But sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. The poet seems to be comparing the love of material things personified by the peddlar's trade, with true emotional love which even a profane peddlar may feel. If there was salacious intent, I don't think it would be veiled. I don't think the Elizabethans really shared our post-victorian prudishness, so such matters were not really titillating. I participated in a couple of master classes with Robert Spencer, and he pointed out that what seems veiled to us (e.g. "Turtels and twins, court's brood, a heavenly pair" referring to Castor and Pollux, symbols of fraternal love) was quite plain to a period and class who were familiar with the classics, rhetoric etc. Just my $0.02 Marcus
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >The full OED entry includes reference to related usage that suggests some=20 >poetic spiciness was intended: > > > > > > -- //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // Marcus Merrin PhD. // EmptyAir Consulting // Linux/Unix-platform database and custom server technology // [EMAIL PROTECTED] |||||||| http://emptyair.com // (902)225-5188 (Mobile) |||||||||| (902)455-2284 (Office) /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
