• Registered: 2022-01-21
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Topic: The joys of Shakespeare

This is an extract from a column in today's Sunday Telegraph. While the article is highly political, and I don't intend to push the argument, I was struck by how this extract demonstrates the Bard's extraordinary facility with the language.

"The funeral bak'd meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables," raged Hamlet about the mortifyingly brief gap between burying his father and his mother's wedding.

How much action and passion the Bard gets into such a short and simple sentence. The word "coldly" itself implies the cold-blooded intent of his father-in-law.

I always thought "funeral baked meats", said by Mr Polly, originated with HG Wells; I didn't realise it was another Shakespearian quotation. The History of Mr Polly was one of our GCE English Lit texts. I don't think we did Hamlet in any year.

  • Alfred
  • Alfred
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Re: The joys of Shakespeare

The word “coldly” is, of course, literal as well as figurative. Meats that were presumably served warm to those who attended the funeral would have been cold by the following day.

For those who want to read the article without subscribing, try this link:

https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https://www.tel … y-mordaunt

"Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?"
― Tennessee Williams
  • Registered: 2022-01-21
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Re: The joys of Shakespeare

The word “coldly” is, of course, literal as well as figurative.

Of course I was reading into the word the meaning you adduce, which is obvious, but making the point that the Bard had used the word cleverly, like the portmanteau words that appeared in Alice. Wasn't it Tweedledee or Tweedledum who said it? Please correct me if you remember.

  • Alfred
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Re: The joys of Shakespeare

jackneve wrote:

the Bard had used the word cleverly

He had something of a habit of using words cleverly, didn’t he!

jackneve wrote:

like the portmanteau words that appeared in Alice. Wasn't it Tweedledee or Tweedledum who said it? Please correct me if you remember.

I’m afraid I only vaguely remember something about portmanteau words in the Alice books, so if you’re looking for corrections you’re asking the wrong person.

"Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?"
― Tennessee Williams