Lately the rabbit hole I’ve fallen into with these poems has turned out to be less about the poetry, and much, much more about the Way Cool Things I Can Know About Random and Forgotten Proverbs. So much for my idea of doing a quick, SHORT poem every day – the research looks to be just a ten minute job, and then an hour later I’m still reading. ::sigh:: Sometimes, I’m just… so me.
ANYWAY.
According to what scant information I can find, today’s proverb hails from the Netherlands, or at least it was first recorded in 1539 in Proverbs or Adages by Desiderius Erasmus Gathered out of the Chiliades and Englished, a translation of the Dutch philosopher Erasmus’s book of proverbs by Richard Tavener, whose other biggest claim to fame was a translation of the Bible that same year. For a translator who lived under both Queen Mary AND Queen Elizabeth, this phrase might have proved especially apt. Indeed, better the devil you know, poor guy … but, how about NO devils, hm? I’ll buy that option for $500, Alex.
“Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know.” – Possibly Desiderius Erasmus, But Probably Not
bad to worse
for rocks or heartache
an equal number exists
of bruised bits (or swears)