Men’s evil manners live in brass…
…their virtues we write in water.
You may know where I was when I took this photo and what was behind me, or you may just know the quote. It is from ‘Henry VIII by Shakespeare, and the lines are spoken by Griffith adviser to Queen Katherine (Katherine of Aragon).; Griffith is reporting the death of Cardinal Wolsey who was the Archbishop of York. The lines may seem puzzling, but mean that the evil things a person does are remembered after their death, but the good aspects of their character disappear.
I didn’t quite understand that when I saw it, I was captivated by the idea of words on water, of things written, leaving the pen and flowing away spreading out to other and distant parts. I could imagine sitting by a river and seeing a poem float past, or travelling on a boat and see rhymes thrown upon the spray.
Oh, and the lines are engraved on a rail beside the Thames, and behind me as I took the photo was the Globe Theatre, a reconstruction of Shakespeare’s original Globe.
Lois Elsden 