Post by shutupbanks on May 13, 2017 11:05:54 GMT
The title of the penultimate episode of the tenth series - World Enough And Time - takes its name from a classic poem by Andrew Marvell (1621 - 1678). The poem is called "To His Coy Mistress" and is one that has been plundered by many writers for titles over the years. Here it is in full:
Had we but world enough and time,
This coyness, lady, were no crime.
We would sit down, and think which way
To walk, and pass our long love’s day.
Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side
Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide
Of Humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the flood,
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.
My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires and more slow;
An hundred years should go to praise
Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze;
Two hundred to adore each breast,
But thirty thousand to the rest;
An age at least to every part,
And the last age should show your heart.
For, lady, you deserve this state,
Nor would I love at lower rate.
But at my back I always hear
Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity.
Thy beauty shall no more be found;
Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
My echoing song; then worms shall try
That long-preserved virginity,
And your quaint honour turn to dust,
And into ashes all my lust;
The grave’s a fine and private place,
But none, I think, do there embrace.
Now therefore, while the youthful hue
Sits on thy skin like morning dew,
And while thy willing soul transpires
At every pore with instant fires,
Now let us sport us while we may,
And now, like amorous birds of prey,
Rather at once our time devour
Than languish in his slow-chapped power.
Let us roll all our strength and all
Our sweetness up into one ball,
And tear our pleasures with rough strife
Through the iron gates of life:
Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run.
Now, there appear to be clues for this series here and there throughout this poem (eg Vault, Mistress) but the line about
"The grave’s a fine and private place,"
hints at the storyline of season 8 that culminated in Dark Water/ Death In Heaven (as does the title of the poem itself)
There's also have the closing line
"...we will make him run."
The Doctor running has been referenced by River Song, Clara and Bill (although the poem doesn't mention penguins).
The mention of long periods of time devoted to worship of body parts brings to mind the 24-year night on Darillium mentioned in The Husbands Of River Song, as well as the large gaps of time between stories during Matt Smith's tenure on the show
My proposal is this: instead of referring to this particular section of the show's history by the name of the producer (eg Davies era, Hinchcliffe era) I propose that we take the example set by this poem and refer to the stewardship of Steven Moffat over the show as...
...
(wait for it)
...
...the Marvell-verse!
Had we but world enough and time,
This coyness, lady, were no crime.
We would sit down, and think which way
To walk, and pass our long love’s day.
Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side
Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide
Of Humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the flood,
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.
My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires and more slow;
An hundred years should go to praise
Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze;
Two hundred to adore each breast,
But thirty thousand to the rest;
An age at least to every part,
And the last age should show your heart.
For, lady, you deserve this state,
Nor would I love at lower rate.
But at my back I always hear
Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity.
Thy beauty shall no more be found;
Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
My echoing song; then worms shall try
That long-preserved virginity,
And your quaint honour turn to dust,
And into ashes all my lust;
The grave’s a fine and private place,
But none, I think, do there embrace.
Now therefore, while the youthful hue
Sits on thy skin like morning dew,
And while thy willing soul transpires
At every pore with instant fires,
Now let us sport us while we may,
And now, like amorous birds of prey,
Rather at once our time devour
Than languish in his slow-chapped power.
Let us roll all our strength and all
Our sweetness up into one ball,
And tear our pleasures with rough strife
Through the iron gates of life:
Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run.
Now, there appear to be clues for this series here and there throughout this poem (eg Vault, Mistress) but the line about
"The grave’s a fine and private place,"
hints at the storyline of season 8 that culminated in Dark Water/ Death In Heaven (as does the title of the poem itself)
There's also have the closing line
"...we will make him run."
The Doctor running has been referenced by River Song, Clara and Bill (although the poem doesn't mention penguins).
The mention of long periods of time devoted to worship of body parts brings to mind the 24-year night on Darillium mentioned in The Husbands Of River Song, as well as the large gaps of time between stories during Matt Smith's tenure on the show
My proposal is this: instead of referring to this particular section of the show's history by the name of the producer (eg Davies era, Hinchcliffe era) I propose that we take the example set by this poem and refer to the stewardship of Steven Moffat over the show as...
...
(wait for it)
...
...the Marvell-verse!