Et in Arden Ego
Hey, friends,
Here is a quick sonnet I wrote a couple of weeks ago, inspired by Shakespeare’s pastoral comedy As You Like It.
Et in Arden Ego
In Arden ego, sweet beneath these trees
The flowers bloom, the sun is out, these sheep,
I fear they oft attract some awful fleas,
Yet still, a perfect place to catch some sleep.
Say that a duke should find himself exiled,
Perhaps by some young quasi-French brother,
He might unearth a rescue in the wild,
Until his girl stumbles on her father.
This should still leave the lord plenty of time
To relish there these woods so pastoral,
See, I… don’t seem to find the perfect rhyme,
Before he does return with no quarrel.
Well then, visit the forest of Arden, [gasps]
Duke Frederick, I do beg your pardon.
The poem is supposed to be recited by Touchstone, the fool. The title and opening words are an allusion to the Latin phrase Et in Arcadia ego immortalized as the title of a 1637-38 painting by Poussin, also known as Les bergers d’Arcadie (The Arcadian Shepherds). It translates as “I too was(am) in Arcadia”. Arcadia is the name of a Greek province and is known as an epitome of the pastoral ideal. This sentiment became popular during the Renaissance (e.g, in Dante’s Divine Comedy), likely due to Virgil’s popularity, who referenced Arcadia as the home of Pan, the satyr god of shepherds, in his Eclogues. The joke is that the pastoral forest from the play is called Arden, which, just like Arcadia, starts with the same letter. Fun fact– The Arden Shakespeare editions are named after that forest!