Meaning & Analysis
Musicians and singers are characteristically difficult to persuade to start performing, but once they begin (often without being asked), they are equally hard to convince to stop.
Insights
The Artistic Temperament
The proverb serves as a metaphor for any passionate or skilled individual who operates on their own terms, resisting external demands but becoming wholly absorbed in their craft once they engage with it. It symbolizes the non-conformist nature of creative talent.
Absence of Moderation
It illustrates the human tendency to operate in extremes, lacking a balanced or moderate approach. The musician's behavior symbolizes a broader psychological pattern of being either completely disengaged or excessively engaged, with no middle ground.
Perverse Contrariness
The proverb can be seen as a commentary on perverse contrariness, where an individual's desire to act is inversely proportional to being asked. It highlights the psychological need for autonomy and control, often expressed by resisting suggestions and asserting one's own timing.
Historical Stereotype of Artists
This proverb captures a durable stereotype of the artistic temperament, portraying performers as being governed by internal moods rather than social conventions. The citations from the 16th and 17th centuries demonstrate that this view of artists as capricious or difficult is not a modern invention but a long-standing cultural observation.
Psychology of Performance
The proverb offers a keen psychological insight into the dual nature of performance, which often involves overcoming initial reluctance or stage fright, followed by the deep satisfaction of expression. The artist's behavior reflects a tension between insecurity (unwillingness to begin) and ego-gratification (unwillingness to end).
Human Contrariness
On a broader level, the proverb humorously critiques the human tendency towards contrariness and a lack of moderation. It speaks to a recognizable pattern where individuals resist requests but then pursue the same activity to excess once initiated on their own terms, highlighting a desire for autonomy over compliance.
Rhetorical Devices
Antithesis
The proverb is built on the direct contrast between the reluctance 'to begin' and the reluctance 'to end', effectively framing the musician's behavior as a symmetrical lack of moderation at both ends of a performance.
Hyperbole
The phrase 'know no means' is an exaggeration used for humorous and emphatic effect, creating a memorable caricature of the archetypal performer.
Exemplum
The proverb uses 'Musicians' as a specific example to comment on a more general human behavior, making the abstract idea more concrete and relatable.
Transcription
Quotations
This is of singers the very propertie . . when their frendes would heare of their cunning Then are they neuer disposed for to sing, But if they begin desired of no man Then . . neuer leaue they till men of them be wery.
They are aptly compared to the Musician, who being intreated, wil scant sing, Sol, Fa: but vndesired, straine aboue Ela.
'Tis the common disease of all your musicians, that they know no meane, to be intreated, either to begin, or end.
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.