Meaning & Analysis
An exhortation to dismiss, reject, or put an end to feelings of care and sorrow, as if one were executing a criminal by hanging.
Insights
Defiant Optimism
The proverb is a command to practice defiant optimism, actively choosing joy and forcefully rejecting negative emotions, regardless of circumstances.
Emotional Suppression
It metaphorically advocates for the emotional suppression of sadness. 'Hanging' care suggests it is an external enemy to be vanquished, rather than an internal state to be understood or experienced.
Rejection of Unproductive Worry
The phrase functions as a call to live in the present moment, casting off the burdens of worry and sadness to fully embrace immediate pleasures and social enjoyment.
Cultural Exhortation to Revelry
This proverb reflects a cultural exhortation, common in Renaissance and early modern England, to actively and defiantly reject melancholy in favor of revelry. It embodies a philosophy of 'performative happiness', where one chooses to cast off sorrow, particularly in social settings like taverns, to maintain a spirit of communal cheer.
Psychology of Suppression
Psychologically, the phrase reveals a coping mechanism rooted in suppression rather than processing. By 'hanging' sorrow, one treats it as a criminal to be executed, suggesting a cultural discomfort with vulnerability and a preference for maintaining a stoic or cheerful facade.
Carpe Diem Philosophy
The expression is a classic statement of the 'carpe diem' (seize the day) philosophy. It argues for focusing on present pleasure by forcibly dismissing worries that are unproductive, as captured in the 1604 quote, 'hang sorrow, twill not buy a Pipe.'
Rhetorical Devices
Imperative Mood
The use of the imperative verb 'Hang' gives the phrase a forceful, commanding tone, turning it into an urgent order to oneself or others.
Personification
Care and sorrow are personified as tangible adversaries that can be physically captured and executed, which dramatizes the act of emotional rejection.
Violent Metaphor
The violent metaphor of 'hanging' an emotion communicates a powerful and decisive rejection of sadness, framing it as a contemptible enemy to be destroyed.
Transcription
Quotations
Hange sorrow!
Hang sorrow.
Why? hang sorrow, twill not buy a Pipe.
As the English say, Hang sorrow, cast away care.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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