Fave extracts from "The Wife of Bath"

"As in a noble household, we are told,
Not every dish and vessel's made of gold,
Some are of wood, yet earn their master's praise."

"In wifehood I will use my instrument
As freely as my Maker me it sent.
If I turn difficult, God give me sorrow!
My husband, he shall have it eve and morrow
Whenever he likes to come and pay his debt,
I won't prevent him! I'll have a husband yet
Who shall be both my debtor and my slave
And bear his tribulation to the grave
Upon his flesh, as long as I'm his wife.
For mine shall be the power all his life
Over his proper body and not he,
Thus the Apostle Paul has told it me,
And bade our husbands they should love us well;
There's a command on which I like to dwell..."

"No one can be so bold - I mean no man -
At lies and swearing as a woman can.
This is no news, as you'll have realizedm
To knowing ones, but to the misadvised.
A knowing wige if she is worth her salt
Can always prove her husband is at fault,
And even though the fellow may have heard
Some story told him by a little bird
Shw knows enough to prove the bird is crazy
And get her maid to witness she's a daisy,
With full agreement, scarce solicited."

"You say that some desire us for our wealth,
Some for our shapeliness, our looks, our health,
Some for our singing, others for our dancing,
Some for our gentleness and dalliant glancing,
And some because our hands are soft and small;
By your account the devil gets us all."

"Wherever I take wine I have to think
Of Venus, for as cold engenders hail
A lecherous mouth beges a lecherous tail,
A woman in her cups has no defence,
As lechers know from long experience."

"I think I loved him best, I'll tell no lie.
He was disdainful in his love, that's why.
We women have curious fantasy
In such affairs, or so it seems to me.
When something's difficult, or can't be had,
We crave and cry for it all day like mad
Forbid a thing, we pine for it all night,
Press fast upon us and we take to flight."


"Now that I felt provided with a mate
I wept but little, I need hardly state."

"I gave my whole heart up for him to hold.
He was, I think, some twenty winters old."

"I ever followed natural inclination
Under the power of my constelation
And was unable to deny, in truth,
My chamber of Venus to a likely youth,
The mark of Mars is still upon my face
And also in another privy place."


"Nor would I rebuke at any price;
I hate a man who points me out my vice,
And so, God knows, do many more than I."


"Mercury stands for wisdom, thrift and science,
Venus for revel, squanding and defiance."


"Lucilia out of lecherous delight.
For she, in order he might only think
Of her, prepared an aphrodisiac drink;
He drank it and was dead before the morning.
Such is fate of husbands, it's a warning."


"He spoke more harm of us than heart can think."


"Sir Knight, there's no way on from here.
Tell me what you are looking for, my dear,
For peradventure that were best for you;
We old, old women know a thing or two."

"The poor can dance and sing in the relief
Of having nothing that will tempt a thief."


"May I go howling mad and take my life
Unless I prove to be as good and true
As ever wife was since the world was new!
And if to-morrow when the sun's above
I seem less fair than any lady-love,
Than any queen or empress east or west,
Do with my life and death as you think best."

Poetry Anthology Book

http://www.pimpampum.net/bookr/index.php?id=9810

I chose:
- a 21st Century poem called "Some of My Happiest Moments in Life Occur in AOL Instant Messenger"
- one extract from Beowulf
- and another one from The Wife of Bath's Tale.

The reason I chose the first one is because I consider it a sad and moving yet lovely poem. I like it because I think it portrays very well how deeply the Internet has influenced and changed some people's lives - specially young people's - and also, how relationships have changed throughout history.
Though it might seem hard to understand, the use of the Internet has completely changed the way we communicate, and this is even reflected in poetry.
The picture is a snapshot of a Windows Live Messenger screen in which someone's screen name has been moved to the category "People I like Who Don't Like Me Back".

The picture attached to the extract from Beowulf is one of my parents. That part of the poem talks about King Hygelac, Queen Hygd and their castle. Since I tend to read poems from a subjective point of view and I enjoy trying to find similiraties between what the poem is about and nowadays' society or - as in this case - my personal life, I immediately related it to my house and my parents. Mainly, I found Hygd particularly similar in character to my mum, her role in my house and how generous and giving she is.

The last extract, the one from The Wife of Bath's Tale, I chose it because I agree on what the old lady says as regards poverty. I included a picture of a little aborigin girl from a refugees' camp drawing in the ground. It's amazing to see how despite the awful conditions under which they live, some people never lose their hope and happiness and live their lives in a simpler way. And as the extract says: "truly poor are they who whine and fret and covet what they cannot hope to get."

I was so excited about this activity that I had make "thicker" book for myself and included an extra extract from The Wife of Bath's Prologue, but the pictures won't show so I won't include the link in this post. Maybe if I re-make it I'll upload the link in another post.