The line is from one of Sir Philip Sidney's sonnets in "Arcadia" which deals with man's fear of death. "Arcadia" itself is a long pastoral romance which exists in two versions, 1590 and 1593.
The two princes, the heroes of "Arcadia," Pyrocles and Musidorus on the eve of their anticipated execution debate whether the departed human soul retains memories of its earthly existence, then Musidorus "looking with a heavenly joy upon Pyrocles sang this song unto him." The line "Fear is more pain than is the pain it fears," occurs in this sonnet.
Conventionally, this type of a sonnet would be labelled as a 'moriturus' lyric - a song sung by a person on his deathbed or just before he dies. It is rumoured that King Charles I quoted lines from Sidney's "Arcadia" just before he was executed.
No comments:
Post a Comment