Saturday, October 3, 2009

Zeugma? Zeugma!

So zeugma. Here is a rhetorical term that you need to be familiar with regarding RotL.
Zeugma is a device used when two unequal things are brought together by a single word (usually a verb)
example from line 8 of Canto III
"dost sometimes Counsel take - and sometimes tea"

At Hampton Place Court, both counsel (think serious debate or discussion) is taken as well as tea.
To "take tea" is essentially to have tea.

Another zeugma appears in Canto II before the faeries are assigned their tasks. Can you find it?
Hint: page 12. Post your answer if you think you have found it.

Lousy weather weekend. Hope you are curled up on the couch for some reading, football-watching, or napping :-)

MCC

2 comments:

  1. Or stain her Honour, or her new Brocade,
    Forget her Pray'rs, or miss a Masquerade,
    Or lose her Heart, or Necklace, at a Ball

    lines 107 to 109??? Perhaps this is it?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very good!! Those are perfect examples of zeugma. Be on the lookout for other zeugmas and additional rhetorical devices in RotL and in the other poems we read this year. Great work, Jill!

    ReplyDelete