"What bird so sings, yet so does wail?
O 'tis the ravished nightingale.
Jug, jug, jug, jug, tereu, she cries,
And still her woes at midnight rise."
- from Lyly's "Campaspe"
I have to say I find this sort of thing charming, not purple at all as
I understand it. I've been thinking of "purple" as a term relating to
overblown or ornate writing, though I now see that the oed allows it
to cover "brilliant" as well, which to mind mind lets in a whole world
of other writings. But in the - normally perjorative - sense in which
we most often use it (the sense in which Sage wrote of Morrison, which
Harold then applied in some way to Brady) it's the ornateness we're
considering, rather than the brilliance, innit? I find it very
possible to enjoy even the most excessively ornate, overblown writing
in short doses, but I'd have to say that I usually have my tongue in
my cheek when so doing.
While we're on linguistic uses, I enjoyed the way Peter described Lyly
as "very hot stuff", which Keston then rendered as "interesting". No
offence to either party, just good to see we've all got our babelfish
in!
RC
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