Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Anne Bradstreet Biography

Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)
(drawing from the 19th C)

v     The first published poet in the New World (America). Also the first female published writer in America.

v     Born in England.

v     She was taught by her father, Thomas Dudley, who was steward (head servant) to the Earl of Lincoln (a nobleman).

v     She married Simon Bradstreet when she was 16.

v     Both her father and husband became governors of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They travelled to America in 1630. Anne was 18. Simon and Thomas also helped found Harvard University.

v     She wrote her first poem at 19, after recovering from small pox (kiahne).

v     Anne and her husband moved around, helping found Charlestown, Boston, Cambridge, Ipswich, and North Andover.

v     She and Simon had 8 children.

v     Anne poems were brought to England by her brother-in-law, Reverend John Woodbridge, who published them without her knowledge or consent in a book titled: The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up into America, by a Gentlewoman in such Parts.

v     According to Woodbridge, Anne wanted her poems to remain unpublished:

I have presumed to bring to publick view what she resolved should never in such as manner see the Sun.”

v     He did it to show the English that an educated woman could make a better wife and mother. While the book was popular, the sentiment was not.


Phillis Wheatley - On Being Brought From Africa To America

’TWAS mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there’s a God, that there’s a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither fought now knew,
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
“Their colour is a diabolic die.”
Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain,
May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train.

Anne Bradstreet - Upon my Son Samuel his Goeing for England, Nov. 6, 1657

Thou mighty God of Sea and Land,
I here resigne into thy hand
The Son of prayers, of vowes, of teares,
The child I stayed for many yeares.
Thou heard'st me then and gave'st him me;
Hear me again, I give him Thee.
He's mine, but more, O Lord thine own,
For sure thy Grace is on him shown.
No friend I have like Thee to trust,
For mortall helps are brittle Dust.
Preserve O Lord, from stormes and wrack,
Protect him there and bring him back;
And if thou shall spare me a space,
That I again may see his face,
Then shall I celebrate thy Praise,
And Blesse thee for’t even all my Dayes.
If otherwise I goe to Rest,
Thy Will bee done, for that is best;
Perswade my heart I shall him see
Forever happefy’d with Thee.

Anne Bradstreet - To My Dear and Loving Husband

If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were lov’d by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me ye women if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold,
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that rivers cannot quench,
Nor aught but love from thee give recompense.
Thy love is such I can no way repay,
The heavens reward thee manifold I pray.
Then while we live, in love let’s so persever,[1]
That when we live no more, we may live ever.



[1] persever: 17th century spelling of persevere, at that time rhyming with forever.

Anne Bradstreet - An Epitaph On My Dear and Ever Honoured Mother

Here lyes
A worthy Matron of unspotted life,
A loving Mother and obedient wife,
A friendly Neighbor pitiful to poor,
Whom oft she fed and clothed with her store,
To Servants wisely aweful but yet kind,
And as they did so they reward did find;
A true Instructer of her Family,
The which she ordered with dexterity.
The publick meetings ever did frequent,
And in her Closet constant hours she spent;
Religious in all her words and wayes
Preparing still for death till end of dayes;
Of all her Children, Children lived to see,
Then dying, left a blessed memory."

Monday, August 26, 2013

A Christmas Carol Vocabulary

to bury - pochovať
a carriage - voz
a county - okres
a parish - farnosť
a workhouse - chudobinec
foggy - hmlistý
a beggar - žobrák



an account book – účtová kniha
to owe – dlžiť, dlhovať
coal - uhlie
a scarf - šál
a candle - sviečka
rubbish – odpad, hlúposť
humbug - hlúposť

Spelling Alert!!! Humbug does not have an 'r', and has nothing to do with hamburgers!

a shilling – Britská minca
unpleasant - nepríjemný
pie - koláč
turkey - morka
an inn - hostinec
a knocker - klopadlo
to slam a door – buchnúť dverami
chains - reťaze
cruel - krutý
midday (noon) - poludnie
a holly tree - cezmina
a field - pole
a tear - slza
brick - tehla
to clap your hands - tlieskať
a servant - slúžka
to get engaged – zasnúbiť sa
a branch - konár
a berry - bobuľa
a torch – fakľa
to wave - zakývať
a flame - oheň
to play a joke – robiť šibalstvá
tiny - nepatrný
a crutch - barla
to behave – chovať sa správne
relations - príbuzní
a miner - baník
a lighthouse - maják
miserable - biedny
a hood - kapucňa
the exchange (stock exchange) – finančná burza
a bundle of cloth – batoh látok
curtains - závesy
wool blankets – vlnené deky
a gravestone – náhrobný kameň

Friday, August 23, 2013

Outline of English Literature


Old English

Caedmon (active 657–680) – a monk and Britain’s first known poet. Only one work survives, Caedmon’s Hymn.

Beowulf – an epic poem, written around 975–1025, tells the story of a Swedish king living around 550.

Middle English literature: 12th Century – 1470’s

v     Chancery Standard English (from London) became standard.

v     3 categories of writing existed: Religious, Courtly Love, Arthurian

v     William Langland (1332-1386) – wrote Piers Plowman (earliest allusion to Robin Hood) – concerns a quest for the true Christian life, from the perspective of mediæval Catholicism. This story includes a series of visions and three allegorical characters, Dowel ("Do-Well"), Dobet ("Do-Better"), and Dobest ("Do-Best").

v     Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400)– wrote Canterbury Tales, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Canterbury Tales - The tales (mostly written in verse) are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey, a pilgrimage, from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in this story, Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's round table, accepts a challenge from a mysterious “Green Knight” who challenges any knight to strike him with his axe if he will take a return blow in a year and a day. Gawain accepts and beheads him with his blow, at which the Green Knight stands up, picks up his head and reminds Gawain of the appointed time.

Early Modern period (Renaissance): (1480-1558)

v     William Caxton introduced the printing press to England in 1476.

v     English renaissance began in 1485 when the Tudors won the Wars of the Roses and started the Tudor dynasty. It started with Henry VII.

v     Book of Common Prayer 1549, was written in vernacular English, not Latin.

v     Philospher & politician, Saint Thomas More (1478-1535) wrote Utopia.

v     The poet Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542) introduced the Petrarchan sonnet to English literature.

Elizabethan Literature: (1558-1603) The height of the English renaissance, includes all the literature produced during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

v     Plays dominated English literature because it was more profitable than books. Paper was expensive, but actors were cheap.

v     Plays included:     - comedies like A Midsummer Night’s Dream
                                    - tragedies like Romeo & Juliette
                                    - historical plays like Richard III, and Henry VIII
                                    - romances (combining comedy & tragedy) like The Tempest
                                    - revenge plays like Hamlet

v     Famous playwrights included Thomas Kyd (1558-1594), Christopher Marlowe (1563-1594) stabbed at twenty-nine in a tavern brawl, William Shakespeare (1564-1616), and Ben Jonson (1572-1637)

v     Philosopher Francis Bacon (1561-1626) developed the scientific method, beginning the Age of Enlightenment.

v     In poetry, Shakespeare developed the English sonnet: abab cdcd efef gg

Other poets included: Edmund Spenser (1552-1599) wrote Faerie Queene.
                        Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586) wrote Arcadia.

Jacobean Literature: (1603-1625) during the reign of King James I.

v     the King James Bible – was printed in 1611. Although many English translations have been made, some of which are more accurate, many people prefer the King James version because the meter mimics the original Hebrew version.

v     Metaphysical Poets, led by John Donne (1572-1631) who wrote the sonnet Death Be Not Proud.

The English Commonwealth: (1649-1660)

v     King Charles I had been so unpopular that parliament began the English Civil War, fighting the royalists and killing the king.

v     From 1649-1660 a new government was formed, led by Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658).

v     The new government was very religious, closing theatres, and banning secular writing and music. So, there is very little literature from this time.

v     One except was the poet John Milton (1608-1674), who wrote the epic poem Paradise Lost.

Restoration Literature: (1660-1689) written after the English Restoration, when King Charles II was returned to the throne.

v     Royal Society – founded in 1660.

v     Satire became widely popular, written anonymously for fear of punishment.

v     Philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) wrote Treatises on Government.

v     Writer John Bunyan (1628-1688) wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress.

v     Poet and playwright John Dryden (1631-1700) wrote the play All For Love.

Augustan Literature: (1689-1750) – written during the reign of King George I.

v     literature of the period is political and full of scandal and outrage.

v     Periodicals gave rise to famous essays and journalism. The most famous essayist was Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) who wrote Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, and a Dictionary of the English Language, used for over 150 years.

v     Sir Richard Steele (1672-1729) wrote a satirical journal called The Tatler.

v     The Licensing Act of 1737 brought theatre under state control. Many playwrights turned to writing novels.

v     Writers: Daniel Defoe (1659-1731) wrote Robinson Crusoe,
         Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) wrote Gulliver’s Travels,
         Henry Fielding (1707-1754), wrote Tom Jones.

v     Playwrights: John Gay (1685-1732) wrote The Beggar’s Ballad.

v     Poets: Alexander Pope (1688-1744) wrote Rape of the Lock and The Dunciad,

Age of Enlightenment: (1750-1800)

v     Literature reflected the worldview of the Age of Enlightenment (or Age of Reason) in which a rational and scientific approach to religious, social, political, and economic issues was promoted.

v     This led to a more secular view of the world and a general sense of progress.

Romanticism

v     Romanticism started at the beginning of the industrial revolution. Cities expanded, the countryside depopulated, pastures privatized, and peasants poured into cities to work in factories.

v     Some words changed their meanings: industry (once meant "creativity"), democracy (once meant "mob rule"), class (once only used with a social connotation), art (once just meaning "craft"), culture (once only belonging to farming).

v     Poor working conditions, pollution, and new class-conflicts cause a reaction against industrialization. Poets begin to romanticize the beauty and value of nature.

v     Mother earth is seen as a new source of wisdom, the only solution to the ugliness caused by machines.

v     Writers: Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), wrote Ivanhoe and Rob Roy.
                    Jane Austen (1775-1817) wrote Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Emma.
                    John William Polidori (1795-1821) wrote The Vampyre.
                    Mary Shelley (1797-1851) wrote Frankenstein.

v     The Lake Poets: William Wordsworth (1770-1850),
                   Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) wrote Rime of the Ancient Mariner

v     Other Poets:  William Blake (1757-1827)
                Lord Byron (1788-1824)
                Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) wrote Ode to the West Wind, Ozzymandius
                John Keats (1795-1821) wrote Ode on a Grecian Urn.

6 Victorian literature – (1837–1901) written during the reign of Queen Victoria.

v     The novel became the leading form of literature, especially social novels that described the plight of the poor in industrial society.

v     Writers: William Thackeray (1811-1863) wrote Vanity Fair
   Charles Dickens (1812-1870) wrote The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, Bleak House
                   The Bronte Sisters: Charlotte (1816-1855) wrote Jane Eyre
                                                     Emily (1818-1848) wrote Wuthering Heights
                                                    Anne (1820-1849) wrote Agnes Grey and Wildfell Hall
   Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) wrote Tess of the d'Urbervilles
   Henry James (1843-1916) wrote The Portrait of a Lady
                     Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) wrote  Heart of Darkness

v     Charles Darwin (1809-1882) wrote Origin of Species creating the theory of evolution.

v     Many new genres of pop fiction began at this time, like sci-fi, fantasy, horror, detective stories, spy novels, ghost stories, lost world stories, and children’s stories.

v     Fantasy lit. included: George MacDonald (1824-1905) The Princess and the Goblin.
                       Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Treasure Island, Kidnapped,
                                                                                     Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde.

v     Detective stories included: William Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) The Moonstone. (first detective novel)
                                            Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) Sherlock Holmes.

v     Spy novels included: Erskine Childers (1870-1922) The Riddle of the Sands

v     Sci-Fi stories included: H.G. Wells (1866-1946) The Time Machine, and The War of the Worlds.

v     Lost World lit. included: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The Lost World.
                                               H. Rider Haggard (1856-1925) King Solomon’s Mines.

v     Horror included: Sheridan Le Fanu (1814-1873) The House by the Churchyard.
                            Bram Stoker (1847-1912) Dracula.

v     Children’s literature included: Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
                                      Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932) The Wind in the Willows.
                                      Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) The Tale of Peter Rabbit.
                                      J.M. Barrie (1869-1937) Peter Pan

v     Plays were still popular with many new farces, musical burlesques, extravaganzas and comic operas

v     Playwrights: Gilbert (1836-1911) & Sullivan (1842-1900) wrote light operas
                     B.C. Stephenson (1839-1906) wrote Dorothy, longest running of the 19th century.
                           Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) wrote Picture of Dorian Gray, The Importance of Being Earnest.

v     Poets:  Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)
     Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)
     Robert Browning (1812-1889),
     Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)

Modernism & Edwardian Literature: (1901-1939) – written during the reign of King Edward.

v     Modernism in English literature developed from the disillusionment with Victorian era attitudes of certainty, conservatism, and belief in objective truth.

v     Modernists were influenced by Darwin (1809-1882), Ernst Mach (1838-1916), Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), Karl Marx (1818-1883), and Sigmund Freud (1856-1939).

v     Not all writers at this time were considered Modernist. The following writers and playwrights were active in this period, but not considered Modernist:

v     Playwrights: Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) wrote Pygmalian

v     Non Modernist Writers: Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) The Jungle Book,
                                       E.M. Forster (1879-1970) Howard’s End and A Room with a View.

v     American Poets who were influential in England: Gertrude Stein (1874-1946), William Frost (1874-1963) (first published in England), William Carlos Williams (1883-1963), Ezra Pound (1885-1972), Hilda Doolittle (1886-1961), Marianne Moore (1887-1972), T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) (became a British citizen)

v     British & Irish Modernist writers included:

Dorothy Richardson (1873-1957) Pointed Roof, a stream of consciousness novel
James Joyce (1882-1941) Ulysses and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) A Room of One’s Own
D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930) The Rainbow and Lady Chatterley’s Lover
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) Brave New World
George Orwell (1903-1950) 1984 and Animal Farm,
Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966) A Handful of Dust
Alan Paton (1903-1988) Cry the Beloved Country
Graham Greene (1904-1991) Brighton Rock
Anthony Powell (1905-2000) A Dance to the Music of Time
Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) Waiting for Godot
Sir William Golding (1911-1993) Lord of the Flies
Anthony Burgess (1917-1993) A Clockwork Orange
Iris Murdoch (1919-1999) Under the Net
Doris Lessing (1919-present) The Children of Violence
Kingsley Amis (1922-1995) Lucky Jim

British & Irish Modernist Poets: William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
                                                     T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)
                                                     Hugh MacDiarmid (1892-1978),
                                                     Robert Graves (1895-1985),
                                                     Dylan Thomas (1914-1953)

Post-modern literature: (1950-The Present)

Postmodern literature, like postmodernism in general, is difficult to define and there is little agreement on its exact characteristics, goals, or importance. It is both a continuation of the modernist experimentation (using fragmentation, paradox, questionable narrators, etc.) and a reaction against Enlightenment ideas found in Modernist literature.

Post Modern Writers:

Richard Adams (1920-present) Watership Down
Salman Rushdie (1947-present) Midnight’s Children, Satanic Verses
Irvine Welsh (1958-present) Trainspotting

Post Modern Poets:

R. S. Thomas (1913–2000) The Stones of the Field

Popular Fiction

1890-1976 Agatha Christie, who wrote mysteries
1892-1973 J.R.R. Tolkien, wrote The Lord of the Rings
1893-1957 Dorothy L. Sayers, mystery writer
1898-1963 C.S. Lewis, wrote The Chronicles of Narnia
1902-1974 Georgette Heyer, wrote historical romances
1908-1964 Ian Fleming, spy novelist who created James Bond
1916-1990 Roald Dahl, humorist and children’s book author
1917-2008 Arthur C. Clarke, sci-fi writer, wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey
1931-Present John le Carré, spy novelist
1934-Present Alan Garner, fantasy novelist
1939-Present Michael Moorcock, sci-fi writer
1939-Present Margaret Atwood, Canadian writer
1946-Present Philip Pullman, wrote His Dark Materials
1948-Present Terry Pratchett, fantasy novelist
1952-2001 Douglas Adams, sci-fi humorist. Wrote The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
1954-Present Iain Banks, sci-fi writer
1965-Present J.K. Rowling, wrote Harry Potter series.

Canterbury Tales - The Physician's Tale (Modern Translation)

Canterbury Tales – The Physician’s Tale [the shortest one]
by Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400)


v     The physician’s tale tells the story of Virginius and his daughter Virginia. It’s a tragedy.

v     Virginia was a beautiful girl, the most beautiful that ever lived. And she was a very good person.

v     She was wise, modest, chaste, virtuous, prudent, and kind.

v     One day she went to church and Appius saw her. He was a powerful judge, and a bad man. He wanted her, but he knew it would be difficult. He could never marry her or simply take her, and she’d never accept a bribe, no matter how big.

v     Appius found a churl to help him – a low life, criminal named Claudius. Claudius made a false claim in court soon after, that Virginia wasn’t really the daughter of Virginius, but was in fact Claudius’s stolen slave.

v     Appius agreed and told Virginius to give over his daughter to Claudius. Virginius decided to kill his own daughter instead, cutting off her head with his sword. It was better to die honorably than to live in sin.

v     Virginius took his daughter’s head to the court, angering Appius. An angry mob entered after and threw Appius into jail, where he killed himself. Claudius was exiled from town.

v     There are two lessons to the story. One is for parents to be very careful and protect their children from danger. The other is, “forsake sin before sin forsakes you.” This basically means “what goes around comes around.” If you do bad things, then bad things will happen to you.

v     In the story, the physician says something very insulting to the nuns. He says a young woman becomes a nun for one of two reasons. Either she’s such a good person she wants to, or she’s such a bad person that her family is embarrassed, and forces her to be a nun, and pray for forgiveness.

v     He then compares nuns to poachers, saying a poacher knows best how to guard a forest, because he can think like a poacher. Likewise, a nun who was bad in youth can best look after a young woman, because she knows how young women think.


Canterbury Tales – The Physician’s Tale
by Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400)

Here follows the Physician's Tale.

There was a knight named Virginius, full of honour and nobility, who was rich and well loved. He and his wife had only one daughter, named Virginia. The maiden was the fairest and most beautiful girl who ever lived; it was as if Nature herself had said, "Look what I can do! Who can imitate me? Not even the greatest artists of ancient Greece, like Pygmalion, Apelles, or Zeuxis could make such a perfect, beautiful girl. For God himself trusts me to create all living things; and all that lives under the waxing and waning moon is in my care. And in honour of Him I made her, as I make all my other creatures, whatever their colour or form." Thus, it seems to me, Nature would say.

This maiden was fourteen years old. Her skin was fair, and her lips were red. And her hair was a shiny, golden yellow, like the sun. And, if her beauty was excellent, a thousand times more was she virtuous, in every possible way.

She was chaste, in spirit and in body, with a sense of humility, abstinence, temperance, patience, and with modesty in her clothing and jewellery. She was always polite when spoken to. Although she was wise, she spoke modestly. She never tried to impress anyone with big words. She spoke according to her place, and you could easily see she had good parents.

She was always hard working. She didn't like to drink, knowing that young people and alcohol are a dangerous combination. So, she often pretended to be sick, to flee company where folly was likely to happen, as at feasts, revels and dances, that might be occasions for drunkenness. Such parties make children mature too soon, and bold, which is always dangerous, and can lead to a rude and vulgar wife.

And, you elderly nuns, who have the job of governing peoples' daughters, do not ignore my words, but remember that you have come to your position in life for one of two reasons; either because you were so good you belonged in a convent, or because you were so terrible you embarrassed your family, and they put you in a convent as a punishment.

Therefore, for Christ's sake, do your jobs well in teaching girls virtue. Be like a poacher who has sworn to stop hunting, and can protect a forest the best of any, because he knows all the tricks. Watch over them well, and don't allow them to have any faults, for whoever does so is surely a traitor.

And remember this: of all sins, the worst is when someone betrays an innocent. You fathers and mothers, who have one or two children, the responsibility of protecting them is all yours, while they are under your care. Beware that, by the example of your life, or by your negligence, they die not, because if they do, you will be sorry. Under a soft and negligent shepherd, the wolf has torn to pieces many sheep and lambs. Let this one example be enough, for I must return to my tale.

This maiden of whom I tell was so good that she needed no governess. In every direction the fame of her beauty and goodness spread, so that, throughout the land, all who loved virtue praised her; all except those who were envious, who are always sorry for other people's happiness and glad for their sorrow and sickness.

One day, and this is a true story, this maiden went to the church in town with her dear mother, as usual. Now in this town there was a justice, named Appius, who was the governor of this region, and he saw her, looking her up and down. Immediately he decided, saying to himself, "This girl will be mine, no matter what it takes."

Then the Devil slipped into his heart and showed him how, by cunning, he might win the maiden. He couldn't just take her, and he knew she wouldn't accept any amount of money. So, after thinking for awhile, he summoned a churl named Claudius whom he knew to be both bold and cunning. To him this judge told his plan and swore him to secrecy; saying if Claudius told anyone, he would lose his head. When this terrible plan was agreed, the judge was glad, and thanked Claudius, and paid him well.

When this conspiracy was planned from point to point, the churl went home. And so it happened soon after, that Appius was sitting in his court, and giving out judgments on various cases. This churl came rushing in and said,

"So please you, lord, give me justice on this piteous petition of complaint against the knight Virginius. And if he shall say it is not true, I will prove it and find good witnesses who will prove that my petition tells the truth!"

The judge answered, "Unless Virginius is here I cannot give a final sentence. Let him be summoned, and then I will listen gladly. You shall have full justice here, and no wrong."

Virginius came, and the horrible petition was read without delay, which was, "To you my dear lord, Honourable Appius, show your poor servant Claudius how a knight, called Virginius, against the law and all fairness, and expressly against my will, holds my servant, who one night was stolen from my house while she was very young. This I will prove by witness, lord, as will please you. She was never his daughter, whatever he may say. For this reason I petition you, my lord the judge, give me back my servant."

Virginius stared at the churl. But ,before he could tell his side of the story (where he would have proven, with many witnesses, that this churl was false), this cursed judge would not wait at all nor hear a word more from him, but gave his judgement: "I decree that this churl shall have his servant immediately; you shall keep her in your house no longer. This is my ruling. Go bring her here and put her in our keeping. This churl shall have his servant."

When the knight saw that he must give his daughter to the judge, to live in sin, he went home and sat down in his hall. He summoned his dear daughter, and with a face deathlike, he looked at her with a father's pity striking his heart.

"Daughter," he said, "there are two ways, death or shame, that you may choose, alas that I was born! For never have you deserved to die by blade or sword. O daughter dear, whom I raised with such joy that you were never out of my mind! O daughter who are my last woe and last joy of my life, take your death with honour, for this is my judgment. For love and not for hate, you must die. My merciful hand must strike off your head. Alas that Appius ever saw you! He has given you this false judgment today." And he told her the entire case as you have heard; there is no need to tell it again.

"Mercy, dear father," said the maiden, and laid her arms around his neck, and the tears burst from her two eyes as she said, "Good father, must I die? Is there no other way?"

"No, dear daughter mine," he said.

"Then give me a moment," she said, "to mourn my death a little; for Jephthah surely gave his daughter a moment before he killed her, alas! And God knows that she had no guilt except that she ran to meet her father first to welcome him with great honour." And with that word she fainted. When she awoke, she rose up and said to her father, "Blessed be God, I die a maiden. Give me my death before I have dishonour. Do what you must, in the name of God!"

And then she asked him to strike gently with his sword, and then she fainted again. Her father, with sorrowful heart, struck off her head, and holding it by the hair, went to show it to the judge where he still sat in court. When the judge saw it, he ordered that Virginius be taken and hanged immediately. But, then a thousand people burst in to save the knight, by their pity and compassion. For this story had spread, and the people immediately had suspicion, by reason that it was by Appius's consent, whom they well knew to be lecherous. So they came immediately to Appius and threw him into prison, where he killed himself. And Claudius was condemned to be hanged upon a tree, but Virginius, by his clemency, so prayed for the churl that he was exiled, or else surely he would have been killed too.

Here all may see how sin has its costs. Beware, for no man knows whom God will strike, nor how one's conscience may tremble at a wicked life, though it be so privy that none knows of it but the sinner and God. For whether one may be educated or not, he knows not how soon he will face his final judgement. Therefore I counsel you, listen to this warning: forsake sin before sin forsakes you.

Here ends the Physician's Tale.