Talk:Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?

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Q "which has entered common use" - Please would someone explain what it has entered common use to mean! - Valor.

A (IMO) what sort of chappie utilises medieval torture machines on fairly harmless pretty little creatures? ....dave souza, talk 16:14, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] On vs Upon

The quotation is wrongly given on the title. Can someone with more skills than I correct it to "Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel", Pope's actual words, and those used as the headline of Rees-Mogg's leading article? Clockback 14:44, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Sure? My Oxford book of quotations, my Penguin book of quotations, and every copy of the "Epistle..." [1] I've been able to find on the web so far has "upon". Maybe Rees-Mogg (deliberately?) misquoted? Sgt Pinback 18:10, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Let Sporus tremble—"What? that thing of silk,

Sporus, that mere white curd of ass's milk?

Satire or sense, alas! can Sporus feel?

Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?"

Many thanks, Clockback, for raising this issue again when I'd time to look into it. The links in the article supported the "on" version, since when I first put it together I'd a reproduction of Rees-Mogg's editorial which seemed more credible than Midgley in an online blog, and it was supported by the online dictionary of quotations I found. Incorrect, as Sgt Pinback rightly says. Google found me rather better sources this time, with interesting side issues which I'm adding to the article. Wonder if Rees-Mogg used the cite as a subtle dig at Jagger's image of dubious sexuality? Looking again, it's quite possible that The Times's typesetters cropped it to get the font size they wanted over three column widths. Entertaining stuff. ...dave souza, talk 11:37, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Great work on expanding the article, dave souza! Is Rees-Mogg's editorial up on the web anywhere? I couldn't find a copy. Sgt Pinback 14:11, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Ta, as referenced, the editorial takes up most of a page in the Stones book I've had for a couple of decades. I'm not planning on retyping the whole of it, but contact me by email (go to my user page, click Email this user in the toolbox to the left) if you're desperate for a scan of it. ..dave souza, talk 14:38, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the offer, but I'm not that desperate. It was as much to link it to the article as to satisfy my own (mild) idle curiosity. Cheers, Sgt Pinback 14:50, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lucian

Removed:

The phrase likely originated from Lucian's "The Fly, An appreciation""The Fly, An appreciation" by Lucian, sacred-texts.com where the last sentence reads "But I must break off; not that my subject is exhausted; only that to exhaust such a subject is too like breaking a butterfly on the wheel."

I'm willing to stand corrected, but I believe there's no wheel in the Greek original, only in some Eng. translations. Sgt Pinback 21:40, 3 October 2007 (UTC)