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An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. Derived from the Greek: ἐπίγραμμα epigramma "inscription" from ἐπιγράφειν epigraphein "to write on – inscribe", this literary device has been employed for over two millennia.^[1]

Ancient Greek[link]

The Greek tradition of epigrams began as poems inscribed on votive offerings at sanctuaries – including statues of athletes – and on funerary monuments, for example "Go tell it to the Spartans, passersby...". These original epigrams did the same job as a short prose text might have done, but in verse. Epigram became a literary genre in the Hellenistic period, probably developing out of scholarly collections of inscriptional epigrams.

Though modern epigrams are usually thought of as very short, Greek literary epigram was not always as short as later examples, and the divide between "epigram" and "elegy" is sometimes indistinct (they share a characteristic metre, elegiac couplets); all the same, the origin of the genre in inscription exerted a residual pressure to keep things concise. Many of the characteristic types of literary epigram look back to inscriptional contexts, particularly funerary epigram, which in the Hellenistic era becomes a literary exercise. Other types look instead to the new performative context which epigram acquired at this time, even as it made the move from stone to papyrus: the Greek symposium. Many "sympotic" epigrams combine sympotic and funerary elements – they tell their readers (or listeners) to drink and live for today because life is short.

Epigrams are also thought of as having a "point" – that is, the poem ends in a punchline or satirical twist. By no means do all Greek epigrams behave this way; many are simply descriptive. Epigram is associated with 'point' because the European epigram tradition takes the Latin poet Martial as its principal model; he copied and adapted Greek models (particularly the contemporary poets Lucillius and Nicarchus) selectively and in the process redefined the genre, aligning it with the indigenous Roman tradition of 'satura', hexameter satire, as practised by (among others) his contemporary Juvenal. Greek epigram was actually much more diverse, as the Milan Papyrus now indicates.

A major source for Greek literary epigram is the Greek Anthology, a compilation from the 10th century AD based on older collections. It contains epigrams ranging from the Hellenistic period through the Imperial period and Late Antiquity into the compiler's own Byzantine era – a thousand years of short elegiac texts on every topic under the sun. The Anthology includes one book of Christian epigrams as well as one book of erotic and amorous epigrams called the Μουσα Παιδικη (Mousa Paidike, "The Boyish Muse").

Ancient Roman[link]

Roman epigrams owe much to their Greek predecessors and contemporaries. Roman epigrams, however, were often more satirical than Greek ones, and at times used obscene language for effect. Latin epigrams could be composed as inscriptions or graffiti, such as this one from Pompeii, which exists in several versions and seems from its inexact meter to have been composed by a less educated person. Its content, of course, makes it clear how popular such poems were:

Admiror, O paries, te non cecidisse ruinis

qui tot scriptorum taedia sustineas.

I'm astonished, wall, that you haven't collapsed into ruins,

since you're holding up the weary verse of so many poets.

However, in the literary world, epigrams were most often gifts to patrons or entertaining verse to be published, not inscriptions. Many Roman writers seem to have composed epigrams, including Domitius Marsus, whose collection Cicuta (now lost) was named after the poisonous plant Cicuta for its biting wit, and Lucan, more famous for his epic Pharsalia. Authors whose epigrams survive include Catullus, who wrote both invectives and love epigrams – his poem 85 is one of the latter.

Odi et amo. Quare id faciam fortasse requires.

Nescio, sed fieri sentio, et excrucior.

I hate and I love. Perhaps you ask why I do this.

I know not, but I feel that it is happening, and am tormented greatly.

The master of the Latin epigram, however, is Martial. His technique relies heavily on the satirical poem with a joke in the last line, thus drawing him closer to the modern idea of epigram as a genre. Here he defines his genre against a (probably fictional) critic (in the latter half of 2.77):

Disce quod ignoras: Marsi doctique Pedonis

saepe duplex unum pagina tractat opus.

Non sunt longa quibus nihil est quod demere possis,

sed tu, Cosconi, disticha longa facis.

Learn what you don't know: one work of (Domitius) Marsus or learned Pedo

often stretches out over a doublesided page.

A work isn't long if you can't take anything out of it,

but you, Cosconius, write even a couplet too long.

Another example of an epigram by Martial:

Mentula tam magna est quantus tibi, Papyle, nasus,

ut possis, quotiens arrigis, olfacere.

Your penis is as large as your nose, Papylus,

so you can smell it when it's erect.

Poets known for their epigrams whose work has been lost include Cornificia.

English[link]

In early English literature the short couplet poem was dominated by the poetic epigram and proverb, especially in the translations of the Bible and the Greek and Roman poets. Since 1600, two successive lines of verse that rhyme with each other, known as a couplet featured as a part of the longer sonnet form, most notably in William Shakespeare's sonnets. Sonnet 76 is an excellent example. The two line poetic form as a closed couplet was also used by William Blake in his poem Auguries of Innocence and also by Byron (Don Juan (Byron) XIII); John Gay (Fables); Alexander Pope (An Essay on Man).

In Victorian times the epigram couplet was often used by the prolific American poet Emily Dickinson. Her poem No. 1534 is a typical example of her eleven poetic epigrams. The novelist George Eliot also included couplets throughout her writings. Her best example is in her sequenced sonnet poem entitled Brother and Sister, in which each of the eleven sequenced sonnet ends with a couplet. In her sonnets, the preceding lead-in-line, to the couplet ending of each, could be thought of as a title for the couplet, as is shown in Sonnet VIII of the sequence.

During the early 20th century, the rhymed epigram couplet form developed into a fixed verse image form, with an integral title as the third line. Adelaide Crapsey codified the couplet form into a two line rhymed verse of ten syllables per line with her image couplet poem On Seeing Weather-Beaten Trees, first published in 1915.

By the 1930s, the five-line cinquain verse form became widely known in the poetry of the Scottish poet William Soutar. These were originally labelled epigrams but later identified as image cinquains in the style of Adelaide Crapsey. J. V. Cunningham was also a noted writer of epigrams,(a medium suited to a 'short-breathed' person).^[2]

In the last decade of the 20th century the American poet Denis Garrison developed a two-line 17 syllable variation of the image couplet with his Crystalline, where euphony is the key component and a title thereto optional.^[3] An early example of this euphony, in a couplet form can be found in Edmund Spenser's Anacreontic No 1.^[4]

Poetic epigrams[link]

What is an Epigram? A dwarfish whole;

Its body brevity, and wit its soul.

— Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Some can gaze and not be sick

But I could never learn the trick.

There's this to say for blood and breath;

They give a man a taste for death.

— A. E. Housman

Little strokes

Fell great oaks.

— Benjamin Franklin

Here lies my wife: here let her lie!

Now she's at rest – and so am I.

— John Dryden

I am His Highness' dog at Kew;

Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you?

— Alexander Pope

I'm tired of Love: I'm still more tired of Rhyme.

But Money gives me pleasure all the time.

— Hilaire Belloc

I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.

— Nikos Kazantzakis

To define the beautiful is to misunderstand it.

— Charles Robert Anon (Fernando Pessoa)

To be safe on the Fourth,

Don't buy a fifth on the third.

— James H Muehlbauer

This Humanist whom no belief constrained

Grew so broad-minded he was scatter-brained.

— J.V. Cunningham

All things pass

Love and mankind is grass.

— Stevie Smith

Non-poetic epigrams[link]

Occasionally, simple and witty statements, though not poetic per se, may also be considered epigrams. Oscar Wilde's witticisms such as "I can resist everything except temptation" are considered epigrams. e.g. : art lies in concealing art. This shows the epigram's tendency towards paradox. Dorothy Parker's witty one-liners can be considered epigrams. Also, Macdonald Carey's legendary line "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives" can be considered an epigram, as the meaning of life is concisely explained in a simile.

The term is sometimes used for particularly pointed or much-quoted quotations taken from longer works.

See also[link]

• Aphorism
• Category:Epigrammatists
• Epigraph (archeology)
• Epigraph (literature)
• Epitaph
• Wikisource: Epigram

Notes[link]

Epigrammatists[link]

• John Donne
• Ashleigh Brilliant

External links[link]

• The Wiktionary entry for epigram
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Epigram". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Michel Roux

Born	(1941-04-19) 19 April 1941 (age 71) Charolles, France

Michel Roux (born 19 April 1941) is a French-born chef and restaurateur working in Britain.

Born in Charolles, Saône-et-Loire, Roux moved to Paris with his family after the war, where they set up a charcuterie (delicatessen). At the age of fourteen he became a patissier (pastry chef), and later followed his elder brother Albert back to Paris to work as a chef.

When Albert moved to London, Michel again followed him, and in 1967 they opened their first restaurant, Le Gavroche, which became the first restaurant in Britain to gain one, two and then three Michelin stars. In 1972 they opened the Waterside Inn in Bray, Berkshire.

Michel was awarded the Meilleur Ouvrier de France for patisserie in 1976 and an honorary OBE alongside his brother in 2002 and is the recipient of The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence.

In a poll of UK chefs carried out by Caterer and Hotelkeeper magazine in 2003, Michel and his brother Albert were voted the most influential chefs in the country. Michel Roux's son, Alain Roux, currently runs the Waterside Inn in Bray.

In July 2008, Roux announced that he would move permanently to Crans-Montana, Switzerland, citing concerns about the state of public safety in Britain.^[1]

References[link]

• "I love ze soufflé...", The Observer, Sunday 11 July 2004
• Profile of Michel & Albert Roux, CatererSearch]

Footnotes[link]

This French biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Balázs Szokolay (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈbɒlaːʒ ˈsokolɒj]) (born in Budapest, 1961) is a Hungarian pianist.

His international concert career started in 1983, replacing Nikita Magaloff at a concert in Belgrade. Four years later he was appointed a professorship at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. Throughout his career he has been awarded 14 competition prizes (Zwickau's Robert Schumann, Leeds', Brussels' Queen Elisabeth, Munich's ARD, Terni's Alessandro Casagrande, Monza's Rina Sala Gallo, etc.).

In 2001 the Hungarian Government awarded him the Liszt Prize.

References[link]

• Chopin Foundation of the United States
• biography on the Naxos website

This article about a Hungarian classical musician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This article on a classical pianist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Miklós Perényi (born 5 January 1948) is a Hungarian cellist. He was born in Budapest into a musical family and studied at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Musec in Budapest with Ede Banda and Enrico Mainardi. He continued his studies at the Accademia Santa Cecilia, graduating in 1962. In 1963 he won a prize at the Pablo Casals International Violoncello Competition in Budapest.^[1]

In 1965 and 1966 he studied with Pablo Casals in Zermatt and Puerto Rico and afterward performed at Marlboro Festival for four consecutive years. In 1974 he became a lecturer and in 1980 a professor at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, but while teaching continued to perform internationally.^[2] He has been a regular guest of the Theatre de la Ville in Paris for solo works and chamber music performances.

Discography[link]

Perényi's work is available on recordings under the Hungaroton, Quint, Decca, Metropolitan Video and ECM New Series. Selected recordings include:

• Beethoven: Complete Music for Piano and Violoncello by Ludwig van Beethoven, Andras Schiff, and Miklos Perenyi (Audio CD - Sep 28, 2004)
• J.S. Bach/Miklos Perenyi: 6 Suites for Cello Solo - BWV 1007-1012 (DVD - Apr 25, 2006)
• Miklos Perenyi & Denes Varjon by Perenyi, Varion, Bach, and Britten (Audio CD - Jun 1, 2010)
• Suite No.3 in C, BWV1009: Courante by Miklós Perényi & Dénes Várjon (MP3 Download - Jun 1, 2010)
• Haydn: Cello Concertos 1 & 2 by Miklos Perenyi, Franz Joseph Haydn, Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, and Janos Rolla (Audio CD - Jul 13, 2000)
• Sonata in C, Op.65: Scherzo - pizzicato by Miklós Perényi & Dénes Várjon (MP3 Download - Jun 1, 2010)
• The Instruments Of Classical Music: The Cello by Miklos Perenyi, Ludwig van Beethoven, Antonín Dvořák, and Benjamin Godard (Audio CD - Jun 4, 1990)^[3]

References[link]

Alexander Day (also known as Marmaduke Davenport, Esq.) was a British sharper known for cons committed in London in September 1722. Originally from St Andrew, Holborn, Day went under the name Marmaduke Davenport, Esq. and hired a carriage and footman to create the impression to shopkeepers in London that he was a respected member of the gentry. Once the shop proprietors had supplied their goods, Day would flee without paying.

In 1723, Day was arrested in connection with a robbery of a mail coach in Clapham. Although he was ruled out as a suspect of this crime, he was indicted on four counts of defrauding and two counts of grand larceny for crimes committed in the September of the previous year. After his trial, Day was found guilty on all counts of defrauding and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment at Newgate Prison, which included standing twice in the pillory and paying a fine of £200.

Criminal career[link]

Alexander Day originated from the parish of St Andrew, Holborn.^[1] He worked as a sharper in London,^[2] where he went under the pseudonym Marmaduke Davenport Esq. to suggest that he was a member of the gentry. To further this claim, Day would say that he had a large estate in Durham and was engaged to a wealthy heiress.^[3] Day also claimed to have left his own coachman and horses at his country seat and needed to hire a carriage and footman in London.^[4] Once he had hired the carriage and footman, he took this entourage around numerous premises in the city, where he would convince shopkeepers that he was about to spend large amounts of money on their expensive goods.^[3]

This perceived wealth and social status led him to be able to gain credit on purchases. Day would take delivery of upper-class items at his rented Queen Square property, but would fail to pay.^[1] Historian Hannah Grieg hypothesises that Day may have previously spent time in Bath, Newcastle upon Tyne and Edinburgh, where he practised his craft and stole goods to furnish his London home and further convince his victims of his wealth.^[3]

Arrest and trial[link]

In 1723, Day was arrested on suspicion of robbing the Bristol mail coach at Clapham,^[1] though subsequent investigations ruled him out as a suspect. During this time, he was indicted on four counts of defrauding and two counts of grand larceny.^[2] These charges referred to crimes committed in September 1722,^[1] which included:

1. the theft of gold and silver lace to the value of £55,^[5]
2. the defrauding of Thomas Gravestock, the proprietor of the gold and silver lace,^[6]
3. the defrauding of Samuel Scrimpshaw for cambric valued at £48,^[7]
4. the defrauding of George Kendrick for tea valued at £51,^[8]
5. the "felonious" theft of 3.5 yards (3.2 m) of rich brocade, 15 yards (14 m) of cherry-powdered podesay and 15 yards (14 m) of white podesay at a combined value of £34,^[9]
6. the defrauding of a Mr. Hinchliff, the proprietor of the brocade and podesay.^[1][10]

During the trial, Day stated that he had stolen to keep up with annual £200 payments on his Durham estate, which was mortgaged for £1,200, but he was unable to provide evidence of the Durham estate and could not provide a witness willing to testify to his reputation.^[1] The court did not believe his defence and he was found guilty of defrauding all persons in the case.^[1]

On 24 April 1723, Day was sentenced to two years' imprisonment at Newgate Prison.^[1][3] This would include standing twice in the pillory, as well as a fine of £200. He would then be under probation for the two years following his release.^[2] Peter King of the Open University identifies that Day's first pillory was in Covent Garden, where he was surrounded by a large crowd and was severely pelted with rotten vegetables and faeces for an hour.^[3] A newspaper report published after Day's sentence stated that he was "a great master of his profession [who] would not be at liberty to follow his former profession any longer".^[3] The second pillory took place at Ludgate Hill.^[1]

Notes[link]

References[link]