The Intersection of Shakespeare and Astronomy
Leading up to the first day of summer, today, I've been re-reading Shakespeare's "A Midsummer's Night Dream" and this passage from Act V, Scene II has imprinted itself onto me.
IMAGE: Joseph Noel Patton, The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania, 1550
Uranus is the only planet in our solar system with satellite names not borrowed from mythology. Jupiter's 63(!) moons are named after the Roman god's entourage. Saturn's 46 moons are named after Greek, Norse, Celtic and Inuit mythologies and legends. Earth's solitary Moon has gone by such mythical names as Luna, Cynthia, Selene, Diana and Hecate.
... meet me all by break of day.
IMAGE: Joseph Noel Patton, The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania, 1550
- OBERON:
- Now, until the break of day,
Through this house each fairy stray.
To the best bride-bed will we,
Which by us shall blessed be;
And the issue there create
Ever shall be fortunate.
So shall all the couples three
Ever true in loving be;
And the blots of Nature's hand
Shall not in their issue stand;
Never mole, hare-lip, nor scar,
Nor mark prodigious, such as are
Despised in nativity,
Shall upon their children be.
With this field-dew consecrate,
Every fairy take his gait,
And each several chamber bless,
Through this palace, with sweet peace;
And the owner of it blest
Ever shall in safety rest.
Trip away; make no stay;
Meet me all by break of day.
Uranus is the only planet in our solar system with satellite names not borrowed from mythology. Jupiter's 63(!) moons are named after the Roman god's entourage. Saturn's 46 moons are named after Greek, Norse, Celtic and Inuit mythologies and legends. Earth's solitary Moon has gone by such mythical names as Luna, Cynthia, Selene, Diana and Hecate.
another point of view ...
whoa! I LOVE this post! How awesome is that!? I had no idea about the mythos and stuff! Definately something to blog and ponder! Fantabulous!
Wow, that's way too deep for me today on less than an hour's sleep last night! Gotta come back later when my brain is fully functioning.
And PS - you have been on my blogroll for months now!!!
AKH: like most kids, i got hooked on dinosaurs and then mythologies. it was only a matter of time that i started to show interest in the heavens. i didn't get into reading until much, much older. but, it was interesting to find out that the sciences are tempered by the arts.
Q: What do the Starship Enterprise and a roll of toilet paper have in common?
A: They both wipe the Kling-On's off Uranus.
Bwahahahaha!!
(I'm sorry...when I'm around my kids too long, I act like them...especially when I hear the word "Uranus"...Forgive me....)
TRUEJERSEYGIRL: it's really not that deep .. the passage is basically about GOOD TIDING & BLESSING .. i just really like it!
and, yes, i know i've been on your blogroll -- just that your post got me thinking: i never acknowledged it!
JADEDMANIAC: i have to say i've heard that joke - but not in a long time .. thank goodness you have kids, or i would never hear such stuff! and, just to let you know, i ABSOLUTELY LOVE cornball jokes like that. one of my roommates from many years ago would tell jokes that made me laugh, but everyone else around us thought they were lame.
like this joke: why did the trees have to leave? (because it was FALL) haha
very cool post, nam. i can always count on you for something a little left of centre when i come here
DIADIMA: gosh, thank you! you know, i used to be able to name a handful of constellations as a kid .. but not anymore. i'm not sure when i lost interest in astronomy .. but i bet it was probably around the time when i had to start paying for rent, thus all that day-dreaming time dried up.
MICHELLE: hey there! glad you like it .. i'm actually now on my third reading of 'midsummer' because the many subplots are way too complex even after a second reading. :-) maybe a passage by tatiana will jump out this time!
i think uranus gets a bad rap either way you say it. both pronounciations evoke potty humour of some sort. i bet shakespeare enjoyed good potty humour!
oh, that is neat, after reading it about ten times, I am guessing it is like a "bless this house and all that are in it" thing, blessed by fairies?
LESTER T: yeah, it's sorta tough not to chuckle when that 'uranus' is said. i know i should be more adult about it, but it's just so darn funny! i guess that's why i get along with my nephew (he's only six years old) so well .. we can relate to lots of things!
PERI: i'm not sure what it is, but this passage makes me so happy when i read it. i don't remember the passage jumping out at me when i first read it in college. but it's really gotten the best of me now. i love the two last lines:
Trip away; make no stay;
Meet me all by break of day.
Oberon the King of the Fairies has always bothered me-- His mood swings are overly mortal. Envy, anger and desire for revenge seem so petty for a king.
Oh- well it has been a long time since I looked at this play.
“Trip away; make no stay;
Meet me all by break of day.”
Shakespeare
“If I get home before daylight,
I just might get some sleep tonight.”
The Grateful Dead
MQUEST: i actually like my dieties to have all of the human trappings. this makes them predictable. the 'holier than thou' dieties tend to frustrate me too much, mostly cuz i can't relate to them.
as anger-driven as oberon is, i love how titania is his opposite in this -- how she cares for the orphaned mortal boy whose mother was one of her priestesses.
hey! that's a nice connection with the grateful dead .. so jerry garcia and the bard may not be strangers after all!
speak up!
theColin: (xo)
whoa! I LOVE this post! How awesome is that!? I had no idea about the mythos and stuff! Definately something to blog and ponder! Fantabulous!
True Jersey Girl
Wow, that's way too deep for me today on less than an hour's sleep last night! Gotta come back later when my brain is fully functioning.
And PS - you have been on my blogroll for months now!!!
Nam LaMore
AKH: like most kids, i got hooked on dinosaurs and then mythologies. it was only a matter of time that i started to show interest in the heavens. i didn't get into reading until much, much older. but, it was interesting to find out that the sciences are tempered by the arts.
Julie
Q: What do the Starship Enterprise and a roll of toilet paper have in common?
A: They both wipe the Kling-On's off Uranus.
Bwahahahaha!!
(I'm sorry...when I'm around my kids too long, I act like them...especially when I hear the word "Uranus"...Forgive me....)
Nam LaMore
TRUEJERSEYGIRL: it's really not that deep .. the passage is basically about GOOD TIDING & BLESSING .. i just really like it!
and, yes, i know i've been on your blogroll -- just that your post got me thinking: i never acknowledged it!
Nam LaMore
JADEDMANIAC: i have to say i've heard that joke - but not in a long time .. thank goodness you have kids, or i would never hear such stuff! and, just to let you know, i ABSOLUTELY LOVE cornball jokes like that. one of my roommates from many years ago would tell jokes that made me laugh, but everyone else around us thought they were lame.
like this joke: why did the trees have to leave? (because it was FALL) haha
diadima
very cool post, nam. i can always count on you for something a little left of centre when i come here
Nam LaMore
DIADIMA: gosh, thank you! you know, i used to be able to name a handful of constellations as a kid .. but not anymore. i'm not sure when i lost interest in astronomy .. but i bet it was probably around the time when i had to start paying for rent, thus all that day-dreaming time dried up.
Nam LaMore
MICHELLE: hey there! glad you like it .. i'm actually now on my third reading of 'midsummer' because the many subplots are way too complex even after a second reading. :-) maybe a passage by tatiana will jump out this time!
Lester T.
i think uranus gets a bad rap either way you say it. both pronounciations evoke potty humour of some sort. i bet shakespeare enjoyed good potty humour!
oh, that is neat, after reading it about ten times, I am guessing it is like a "bless this house and all that are in it" thing, blessed by fairies?
Nam LaMore
LESTER T: yeah, it's sorta tough not to chuckle when that 'uranus' is said. i know i should be more adult about it, but it's just so darn funny! i guess that's why i get along with my nephew (he's only six years old) so well .. we can relate to lots of things!
Nam LaMore
PERI: i'm not sure what it is, but this passage makes me so happy when i read it. i don't remember the passage jumping out at me when i first read it in college. but it's really gotten the best of me now. i love the two last lines:
Trip away; make no stay;
Meet me all by break of day.
Unknown
Oberon the King of the Fairies has always bothered me-- His mood swings are overly mortal. Envy, anger and desire for revenge seem so petty for a king.
Oh- well it has been a long time since I looked at this play.
Unknown
“Trip away; make no stay;
Meet me all by break of day.”
Shakespeare
“If I get home before daylight,
I just might get some sleep tonight.”
The Grateful Dead
Nam LaMore
MQUEST: i actually like my dieties to have all of the human trappings. this makes them predictable. the 'holier than thou' dieties tend to frustrate me too much, mostly cuz i can't relate to them.
as anger-driven as oberon is, i love how titania is his opposite in this -- how she cares for the orphaned mortal boy whose mother was one of her priestesses.
hey! that's a nice connection with the grateful dead .. so jerry garcia and the bard may not be strangers after all!
speak up!
previous 10 posts:
- The Treat of the Graham Cracker
- Skip the CD, Make Mine An Audio-Cassette Tape!
- Rituals to the Goddess Ceres
- It Was 1969
- Media Creations = Jibberish
- In Search Of ...
- Digital Life: A Reality Knock-Off
- The Look of Hope
- The Why of This Blog
- Jungle in My Closet
