Did you know....

[closetofheroes.livejournal.com]

that when Bertie gets a bit choked up and tells Jeeves 'there is none like you, none' he is actually quoting a romantic passage from Tennyson's poem Maude? Or almost - the actual quote is 'there is none like her, none', and the line is repeated a few times.

Well, that bit of info got me all excited, so I just had to share!

Here's a link to the article that alerted me to the fact:
www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/dec/14/classics.pgwodehouse

Here's a link to the Tennyson poem (it's a long one)
tennyson.classicauthors.net/PoemsOfAlfredLordTennyson/PoemsOfAlfredLordTennyson23.html

And just because I love it so much, here's the whole PGW quote from Very Good, Jeeves:

"Jeeves," I said--and I am not ashamed to confess that there was a spot of chokiness in the voice, "there is none like you, none."
"Thank you very much, sir."
 

And the alternative from Thank You, Jeeves, for Bertie utters this phrase to Jeeves more than once:
 

"Jeeves," I said, and if there were tears in the eyes, what of it? We Woosters are not afraid to confess honest emotion, "there is none like you, none."
"It is extremely kind of you to say so, sir."
"It was all I could do to keep from leaping out and shaking your hand."
 

Yes, that's right. It was all he could do to stop himself from leaping out and ... shaking Jeeves's hand. Yeah.

Anyway, hope you all got a bit of a kick out of this.



 

Comments

[mxdp.livejournal.com]

I know I did. Gosh, I love our old Plum a little bit more today :)

[thistlethorn.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's delightful. Full of all the best stuff.

Yes, that's right. It was all he could do to stop himself from leaping out and ... shaking Jeeves's hand. Yeah.

<snort> ;-)

[random-nexus.livejournal.com]

Okay, I really dig that bit of knowledge.
Wodehouse was just full of surprises.

[ironicbees.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing that! My day has now been made. :D

[violetjimjams.livejournal.com]

Shaking his hand? Is that what they used to call it?

*innocent face*

[lostwiginity.livejournal.com]

I'm sure he wanted to shake other parts of Jeeves's anatomy, too.

[triedunture.livejournal.com]

OH YEAH. :D

[lawnnun.livejournal.com]

To be fair, in a lot of fiction, a handshake is basically a gay sex act. Like at the end of "Amok Time", when Spock sees Kirk and grabs his arms in that intense double-pseudo handshake thing that's like, "I'm too manly to hug you, but I'm so generally repressed that this is somehow much gayer than a hug." Or in Watchmen, with the infamous lingering Rorschach/Nite Owl handshake. Or about a billion times in the Sherlock Holmes stories. XD

[superherogrlcat.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, shaking his hand. Rrrrrrriiiight.

Great find with the article, btw.