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On Mon, Sep 10, 2012 at 12:47 AM, David Bircumshaw < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > The visual image is of the morning star being embraced by the horned i.e. > crescent moon which is then compared to the cuckolding of the blacksmith Exactly. That part is easy and standard enough. > so > a bit of Jacobean gender-swapping has happened in the transfer - the moon > embraces 'her' shepherd. (Diana and Endymion) I think the licence rests on > visual to symbolic transfer - I don't think there's an additional reference > - and Tom is agitated enough to allow that I reckon. > That's what I figure as well, that Tom's state of mind basically represents the license. There are numerous other examples of that in the poem even if you put aside pure nonce, but for some reason this one case pulls me up. I just wanted to be sure I hadn't missed anything more fundamental (those devious Renaissance types), and I think you've confirmed that. Thanks. -- Uche Ogbuji http://uche.ogbuji.net Founding Partner, Zepheira http://zepheira.com http://wearekin.org http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/author/uogbuji/ http://copia.ogbuji.net http://www.linkedin.com/in/ucheogbuji http://twitter.com/uogbuji