Classics Retold

On the banks of Allan Water is a traditional British folk song and poem telling the tragic tale of a miller's daughter betrayed by a soldier.  It was very popular in the 19th century, and follows her journey from happiness in spring to sorrow and death in winter. In 1916 it was adapted to a silent film.  The miller's daughter was courted by a soldier in the spring; but he deserted her by autmn, leading to her death in winter.  1812 comic opera Rch and Poor by C. E. Horn popularized it. Thomas Hardy in his novel "Far From The Madding Crowd" used it in chapter 23 as sung by Bathsheba Everdene and later a soldier entered her life and changed its course. 

Evening.   Shearing supper.  A long table was set on the grass-plot beside the house.  The end of the table was thrust over the sill of the wide parlour window, and the end being thrust into the room. Miss Everdene sat inside facing down the table. She was thus at the head of the table, without mingling with the men.  Bathsheba was unusually excited.  Her red cheeks and lips contrasting lustrously with the mazy skeins of her shadowy hair. The seat at the bottom of the table was at her request left vacant. They have already begun the meal. She wanted Gabriel to take the seat at the bottom of the table and the duties appertaining to it, which he accepted with great readiness.  Mr Boldwood appeared at the gate, and walked across the green to Bathsheba at the window.  He was late, and he apologized for it. "Gabr iel," said Bathsheba, "will you move again, please, and let Mr Boldwood come there?"  Gabriel moved silently to his original seat. ...

Chromis and Mnasylus are two swains (shepherds) featured in Virgil's Eclogues. They are known for discovering the old drunken satyr (a male spirit in Greek mythology) Silenus, asleep in a cave and binding him with his own garlands to force him to sing a long promised song. They appear in the 6th Eclogue which focuses on the song of Silenus. Along with a nymph, Aegle they find Silenus and, because he had often broken promises to sing to them, they take him captive to hear his music. They are often portrayed as mischievous or eager youths, interested in the study of poems. Thomas Hardy refered to this in chapter 23 of Far From The Madding Crowd, in accordance with the style of those times.  An Eclogue is a short, formal pastrol poem, often written as dialogues between shepherds. 

The first day of June.  The peak of sheep-shearing season. Even the leanest pasture being all health and colour. Every green was young, every pore was open, and every stalk was swollen with racing current of juice. Every catkins of later kind, fern-fronds like bishop's crosiers etc. etc. [1] The Shearing Barn, in structure resembles a church.  It was an ancient building, and it had a grandeur which the church lacked.  It housed the facilities of both the barn and the shearing house. The large side doors of the barn had been opened and the wooden threshing floor made of thick oak, black with age and polished by the beating of flails received enough sunlight.  A part of the area was fenced with hurdles to make two inclosures. The sheep were collected in these enclosures. In another corner a catching-pen was made. Here four sheep were ready for the shearers. Behind them, three women: Maryann Money, Temperance, and Soberness Miller had been gathering up fleeces, and twis...

An old British proverb advising that it is wiser to marry nearby or a neighbour than a stranger from far away. It promotes marrying someone local whose background is known rather than risking the unknown.  It encourages endogamy. Mixen or mixon refers to a hidden manure pile, symbolising one's own immediate farm yard or locality. A moor is a distant unfamiliar person or area.  The proverb is recorded since the 17th century and highlights the importance of familiarity in partners over strangers. 

Ancient Greek Goddess of love beauty, desire and protection. It was believed that she had immense power over other gods and human beings. She is associated with fertility, passion and prosperity. Her Roman counterpart is Venus. Her name is derived from aphros or sea foam based on the belief that she was born from the sea.  Derived from the Greek word aphros meaning sea-foam, she is a foam-born goddess.  It is believed that she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione, and was created out of the sea-foam ensued by the castration of Uranus. Here we see that sea-foam is an euphemism for another word, but derogatory to air in public. She was worshipped as a warrior goddess of Sparta. Associated with doves, swans, roses and myrtle, she was beautiful but vain, jealous, and vengeful.  A central character in many myths, including Trojan war. The entire theme is a part of homo sapiens' belief system.