Abstrak

Kembali

Thomas Nashe’s famous line ‘Brightnesse falls from the ayre’ has perplexed commentators unsure whether ‘ayre’ was intended by the author or is a misreading of ‘hayre’. The article surveys the most significant readings of the poem – those of R. B. McKerrow, William Empson, Wesley Trimpi, J. V. Cunningham and others – showing how critics have been divided into ‘modernists’ and ‘traditionalists’. The article argues that while there may be no obvious means of establishing a definitive reading, paying close attention to Renaissance ideas about puns and language, and remembering that the line occurs not in a self-sufficient poem but in a play, Summer’s Last Will and Testament, will enable us to appreciate its possibilities and ambiguity.