What does this insult mean in modern English As wicked dew as e'er my mother brush'd with raven's feather from unwholesome fen drop on you both?

Answer 1

This insult from Shakespeare's "King Lear" means wishing for a curse to befall both individuals, using vivid imagery of wicked dew collected by the speaker's mother with a raven's feather from a swampy, unhealthy marsh. The phrase conveys a strong sense of malice and ill-will towards the recipients, invoking supernatural elements to emphasize the intensity of the curse being wished upon them.

Answer 2

Well, isn't that just a lovely way of saying something not so nice? In modern English, that insult means wishing bad things upon someone. But let's focus on spreading kindness and positivity instead of negativity, shall we? Remember, we can always choose to paint a brighter picture with our words and actions.

Answer 3

Well, darling, in modern English, that insult basically means wishing some seriously bad juju on you and your buddy. It's like saying, "I hope you both get drenched in some seriously cursed rain." So, watch out for any sudden downpours of bad luck coming your way!

Answer 4

It's a quote from Shakespeare's The Tempest, and is said by Caliban, the monstrous son of the witch Sycorax. It's already in modern English. Does the word mother cause you trouble? Or feather? You may possibly be unfamiliar with the word fen, which means a swamp, or raven, which is a large black bird, or the dialectical habit of sometimes leaving out the v in ever or the e in brushed, but basically every word here is perfectly familiar to any English speaker in the world today.

What makes it hard to understand is not knowing that Caliban's mother was a witch, and therefore the sort of person who would scrape dew from a swamp with a raven's feather, for one of those wicked purposes known only to witches.