Geffrey Whitney, A choice of emblemes (Leiden, 1586)
Emblem 12
The perforated barrel of the Danaids
FrustràLatin
In vain.
- Interpretation
- Tun with holes (In vain)
Description of the imageAI-generated
Within an ornamental woodcut border, a large wooden cask or tun stands upright, bound with hoops; its staves are pierced with many holes from which streams of water gush out and flow down to form a pool spreading around the base of the barrel.
Subscriptio
TranscriptionAI-generated
THE Poëttes faine, that DANAVS daughters deare, Inioyned are to fill the fatall tonne: Where, thowghe they toile, yet are they not the neare, But as they powre, the water forthe dothe runne: No paine will serue, to fill it to the toppe, For, still at holes the same doth runne, and droppe. Which reprehendes, three sortes of wretches vaine, The blabbe, th'ingrate, and those that couet still, As first, the blabbe, no secretts can retaine. Th'ingrate, not knowes to vse his frendes good will. The couetous man, thowghe he abounde with store Is not suffisde, but couetts more and more.
TranslationAI-generated
The poets tell that Danaus' dear daughters are enjoined to fill the fatal cask: where, though they toil, they are none the nearer, but as they pour, the water runs out again: no labour will suffice to fill it to the top, for still the water runs and drips out at the holes. This reproves three sorts of empty wretches: the blabber, the ungrateful man, and those who still covet. First, the blabber can keep no secrets. The ungrateful man does not know how to use his friend's goodwill. The covetous man, though he abound with wealth, is not satisfied, but covets more and more.
Notes and related emblems
- In Paradin, Princeliicke Deviisen, the emblem has the motto "Hac illac perfluo"
- Related emblem in another book: embmne_pad1615_emblem097
Iconclass
21Dwater (one of the four elements)41A775(+9)wooden container: barrel, cask (+ broken, damaged)47C6112(+0)pouring out of (industrial process) (+ variant)51II2(+4)Emptiness, Void (+ emblematical representation of concept)52D4(+4)Prolixity, Verbosity, Loquacity; 'Loquacità' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)55CC11(+4)Greed, Covetousness, Cupidity; 'Cupidità' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)57AA8(+4)Ingratitude; 'Ingratitudine' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept)86(FRUSTRA)proverbs, sayings, etc. (FRUSTRA)93E85the Danaids pouring water into a perforated vessel
Suggested Iconclass codesAI-generated
Additional codes proposed for this emblem, not (yet) part of the indexing.
41A775wooden container: barrel, caskhighThe correlate 'wooden container: barrel, cask' directly matches the large hooped wooden tun that is the emblem's central object.
Relationships to the Adagia of ErasmusAI-generated
Suggested relationships between this emblem and adages in Erasmus’ Adagia.
- I x 33 Inexplebile dolium – thematic inventiohigh
Erasmus's 'jar that cannot be filled' is applied exactly to the emblem's targets: the insatiably greedy, the spendthrift, and the forgetful/leaky mind that lets everything slip out; he even quotes Plautus' 'In pertusum ingerimus dolium, operam ludimus', the very image of the woodcut.
- I iv 60 Cribro aquam haurire – thematic inventiomedium
Erasmus's adage on drawing water with a sieve expounds the Platonic/Danaid image of carrying water into a leaky vessel as the type of endless futile toil, the same mythological exemplum the subscriptio retells.
- III i 3 Aegypti nuptiae – thematic inventiolow
This adage supplies the other half of the Danaid myth (Danaus' fifty daughters murdering the sons of Aegyptus), the story whose sequel—their punishment at the fatal tun—the emblem depicts; but the adage's moral (ill-omened marriage) differs.
- II v 24 Mendici pero non impletur – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus applies the never-filled beggar's satchel to the rich 'quibus nihil est satis' and to insatiable appetites, matching the emblem's covetous man who 'thowghe he abounde with store / Is not suffisde, but couetts more and more.'
- I iv 53 In aqua sementem facis – thematic inventiolow
Erasmus explains this futility-adage specifically of kindness bestowed on ungrateful men, which is as wholly lost as seed sown in the sea—the emblem's second 'wretch', the ingrate who cannot use his friend's goodwill.
Sources
Record ID: embstma_1667_emblem012
This emblem on the Iconclass site: https://iconclass.org/view/embstma_1667_emblem012
Copy: University Library, Glasgow, Stirling Maxwell 1667