All is Well That Ends Well (19 July)

You might think that something ended today. I’m sure something ended, but nothing big from my perspective.

After class I went with Lori and Suzanne (the Dingle three-o reunites!) out to a church in Putney. We took the tube out to a cemetery and church. There we found some super old graves, including that of Robert Lowth. Finding his grave was the purpose of our visit. Lowth was the first person to write an English grammar—to record and prescribe the rules of the language. He was the start of prescriptivism. Most linguists today fight against prescriptivism, but Lowth’s grammar still played an important role in the history of English.

While looking around the graveyard and thinking about death in a completely non-morbid way, it started to rain. I took refuge under a kind tree and stood there, thinking that the rain would subside. Instead, it started to rain harder. The tree that had protected me so well eventually started dripping on me and I took refuge in the church. I got to look around and wait out the rain and then returned to the flat.

We found wild blackberries in the cemetery and I ate a lot.

This is only a taste of the graveyard beauty!

Later that night we finally got to go to the Globe—a replica of the theater in which Shakespeare’s plays were performed. We got the true experience of being the groundlings—the people who stand next to the stage. It was so cool because we’re right there with the actors and there’s lots of energy. The performers were phenomenal; they helped me gain a true appreciation for Shakespeare because they spoke in a way that was expressive and natural. I had never seen or read “All is Well That Ends Well” before, but it was really good.