Fairyland forlorn
From Mr Michael McMahon Sir: The answer to the question posed at the head of Paul Johnson's column 'What would Shakespeare have said of the footand-mouth mess? (And another thing, 14 April) is found in the first scene of the second act ofA Midsummer Night's Dream:
The fold stands empty in the drowned field, And the crows are fatted with the murrion flock.
Titania's speech goes on to describe a disordered climate of exactly the kind that we endure today:
The seasons alter... .
The spring, the summer, The chiding autumn, angry winter change Their wonted liveries, and the mazed world By their increase now knows not which is which.
And how does Shakespeare account for this disorientating disharmony? Because (strange to relate) what happens in the nation's countryside is determined by a bunch of squabbling fairies.
Michael McMahon
Plumstead, Norfolk
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