Monday, August 31, 2015

Can anyone please define "coyle" for me, as in "lord, what a coyle he kepes" in The Two Noble Kinsmen? Thanks!

'Coyle' is an obsolete spelling of a now obsolete usage of
the word 'coil'! In the 16th century, it was a colloquial expression, which fell into
literary usage. It means 'confusion', 'din', 'disturbance' or even 'turmoil'; 'to keep a
coil' means to make a disturbance.


The jailer's daughter is
speaking of her love for Palamon, and so uses the term metaphorically, to mean the
turmoil that her feelings create in her heart. It is something over which she has no
control, hence she says 'what a coyle he kepes' - making him the active
agent.

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