Sir John Everett Millais, Ophelia

Sir John Everett Millais, Ophelia, 1851-52, oil on canvas, 76.2 x 111.8 cm (Tate Britain, London). A conversation with Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker at Tate Britain.

With gratitude, Dr. Allen Staley, 1935-2023

Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act IV, Scene VII: There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds

Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke; When down her weedy trophies and herself Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide, And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up; Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes, As one incapable of her own distress, Or like a creature native and indued Unto that element; but long it could not be Till that her garments. heavy with their drink.