Jacob Cats, Spiegel (The Hague, 1632)
Emblem 46
A prostitute touching the chin of a client, in front of a fireplace where straw is burning; in the background a man is chased away from a brothel
Amour de putain d'estoupe le feu, Reluit beaucoup & dure peuFrench
A whore's love is a fire of tow: it shines brightly and lasts but little.AI-generated
Description of the imageAI-generated
An oval-framed interior scene with decorative corner spandrels. At the right-hand side of a chamber a young woman in a full gown with a high feathered headdress stands embracing a richly dressed man in a broad plumed hat, cape and slashed doublet; she lays her hands on his chest and chin while he leans toward her, one hand behind her back, his legs crossed before a high-backed chair. At the left a large fire of straw or tow blazes up on the hearth, throwing a great column of smoke to the ceiling; beside it stand andirons and a fire-tool, and a broom or poker lies on the tiled floor. At the right edge a table covered with a heavy cloth bears a footed cup or bowl. Through a doorway in the background another room is visible, where a figure raises a stick or sword to beat a half-naked man who is running away out of the house, watched by a woman. Below the oval a banderole carries an inscription.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
My is eens een woort geseyt Dat my staegh op 'therte leyt, Hoeren liefd' is vyer van stroo, En dat vind' ick even soo; Want die gluy brengt in de schou Om dat hy het branden sou, Siet voor eerst een schoone vlam, Die schier aen de solder quam, Maer het is terstont gedaen Als de fluyster is gegaen, En dat eerst soo glimpigh was Is terstont maer enckel as, Die een yeder leelijck maeckt Wie maer eens daer aen en raeckt. Ick was eens gestreelt, gekust, En ick swom in volle lust, Want men boodt my hooger gunst, ( Al met woorden nae de kunst ) Alsser oyt een echte man Van sijn wijf geworden kan. Maer hoort vorder, soete jeught, Dit en was maer korte vreught, Want als 'tgelt was uyt-geteert, En mijn renten op-gesmeert, Quammer stracx een hart besluyt, Want ick moest ten huysen uyt, En een ander quam te roer, Dien ginght juyst als icker voer; Daer dwaeld' ick doen achter straet Sonder gelt, en sonder raet, En my bleef ter werelt niet Als een innigh ziel-verdriet En daer toe een vunstigh lijf, Voor sijn jaren stram en stijf. Vrienden, wat ick bidden magh Wort doch wijs uyt mijn beklagh, Let niet op de geyle lust, Want haer vyer is haest geblust, Maer denckt om het ongeval Dat vry langer dueren sal.
TranslationAI-generated
A word was once said to me that always lies upon my heart: whores' love is a fire of straw, and I find it to be just so; for whoever brings stubble into the chimney in order to make it burn sees at first a fine flame that almost reached the ceiling, but it is over at once as soon as the blaze has gone, and what at first looked so splendid is immediately nothing but ashes, which make anyone filthy who so much as touches them. I was once caressed and kissed, and I swam in full delight, for I was offered higher favour (all with words according to art) than ever a lawful husband can obtain from his wife. But hear further, sweet youth: this was only a short joy; for when the money had been spent and my income smeared away, there came at once a harsh decision, for I had to leave the house, and another came to the helm, who fared just as I had fared. Then I wandered in the back streets, without money and without counsel, and there remained to me in the world nothing but an inward grief of soul, and besides that a foul body, stiff and rigid before its years. Friends, what I beg of you: grow wise from my complaint, pay no heed to lewd lust, for its fire is quickly quenched, but think of the misfortune that will last a good deal longer.
CommentaryAI-generated
21 passages · original left, translation right (click to fold)
Ital. Amor di putana, è vin di fiascho La matina è buono, la sera è guasto.
Italian. A whore's love is like wine from a flask: in the morning it is good, in the evening it is spoiled.
Givoco, donna, è vino consuma l'huom ridendo.
Gambling, woman and wine consume a man while he laughs.
Franç. Le jeu, la femme & vin friant, Font l'homme pauvre tout en riant.
French. Gambling, woman and dainty wine make a man poor while he laughs.
Lat. Ad amor felice raro felice fine.
Latin [so labelled]. A happy love rarely has a happy end.
Ital. Carezze di cane, cortesie di putane Inviti d'hosti, non può far, che non ti costi.
Italian. A dog's caresses, whores' courtesies, innkeepers' invitations: it cannot happen that they do not cost you.
Nederl. Van vogelen/ honden/ en vrouwen/ Voor een genuchte/ duysent rouwen.
Dutch. From birds, dogs and women: for one pleasure, a thousand sorrows.
Gheluck van vrouwen is ramp inde beurs.
Good fortune with women is disaster in the purse.
Ital. Donna è vino, hanno venino, Donna ridente inganna ogni gēte.
Italian. Woman and wine have poison; a laughing woman deceives everybody.
Nederl. 'tSpel vā Brugge al lacchende bijster.
Dutch. The game of Bruges: ruined while laughing.
Turcks. Giusel auureth hem scharap tatlu agudur. .i.
Turkish. A beautiful woman and wine are a sweet poison. (that is:)
Formosa mulier & vinum, dulcia sunt venena.
A beautiful woman and wine are sweet poisons.
Nederl. Een schoone vrou/ en soete wijn/ Die zijn vol heymelijck fenijn.
Dutch. A beautiful woman and sweet wine: they are full of hidden venom.
Ital. Amor di putana è comme il fuogo della pailla, che tosto s'accende è tosto si spegne.
Italian. A whore's love is like a fire of straw, which is quickly kindled and quickly goes out.
Dio mi guardi du hoste nuov o, è de putana vecchia.
God keep me from a new host and from an old whore.
Nederl. Een oude hoer/ een nieuwe weert/ Die snijden meer als eenigh sweert.
Dutch. An old whore, a new innkeeper: they cut more than any sword.
Ital. Chi di paglia fuoco fa, S'empie di fumo, è altro non ha.
Italian. He who makes a fire of straw fills himself with smoke and has nothing else.
Franç. l'Homme est le feu, la femme l'estoupe, le diable qui souffle.
French. The man is the fire, the woman the tow, the devil the one who blows.
Nederl. Veele soecken goede nachten/ en verliesen goede dagen.
Dutch. Many seek good nights and lose good days.
Franç. Amour de putain, d'estoupe le feu Reluit beaucoup & dure peu.
French. A whore's love, a fire of tow: it shines much and lasts little.
Syr. 42. 2. 14. Tis sekerder by een boos man/ als by een vriendelijck wijf te zijn.
Sirach 42 [and] 2:14. It is safer to be with a wicked man than with a friendly woman.
Andöenus.
Est amor in nobis, in lignis ut furit ignis; Ignis uti lignum, nos levis urit amor; Ligna sed in cineres vanescunt, ignis in auras; Nos cinis, & noster nil nisi fumus amor.
Owen.
Love is in us as fire rages in wood; as fire burns the wood, so light love burns us; but the wood vanishes into ashes and the fire into air; we are ash, and our love is nothing but smoke.
Iconclass
86(AMOUR DE PUTAIN D'ESTOUPE LE FEU, RELUIT BEAUCOUP & DURE PEU)proverbs, sayings, etc. (AMOUR DE PUTAIN D'ESTOUPE LE FEU, RELUIT BEAUCOUP & DURE PEU)
Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated
Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.
41B162smokehighThe correlate 'smoke' matches the great column of smoke rising from the blazing fire of straw/tow, the central emblematic image glossed in the commentary ('He who makes a fire of straw fills himself with smoke').
33C52whore, prostitutemediumThe correlate 'whore, prostitute' fits the richly dressed young woman embracing the man, identified throughout the commentary as a whore whose love is a fire of straw.
33C5prostitutionmediumThe correlate 'prostitution' matches the general theme of the scene and the repeated proverbs about whores' love, courtesies and costs.
41C711wine ~ alcoholic drinkslowThe correlate 'wine ~ alcoholic drinks' corresponds to the cup on the covered table and the commentary's insistent pairing of woman and wine as sweet poison.
43C5games of calculation and chance, e.g.: card games, gambling, puzzles, etc.lowThe correlate 'games of calculation and chance, e.g. card games, gambling' matches the commentary's 'Gambling, woman and wine consume a man' and 'the game of Bruges', though no game is actually depicted.
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- III iii 8 Pyraustae gaudes gaudium – thematic inventiomedium
The emblem's whole point is a pleasure that flares up like a straw fire and is instantly gone, leaving ruin; Erasmus' 'joy of the fire-worm' is precisely momentary, fleeting delight bound up with flame, the creature perishing with scorched wings in the very light it loved — the same fire-and-brief-pleasure logic as the subscriptio's youth who is left burnt-out and impoverished.
- I i 4 Adonidis horti – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus explains 'Gardens of Adonis' as things that are worthless and 'suitable only for giving a brief passing pleasure,' aimed at people born for silly pleasures — the same moral as 'a whore's love shines brightly and lasts but little.'
- II iv 22 Periculosum est canem intestina gustasse – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus' essay applies the adage explicitly to 'anyone who has once had dealings with a prostitute,' warning that one taste of illicit allurement leads to ruin — the admonitory frame of Cats' speaker who was caressed, kissed and then stripped of money, health and peace.
- I viii 57 Melle litus gladius – thematic inventiolow
The emblem's accompanying proverbs state that 'a beautiful woman and wine are sweet poisons' and that a laughing woman deceives everyone; Erasmus' honey-smeared sword stands for the same idea of flattery/sweetness that conceals deadly harm.
Sources
Record ID: embstma_1288_emblem046
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embstma_1288_emblem046
Copy: University Library, Glasgow, Stirling Maxwell 1288