Meaning & Analysis
To allow the world and its affairs to continue on their course without interference or concern.
Insights
Carefree Indifference
The proverb champions a philosophy of carefree indifference, suggesting one should not be troubled by external events or societal pressures but should instead prioritize personal ease and pleasure.
Stoic Acceptance
It can express a form of stoic acceptance, acknowledging the futility of trying to control the world's chaotic nature and choosing instead to let go of what is beyond one's influence.
Willful Negligence
In a negative sense, the proverb can signify willful negligence or irresponsibility. It becomes an excuse for avoiding duties and ignoring the consequences of inaction, as highlighted in the 1656 quotation from R. Sanderson.
Declaration of Freedom
The phrase can be a declaration of personal autonomy, a resolution to pursue one's own path and priorities regardless of the world's judgment or turmoil.
Psychological Duality
The proverb captures a psychological tension between healthy detachment and irresponsible apathy. While it can represent a stoic acceptance of uncontrollable events to preserve mental peace, R. Sanderson's 1656 critique links it to the 'sloth and supinity' of a fool, highlighting its potential as a justification for negligence.
Historical and Social Context
Popularized in the 16th and 17th centuries, a time of significant social and political upheaval, the proverb reflects a desire for personal disengagement from a turbulent world. Its use by authors like Shakespeare and Dryden shows its cultural relevance in expressing attitudes from carefree hedonism to deliberate political indifference.
Literary Characterization
Shakespeare employs this proverb to great effect in characterization. For Christopher Sly in 'The Taming of the Shrew', 'let the world slip' is a motto of simple, hedonistic pleasure. For Prince Hal in '1 Henry IV', to 'daff the world aside' is seen as youthful irresponsibility, contrasting sharply with the serious duties of his station.
Rhetorical Devices
Kinesthetic Imagery
The verbs 'wag', 'slide', and 'pass' create strong kinesthetic imagery of the world in constant, uncontrollable motion, reinforcing the idea that resisting its course is futile.
Imperative Mood
The proverb is structured as a command or exhortation (imperative mood), which frames this indifference not as a passive state but as an active, conscious decision.
Personification
The 'world' is personified as an entity with its own momentum and will, distinct from the individual. This enhances the theme of separating oneself from uncontrollable external forces.
Transcription
Quotations
I wyll let the world wagg and home wyll I goo.
Synge tyrell on the bery, And let the wyde worlde wynde!
Resty welth wylth me .. To let the worlde wag, and take myne ease in myne yn.
Let the worlde wagge, we muste neades haue drynke.
His lands are myne as sure as a clubb Naue let the worlde wagge.
But let the world wag, as it list.
To take no thought, passe the time merrily, let the world slide.
He letteth the world wag, or slide.
(slide).
Let no man .. please himself .. in his own sloth and supinity, with Solomon's sluggard, whom that wise man censureth as a fool for it, who foldeth his hands together and letteth the world wag as it will, without any care at all what shall become of him and his another day.
A match, i' faith: and let the world pass.
Let the world slide, or go as it lists.
Let the World shogg.
Spoken by them who have a Mind to do as they have resolv'd, be the Issue what will.
Shakespeare Citations
Come, madam wife, sit by my side and let the world slip.
Where is his son .. And his comrades, that daff'd the world aside And bid it pass?
Annotations
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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