Tag Archives: puns

Question for Donne Scholars

Posted on Wednesday: February 28, 2018 by Michael Hendry

Though too lazy to look up examples, I know John Donne punned on his last name and its homophone, the participle of ‘did’. Did he ever pun on the Italian homograph ‘donne’ = ‘ladies’? The meaning would certainly suit a … Continue reading →

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Two Problems in Persius 2.61-68

Posted on Thursday: August 10, 2017 by Michael Hendry

Today’s paper is another (quadrisyllabic) Persïanum. The PDF is here.

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A Second Double Entendre in Persius 4.5

Posted on Wednesday: August 9, 2017 by Michael Hendry

After working on three different notes on Martial, I decided to finish one of my (quadrisyllabic) Persïana for today’s paper. Though allusively written, this one is not appropriate for younger readers, and may be found here in PDF form.

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“We’ve Made It Legal, but We Can’t Make It Right” (Martial 5.75)

Posted on Friday: March 11, 2016 by Michael Hendry

    Any problems in this little poem are exegetical – there are no significant variants: Quae legis causa nupsit tibi Laelia, Quinte,     uxorem potes hanc dicere legitimam. As a punch-line, the pentameter, particularly the last word, seems rather flat. I suspect … Continue reading →

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