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Twelfth Night, Act II, Scene III [O Mistress mine, where are you roaming?]

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The Clown, singing

This poem is in the public domain.

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My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun (sonnet 130).

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips' red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damasked, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight

Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene I [O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth]

Antony speaks over Caesar's body

The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene I [The quality of mercy is not strained]

The quality of mercy is not strained; It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: 'T is mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown: His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,

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Discovering Shakespeare

Journeys end in lovers meeting.

“O Mistress mine, where are you roaming?

O stay and hear! your true-love’s coming

That can sing both high and low;

Trip no further, pretty sweeting,

Journeys end in lovers’ meeting—

Every wise man’s son doth know.”

This passage, sung by the jester of the court, Feste, tells of the shipwreck that separates twins, Viola and Sebastian, and results in Viola being stranded on the island of Illyria. Unbeknownst to most of the characters, Feste sings the prophecy to the audience—foreshadowing the events that will occur between the lovers later in the play. In the first line, Feste describes Olivia’s “roaming”, which could be interpreted to the audience as if her heart or mind seems lost and she cannot find herself to truly love anyone (Duke Orsino or Malvolio). Feste’s passage instructs Olivia to be patient and wait for her true love and to look no further in finding her love, because he will come to her. Initially, Olivia and the audience may be lead to believe that Viola, dressed as Cesario, is Olivia’s true love. However, along with the other confused characters within the play (Orsino, Viola, etc.), the initial lovers are eventually united with their truest loves.

The most important part of this passage is the “Journeys end in lover’s meeting…” because of the significance it holds with Olivia’s feelings and the feelings of others within the play. Shakespeare voyages his characters through conflicting romances, but eventually leads them to their respective counterparts. By suggesting this notion, Shakespeare employs Feste as a non-mythological Cupid (sans connective powers) and uses his preemptive knowledge to signify the audience and implicitly indicate to the remaining characters that the “love journey” will eventually end when all lovers connect with their soulmates.

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Background by Karen S. Nicholas

journeys end in lovers meeting

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O Mistress Mine by William Shakespeare

"O Mistress Mine" is a poem written by William Shakespeare. Despite being a popular Shakespeare poem, this is *not* a sonnet of any kind. It only has twelve lines and a sonnet needs fourteen. Of course, this poem isn't even written in iambic-pentameter! It's rhyme scheme is AABCCB-DDEFFE.

This poem is about Shakespeare telling a mistress that she should stop waiting for the right man to come along and sweep her off her feet and instead settle for him because he's there right now. "What's to come is still unsure: / In delay there lies not plenty;". Besides, he says, maybe they will turn out to love each other anyway, "Journeys end in lovers meeting".

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TWELFTH NIGHT

journeys end in lovers meeting

"Journeys end in lovers' meeting."

Shipwrecked twins Viola and Sebastian wash up on the shores of Illyria, and thus begins one of Shakespeare's greatest comic triumphs, a story of mistaken identities, mistaken intentions, mistaken affections, and unmistakable love.  July 15 - July 30

Outdoors in the Meadow at Johns Hopkins Evergreen Museum & Library 4545 North Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21210

April 5 - 7 The Great Hall Theater at St. Mary's Community Center 3900 Roland Avenue Baltimore, MD 21211

Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm Sundays at 4:00pm

Pre-show entertainment begins 30 minutes before showtime Performances at the Meadow are open for picnics 1 hour before showtime

Shakespeare's Songs/O Mistress Mine

O MISTRESS MINE

O mistress mine, where are you roaming? O, stay and hear; your true-love's coming, ⁠ That can sing both high and low: Trip no further, pretty sweeting; ⁠ Journeys end in lovers' meeting, Every wise man's son doth know.

What is love? 'tis not hereafter; Present mirth hath present laughter; ⁠ What's to come is still unsure: In delay there lies no plenty; ⁠ Then come kiss me, sweet-and-twenty, Youth's a stuff will not endure.

journeys end in lovers meeting

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O mistress mine

By sir charles villiers stanford from the clown's songs from 'twelfth night' (1896).

O mistress mine English source: William Shakespeare

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford was an Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor. Among his students were Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams.

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet, and the "Bard of Avon". His extant…

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  • My Heart is Like a Singing Bird: Mary Bevan, Nicky Spence & William Vann 19 Oct 2018

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The Haunting of Hill House

By shirley jackson, the haunting of hill house essay questions.

What is the significance of Eleanor's repetition of the phrase "Journeys end in lovers meeting"?

In its traditional Shakespearean context, this phrase isn't disturbing, but in The Haunting of Hill House it plays a much more ambiguous and problematic role. Eleanor remembers it on her journey and repeats over and over to herself to the point that it becomes excessive and obsessive by the novel's end. Other characters say it once or twice, but we do not know if it is by her doing somehow. It can sum up what happens to Eleanor in a way, for Hill House is indeed her journey's end in more than one way, and that end comes with her meeting her love - the lover being the House, a home, a "mother," etc.

How does Jackson play with the dichotomies of inside/outside?

Jackson reverses our traditional associations with inside and outside. Normally "inside" is a place of refuge from the chaotic, confusing, and cutthroat "outside" world. However, in this novel the "inside" world of Hill House (and of Eleanor's former home life, for that matter) are not nourishing and secure. It is a place that suffocates and oppresses, that can attack and even dissolve the self. "Outside" is freedom. It is the wider world that may be difficult, but allows for growth, self-awareness, and freedom. Eleanor does not spend enough time here before she is thrust back inside and begins to surrender any autonomy and selfhood she'd gained.

Is Eleanor imagining the supernatural events? Is she causing them? Or is the House doing everything?

To put it simply, we don't know. All of these theories are possibly true, or true to an extent. There is no doubt that the House is evil; it is established by the objective narrator as such. It has been doing cruel things long before Eleanor got there, and it has elements of terror completely unrelated to her that all the others can sense, even Mrs. Montague and Arthur. However, Eleanor seems to have poltergeist abilities, as seen in the stones raining down on her childhood home, and it is possible that she wrote the messages and manifested the pounding noises and laughing through her diseased psyche. Or, she may been imagining some of them and the telepathic Theodora picks up on her feelings and thinks she is hearing them as well. We don't know, but that is part of the book's mystery and allure.

How does Jackson play with the passage and the sensation of time?

Almost as soon as Eleanor sets out on her journey time ceases to function in a linear, distinct way. There is a slowness, a haziness, a dreamlike element to it. The days are lazy and the characters forget what day it actually is and are cut off from the rest of the world. The House is silent and unchanging; it has been the same for eighty years and will be the same for the next eighty. The confusion of time works alongside the erratic and irrational nature of the house's design to discomfit the characters and lead to their break(s) with reality.

What role does religion play in the text?

Religion is not particularly prominent in the text except as it appears in Hugh Crain's perverse scrapbook to his daughter. He juxtaposes handmade drawings and clippings of disturbing artworks to illustrate warnings to his daughter about engaging in the seven deadly sins and exhorting her to remain pure and faithful so they can be reunited in the afterlife. Religion here is linked to sexuality in a distinctly repressed, Puritanical way. Consciously Crain is simply giving his daughter moral lessons, but he is actually revealing his more salacious, unconscious yearnings. All of this seeps into the very fabric of the House, giving it a lurid, perverted bent. Clearly, there is evil energy in the House and there is evil energy in the family.

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The Haunting of Hill House Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Haunting of Hill House is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

The Haunting of hill house is a noval about the horrors of family life . Discuss

Family is rather disappointing to the characters: Hugh Crain was a perverse patriarch and his wives kept dying and leaving their daughters motherless; Eleanor's mother was a demanding crone; Luke has no mother; Dr. Montague's wife is a shrew; and...

Why is horror maligned as a non-literary, unintellectual genre?

I think for similar reasons that horror genre is maligned in in film. Some people feel the genre is full of violence and sensationalism with little meaning. We know, however, that it takes a master author or director to create a good horror.

Throughout the book, personification is used when describing the house. What are some examples of this in chapter two

No human eye can isolate the unhappy coincidence of line and place which suggests evil in the face of a house...ch 2

Study Guide for The Haunting of Hill House

The haunting of Hill House study guide contains a biography of Shirley Jackson, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

  • About The Haunting of Hill House
  • The Haunting of Hill House Summary
  • Character List

Essays for The Haunting of Hill House

The haunting of Hill House essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.

  • How the Opening of 'The Haunting of Hill House' Projects the Main Themes of the Novel
  • Fear and Insanity Gothic Literature: Why 'The Haunting of Hill House' and 'The Little Stranger" Are Not Your Typical Scary Stories
  • A House Isn’t A Home: The Horrors of Domesticity in The Haunting of Hill House
  • "Familial" Disintegration: A Close Reading of The Haunting of Hill House

Lesson Plan for The Haunting of Hill House

  • About the Author
  • Study Objectives
  • Common Core Standards
  • Introduction to The Haunting of Hill House
  • Relationship to Other Books
  • Bringing in Technology
  • Notes to the Teacher
  • Related Links
  • The Haunting of Hill House Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for The Haunting of Hill House

  • Introduction
  • Development
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journeys end in lovers meeting

journeys end in lovers meeting

The Haunting of Hill House

Shirley jackson, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

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IMAGES

  1. Shakespeare Quote Card. Journeys End in Lovers Meeting.

    journeys end in lovers meeting

  2. William Shakespeare Quote: “Journeys end in lovers meeting, Every wise

    journeys end in lovers meeting

  3. William Shakespeare Quote: “Journeys end in lovers meeting, Every wise

    journeys end in lovers meeting

  4. William Shakespeare Quote: “Journeys end in lovers meeting, Every wise

    journeys end in lovers meeting

  5. William Shakespeare Quote: “Journeys end in lovers meeting, Every wise

    journeys end in lovers meeting

  6. Shirley Jackson Quote: “Journeys end in lovers meeting.”

    journeys end in lovers meeting

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COMMENTS

  1. Twelfth Night, Act II, Scene III [O Mistress mine, where are you

    O stay and hear! your true-love's coming That can sing both high and low; Trip no further, pretty sweeting, Journeys end in lovers' meeting— Every wise man's son doth know. ... Journeys end in lovers' meeting— Every wise man's son doth know. What is love? 'tis not hereafter; Present mirth hath present laughter; What's to come ...

  2. Journeys end in lovers meeting Shakespeare Quotes

    A quote from Twelfth Night (II, iii, 44-45) by Feste, the jester, who prophesies the meeting of the lovers on the island of Illyria. The quote echos the mood of the play and the theme of love and romance. Learn more about the characters, the plot and the themes of Twelfth Night.

  3. Twelfth Night Act 2, Scene 3 Translation

    A summary and analysis of the scene where Sir Andrew and Sir Toby sing a song about journeys end in lovers meeting. The song uses the phrase "journeys end in lovers meeting" as a pun on the word "journey" and the name of the play. The web page also provides the original and modern translations, a table of contents, and a downloadable PDF.

  4. Journeys end in lovers meeting

    However, along with the other confused characters within the play (Orsino, Viola, etc.), the initial lovers are eventually united with their truest loves. The most important part of this passage is the "Journeys end in lover's meeting…" because of the significance it holds with Olivia's feelings and the feelings of others within the play.

  5. No Fear Shakespeare: Twelfth Night: Act 2 Scene 3

    Journeys end in lovers meeting, Every wise man's son doth know. FOOL (sings) O mistress mine, where are you roaming? O, stay and hear! Your true love's coming, That can sing both high and low: Trip no further, pretty sweeting. Journeys end in lovers meeting, Every wise man's son doth know.

  6. Song: " O Mistress mine where are you roaming?"

    A poem from Twelfth Night, a comedy by William Shakespeare, that expresses the speaker's love for his mistress and his fear of her departure. The poem uses the phrase "journeys end in lovers' meeting" to describe the inevitability of their parting and the joy of their reunion.

  7. Twelfth Night Full Text

    Journeys end in lovers meeting, Every wise man's son doth know. SIR ANDREW: Excellent good, i' faith. SIR TOBY: Good, good. ... Feste assures Olivia, and the audience, that the play will end in a happily ever after meeting of lovers. These lines are both directed at the other characters on stage and at the "wise men's sons" in the audience.

  8. William Shakespeare

    O, stay and hear; your true love's coming, That can sing both high and low: Trip no further, pretty sweeting; Journeys end in lovers meeting, Every wise man's son doth know. SIR ANDREW Excellent ...

  9. from "Twelfth Night Sweet-and-Twenty" by William Shakespeare

    O, stay and hear! your true love's coming, That can sing both high and low: Trip no further, pretty sweeting; Journeys end in lovers meeting, Every wise man's son doth know. What is love? 'tis not hereafter; Present mirth hath present laughter; What's to come is still unsure: In delay there lies no plenty;

  10. What is the meaning of "Carpe Diem" in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

    In this poem, he is speaking to a young lover imploring her to come and stay with him, "Journey's end in lovers 'meeting—Every wise man's son doth know." He explains that no one knows ...

  11. O mistress mine

    O stay and hear; your true love's coming, That can sing both high and low; Trip no further, pretty sweeting; Journeys end in lovers' meeting, Every wise man's son doth know. What is love? 'tis not hereafter; Present mirth hath present laughter; What's to come is still unsure: In delay there lies no plenty; Then come kiss me, sweet and ...

  12. Carpe Diem by William Shakespeare

    Journey's end in lovers' meeting— Every wise man's son doth know. In the first stanza of this unique poem, the speaker refers to his lover, calling her "O mistress mine" after being prompted to sing a "love song" by Belch and Andrew. He sings the first stanza, the two other characters comment on it, and then he sings the second ...

  13. O Mistress Mine by William Shakespeare Analysis & Poem

    Besides, he says, maybe they will turn out to love each other anyway, "Journeys end in lovers meeting". Poem O Mistress Mine By William Shakespeare O Mistress mine, where are you roaming? O, stay and hear; your true love's coming, That can sing both high and low: Trip no further, pretty sweeting; Journeys end in lovers meeting, Every wise man's ...

  14. Why is the Shakespeare quote, "Journeys end in lovers meeting

    The quotation "Journeys end in lovers meeting" is a refrain repeated many times throughout Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House.The quotation comes from William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night ...

  15. TWELFTH NIGHT

    "Journeys end in lovers' meeting." Shipwrecked twins Viola and Sebastian wash up on the shores of Illyria, and thus begins one of Shakespeare's greatest comic triumphs, a story of mistaken identities, mistaken intentions, mistaken affections, and unmistakable love. July 15 - July 30.

  16. Shakespeare/Morley

    Adjust. by Scott Horton. September 2, 2011. O Mistress mine, where are you roaming? O, stay and hear; your true love's coming, That can sing both high and low: Trip no further, pretty sweeting; Journeys end in lovers meeting, Every wise man's son doth know.

  17. Shakespeare's Songs/O Mistress Mine

    O, stay and hear; your true-love's coming, ⁠ That can sing both high and low: Trip no further, pretty sweeting; ⁠ Journeys end in lovers' meeting, Every wise man's son doth know. What is love? 'tis not hereafter; Present mirth hath present laughter; ⁠ What's to come is still unsure: In delay there lies no plenty; ⁠ Then come kiss me ...

  18. O mistress mine

    O mistress mine. English source: William Shakespeare. O mistress mine, where are you roaming? O stay and hear, your true love's coming. That can sing both high and low. Trip no further, pretty sweeting; Journeys end in lovers' meeting, Ev'ry wise man's son doth know. What is love?

  19. The Haunting of Hill House: Chapter 5 Summary & Analysis

    Summary. Analysis. As Eleanor wakes in the morning, she thinks to herself how "unbelievably happy" she is. After a sleepless, frightening night, she nonetheless feels purely joyful, and the refrain "Journeys end in lovers meeting" fills her head. Eleanor hears Theodora calling flirtatiously to Luke from her room, and then hears Theodora ...

  20. "Journeys End in Lovers Meeting": Seduction in Shirley Jackson's THE

    As the car begins to accelerate, she repeats her favorite Shakespearean line one final time: "journeys end in lovers meeting" (181). Unfortunately, the house is no lover; it is a libertine who has successfully elicited Eleanor's fall from both sanity and life through its false promises of companionship and belonging. The novel ends the ...

  21. How does the quote "journeys end in lovers meeting" illustrate a theme

    "Journeys end in lovers meeting," she said. When it becomes clear to Eleanor that her only alternative is going back to her old life, she obtains the "lovers meeting" through a suicide that keeps ...

  22. The Haunting of Hill House Essay Questions

    1. What is the significance of Eleanor's repetition of the phrase "Journeys end in lovers meeting"? In its traditional Shakespearean context, this phrase isn't disturbing, but in The Haunting of Hill House it plays a much more ambiguous and problematic role.Eleanor remembers it on her journey and repeats over and over to herself to the point that it becomes excessive and obsessive by the novel ...

  23. The Haunting of Hill House: Chapter 3 Summary & Analysis

    Summary. Analysis. As Eleanor and Theodora arrive back at Hill House, it is nearly dark. The women spot a man waiting on the verandah—upon seeing him, Eleanor finds herself thinking again of the refrain "Journeys end in lovers meeting.". As the man sees the women approaching, he remarks that if the two of them are the "ghostly ...