William Dunbar, Sir Thomas More and Sir John Cheke. It therefore seems more likely that Skelton simply meant that the livery had on them and, if we accept “Romain letters” him as the target, though Wolsey paid much attention to these marks of status and Roman affiliation, he did not serve his ecclesiastic duties with commensurate effort. Regardless of which sense of Skelton meant, the lines which follow retain the ‘lack’ same meaning. Skelton finds fault with his of and lack of attention subject’s ignorance to basic religious your cross-row nor Christ-cross you spede, / Your elements: “In Paternoster, your Ave nor your Edwards describes these as the of the Crede.” “contents The point the poet is trying to make with this juxtaposition is schoolboy’s hornbook.” that while Wolsey has eagerly embraced the symbols and trappings of his new legatine role, he has neglected even the most basic religious duties of his office. The second category of imagery is thematically based on or ‘poison’ ‘venomous This theme is represented most strongly in the title of the poem itself, animals’. Venemous and is used primarily to support the argument that the ‘Against Tongues’, power of a liar or slanderer far exceeds anything else found in nature: Malicious tunges, though they have no bones, Are sharper than swordes, sturdier then stones. Lege Philostratum de vita Tyanei Apollonii. Sharper than raysors, that shave and cut throtes, More stinging then scorpions that stang Pharaotis. Venenum aspidum sub labiis eorum. Ps. More venomous and much more virulent Than any poisoned tode, or any serpent. Skelton combines a plea to God with a series of comparisons; he lists evocative images which, though terrible themselves, are not as dangerous as a false tongue. Key among these images are the venomous toads and snakes, whose forked tongues in particular created an evocative parallel between the poisonous animals and the dangerous words of evil men. The Latin text is significant; here aspidum sub labiis “Venenum eorum” Skelton is quoting from the Vulgate Bible, Psalm 139, which constitutes a prayer to God for strength against venomous tongues:
William Dunbar, Sir Thomas More and Sir John Cheke. It therefore seems more likely that Skelton simply meant that the livery had “Romain letters” on them and, if we accept him as the target, though Wolsey paid much attention to these marks of status and Roman affiliation, he did not serve his ecclesiastic duties with commensurate effort. Regardless of which sense of ‘lack’ Skelton meant, the lines which follow retain the same meaning. Skelton finds fault with his subject’s ignorance of and lack of attention to basic religious elements: “In your cross-row nor Christ-cross you spede, / Your Paternoster, your Ave nor your Crede.” Edwards describes these as the “contents of the schoolboy’s hornbook.” The point the poet is trying to make with this juxtaposition is that while Wolsey has eagerly embraced the symbols and trappings of his new legatine role, he has neglected even the most basic religious duties of his office. The second category of imagery is thematically based on ‘poison’ or ‘venomous animals’. This theme is represented most strongly in the title of the poem itself, ‘Against Venemous Tongues’, and is used primarily to support the argument that the power of a liar or slanderer far exceeds anything else found in nature: Malicious tunges, though they have no bones, Are sharper than swordes, sturdier then stones. Lege Philostratum de vita Tyanei Apollonii. Sharper than raysors, that shave and cut throtes, More stinging then scorpions that stang Pharaotis. Venenum aspidum sub labiis eorum. Ps. More venomous and much more virulent Than any poisoned tode, or any serpent. Skelton combines a plea to God with a series of comparisons; he lists evocative images which, though terrible themselves, are not as dangerous as a false tongue. Key among these images are the venomous toads and snakes, whose forked tongues in particular created an evocative parallel between the poisonous animals and the dangerous words of evil men. The Latin text “Venenum aspidum sub labiis eorum” is significant; here Skelton is quoting from the Vulgate Bible, Psalm 139, which constitutes a prayer to God for strength against venomous tongues:
GSL_PhD_Thesis_Library_Copy.docx