Swan thumb revisited

[David Dalton]

I mentioned this on alt.religion.druid recently and said I would
check my The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
when I returned to St. John’s, where I am now.

From https://www.nfld.com//~dalton/thumbs.html

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Swan thumb

A fifth thumb occurred when I thumbed an edition of The Complete Works of
William Shakespeare and it came out to a page where there is a line about
swan down on the crest of a wave. Then I noticed on the bed next to the book
there was a piece of down from the lining of my winter coat. From this I took
Swan to be one of my minor SSOSOSS deities and also Bird4 to be one of my
minor SSOSOSS deities if the down is from a bird species other than swan. I
don't remember the exact Shakespeare quote, I think it was comparing a
woman's indecision to a piece of swan down on the crest of the wave. But I
taped the down to the page I thumbed and I'll check that the next time I'm in
Lake View and will then put the exact quote and the play name here.
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I have the book now, and the feather is now white, so it could be
swan down, though I thought it had some brown in 1996 or 1997
when the thumbing occurred.

The quote is from Anthony and Cleopatra, Act III, Scene II:

Anthony: Her tongue will not obey her heart, nor can her heart
inform her tongue,---the swan’s down feather, that stands upon
the swell at the full of tide, and neither way inclines.

I haven’t read the whole play yet, and am not sure if the
quote is about Octavia or Cleopatra, but guess Cleopatra.

--
David Dalton dal...@nfld.com https://www.nfld.com/~dalton (home page)
https://www.nfld.com/~dalton/dtales.html Salmon on the Thorns (mystic page)
"I gaze upon the Cold Moon; 'Til the stars drown in the warm sea
And the bright eyes of my darling are never on me" (Traditional)