Robert de Boron and the Prose Merlin
There are so many wonderful things about the internet: there was a time when a scholar had to order through ILL and wait for weeks or months before he or she could set eyes on such works as Geoffrey of Monmouth's Vita Merlini or Robert de Boron's Prose Merlin . No more. from Prose Merlin Robert de Boron Full wrothe and angry was the Devell, whan that oure Lorde hadde ben in helle and had take oute Adam and Eve and other at his plesier. And whan the fendes sien that, they hadden right grete feer and gret merveile. Thei assembleden togedir and seiden: "What is he this thus us supprisith and distroyeth, in so moche that oure strengthes ne nought ellis that we have may nought withholde hym, nor again hym stonde in no diffence but that he doth all that hym lyketh? We ne trowed not that eny man myght be bore of woman but that he sholde ben oures; and he that thus us distroyeth, how is he born in whom we knewe non erthely delyte?" Than ansuerde anothir fende and seide
Perhaps unexpectedly, I rather liked this column -- and agree with the author that homosexuals should NOT go bonkers every time "gay" is used to mean "dweeby" or "lame."
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I find myself fervently wishing that "gay" did not carry its current connotation whenever I read E E Cummings:
may i be gay
like every lark
who lifts his life
from all the dark
who wings his why
beyond because
and sings an if
of day to yes
Oh, holy mackerel -- would you believe that the "word verification" for this comment is "vellygai"?
Dylan,
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more. The usurpation of the word to a cause is troubling because it makes some things mean so differently because it is so thoroughly embedded.
As you point out with cummings.
shalom,
Steven