Meaning & Analysis
The proverb is a simple simile used to describe something as being a vivid, distinct shade of yellow, identical to the color of the foot or claw of a kite, a common bird of prey.
Insights
Sickness and Disease
Metaphorically, the proverb describes a person's complexion, suggesting severe illness, particularly jaundice, where the skin turns a sickly yellow. The kite, as a predator and scavenger, adds a grim, life-threatening undertone to the description.
Jealousy and Envy
The color yellow has historical associations with envy and jealousy. In this context, the kite's grasping, predatory claw symbolizes the rapacious and all-consuming nature of these emotions.
Cowardice
The simile can be used as an insult to denote cowardice, aligning with the slang use of 'yellow' to mean fainthearted. The comparison to a part of an animal implies a base or instinctual lack of courage.
Ominous Naturalism
Unlike the cheerful yellow of a flower or the sun, the kite's foot evokes a wild, predatory nature. The color is tied to a bird of prey, infusing the simile with connotations of danger, rapacity, and even death, suggesting a yellowness that is unsettling rather than bright.
Pre-Modern Observation
The proverb reflects a time when daily language was rich with specific observations from the natural world. The choice of a kite's foot, rather than a more common object, indicates a close and unsentimental familiarity with wildlife, where even a predator's features become common descriptive currency.
Inherent Negative Connotation
The association with a predator suggests the yellowness described is not a positive quality. It implies a state of being that is unhealthy, unnatural, or morally suspect, whether through sickness (jaundice), cowardice ('yellow-bellied'), or envy.
Rhetorical Devices
Simile
The core of the proverb is a direct and explicit comparison using 'as...as' to link the subject's color to the specific image of the kite's foot.
Vivid Imagery
It creates a highly specific and memorable visual of a raptor's yellow claw, making the description more potent and visceral than a generic color comparison.
Animal Symbolism
The choice of a kite, a bird of prey, imbues the color yellow with symbolic weight. It suggests aggression, wildness, and danger, coloring the comparison with a sense of unease.
Transcription
Quotations
Thoughe he be yelowe as kyte Is of hir fete.
Yellow as foot of kite.
To be as yellow as a Goss-hawks foot; the English say, as the Kites claw.
Cross References
- See App., p. 717.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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