. Original text:
I fear too early, for my mind misgives
Some consequence yet hanging in the stars
Shall bitterly begin his fearful date
With this night’s revels, and expire the term
Of a despisèd life closed in my breast
By some vile forfeit of untimely death.
But he that hath the steerage of my course,
Direct my sail. On, lusty gentlemen.
.Real translation: Iam worried we’ll get there to early. i have a feeling this party tonight will be the start of something bad, something that will end with my own death. But whoever’s in charge of where any life’s going can steer me wherever they want onward, lover boys.
. What i think: Iam worried we will be early, i have a feeling that there will be consequences yet hanging in the future for me. It shall bitterly begin this horrible date with this night it shall end with my own death. But whoever is controlling any life can steer my life.
But he that hath the steerage of my course,
Direct my sail. On, lusty gentlemen. What does this mean?
what shakesphere mean by this is that he (GOD) who has control of life’s can control my life and has set this event with Romeo and Juliet fall in love. the event could not be changed no matter what.
October 14, 2015 at 11:14 pm
You’ve done a great job of unpacking this extract, Jeremy.
What you’ve done so far is explained the meaning of the ‘He that hath steerage of my course, direct my sail” metaphor.
The next step is to put this all together into a paragraph that explains how Shakespeare is using this metaphor to communicate the idea that Romeo is putting himself into the hands of fate, even though he’s afraid it will lead to his death.
Let me know if you need any help doing this, don’t forget there’s an example of this on the class site that you can watch
CW