Meaning & Analysis
After eating a pear, one should drink wine to aid digestion; otherwise, the risk is so great that a priest (for last rites) may be needed.
Insights
Precaution and Remedy
The proverb highlights the need for a remedy or safeguard after a perceived risk—here, a pear supposedly requires wine to counteract its harmful effects, or else spiritual aid if the worst happens.
Folkloric Hyperbole
It employs exaggeration to dramatize the dangers of neglecting common wisdom or established remedies, using the threat of death (and a priest) for comic or emphatic effect.
Folk Medicine and Dietetics
Rooted in early modern beliefs about the digestive dangers of 'cold' foods like pears, this proverb reflects humoral medical theory. Wine, seen as warming and aiding digestion, was considered essential after pears, else illness—or death—might follow.
Cultural Universality
The idea of specific foods needing a companion remedy (wine after pears, water after figs) is common in European folk tradition, blending dietary caution with humor and social ritual.
Memento Mori
Invoking the priest for last rites introduces a subtle reminder of mortality, giving the proverb a slightly macabre undertone that underscores both caution and the unpredictability of life.
Rhetorical Devices
Antithesis
The stark choice—wine (life) or priest (death)—creates a dramatic opposition that amplifies the proverb’s warning.
Ellipsis
The compressed phrasing omits explanation, creating a snappy, memorable effect.
Dark Humor
The hyperbolic mention of a priest adds a touch of morbid wit, making the proverb both memorable and entertaining.
Transcription
Quotations
That saying which is commonly used, that Peares without wine are poyson.
Peares wanting wine, are poyson from the tree.
After a (cold) Peare either drinke Wine to concoct it, or send for the Priest to confesse you.
After Pears, the Priest or Wine.
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.