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Topic: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

As a way of introducing yourself to the language of imagery and symbol in Elizabethan culture, look first at the language of imagery and symbol in your own culture.

Post a snippet from the lyrics of a contemporary song that employs imagery and/or symbol to connects to these themes: love, hate, friendship, emotion, reason.

Discuss briefly how the lyric expresses these timeless themes through the language of image and symbol.

Refresh your memory by re-reading Pyramus and Thisbe.

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  • Registered: 2013-09-19
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Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

"The bed's getting cold and you're not here" is a lyric from the song 'The Heart Wants What It Wants" by Selena Gomez. This lyric is relating to Pyramus and Thisbe by the fact that love is a fire, warm, and growing. This lyric is saying that without the one she loves her bed is getting colder and their love is dying.

  • Registered: 2013-09-19
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Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

Imagine Dragons : I bet my life
lyrics: Where you were waiting up on me, Well I'm just a slave unto the night
This set of lyrics reminded me of how guilty Pyramus felt, when he thought that because he left Thisbe waiting, the lion ended her life. Now he is a slave to his own guilt, and to his own pride.

  • Registered: 2013-09-18
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Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

One Direction: Night Changes
Lyrics: Does it ever drive you crazy
Just how fast the night changes

In Pyramus and Thisbe the night was suppose to be exciting for the two lovers but it changed rapidly when Thisbe fleeted the tomb from the lion and Pyramus showed up seconds after and seen the cloak and he killed himself and Thisbe did after to because she didn't want to live without him, love can change fast all in one night.

  • Registered: 2013-09-19
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Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

"Yes I do, I believe
That one day I will be, where I was
Right there, right next to you"

These lyrics from 'Lay Me Down' by Sam Smith relate to Pyramus and Thisbe because they believed that no matter what, they would end up together one day, even if they had to be brought together through death. Their love was strong enough that they could trust in it to unite them.

  • Registered: 2013-09-19
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Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

John Legend: All Of Me
Lyrics: I'm on your magical mystery ride
And I'm so dizzy, don't know what hit me

This snippet represents when Pyramus went out to meet Thisbe, and sees the torn up cloak. He was just so baffled, and afraid, and confused. He was planning on meeting up with the girl he loved, and then found her cloak ripped to shreds.

  • Registered: 2013-09-19
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Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

"But I'm not alive until you call" from 'The Heart Wants What It Wants" by Selena Gomez is also a lyric that relates to Pyramus and Thisbe. In the story, both kill themselves because they couldn't bare to be without the other. This lyric is showing the same thing because she doesn't feel alive or want to be alive when she doesn't have the one she truly loves with her.

  • Registered: 2013-09-19
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Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

"Even when the night changes
It will never change me and you"
These lyrics from "Night Changes" by One Direction relates to the story of Pyramus and Thisbe  because in the end of the story Pyramus thinks Thisbe has died because he sees her bloody cloak. Pyramus ends up killing himself so they can be together, but she isn't actually dead. Thisbe comes back and sees that Pyramus has killed himself, so she kills herself as well so they can be together.

  • Registered: 2013-09-19
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Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

Your cold heart makes my spirit shake''-Ella Henderson

This relates to Pyramus and Thisbe because, when Pyramus was laying on the ground dead, Thisbe kissed his cold lips."Your cold heart makes my spirit shake" means as she kissed his cold lips she  felt that the love between them had ended. She felt cold inside.

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  • Registered: 2013-09-18
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Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

Hold Tight By:Madonna
''We walk through the valley of the darkest night
We made it through the fire''

Pyramus and Thisbe are planning on running away together, they can only go when its night because they don't want anyone to see them. 'We made it threw the fire' relates to Pyramus and Thisbe because they have killed themselves in the  passion of love and now they can be together in another life or after death.

  • Registered: 2015-02-05
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Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

These nights never seem to go to plan
I don't want you to leave, will you hold my hand?
Stay With Me- Sam Smith

I chose this one because this relates to Pyrimis and Thisbe because in the book they talk about in the book how Pyrimis and Thisbe were suppost to meet in the woods but Thisbe rubs off because she seen a lioness and runs off.  Then when Pyrimis comes to meet her she is not there and sees her cloak on the ground ripped with blood, so he thinks that he knows all and jumps to conclusion that she is dead, so they never do end up meeting and spending their lives together.

12 Reply by srehmann (edited by srehmann 2015-02-12 10:52:02)

  • Registered: 2013-09-19
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Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

John Legend: All Of Me
Lyrics: Risking it all though it's hard

This snippet represents when Pyramus and Thisbe plan to meet under the tree, by the Tomb of Ninus. They were willing to risk getting caught, and get in trouble just so they could be together. They had to decide whether or not to go against there parents.

  • Registered: 2013-10-09
  • Posts: 41

Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

"Sun is up, I'm a mess
Gotta get out now, gotta run from this
Here comes the shame, here comes the shame." These are song lyrics from the song Chandelier by Sia. These lyrics have imagery and symbols that relate to the story of Pyramus and Thisbe in that it talks about how the "sun is up, i'm a mess" and "gotta run from this", and also "here comes the shame" just like how when the sun comes up in the Pyramus & Thisbe story, they cannot speak to each other in person, and they must run away from their meeting spot near the tomb, or else they will get caught and feel shame from their parents.

  • Registered: 2013-09-19
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Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

"So it's gonna be forever, Or it's gonna go down in flames", lyrics from the song Blank Space written by Taylor Swift, relates to the story Pyramus and Thisbe.
In the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, they plan to sneak out after creating a plan, wanting the freedom to be together forever without having the separation of a wall or their parents, but when they do sneak out Pyramus believes, after seeing Thisbe's mangled and bloodied cloak, she is dead. So to be with her again he kills himself not knowing that Thisbe has simply left a dangerous scene involving a lioness. When Thisbe now sees his dying body she too kills herself and when found their parents decide to cremate the two lovers in the same urn, and their love is brought up in a burning flame as strong as their love.

  • Registered: 2013-09-19
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Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

OneRepublic: I Lived
Lyrics: I wish that I could witness All your joy And your pain

These lyrics remind me of how Pyramus believed that he had not been there for Thisbe when he thought she had been attacked by the lioness. He wanted to be there to make her happy and make sure she was safe. When Thisbe got back she had witnessed what he went through but knew he killed himself. So she killed herself as well cause she wasn't there to witness his pain and wanted to be with him. It also represents there lives lived in a duplex, each of them in two separate houses. They couldn't witness each other's joy and pain.

  • Registered: 2013-09-19
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Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

"Save your advice 'cause I won't hear
You might be right but I don't care"  from 'The Heart Wants What It Wants' by Selena Gomez is yet another lyric that relates to Pyramus and Thisbe. In the story, Pyramus and Thisbe's parents don't want them together for some reason and tell them that they don't ant them together. Pyramus and Thisbe don't care about that advice though, they will do whatever it takes for their love to stay kindled forever. In this lyric Selena is saying the same thing, she doesn't care what other people think about her relationship, all she cares about is that her relationship stays strong and that her lover still loves her.

17 Reply by aulrich (edited by aulrich 2015-02-12 10:59:06)

  • Registered: 2013-09-19
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Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

"And it's hard, the days just seem so dark
The moon, the stars, are nothing without you"
From Lay Me Down, By Sam Smith
In Pyramus and Thisbe, the moon was bright the night they died, and their love was strong. In these lyrics, the moon and stars meant nothing without their love. The days are dark, and the sun is not shining as bright because, there is no love.

  • Registered: 2013-09-19
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Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

Louder, louder than a lion
'Cause I am a champion
And you're gonna hear me roar"

These lyrics from the song "Roar" by Katy Perry relate to the story of Pyramus and Thisbe because in reality most men try to be tough when around the people they like. This meaning that if Pyramus saw sight of the lioness before Thisbe , he would try to take charge and make the lioness leave. He would act like a "champion."

  • Registered: 2013-09-19
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Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

"And another one bites the dust
Oh, why can I not conquer love?"

These lyrics from 'Elastic Heart' by Sia are related to Pyramus and Thisbe, because I feel that Thisbe would have felt like this when she saw Pyramus lying in the dust. However, she did conquer love when she joined Pyramus in death.

  • Registered: 2013-09-18
  • Posts: 54

Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

Alesso: Heroes(We Could Be)
Lyrics: All we're looking for is love and a little light

In Pyramus and Thisbe, love is represented by by the sun, fire, and light. Pyramus and Thisbe want to be able to love each other. With a little bit of light they can be in the light and love.

  • Registered: 2015-02-05
  • Posts: 14

Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

"Could end in burning flames or paradise
Fade into view, oh
It's been a while since I have even heard from you"
Style- Taylor Swift

These Lyrics relate to Pyrimis and Thisbe because love is also referred to as fire in the book and they don't get to see eahother accept for when they talk through the crack in the wall.

  • Registered: 2013-09-19
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Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

Walk the moon : Shut up and dance lyrics
We were victims of the night,
Thisbe and Pyramus were also victims of the night. What was supposed to be a perfectly planned meeting, to start their destiny, turned out to be a disaster. It seems all the secretive plans happen at night, but also all the plans that fall apart, happen at night as well.

  • Registered: 2013-09-18
  • Posts: 54

Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

MilkyChance: Stolen Dance
Lyrics: But now they've brought you away from me

When Pyramus goes out to the tomb as planned by him and Thisbe. He sees the ripped up bloody cloak that the lioness tore up. Pyramus thinks that she's dead and have been taken away from him so he kills himself to be with her.

  • Registered: 2013-10-09
  • Posts: 41

Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

"Keep my glass full until morning light
'Cause I'm just holding on for tonight." These lyrics are from Chandelier by Sia. This is related to the Pyramus & Thisbe story in terms of imagery and symbols. "keep my glass full until morning" is just like how in the Pyramus and Thisbe story, their love is intoxicating and they wanted to stay together until morning light. "Cause I'm just holding on for tonight" also goes with the story because they were "holding on" with their love, being only able to whisper through a wall in the day, and visiting each other in the night.

  • Registered: 2013-09-19
  • Posts: 113

Re: Elizabethan Image and Symbol

"In the moonlight, we let it go"
From Imagine dragons: Shots
In Pyramus and Thisbe, in they moonlight they let their lives go but they still held on to their love, to last forever.