To blow away the cobwebs of the past and be of 'his time" he therefore decides to take a derive through Clerkenwell, negotiating the "
uncomely" flats near Myddleton passage, the reconstructed Shakespeare's Head pub and Sadler's Wells Theatre.
Markham's text begins with a list of "inward virtues of the mind which ought to be in every housewife." (12) Like several early modern conduct manuals, Markham's is intent on regulating female speech and "
uncomely language." (13) But as Markham proceeds, we find that he is as concerned with what goes into the housewife's mouth as he is with what comes out it.
As early as 1747, the British innovator of taste Horace Walpole, whose eccentric and eclectic neo-Gothic mansion Strawberry Hill had been "an intensely personal statement of apartness" (Mowl 231), described the Dutch Masters as "drudging Mimics of Nature's most
uncomely courseness [sic]" (qtd.
The resulting article dwelt on what she considered
uncomely aspects of my person and various third-party denunciations of me as either a fool or a devil.
for you are black and
uncomely." (63) But clearly, if the Jew had a dark and ugly face, why didn't the Christian recognize him at first by these signs?
As the bride approaches the church, the poet describes her as the dwelling of "sweet love and constant chastity, / Unspotted fayth and comely womanhood / Regard of honour and mild modesty" (191-93) and prays that "Ne thought of thing
uncomely ever may / Thereto approch to tempt her mind to ill" (198-99).
As this quest for counsel develops, it takes the form of a journey involving consultations with various authorities suggested by Pantagruel, "King of the Dipsodes, Son of the Great Giant Gaygantua." On one of the stops along the journey with Pantagruel's tutor Epistemon, Panurge endeavors to consult the Sibyl of Panzoust (TL 16-8), a most unlikely and
uncomely seer who marks the text with a singularity that points to more than just an answer to Panurge's question.
unseemly,
uncomely, inelegant, disgraceful, or even revolting appear
You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth,
uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind.
Skeptics say the new Cabinet could still take months to form because of yet more haggling over who gets which piece of which pie, but the outlines of this
uncomely administration are coming into focus.
Ladies are advised to "abstain from wanton laughter and
uncomely jests."
The very body is unpleasant and
uncomely; the soul which it reveals is ghastly.
Bloom's peculiar position was inspired by Herrick's rich four-line poem, "North and South" (1647), which synthesizes several important themes in the novel: The Jewes in their beds, and offices of ease, Plac't North and South, for these cleane purposes; That man's
uncomely froth might not molest God's wayes and walks, which lie still East and West.
