun on 'eyes/Ays', with
(Och) 'Ays' = Scotsmen.
14. So long liues this, and this giues life to thee,
I am missing something in the final line or
in the couplet. However, the scolding tone
continues. Is immortal life in poetry all she
wants -- even if she assumes that she can
trust the poet's promises?
The first line of the couplet may allude to the
Scottish king; the second to its queen. The
poet expects her to survive; she is the
(undeclared) apparent heir. So long as she
lives, Elizabeth's throne is safe. (The English
would never remove Elizabeth while Mary
was next in line.) In another sense, Mary
was carrying a child. That 'life' would, in due
course, succeed Elizabeth.
NOTE on "The Queen of Hearts"
I believe that it is quite probable that the
nursery rhyme:
"The Queen of Hearts baked some tarts
All on a Summer's day . . "
came from the events of the second half
of 1565, and that it is the poet's source of
"a Summer's day".
The rhyme first appears in print in 1805, but
no queen, before or since Mary QS, had a
better claim to the title 'Queen of Hearts'.
She was immensely popular with her people
in the early 1560s, being young, beautiful,
full of life, charm and good humour, and in
1565 she was in the process of giving them
an heir to the throne. English noses were
somewhat out of joint as a result, especially
because the intense concern over the
absence of an heir to Elizabeth -- other than
Mary herself, who was feared and detested
on account of being Catholic, French and
a Guise.
However, with the disastrous marriage to
Darnley, followed by its entirely predictable
decline, the English were, for the first time,
in a position to make fun of her, of her
vicious, if foppish, husband, and of her
Italian 'lover'.
"Regardless of the fact that Lennox and Darnley had gone
north with her express permission, Elizabeth exploded with
anger and demanded their instant return. When neither paid
any attention to her angry bulletins, Throckmorton was sent
north to dissuade Mary from the disastrous, nay, menacing
course of marrying Darnley. Mary in Scotland was in no state
to listen to the advice of even the sagest counsellor. Love
was rampant in her heart for the first time, and she could hear
no other voice except the dictates of her own passionate
feelings. In the words of a poem of the period, it was a case
of 'O lusty May, with Flora Queen' at the court of Scotland.
Randolph wrote back to Leicester in anguish of his 'poor
Queen whom ever before I esteemed so worthy, so wise, so
honourable in all her doings', now so altered by love that he
could hardly recognize her." (op. cit. page 227.)
The phrase 'baked some tarts' would have
been meant bawdily. The Knave of Hearts
(who stole the tarts) was David Riccio, and
the King of Hearts was Darnley. Again, no
king before or after Darnley better suits that
title -- being young, beautiful, and violent.
And it is doubtful if a knave (fit for beating)
better than Riccio can be found.
The rhyme would have been become popular
before the murder of Riccio. That is unlikely
to have been the subject of such light-hearted
verse or, if it had been, we'd expect a stronger
reference. The 'beating' in the rhyme may
have been based on another known one by
Darnley or it may simply have reflected his
notorious character.
"Randolph reported [in May 1565] that Darnley was now
grown so proud that he was intolerable to all honest men,
and already almost forgetful of his duty to Mary -- she who
had adventured so much for his sake. Darnley's health had
taken an unconscionable long time to recover, and even
while on his sick-bed he had struck the ageing duke of
Châtelherault on his pate to avenge some fancied slight."
(op. cit. page 227.)
Darnley's pride waxed with the queen's affection: to show
his virility, he launched out characteristically with blows
towards those who he knew would not dare to retaliate.
On the day in May [1565] on which he was created earl of
Ross, he drew his dagger on the wretched justice clerk who
brought him the message, because he was not also made
duke of Albany as he had expected. It was the typical
gesture of the spoilt and vindictive child. By the beginning
of July, Darnley was held in such general contempt that
even those who had been his chief friends could no longer
find words to defend him. Randolph made the gloomy, but
as it proved singularly accurate, prophecy: 'I know not,
but it is greatly to be feared that he can have no long life
among these people' . .". (op. cit. page 228.)
The Queen of Hearts,
She made some tarts,
All on a summer's day;
The Knave of hearts,
He stole those tarts,
And took them clean away.
The King of Hearts
Called for the tarts,
And beat the knave full sore;
The Knave of hearts
Brought back the tarts,
And vowed he'd steal no more.
Paul.
says I never presented an argument against.
from: "Paul Crowley" <***@slkjlskjoioue.com>
Local: Mon, Nov 17 2003 9:06 pm
Subject: Sonnet 18
Reply to author | Forward | Print | View thread | Show original |
Report this message | Find messages by this author
1. Shall I compare thee to a Summers day?
2. Thou art more louely and more temperate:
3. Rough windes do shake the darling buds of May,
4. And Sommers lease hath all too short a date:
5. Sometime too hot the eye of heauen shines,
6. And often is his gold complexion dimm'd,
7. And euery faire from faire some-time declines,
8. By chance, or natures changing course vntrim'd:
9. But thy eternall Sommer shall not fade,
10. Nor lose possession of that faire thou ow'st,
11. Nor shall death brag thou wandr'st in his shade,
12. When in eternall lines to time thou grow'st,
13. So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
14. So long liues this, and this giues life to thee,
This poem is recognised as one of the most
beautiful of the sonnets and nothing I say
below should be read as detracting from its
qualities as a poem -- in the abstract manner
in which is it conventionally read. The poet
intended that reading. But he could not have
achieved that -- and the rest of its beauty
without building it upon a structure of multi-
layered meanings (nearly all which he made
obscure to the naive reader).
I do not know why this should be so. I'm sure
that no one else knows, nor has ever known --
not even the poet himself. All we can say is
that the method works. The formula appears
to be: encode density of meaning to the
maximum possible extent, while respecting
grammar, metre and verse, and leave the rest
to the magic of the language.
We do not have to understand those multi-
layered meanings in order to appreciate that
the poem is beautiful, but that appreciation
will be only of its top-most layer. It is
probably analogous to the love a child has
for a nursery rhyme.
Our poet also seemed to apply the rule that
he would only encode public meanings, or
those which would be available to posterity
as, nearly always, his images seem to have
such an origin; he has left us plenty of
clues as to their source.
1. Shall I compare thee to a Summers day?
The comparison of a person to a summer's
day is extraordinary -- almost magical. It is
commonly regarded as a supreme example of
Shakespeare's poetic imagination -- as, indeed,
it is. Helen Vendler writes: "What is the most
beautiful thing, the 'summum bonum', in an
(English) world? -- A summer's day."
The poet was teasing us. He knew that was
how we would read it (and the whole sonnet)
but in his mind he had other aspects of "a
summer's day". One is the transient nature of
its existence. Think of it in the context of his
adored's beauty. Would she have wished that
last but a day?
The comparison is far from 'pure imagination'.
Shakespeare's genius lay in knowing how to
recruit into his poetry images he encountered
in other circumstances. The poet and his
addressee knew of another beauty, that did
gloriously, but briefly, flower; and it is to this
he asks: 'Shall I compare thee . . ?'.
It is not too difficult to guess to whom the
phrase 'Summers day' refers -- once we know
that the addressee of the sonnet was Queen
Elizabeth, and to whom she was, at one stage
in her reign, constantly compared.
I strongly suspect that there was a particular
and immediate source for 'a Summers day',
and I describe a possibility in a note below.
2. Thou art more louely and more temperate:
Of course, Elizabeth comes off much more
favourably in this comparison. The poet
meant 'lovely' to be taken by his addressee
in the usual sense, but he had others also in
mind. 'Lovely' had a wider range of meanings
at the time, with its oldest senses being:
'loving, kind, affectionate'; 'amorous'; and
'friendly, amicable' (see OED). Taken in this
sense, the comparison was barbed.
Recent events had shown that the quality
Mary, Queen of Scots, most conspicuously
lacked was temperance. The poet may have
been referring back to elaborate plans for a
meeting between the two queens about four
years previously (in 1562):
"In London the prospect of the encounter was considered
sufficiently certain for the actual masques to be devised which
were to entertain the two queens, the chosen allegorical theme
being the punishment of False Report and Discord by Jupiter
at the request of Prudence and Temperance. The detailed and
long-winded plans for the masques -- three nights of them -- were
vetted personally by Cecil and much courtly care was exercised
in the delicate task of balancing the allegorical compliments to
both royal ladies . . " (Antonia Fraser *Mary QS* page 168)
3. Rough windes do shake the darling buds of May,
This sonnet was written around April 1566
after the first 'rough patch' endured by Mary
-- the murder of David Riccio (on 9 March)
by her husband, King Henry (Darnley), Lord
Ruthven and several more of the Protestant
nobility:
" . . a few minutes later there was a far more astonishing apparition
up the staircase -- Patrick Lord Ruthven, with a steel cap on, and
with his armour showing through his gown, burning-eyed and pale
from the illness of which he was generally thought to be dying on
his sick-bed in a house close to Holyrood. So amazing was his
emergence at the queen's supper party, that the first reaction of
those present was that he was actually delirious, and had somehow
felt himself pursued, in his fever, by the spectre of one of his
victims.
[ as in Macbeth -- PC ] Ruthven -- who did in fact die three months
after these events took place -- was a highly unsavoury character,
popularly supposed to be a warlock or male witch, or at any rate in
Knox's phrase to 'use enchantment'. However, his first words left the
queen in no doubt as to what had brought this death's head to her
feast. 'Let it please your Majesty,' said Ruthven, 'that yonder man
David come forth of your privy-chamber where he hath been overlong.'
Mary replied with astonishment that Riccio was there at her own royal
wish, and asked Ruthven whether he had taken leave of his senses. . ."
(op. cit. page 252.)
3. Rough windes do shake the darling buds of May,
'May' is (or was until recently) a commonabbreviation for 'Mary'. 'Rough winds' is
based on 'Ruth-ven'. 'Ruth' was a contemporary
Scottish form of 'rough' (see OED under 'ruth',
'routh' and 'rough'); the poet takes 'ven' as
based on 'vent' = 'wind' in French (pronounced
without the 't').
Another sense is that some windy (or
wordy) persons had turned rough.
" . . Damiot talked of his unpopularity. Riccio said grandly:
'Parole, parole, nothing but words. The Scots will boast but
rarely perform their brags.' Mary took the same line. Melville
tried to warn her also of what was going on . . . Mary replied
that something of the sort had also come to her own ears, but
she had paid no attention since 'our countrymen were well-
wordy' . ." (op. cit. page 249.)
There is a minor pun on 'darling/Darnley'
('darling Darnley' had highly effeminate looks
and had been young and pretty enough, at
least until recently).
3. Rough windes do shake the darling buds of May,
The poet also intended bawdy puns. Thepresent tense in line 3 suggests that Mary was
currently enjoying vigorous sexual relations --
(possibly with Riccio). 'Darling buds' refers
in the political sense to the infant in her womb,
and in the bawdy one to her breasts; similarly
'shake' and 'rough winds' (in the sense of
'windings') alludes to sexual intercourse. It
was still possible for our poet to joke about the
intensity of Mary's passion for Darnley (and
Riccio?) and to speculate on the nature of their
love-making.
The line is an astonishing combination of the
meteorological /horticultural and the political,
both set against a gloriously bawdy image of
the entwined royal couple writhing in passion.
4. And Sommers lease hath all too short a date:
'All too short a date' refers to the sudden end
of David Riccio in both the obvious sense and
in other ways. His shortness of stature and his
ugliness were well-known. Mary was remarkably
tall to those times, and Darnley was even taller.)
Also the poet commonly bawdily puns on 'all' =
'awl' = 'penis'. He may be implying (in 'all too
short') that Riccio's penis was too short for the
Queen.
'Date' was a Scottish word: 'to pet, fondle, caress,
make much of'. See OED under 'daut'. (This
sense may, or may not, be related to the modern
usage of 'date' as a romantic appointment.)
Mary's summer passion for Darnley had been
remarkably intense but, in the nature of such
things, had a short lease of life. As Burghley
famously remarked: "Nuptiae Carnales a laetitia
incipiunt et in luctu terminantur."
There is something in 'Sommers lease' that
I cannot see. (John Somers was a high
ambassadorial official, and may have had
dealings with Riccio.)
A broader sense of line 4 may also be
addressed to Elizabeth. If she was to have an
heir of her body, she needed to get on with it.
5. Sometime too hot the eye of heauen shines,
The 'eye of heaven' is the sun -- a symbol of
royalty. Here the poet beautifully exploits the
bawdy potential of a 'hot' and a royal 'eye'
opening into a royal 'heaven' -- alluding, of
course, to the intensity of Mary's sexual
passion in her brief marriage with Darnley, and
the allegations of an affair with Riccio. 'Shines'
may reflect the sense of 'taking a shine' -- even
if the OED does not record this until 1848.
6. And often is his gold complexion dimm'd,
Line 5 refers to the (Queen in a sexual passion).
Line 6 refers to the King. There may be bawdy
allusions here, but "dimm'd" would refer to his
'eclipse' by Riccio, to his bouts of furious anger,
to his frequent illnesses (probably from syphilis,
pock-marking his face), to his regular shortages
of cash, and to his various 'changes' in religion.
'Complexion' often meant religious affiliation,
with 'gold' being associated with the Papacy
Darnley had been brought up a Catholic but he
started off in Scotland as Protestant (absenting
himself from the nuptial mass for his wedding);
he then seemed to revert to Catholicism carrying
lighted tapers through the streets of Edinburgh
at the feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary
on 2 Feb 1566 -- a notably Catholic gesture --
which would have lit up his complexion. That
light was then dimmed by his plot with the
Protestant nobles to murder Riccio and seize
power from Mary. She then persuaded him to
join with her in the suppression of those same
nobles.
Darnley was addressed as 'King Henry' but he
was essentially only a consort. Even though
he had little interest in administration, he
constantly demanded the 'crown matrimonial'
which would grant him power equal to Mary
while she lived and would have continued
after her death if he survived her. Mary and
the Scottish parliament would not grant this,
leading to rows about the manner in which
they should sign documents and, in particular,
on the way their images should be presented
on coins.
"Certainly her violent infatuation for Darnley had not survived
the onsets of pregnancy, and she could after all no longer share
the pleasures of hunting and hawking which both had once
enjoyed so keenly. On 20 December, Bedford from Berwick
reported that, 'The Lord Darnley followeth his pastimes more
than the Queen is content withal; what it will breed hereafter
I cannot say, but in the meantime there is some misliking
between them.' On 25 December Randolph noted that 'a while
ago there was nothing but King and Queen, now the Queen's
husband is the common word. He was wont in all writings to be
first named: now he is placed second.' The relative placing of
the two names Henry and Mary was at the heart of the
mysterious matter of the silver 'ryal', a new denomination of
coin introduced shortly after their marriage at a nominal value
of thirty shillings. This 'ryal' showed the heads of Mary and
Darnley facing each other on one side, and on the other in
Latin a reference to their marriage - 'Whom God has joined
together, let no man put asunder'. In December Randolph also
reported that this coin had been withdrawn from circulation in
Scotland, because the names of the royal pair were engraved on
it in an unusual order as HENRICUS & MARIA D. GRA. R & R.
SCOTORUM. Randolph represented Mary as now regretting
the prominence given to Darnley's name, which for once
preceded that of the queen. " (Antonia Fraser *Mary QS*
page 240)
The 'dimming of the gold complexion' is
probably also a reference to the dispute
about these images, with the poet thinking
of gold coins.
7. And euery faire from faire some-time declines,
The decline of 'faire from faire' refers mainly to
the deterioration of the royal marriage. Both
Mary and Darnley were known for their striking
beauty. ("In these portraits Darnley appears at
first sight like a young god, with his golden hair,
his perfectly shaped face with its short straight
nose, the neat oval chin . ." -- op. cit. page 220.)
It would also refer to the erosion of beauty with
age and illness, with particular reference to that
of Darnley, Mary and Elizabeth.
There may be other allusions as well, with a
pun on 'Ver' being likely; a 'Venus & Adonis'
relationship (of some sort) between Oxford
and the Queen is likely.
8. By chance, or natures changing course vntrim'd:
Both Mary and Darnley were known for their
addiction to card-playing and gambling -- as
was not uncommon among courtiers of the
day. 'Chance' or 'hazard' was a common card
game played by courtiers. The poet is
suggesting that a major reason for the decline
in the marriage was Darnley's generally
dissolute behaviour, particularly during
Mary's pregnancy.
Another reason for the decline was 'natures
changing course' -- where 'nature' is Mary (or
Elizabeth, or women generally). 'Untrimmed'
alludes viciously to the knife used to 'trim'
Riccio. (He had ~60 stab wounds, the fatal
ones probably from Darnley's dagger, wielded
by a Douglas relation.)
'Untrimmed' is also IMO used in a political
sense (even if the OED's first report in this
sense is 1682). OED 5 'trimmer' = 'one who
inclines to each of two opposite sides as
interest dictates'. Darnley seemed to exist
by 'trimming', and Mary had shown plenty of
devious 'trimming' in order to escape from her
captors.
'Untrimmed' also had a bawdy sense. 'To
trim' was to deflower or possess a woman.
AARON (TA V.1.89) . . .
'Twas her two sons that murder'd Bassianus;
They cut thy sister's tongue and ravish'd her
And cut her hands and trimm'd her as thou saw'st.
LUCIUS O detestable villain! call'st thou that trimming?
AARON Why, she was wash'd and cut and trimm'd, and 'twas
Trim sport for them that had the doing of it.
7. And euery faire from faire some-time declines,
The poet is also alluding to Elizabeth'sbehaviour since coming to the throne -- of
turning down numerous proposals of marriage.
He is, as ever, warning of the danger of this
conduct -- faire England will decline its
'untrimmed' faire queen.
9. But thy eternall Sommer shall not fade,
The sestet focuses more on the English
Queen, but with allusions to Scotland, as
in 'fade' which was a Scottish form of 'feud'
at the time (see OED). States and monarchies
did not fade away; but they were destroyed
by feuds.
'Eternal' had another sense: a derogatory one
(which it still retains) for a period of time that
has lasted much longer than it should. Here
Oxford is being sarcastic. He shared the
common feeling that the duration of Elizabeth's
'summer' had become unconscionable. Mary's
pregnancy had emphasised the lack of
seriousness in Elizabeth's conduct in the
1560s, in particular the slow, reluctant manner
in which she 'sought' a husband.
10. Nor lose possession of that faire thou ow'st,
'Owe' also meant 'own' -- and our poet must
necessarily pun on it. The 'faire' that Elizabeth
both owned and owed was her virginity -- and
through that -- her realm. The poet is implying
that her continued possession of former will
destroy that of the latter. She owed England
duties -- which she was not performing.
11. Nor shall death brag thou wandr'st in his shade,
There is a reflection back to the dreadful
events in Scotland. The poet hopes that his
own queen will never see violent death
visited on her favourites in her presence.
The line hints at the bawdy sense of 'small
death' (orgasm); i.e. the Queen will not
enjoy this, if she is relying on poetry for her
immortality.
12. When in eternall lines to time thou grow'st,
These lines have a scolding tone (which
became more strident in sonnets 1-17,
written a few years later). Like the rest of
the nation, he desperately wanted her to
marry and have an heir, and grow in 'loins'
and in family lines of descent, rather than
just in lines of poetry. 'Eternal' is again
used ambiguously.
13. So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
The two 'long's of the couplet pun on the
'long couple' (Darnley and Mary both being
remarkable for their height and slenderness).
" . . her height, when described, is always commented on with
admiration. This may be in part due to the fact that, although tall,
Mary had extremely delicate bones . . . combined to give an
appearance of graceful elongation: it also made her an excellent
dancer . . in a manner calculated to dazzle the public eye at a
time when the personal image of a sovereign was of marked
consequence. . ." (op. cit. page 77.)
" . . It was Darnley's height which was considered at the time to
be his main physical characteristic -- had not Elizabeth called him
'yon long lad' when she pointed him out to Melville? -- and he
was fortunate in being slender with it, or as Melville put it, 'long
and small, even and straight'. His elegant physique could hardly
fail to commend itself to Mary for two reasons. Firstly, beautiful
as she was, Mary was nevertheless tall enough to tower over most
of her previous companions, including her first husband Francis.
The psychological implications of this height can only be guessed
at, but as Darnley was certainly well over six feet one inch . . "
(op. cit. page 221.)
13. So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
The line again alludes to the Riccio murder --with 'breathe' being partly ironic, or used in
the sense of 'breathe out' (through multiple
stab wounds) and/or OED 16: 'to lance [a vein]
so as to give blood'. The poet believes that
more deaths likely to follow (including that
of Darnley?) in the desperate confusion of
Scottish politics, created largely by Mary's
intemperate decision to marry him. The future
is uncertain: 'so long . . as eyes can see'.
There is probably a pun on 'eyes/Ays', with
(Och) 'Ays' = Scotsmen.
14. So long liues this, and this giues life to thee,
I am missing something in the final line or
in the couplet. However, the scolding tone
continues. Is immortal life in poetry all she
wants -- even if she assumes that she can
trust the poet's promises?
The first line of the couplet may allude to the
Scottish king; the second to its queen. The
poet expects her to survive; she is the
(undeclared) apparent heir. So long as she
lives, Elizabeth's throne is safe. (The English
would never remove Elizabeth while Mary
was next in line.) In another sense, Mary
was carrying a child. That 'life' would, in due
course, succeed Elizabeth.
NOTE on "The Queen of Hearts"
I believe that it is quite probable that the
nursery rhyme:
"The Queen of Hearts baked some tarts
All on a Summer's day . . "
came from the events of the second half
of 1565, and that it is the poet's source of
"a Summer's day".
The rhyme first appears in print in 1805, but
no queen, before or since Mary QS, had a
better claim to the title 'Queen of Hearts'.
She was immensely popular with her people
in the early 1560s, being young, beautiful,
full of life, charm and good humour, and in
1565 she was in the process of giving them
an heir to the throne. English noses were
somewhat out of joint as a result, especially
because the intense concern over the
absence of an heir to Elizabeth -- other than
Mary herself, who was feared and detested
on account of being Catholic, French and
a Guise.
However, with the disastrous marriage to
Darnley, followed by its entirely predictable
decline, the English were, for the first time,
in a position to make fun of her, of her
vicious, if foppish, husband, and of her
Italian 'lover'.
"Regardless of the fact that Lennox and Darnley had gone
north with her express permission, Elizabeth exploded with
anger and demanded their instant return. When neither paid
any attention to her angry bulletins, Throckmorton was sent
north to dissuade Mary from the disastrous, nay, menacing
course of marrying Darnley. Mary in Scotland was in no state
to listen to the advice of even the sagest counsellor. Love
was rampant in her heart for the first time, and she could hear
no other voice except the dictates of her own passionate
feelings. In the words of a poem of the period, it was a case
of 'O lusty May, with Flora Queen' at the court of Scotland.
Randolph wrote back to Leicester in anguish of his 'poor
Queen whom ever before I esteemed so worthy, so wise, so
honourable in all her doings', now so altered by love that he
could hardly recognize her." (op. cit. page 227.)
The phrase 'baked some tarts' would have
been meant bawdily. The Knave of Hearts
(who stole the tarts) was David Riccio, and
the King of Hearts was Darnley. Again, no
king before or after Darnley better suits that
title -- being young, beautiful, and violent.
And it is doubtful if a knave (fit for beating)
better than Riccio can be found.
The rhyme would have been become popular
before the murder of Riccio. That is unlikely
to have been the subject of such light-hearted
verse or, if it had been, we'd expect a stronger
reference. The 'beating' in the rhyme may
have been based on another known one by
Darnley or it may simply have reflected his
notorious character.
"Randolph reported [in May 1565] that Darnley was now
grown so proud that he was intolerable to all honest men,
and already almost forgetful of his duty to Mary -- she who
had adventured so much for his sake. Darnley's health had
taken an unconscionable long time to recover, and even
while on his sick-bed he had struck the ageing duke of
Châtelherault on his pate to avenge some fancied slight."
(op. cit. page 227.)
Darnley's pride waxed with the queen's affection: to show
his virility, he launched out characteristically with blows
towards those who he knew would not dare to retaliate.
On the day in May [1565] on which he was created earl of
Ross, he drew his dagger on the wretched justice clerk who
brought him the message, because he was not also made
duke of Albany as he had expected. It was the typical
gesture of the spoilt and vindictive child. By the beginning
of July, Darnley was held in such general contempt that
even those who had been his chief friends could no longer
find words to defend him. Randolph made the gloomy, but
as it proved singularly accurate, prophecy: 'I know not,
but it is greatly to be feared that he can have no long life
among these people' . .". (op. cit. page 228.)
The Queen of Hearts,
She made some tarts,
All on a summer's day;
The Knave of hearts,
He stole those tarts,
And took them clean away.
The King of Hearts
Called for the tarts,
And beat the knave full sore;
The Knave of hearts
Brought back the tarts,
And vowed he'd steal no more.
Paul.