Meaning & Analysis
The proverb sarcastically observes that someone is worsening rather than improving, just as sour ale becomes even worse in the heat of summer.
Insights
Degeneration Over Time
The saying metaphorically illustrates a condition that deteriorates the longer it is left unchecked. Just as warm weather exacerbates the sourness of spoiled ale, some people or situations grow increasingly worse with time.
False Hope of Improvement
It points to the futility of expecting improvement where none is likely. The person is not reforming or recovering but continuing a predictable decline, cloaked in the ironic suggestion of 'mending.'
Ineffectual Remedies
The proverb can also be applied to ineffective attempts at fixing a problem. The 'mending' is nominal—nothing substantial changes, and the situation actually worsens under strain or exposure.
Aging and Ale Preservation
In pre-modern brewing, ale spoiled quickly, especially in summer. Without refrigeration or modern preservatives, sour ale left to stand in warm weather would ferment further into unusable bitterness. The proverb draws on this practical knowledge to express moral and social decline.
Moral and Character Commentary
The frequent use of this proverb in 16th- and 17th-century literature suggests its application to moral failing or stubborn folly. It reflects a view that some character defects only deepen over time, despite appearances of reform.
Irony as Social Critique
The irony in using the word 'mends' to describe worsening conditions offers subtle satire. It critiques both the individual in question and the false optimism of those around them.
Rhetorical Devices
Irony
The proverb hinges on ironic inversion—using the word 'mends' to mean the opposite—thus delivering its point through sarcasm and understatement.
Simile
The explicit comparison ‘as sour ale mends in summer’ makes this a vivid simile, drawing directly from a familiar sensory experience to underscore moral or behavioral decline.
Sensory Imagery
The image of spoiling ale in heat evokes strong sensory impressions—sourness, stench, decay—amplifying the proverb’s emotional and rhetorical impact.
Transcription
Quotations
(Than wolde ye mende .. as)
As zoure ale in sommer, that is still wurse and wurse.
The worlde amendes like sower ale in Sommer.
(as sowre ale in Summer).
Our matters mend as sowre ale doth in summer.
(It mends)
It mends like soure ale in summer worse and worse.
Hee mends like sowre ale in sommer. Hee growes from nought to worse.
She mends as sower ale doth in summer.
To grow worse and worse; To mend as sower Ale doth in Summer.
To mend as sowre ale does in summer.
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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