9 Comments
Oct 24Liked by Joseph Bottum

Fun to read more about Nashe. We gave him a glance in my grad classes, but not much more.

Expand full comment
Oct 22Liked by Sally Thomas, Joseph Bottum

Do you take banished as 3 syllables? The metre is awkward either way, though I do love the poem.

Expand full comment
author
Oct 22·edited Oct 22Author

Could be three, although that wouldn't solve the metrical awkwardness. I read it aloud as "Long BAN-ish'd MUST we LIVE // FROM our FRIENDS"

Expand full comment
Oct 22Liked by Sally Thomas, Joseph Bottum

Yes. That line resists reasonable scansion.

Expand full comment
Oct 22Liked by Sally Thomas, Joseph Bottum

A good example of how historical realities alter the way we view the world; these days, with our central heating and our robust health system, the approach of autumn comes as a welcome event, and I wouldn't be surprised if a modern-day Nashe would have written a poem in praise of the changing season instead of the one we have now. When was the turning point, the moment at which poets started talking about autumn's joys instead of its ill portents?

Expand full comment
Oct 22Liked by Sally Thomas

Victorian era? Though I have no direct evidence. No, Keats already praised it.

Expand full comment
Oct 22Liked by Joseph Bottum, Sally Thomas

Thank you for this interesting account of Nashe - a favourite of mine - and for bringing this poem to our attention. of course, 1592 had been a very year for plague deaths, and I think the poem reflects this. I wondered if the 'low-built house' actually referred to the grave?

Expand full comment
author

Quite possible.

Expand full comment
Oct 22Liked by Sally Thomas, Joseph Bottum

I wondered the same.

Expand full comment