OT-CHAT: Chaucer (was CULT: Transplanting)

>> so pricketh them Nature in their corages.
>
>I do not understand this expression, Celia!  Thanks for the advice and
>experience.

Sorry, Amy. That was just a silly old English major attempt at wit. It's a
bowlderized reference to a poem written in another language, really, the
antique English used by Geoffrey Chaucer. In the prologue of "The
Canterbury Tales," he rattles off a lot of wonderful sights one sees every
spring, including birdies that warble their heads off by day and are too
excited to sleep at night, because Nature has them all riled up.
He explains, in his humorous, sly phrase, "so priketh hem Nature in hir
corages." Corages being hearts. The birds can't sleep because Nature pricks
their hearts.

I apologize for cluttering the message. I've just always loved that turn of
phrase "so pricketh them," and also the thought of Nature pricking our
hearts in springtime so we cannot rest. Indeed it happens to me. I can't
relax in spring; I have to be digging and doing every minute. I dig so many
holes in spring my husband thinks there must have been mole or gopher DNA
accidentally included somewhere in my family tree.

Thank you for reminding me so politely that the entire world isn't peopled
by silly ladies who had leisure time in their youth for memorizing the
Norton Anthology. Some people spent their childhoods acquiring more
pertinent information and helping their families. :-)

celia
storey@aristotle.net
Little Rock, Arkansas
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index