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Article ON SYMBOLS AND SYMBOLISM. ← Page 14 of 19 →
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On Symbols And Symbolism.
that when tied upon any but a chaste bosom , it burst asunder ; from an emblem of purity , when in contact Avith impurity , it spontaneously changed to a symbol of looseness , by becomingloose . Spenser ' s stanza is as follows : —
" The girdle gave the virtue of chaste love , And wivehood true , to all that it did beare ; And whosoever contrarie doth prove , Might not the same about her middle weare . But it would loose , or else asunder teare , Whilom it Avas ( as fairies wont report ) , Dame Venus' girdle by her ' steemed deare , What time she us'd to live in wively sport , But lay'd aside when she us'd her looser sport . "
The prestige of chastity Avas easily transferred from the zone to all cinctures ; and with the Gaulic bracese and the modern hose , descended with all its power to the garter ; and the loss of it was considered equally a sign of unchasteness amongst our forefathers Avith the loss or rupture of the classic zone amongst the ancients . Thus , in Melton ' s " Astrologaster , or the Figure
Caster , " amongst other superstitions , which he remarks as currently prevalent in England during the seventeenth century , he tells us" That it is naught for a man or woman to lose their hose garter . " And fully to comprehend the force of this expression , Ave must search for cotemporary usage of the Avord . Shakspeare uses the word twice ; first in Cymbeline ( act v . scene 5 ) : —
Cymb . Thy mother ' s dead . Imog . I ' m sorry for 't , my lord . Cymb . Oh , she was naught , and long of her it was That we meet here so strangely . " A second time Ave find it in King Lear ( act ii . scene 4 ) : — " Lear . Thy sister ' s naught . O Began , she hath tied Sharp-tooth unkindness like a vulture here . "
Though these may not fully carry out the meaning of Melton as unchaste , yet gossiping Pepys , in his Diary , 9 th Jan . 1655-56 , gives us the full force of the word , in this sense , at the time Avhen Melton used it : —
"Pierce tells me how great difference hath been between the duke and duchess , he suspecting her to be naught with Mr . Sidney , called handsome bydney , the brother of Algernon . " It is this peculiar prestige attaching to the loss of the Garter that should have great weight with any one seeking an elucidation for the establishment of the oldest , certainly the noblest institution of chivalry in the world , our own Order of the Garter . Many have been the guesses at the causes
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Symbols And Symbolism.
that when tied upon any but a chaste bosom , it burst asunder ; from an emblem of purity , when in contact Avith impurity , it spontaneously changed to a symbol of looseness , by becomingloose . Spenser ' s stanza is as follows : —
" The girdle gave the virtue of chaste love , And wivehood true , to all that it did beare ; And whosoever contrarie doth prove , Might not the same about her middle weare . But it would loose , or else asunder teare , Whilom it Avas ( as fairies wont report ) , Dame Venus' girdle by her ' steemed deare , What time she us'd to live in wively sport , But lay'd aside when she us'd her looser sport . "
The prestige of chastity Avas easily transferred from the zone to all cinctures ; and with the Gaulic bracese and the modern hose , descended with all its power to the garter ; and the loss of it was considered equally a sign of unchasteness amongst our forefathers Avith the loss or rupture of the classic zone amongst the ancients . Thus , in Melton ' s " Astrologaster , or the Figure
Caster , " amongst other superstitions , which he remarks as currently prevalent in England during the seventeenth century , he tells us" That it is naught for a man or woman to lose their hose garter . " And fully to comprehend the force of this expression , Ave must search for cotemporary usage of the Avord . Shakspeare uses the word twice ; first in Cymbeline ( act v . scene 5 ) : —
Cymb . Thy mother ' s dead . Imog . I ' m sorry for 't , my lord . Cymb . Oh , she was naught , and long of her it was That we meet here so strangely . " A second time Ave find it in King Lear ( act ii . scene 4 ) : — " Lear . Thy sister ' s naught . O Began , she hath tied Sharp-tooth unkindness like a vulture here . "
Though these may not fully carry out the meaning of Melton as unchaste , yet gossiping Pepys , in his Diary , 9 th Jan . 1655-56 , gives us the full force of the word , in this sense , at the time Avhen Melton used it : —
"Pierce tells me how great difference hath been between the duke and duchess , he suspecting her to be naught with Mr . Sidney , called handsome bydney , the brother of Algernon . " It is this peculiar prestige attaching to the loss of the Garter that should have great weight with any one seeking an elucidation for the establishment of the oldest , certainly the noblest institution of chivalry in the world , our own Order of the Garter . Many have been the guesses at the causes