[lit-ideas] "She sate, like Patience on a Monument, Smiling at greefe" (Twel. N.)
- From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2004 09:06:28 EDT
In a message dated 9/13/2004 11:24:35 PM Eastern Standard Time,
ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
There's this famous line
from "Twelfth Night," "She sat like Patience on a monument." Does anyone
know what statue Shakespeare might have seen that gave rise to the line? At
one website there was this "helpful" answer:
Does it not have connections with the statue The Three Graces?
-----
Well, the English word, "patience" comes from Latin, 'patientia', f.
patient-em, suffering, patient, see -ence. There is a special section in the
OED
entry for 'patience' for patience 'personified, or represented in a figure'.
The
Shakespeare quote features, and two ante-dating one ( -- below) But no
mention of sculptor...
I haven't checked the Shakespeare context, but I note the OED has 'sate',
rather than 'sat', and not just 'Patience' in capitals, but 'Monument' and
'Smiling' as well.
Note that there's just one cite in the OED after the Shakespeare 'famous'
one -- and it features the exact collocation 'Patience-on-a-Monument', _sic_
with quotes, so the reference must be to Shakespeare.
I tend to agree with Ritchie that it must be one of those Greek
representations of the Graces (or Muses) -- rather than something as pesanteur
like the
pensateur of Rodin, who's _thinking_ rather than _waiting_.
And it must be female, because few male names end in -ence (cf. Esperance).
Cheers,
JL
From the OED
'patience' L. patientia, f. patient-em suffering, patient: see -ence.
Personified, or represented in a figure.
1377 LANGLAND, Piers Plowman, B. XIII. 29
Pacience in thP palace stode in pilgrim's clothes,
And prayed meet for charity.
1509 HAWES, Past. Pleas. xx. (Percy Soc.) 96
To woeful creatures she is goodly leche,
With her good syster called Patience.
1601 SHAKESPEARE Twel. N. II. iv. 117
She sate, like Patience on a Monument, Smiling at greefe.
1884 HENLEY & STEVENSON Three Plays, Beau Austin I. ii,
I cannot away with your pale cheeks and that Patience-on-a-Monument kind of
look.
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