How to read Nashe's 'Brightness falls from the air'

Abstract

Thomas Nashe's famous line 'Brightnesse falls from the ayre' has perplexed commentators unsure whether 'ayre' was intended by the author or is a misreading of 'hayre'. The article surveys the most significant readings of the poem - those of R. B. McKerrow, William Empson, Wesley Trimpi, J. V. Cunningham and others - showing how critics have been divided into 'modernists' and 'traditionalists'. The article argues that while there may be no obvious means of establishing a definitive reading, paying close attention to Renaissance ideas about puns and language, and remembering that the line occurs not in a self-sufficient poem but in a play, Summer's Last Will and Testament, will enable us to appreciate its possibilities and ambiguity.