H04056 HARDY AND "MARMION" - 9/18/04 - HARDY FORUM ARCHIVES
From: ? hardycor@owl.csusm.edu
Subject: Hardy and Marmion
Date: September 18, 2004 2:33:19 PM PDT
Spurred on by Hardy's comment in the LIFE that _Marmion_ is "the most
Homeric poem in the English language," I have just finished reading that
marvellous epic of Sir Walter Scott's, so full of derring-do and chivalry.
I was quite surprised, however, to come across that familiar adage:
Oh, what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practice to deceive
In canto Canto VI, xvii. I presume this is the original source of that old
saw. Can anyone confirm this?
Best Wishes,
Betty
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From: segr@segr-music.net
Subject: RE: Hardy and Marmion
Date: September 18, 2004 2:55:17 PM PDT
I am unfamiliar with that spelling of practise, though Betty.
Was it really Sir Walter's?
Roy Buckle
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From: segr@segr-music.net
Subject: RE: Hardy and Marmion
Date: September 18, 2004 3:25:25 PM PDT
To: HARDY-L@csusm.edu
So, Betty that makes it all the more interesting.
Was your copy printed in England, or US?
Is it possible, otherwise, we have Scott to thank
for disseminating his 'outlandish' spelling?
Roy.
-----Original Message-----
From: Betty Cortus [mailto:hardycor@owl.csusm.edu]
Sent: 18 September 2004 23:06
To: HARDY-L@csusm.edu
Subject: RE: Hardy and Marmion
Yes, that is his spelling in my very old edition Roy. The poem is crammed
with archaisms, but I don't think that has anything to do with this.
Betty
Roy Buckle
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From: hardycor@owl.csusm.edu
Subject: RE: Hardy and Marmion
Date: September 18, 2004 3:56:02 PM PDT
No it is an English edition Roy.
The OED cites "practise" as "known from the15th c (or? late 14th c.) used
by Langland and Chaucer". So I suppose archaism does have something to do
with it after all. Perhaps Scott is emulating Spenser
Betty
So, Betty that makes it all the more interesting.
Was your copy printed in England, or US?
Is it possible, otherwise, we have Scott to thank
for disseminating his 'outlandish' spelling?
Roy.
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From: hardycor@owl.csusm.edu
Subject: RE: Hardy and Marmion
Date: September 18, 2004 4:01:37 PM PDT
Let's not forget, Roy, that Marmion is set in 1513, and its subtitle is "A
Tale of Flodden Field." So the archaism is actually quite appropriate.
Betty
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From: segr@segr-music.net
Subject: RE: Hardy and Marmion
Date: September 18, 2004 5:14:39 PM PDT
Thanks for the suggestion Betty (although I cannot quite follow the
reasoning).
Let us also take care(continuing the didactic mode)if we want to decide what
is appropriate in a belated description of history "north of the border".
One wonders how archaic would be its treatment in a Hollywood epic.
We might be faced with the interpretation of someone like
Mr Gibson (the one from "down under",as the
'Brits' would say). Exactly what language and spelling he would use
is perhaps a little off topic..
Kind regards.
Roy.
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From: ericjchristen@bluewin.ch
Subject: Marmion
Date: September 19, 2004 1:49:28 AM PDT
My old illustrated (etchings) edition of _THE POETICAL WORKS OF SIR WALTER
SCOTT_, Virtue and Co., London, 7, City Garden Row, City Road,is not dated,
but my feeling is that it was published in the 19th century. In it the two
lines are,
O, what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practise to deceive!
Yours, Eric Christen
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From: segr@segr-music.net
Subject: RE: Marmion
Date: September 19, 2004 2:43:05 AM PDT
Splendid!, Eric-
Over and out (as they say).
Roy B.
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