Petrarch, Shakespeare, Goethe, Iambic Pentameter, Iambic Trimeter And All That Jazz -- November 19, 2021

A reader sent me the link to this essay on poetry. 

My reply:

1. The eclipse was somewhat anticlimactic  (or is it anticlimatic?) LOL. Whatever. The eclipse in 1440 was a whole lot better, I suppose, mostly because no one knew it was coming -- except for a few Druids at Stonehenge -- and they couldn't explain it either.

2. But I digress. Yes, I was the only one standing outside in the parking lot with my iPhone pointing at the stars, identifying what was what with the "Skyview" app. I recognized the moon even without the app. Beautiful, beautiful evening. If it was cool or brisk I did not notice. It felt nice and the skies were perfectly clear.

3. With regard to Petrarch's woes. Wow, talk about a coincidence. I'm reading selected chapters in the two-volume biography of Goethe, as previously mentioned. Goethe was in Rome, trying to escape his mistress, it appears -- he was noted for Petrarchian woes -- the book is outside in my car right now so I'm not going out to get it -- but the last ten pages have been about the play he was writing and his woes. But I honestly can't remember whether the biographer references Petrarch. Can't wait to get the book later this morning and see.

4. However, continuing the conversation .... much of the last ten pages that I've been reading has been about Goethe writing his Iphegnia play initially in prose, and then re-writing it in Shakespearean iambic pentameter as opposed to iambic trimeter common in Greek and Latin classical poetry. Goethe struggled whether to go rogue and go with Shakespeare. I kid you not. Remember, Goethe was enamored with the Greeks and he was "Latin." And, of course, as a continental, he hated the Brits. LOL. So, it was a big deal to go with iambic pentameter and not trimeter. [Wow, I would love to go back as a substitute teacher for high school. I absolutely enjoyed those few years when I did that in San Antonio, TX.]

5. By the way, in his Iphengia, Goethe uses the "hanging by a thread" metaphor. Now I'm curious: who coined that? Shakespeare, or did Goethe plagiarize Shakespeare? We'll sort that out later. Obviously it was from a classical myth (https://www.grammar-monster.com/sayings_proverbs/hanging_by_a_thread.htm) but did Shakespeare popularize it or was Goethe the first to use it as a metaphor?

6. And so, another rabbit hole to explore.

7. Disclaimer: the above will have content and typographical errors. My proofreader was not yet up to proofread this note before it was sent.