The Lady of Winderslee, a Saintly Romance, and Other Poems

O, he's the courageous captain of compliments. He fights as you sing pricksong-keeps time, distance, and proportion…   —Act II, scene iv, lines 19-22 The "Prince of Cats" is a jeer at Tybalt's name, of course. The mockery is aimed at that favorite butt of Shakespeare's-the French or Italian way of doing things (in this case, scientific fencing) as opposed to the wholesome English fashion of simply dealing out good thwacks. Laura, to his lady … And now at last Romeo appears, and Mercutio fully expects him to begin again with his whining lovesickness. He mimics him in advance: Now is he for the numbers that Petrarch flowed in. Laura, to his lady, was a kitchen wench…   —Act II, scene iv, lines 40-42 Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca in Italian) was an Italian poet whose work may be thought of as sparking the Renaissance. He was born in 1304 and in 1327 met a lady known to us as "Laura." Who she was in actuality is not certain. Though he did much work in Latin, he is best known for his collection of Italian sonnets, odes, and other poems written between 1330 and 1360 ...»