If you want to hear it sung, here it is set to a tune by Patrick Doyle for the 1993 film version.
"Sigh No More"
by William Shakespeare
Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,
Men were deceivers ever;
One foot in sea, and one on shore,
To one thing constant never.
Then sigh not so,
But let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe
Into Hey nonny, nonny.
Sing no more ditties, sing no mo
Of dumps so dull and heavy;
The fraud of men was ever so,
Since summer first was leavy.
Then sigh not so,
But let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe
Into Hey nonny, nonny.
Discussion Questions:
1. Analyze this poem! Pull it apart to see how it works and what it means.
1. Men have always been liars. "One foot in sea, and one on shore" - their attention isn't all focused on one thing - they're inconstant. Don't dwell on it and let go of them, and you'll be happy and joyous instead of sad.
ReplyDeleteStop singing about sad things (basically, stop dwelling on it), men have always been that way, since summer began (basically, forever). And again, quit dwelling on it and let them go and be happy.
This is a good start to analyzing poetry.
Delete1. He seems to be telling women that men are all scoundrels, and always were. And because this is so, he tells them not to let the men's unfaithfulness make them sad anymore, but instead to be "blithe and bonny", or happy and joyous. He says that they should stop mourning the fickle men and singing their sad "ditties" about them, and instead sing happy songs. I think when he says "One foot in sea, and one on shore", he's kind of using the fact that sailors especially were known for being bad and making that stereotype into a stereotype of all men.
ReplyDeleteYes! The whole idea of the sailor who has "a girl in every port" is absolutely what he's pulling into this. There aren't any sailors in this play, but there are soldiers, and they often had the same reputation. Always leaving, never sticking around, always breaking hearts -- stop wasting your time and emotional energy on this kind of guy.
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