Still Not Dead as a Doornail
The Parlement of the Thre Ages is one of the best Middle English long poems, and it deserves to be better known and more widely read. It was written around 1360 by an anonymous poet, and yet, despite its age, it contains an idiomatic expression that every American will recognize:
dede als a dore-nayle [line 65]
At line 293, this idiomatic expression is linked to another expression that’s still familiar:
And now es dethe at my dore,
a sentiment that echoes in the poem’s final lines . . .
Dethe dynges one my dore [“death dings/knocks on my door,” line 654]
The poet beautifully uses the relationship of death with doors in both “dead as a door nail” and “death is at my door” to connect them to the theme of the poem: what are we to do in this life?
* Orlando Bartro is the author of Toward Two Words, a comical & surreal novel about a man who loves yet another woman he never knew. Find your copy at Amazon. Hardcover, paperback, and e-book editions available.
https://www.amazon.com/Toward-Two-Words-Orlando-Bartro-ebook/dp/B072MNB4F9