Sherry Chandler » 2005 » May » 12
Glendower: I can speak English, lord, as well as you,
For I was trained up in the English court,
Where being but young I framéd to the harp
Many an English ditty, lovely well,
And gave the tongue a helpful ornament,
A virtue that was never seen in you.
Hotspur: Marry,
And I am glad of it with all my heart!
I had rather be a kitten and cry mew
Than one of these same metre ballad-mongers–
I had rather hear a brazen canstick¹ turned,
Or a dry wheel grate on the axle-tree,
And that would set my teeth on edge,
Nothing so much as mincing poetry–
— from Henry IV Part 1, Act 3, Scene 1, lines 119-132
Reads sort of like an argument between Dana Gioia and Ron Silliman.
¹candlestick; this is one way to get a perfect iambic pentameter–just leave out those pesky extra syllables.
This post was written by sherry
