[John Whitworth]

Oh it's mine all right. That is not at issue. What is, is where she found it.

[Roger Slater]

Can't help you, I'm afraid. My searches turned up next to nothing. The only sleeping swan I found in a poem was Shelley's:

My soul is an enchanted boat,
Which, like a sleeping swan, doth float
Upon the silver waves of thy sweet singing

The only scattering stars and dust I found were Rumi's: "We come spinning out of nothingness, scattering stars like dust"

As you didn't ask for anyone's opinion of the poem, I won't offer one beyond what I've said.

[John Whitworth]

She (Karen Kelsay) likes it. And so do I, as it happens. But comment is always free Roger.

[Roger Slater]

She does have fine taste, indeed. Mine is no better but offered with equal respect.

[Ann Drysdale]

Welll, where did Karen find it in order to like it? Was it among the stuff you sent her for your new book? Does she think she's seen it somewhere else?

Otherwise the problem "Oh it's mine all right. That is not at issue. What is, is where she found it." could presumably be solved by asking her.

And if you know it's yours, how do you know? (not questioning your veracity, just trying to help you track its provenance). Where do you have it stored? In what folder? Do you have a date for its conception?

Give us the facts, man - and we'll launch the Dragnet.

[Erik Olson]

Originally Posted by Ann Drysdale

Shagsberg nicked the line - put it in As You Like It - so perhaps it's classical and therefore fair game.

Ann,
As you well know, Shakespeare learns from many of his contemporaries; it appears, though, that the only one to whom he makes direct reference is Marlowe. This is in As You Like It (1599):

Dead Shepherd, now I find thy saw of might,
'Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?’

The ‘saw’, or saying, is from Marlowe’s short, amorous epic poem, Hero and Leander, first published 1598.

Where both deliberate, the love is slight:
Who ever loved, that loved not at first sight?

The ‘Dead Shepherd’ is Marlowe. Though this turbulent man—ironically of pastoral poetic genius—was murdered six years previously, Hero and Leander was first printed but shortly before Shakespeare wrote As You Like It. The poem quoted of Marlowe was very popular at that time; the 'saw' would consequently have been fresh in Shakespeare’s and theatergoer’s minds when the play was first performed. The line is put in Phoebe's mouth for she was herself a shepherdess; and not improbably because Marlowe was well-known as the poet of 'The Passionate Shepherd to His Love', a very successful work (now it is considered one of the earliest examples of the pastoral style of British poetry in the late Renaissance.)
Who knew? I would not have known the half if this thread had not incited my curiosity.


Though Shagsberg has Kit's line, the Bard ne'er nicked it:
on Marlowe's bays, the so-called 'Shepherd' fixed it
so squarely Shagsberg points to that he picked it.

Best,

Erik

[Ann Drysdale]

Thanks, Erik, that was fun!

Title, John?

Editing in to say that John confirms the title as "Moonshine" (which points towards the intention of irony) and he wrote it in 2011.
.

[Gail White]

Originally Posted by Michael Ferris

I can't help you on your question, John.

But as to the Marlowe poem, it's an interesting case of a poem that is true, while the last line is patently false! (Sigrid Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter comes to mind as a masterful depiction of the opposite ... it's a tremendous novel that I need to read again.)

Michael, I'm delighted to meet another Kristin fan.

[John Whitworth]

Moonshine was published by the late Paul Stevebs in one of his on line magazines, That's where Karen saw it. She has published it in her own online magazine at https://orchardspoetry.com. It's a good issue. I recommend it.