The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 16.1195  Monday, 11 July 2005

[1]     From:   Richard Kennedy <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Saturday, 9 Jul 2005 15:40:26 -0700
        Subj:   Re: SHK 16.1191 Help with the Sonnets

[2]     From:   Ed Taft <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Monday, 11 Jul 2005 10:08:43 -0400
        Subj:   Help with the Sonnets


[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Richard Kennedy <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Saturday, 9 Jul 2005 15:40:26 -0700
Subject: 16.1191 Help with the Sonnets
Comment:        Re: SHK 16.1191 Help with the Sonnets

There's nothing certain about how "Wriothesley" was said by an
Elizabethan. The best choice is "Wrisley," as in the cited laudation of
Henry's father.  "Rosely" is claimed by some, by "Wrisley" has the best
ancestry and phonetics.

If the name of Wriothesley was somewhere put in close proximity with a
rose, maybe an expression such as "The Rose of Wriothesley," that would
be a strong suggestion that the name began with a rose, but such a pun
has not been found.

Other possible beginnings are Rot, Worth, Wroth, Writh, Writhe, and
Rise, all as strong as Rose, and none as strong as Wrisley, for which we
have the best proof;  like father, like son.

[2]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Ed Taft <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Monday, 11 Jul 2005 10:08:43 -0400
Subject:        Help with the Sonnets

It's worth observing that even today, we sometimes pronounce words in
more than one way. Ever teach Wordsworth's Prelude? The teacher probably
pronounces it "prel-ude," and the students, "pre-lude." In an era when
spelling was often unfixed, it stands to reason that hard words,
especially like "Wriothesley," were pronounced differently by different
people.

The evidence in the sonnets suggests to me that Wriothesley and his
close friends probably pronounced his name "Rose - Lee," but if I were a
betting man, I'd wager that others pronounced it differently.

Ed Taft

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