Wednesday, May 12, 2004
np: son volt - straightaways
while doing some research at spark notes to see if a student had cut and pasted their chapter summaries (they hadn't from spark notes, but honestly, the wording of these summaries is not the normal writing of this student by any means), i stumbled upon the spark's blog for the people to post interesting things about literature, etc. the most recent post had a link to an article at national geographic regarding shakespeare. in shakespeare's 76th sonnet, the bard enlightens us (bold words mine):
Why is my verse so barren of new pride,
So far from variation or quick change?
Why with the time do I not glance aside
To new-found methods and to compounds strange?
Why write I still all one, ever the same,
And keep invention in a noted weed,
That every word doth almost tell my name,
Showing their birth and where they did proceed?
O, know, sweet love, I always write of you,
And you and love are still my argument;
So all my best is dressing old words new,
Spending again what is already spent:
For as the sun is daily new and old,
So is my love still telling what is told.
so, in the manner of all good high school students, after giggling for a bit over the fact that shakespeare said 'weed,' scientists settled down to examine the residue found in pipes left in the garden of shakespeare's house. the results were somewhat surprising:
"There were very low concentrations of cannabis, but the signature was there," said Inspector Tommy van der Merwe, of the Forensic Science Laboratory.
The low concentrations could be attributed to the fact that cannabis begins to degrade after a short period of time, according to the scientist.
However, there is no doubt about the traces of cocaine. "The pipes we tested still had dirt in them which preserved the residues inside the stem and bowl," Van der Merwe said. Contamination was unlikely, he said. "The readings we got were the same as if it had tested a modern-day crack pipe."
i thought about sharing this article with my kids, but do i really want people wandering around school shouting about how shakespeare was a crack head? methinks not.
in addition to cannabis and cocaine, scientists also found traces of camphor and myristic acid. the camphor is believed to have been a masking agent for odors (like the air fresheners kids carry around for when they've been smoking cigarettes between classes). the myristic acid is an ingredient found in nutmeg which is known to have hallucinogenic properties. (and here i was thinking that girl who talked about snorting nutmeg my sophomore year of college was just out of it.)
there is some argument about the cocaine element. cocaine, it is generally thought, was not first manufactured until 1855. the spaniards knew about it and used it in their mining operations in south america, but evidence for exportation does not arrive until later. the possibility of english ships bringing home coca leaves that they seized from raided spanish ships is a possibility, but one that currently has no proof.
this is all really fascinating and certainly opens up some new interpretations of shakespeare's writings. (i mean..queen mab? what was he smokin'?) but personally, i'm rather fond of the image of the bard, laying on the floor, laughing hysterically while occasionally finding breath enough to repeat:
