Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night
"As I grow older and older
And totter toward the tomb
I find that I care less and less
Who goes to bed with whom"
"Time and trouble will tame an advanced young woman, but an advanced old woman is uncontrollable by any earthly force."
Sir Impey Biggs in Clouds of Witnesses by Sayers (Thanks to Allen in the comments)
I could not find a source for the poem
I try never to get in the way of an advanced old woman.
ReplyDeleteLike them- I love them!
ReplyDelete"I find that I care less and less who goes to bed with whom."
ReplyDeleteOh me too. Its far to tiring to get worked up about.
Is there consent?
Are they happy?
There you go then!
By which I mean "too tired. (Must learn to spell English unlike these Colonials.)
ReplyDeleteI can't claim to have known this, but the last quote is from "Clouds of Witness," the second Lord Peter Wimsey novel. It is said by the lawyer, Sir Impey Biggs.
ReplyDeleteThose quotations speak with a stronger voice than all the theological libraries I have gone to sleep in!
ReplyDeleteWords to live by. If only I knew how to embroider!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that y'all like them, too.
ReplyDeleteIs there consent?
Are they happy?
There you go then!
DP, I could add those words to the post.
Rural Rector, welcome. Thank you for the kind words. I took a peek at your blog, and I see that you're relieved that the hurricane season has passed. You should live where I live! Then you'll know relief. ;o)
You are most kind to welcome me, Grandmere - this is our second communication this week, I suspect. The first one was with regard to some scurrilous Anglican "Darsis." I thank you for the generous references of Adven Sunday.
ReplyDeleteI am reading into your archives here and most enjoying your blog! Bon chance et amour!
Gaudy Night...have you seen the 3 Harriet Vane BBC productions that were on Mystery some years ago? Edward Petherbridge was Lord Wimsey and Harriet Walter was Harriet. They are very good. I was certain that I would find anyone else other than Ian Carmichael as Wimsey off-putting, but Petherbridge actually looks more like Sayers descriptions of him. And, I had the good fortune to actually meet Walter here in Berkeley. She was also in "Sense and Sensibility" with Emma Thompson. She played the bitchy sister-in-law.
ReplyDeleteRural Rector, aren't you the sly one? Did you see our little game of making up new "O" antiphons in the comments to the other post? That leads me to repeat my original composition, "O, I see".
ReplyDeleteSusan, I did not see them. When I really like the characters in a book, I look at the movies and TV shows taken from them with apprehension, because only rarely do the characters match those of my imagination. One of the Wimsey characters had brown hair, and that really put me off. So much was made of his blond hair in the mysteries.
That seems so minor, but it's still not getting it right - not for me anyway. I know. I'm probably missing very good shows because of my prejudices.
I did notice the O's - and for want of a better response, say, O God!
ReplyDeleteI did a little mongoosing and found out that the title of the poem is "That's Why I Never Read Modern Novels."
ReplyDeleteI also found one place where the lines were attributed to Mrs. Mallowan, who as far as I know did not write verse.
By the way, Simon Kershaw, of Oremus and the Diocese of Ely, has a page for the commemoration of Dorothy L. Sayers on December 17.
No, Mimi, I know what you mean about the little things. That is why I like these productions. The little things. They did not look for 'beautiful' people to do the job, they looked for appropriate people. I never liked Ian Carmichael as Wimsey..he's too short and pudgy. Petherbridge is tall, willowy, and blonde. And his monocle is the bee's knees.
ReplyDeleteAllen, yes, the words seem to be from the poem you name by Sayers. I'm not certain about the sources where I found it, and you found an attribution to another person, so I will leave the post as it is, with no more strikeouts.
ReplyDeleteApparently, Mrs. Mallowan, aka Agatha Christie did write poetry.
Susan, thanks for the further details of the series. I will look up the Edward Petherbridge version of Gaudy Night
Only one post today? I had almost given up on you and quit coming around here reading. You'll have to work harder to keep your readers!
ReplyDelete;)
I took a course on Dorothy Sayers at seminary. She has had a great influence on my theology. We looked at her play on Fautus, at her essay on work, "The Man Born to Be King", and "Mind of the Maker."
ReplyDeleteHer explanation of the Trinity makes the most sense to me. Her understanding of how human kind is created in God's image - our call to create - remains central to my understanding of how we are to live out our faith lives.
The way she describes the story of Lazarus in "The Man Born to Be King" is central to how I understand what it is like to have a relationship with God. I have used those parts of the plays many times in sermons or devotions.
Love and Prayers,
Ann Marie
Dennis, love, it's two posts today. Do try to keep up. ;o)
ReplyDeleteAnne Marie, alas, I am not familiar with any of her writing but the mysteries. I see that I should have a look at her other works, especially The Mind of the Maker.
O Avia asperissima, miserere iuvenis.
ReplyDeleteIs it fair to chastise Dennis, Mimi? You know we (younger) men cannot keep up with uncontrollable old women.
Paul, you should go to Dennis' blog and see what he did to me. He is among the unforgiven.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Paul, the Younger, just how old ARE you?
I will qualify for my first social security check in five months and four days, but who's counting?
ReplyDeleteHow many grandmères have their own O Antiphon?
--the reprobate whippersnapper
see what you learn if you just miss one day!
ReplyDeletelove these quotes, whoever said them.
Thanks!
Paul, I didn't show proper appreciation for my very own O antiphon, because I'm still mulling over the "asperissima".
ReplyDeleteDiane, I think the quotes fit me.
Wonderful quotes, Mimi. While we are sharing our favorites, let me mention Sayers's feminist book 'Are Women Human?'.
ReplyDeletePaul, you naughty boy,
ReplyDeletethere are all sorts of ways to qualify at all kinds of ages for "social security"; belly up to the bar, O Odd Child of the Most High, and give numbers like "sixty five" or " graduated in 1960" or such?
I just turned sixty two this Summer: nah!
Mary Clara, I see that I should have gone beyond the mysteries.
ReplyDeleteTHere is a lot of wisdom in Sayers' mysteries. The early ones are comedy, bu the "Harriet" ones are surprisingly humane, esp. given what I know of Sayers. Like her, I am quite fond of my middle initial, and I have always related in many, many ways to Harriet. My ol paperbacks of these books are very, very well read. I have read them many times (though not, curiously,in the years since BP an I have been together.) THe passion/joyless quote is SO true.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't we all need a Bunter?
I love Petherbridge, he is an excellent Wimsey. Carmichael was too old, too heavy, and too hale for the role. (Still he id a good job as an actor, he just didn't lookk it). But Petherbridge captures it: the nose, the nervy slimness.
I have seen him on stage too. He is a very good actor.
Ah, yes, Sayers. (REminiscent sigh.)
IT