Dear Fellow Trainers of Elephants: Happy Mother's Day!

The Taming of the Shrew, Act 5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taming_of_the_shrew

From time to time, Peter's Potter's School English lit teacher assigns the students to write an imitation of a specific passage of a work they are reading. Students must examine an author's phrasing, word choices, and sentence lengths in order to write a sample in the same style but on a different subject. A while back Peter had to create an imitation based on this speech from The Taming of the Shrew:


Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee
And for thy maintenance; commits his body
To watch the night in storms, the day in cold
Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe;
And craves no other tribute at thy hands
But love, fair looks, and true obedience, -- 
Too little payment for so great a debt! 
Such duty as the subject owes the prince,
Even such a woman oweth to her husband;
And when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour,
And not obedient to his honest will,
What is she but a foul contending rebel,
And graceless traitor to her loving lord?

 - Katharina to Petruchio, Act 5, Scene 2


Peter's version:

Thy mother is thy mistress, thy guide, thy teacher
Thy keeper, thy shepherd; one that cares for thee
And for thy health; sacrifices her sleep
To aid you in the night of malady, in the day of fever
Whilst thou benefit from all her meals, strong and sound;
And desires no other payment from thy hands
But love, obedience, and unity with brothers, –
Too little payment for so great a debt!
Such duty as an elephant owes to his trainer,
Even such a child oweth to his mother;
And when he is naughty, lazy, sullen, sour,
And not obedient to her loving will,
What is he but a rebellious fool,
And a corrupt renegade to his loving mother?  


http://etc.usf.edu/clipart


Peter's teacher's comment?
So sweet! Give this to your mama! :) 




Happy Mother's Day!



Comments

Anonymous said…
Hello,
I started to buy something from The Critical Thinking Company catalog and noticed that if you refer a friend you receive a $15 Amazon Gift Card. Since I found their company through your blog, I thought I'd offer for you to receive that money. If you'd like to send me an email through this link, I'll go ahead and make my order.
http://criticalthinking.extole.com/m/1214101053
I go to Bloomingmoms and started reading your blog after you shared on meal planning.
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Kimberly Locke
Anonymous said…
oops, it's
peter_and_kimberly
at
yahoo.com
Anne said…
Dear Kimberly,
That is so kind of you! I have sent you an email.
~A
Karen Andreola said…
I like this writing idea and the piece it produced.
How lovely to have it for Mother's Day.
Michal said…
I love this! I AM an elephant trainer.

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