If you seek
For
further satisfying, under her breast—
Worthy
the pressing—lies a mole, right proud
Of that most delicate lodging: by my
life,
I
kist it; and it gave me present hunger
To
feed again, though full. You do remember This stain upon her?
-Iachimo
Cymbeline Act II, Scene iv, Line 135
Well this is provocative. Iachimo is proving to Posthumus
Leonatus that he slept with the latter’s wife by describing her naked body. The language in this act is pretty interesting and pretty steamy. In the line right before today's Totally Random lines Posthumus says She hath been
colted by him. Well I’ve never heard that term before, but it’s pretty easy
to figure out what he’s saying, and it leaves a pretty strong mental image. And
then in the lines above Iachimo talks about the mole below her breast being proud of that most delicate lodging,
giving the mole a somewhat exalted status as well as personifying it as a
living, feeling entity. The mole is proud! And then, conversely, a few
lines later the mole is just a stain.
What’s Will up to here? He can work the steamy side of things into his language
as well as that best of them, and then turn around in the next breath and
unsteam them. But of course, in regards to the English language he is the best of them.
Well, I was thinking of what picture I should put here
today. I couldn't find a mole, or a horse that I could use. But I found a breast, and a PG rated one at that. This is the Venus de Milo in the Louvre Museum in Paris. I don't think she has a mole (but I don't really know), and I'm certainly not going to get into whether or not she's been colted. In fact, I think it best if I just leave it at that and say no more.
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