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#171627 11/26/07 03:26 PM
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The Manor of the World Today (so little changes)

So many gay swordes,
So many altered wordes,
And so few covered bordes.
------Sawe I never:
So many empty purses,
So few good horses,
And so many curses,
------ Sawe I never:

Such bosters and braggers,
So newe fashioned daggers,
And so many beggers,
------ Sawe I never:
So many propre knyves,
So well apparelled wyves,
And so yll of theyr lyves,
------ Saw I never:

So many laws to use
The truth to refuse,
Suche falshead to excuse,
------ Sawe I never:
Executers havinge the ware,
Taking so little care
Howe the soul doth fare,
------ Sawe I never.

John Skelton ( circa 1460-1529 )

John Skelton- Pages
.

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I like Skelton, especially his Philip Sparrow, which, unfortunately, I haven't read in years. He can be a bit macaronic at times which is the reason I like him. And, he didn't care a fig about spelling. An altogether better time in English letters.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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I have this little Skelton-book; one of my first pocketmoney
purchases when I was about fifteen. The thread about the prefixes made me remember it.
Then I saw how little the complaints about " the manner of the world nowadays " have ever changed. And how nice is the writing.
After copying some couplets of that long poem I found the site on the web.

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Nice catch, Shea.

You have got quite the eye and ear.


And brain.

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Quote:
And so few covered bordes.


what meaneth this?


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Macaronic, yes. There is some from 'Phyllyp Sparowe' in it.

Pla ce bo,
Who is there, who?
Di le xi,
Dame Margery;
Fa, re, my, my,
Wherfore and why,why?
For the sowle of Philip Sparowe
That was late slayn at Carowe,
etc...

Rather a mystery to me.
Quote:
And so few covered bordes.

This one escapes me too, Eta. Zmj will sure know. (and mayby tell )

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>And so few covered bordes.

I *think this means that money is too much on display.

borde is obs. thieves' cant for a shilling, says OED -- OTOH, it says "? a transf. use of bord, BOARD ‘shield’."

-joe (pick one) friday

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Originally Posted By: etaoin
Quote:
And so few covered bordes.


what meaneth this?


It meaneth "rugs".

Listen to the rhythm of the sense of the stanzas.

Then consider that "bordes" were "boards" during John Skeltons time.

By-the-by, I think that BranShea's version is generously adapted from the words that John Skelton originally wrote.

.

Last edited by themilum; 11/26/07 09:30 PM.
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By-the-by:

" Note.- The text of the poems is taken from Dyce's edition and has been left unchanged exept for some minor spelling alterations in which some letters such as j.u,and v, have been adapted to present day use. I am grateful to Miss Joan Pye for her great help in this book."

"Present day"was 1949 when this booklet was Edited by a Roland Gant in London =, but Printed and bound by Mouton and Company in Holland (of all places) The hague. They are fragments of longer and some short poems. Only 64 pages thick.

What meaneth covered 'rugs'? Bye-the-Bye Bye?

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I wondered about boards as well, but if things are opulent and over-the-top, wouldn't there be more rugs?

the floor would be covered (or not) with rugs, Bran.


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