Thursday, 20 January 2011

Best footnote ever

Reading Joanna Southcott's Strange Effects of Faith I've reached part 6th, which opens with a 27-page long poem essentially attacking Jewish belief in Christianity (wow, very original!). On page 26 of this poem, there's a bit where she says "and down the kettle then did fall". There's then a footnote which reads:

"Just as I had written, 'these things to mock', my meat-kettle, which was on the fire, fell suddenly off, and in my stooping to take it up, I threw my writings before it, which involved them in smoke, ashes, and water; fortunately, however, on getting dry, I found no part of them obliterated."

It's nice to know that even prophets can have their clumsy moments!

1 comment:

  1. Oh, I remember this! A classic "Joanna moment". She's truly very funny, grumpy old self-conscious thing...

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