Meaning & Analysis
Do not make jokes about or treat lightly two extremely sensitive things: the physical eye, which is very delicate and easily injured, and a person's religious beliefs or their honor, which are deeply personal and foundational to their identity.
Insights
Inviolable Boundaries
The proverb establishes a clear boundary for social interaction, warning that certain subjects are too sacred or fragile for humor. Jesting about these topics is not harmless fun but a serious transgression that can cause irreparable harm to relationships and social standing.
Concept of the Sacred
It metaphorically defines things that must be treated as sacrosanct. The eye represents physical integrity, while religion and honor represent the core of a person's identity and dignity. To jest with them is to violate something fundamental to a person's being.
The Danger of Words
The proverb serves as a practical warning that words can have consequences as severe as physical actions. Mocking someone's faith or honor is presented as an act of aggression equivalent to physically harming them, highlighting the real-world danger of disrespectful speech.
Honor Culture and Social Codes
The proverb's equation of physical vulnerability (the eye) with abstract concepts (religion, honor) reflects the values of early modern European society, where personal honor was considered as tangible and defensible as one's own body. Insults to honor or faith were not mere words but grounds for serious conflict, including duels.
Psychology of Harm
By pairing a delicate physical organ with deeply held beliefs, the proverb offers a sophisticated psychological insight: it argues that non-physical attacks on a person's identity or faith can inflict pain as real and severe as a physical injury. It gives tangible weight to abstract emotional and spiritual wounds.
Intertwined Concepts
The variations between 'religion', 'faith', and 'honor' in the historical quotations illustrate the interconnectedness of these concepts. In many historical contexts, a person's honor was inseparable from their adherence to religious and social duties, making an attack on one an implicit attack on the other.
Rhetorical Devices
Analogy
The proverb uses a powerful analogy, comparing the physical fragility of the eye to the intangible but equally delicate nature of faith and honor. This makes the abstract concept of emotional or spiritual injury feel immediate and visceral.
Parallelism
The parallel structure of 'not with the EYE or with religion' places both subjects on an equal footing, creating a balanced and memorable injunction that emphasizes their shared sensitivity.
Imperative Mood
The command 'Jest not' is an imperative statement, giving the proverb the force of a strict moral rule or law. It is not a suggestion but a direct and unambiguous prohibition.
Juxtaposition
The proverb juxtaposes the concrete, physical 'eye' with the abstract concepts of 'religion' and 'honor', a rhetorical technique that makes the warning more vivid and impactful.
Transcription
Quotations
Bourd nather with me nor my honour.
Faith and the eye are tender.
The eye and religion can beare no jesting.
The eye and holy things can bear no jeasting.
I will not jest with my eye nor with my faith.
(nor with Religion).
There is no jeasting either with ones eye or ones Religion.
Let three things alone, the Eye, a woman, and Religion.
One ought not to jeast with the eye, nor yet with Religion.
Bourd neither with me, nor with my Honour.
(nor with religion).
Hispan.
Bourd not with my Eye, nor with my Honour.
Both these are too tender Points to beested with; and the Honour often more nice than the Eye.
Cross References
Annotations
- joke
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.