SOF member Jens Münnichow sent this note from his home in the Mannheim region of Germany too late for us to get the timing exactly right, unfortunately, but nonetheless it is timely enough and an encouragement to listen to Alexander Waugh’s voice again:
“Wouldn’t it be nice to put a little note to Alexander Waugh’s great presentation on Kepler’s Supernova 1604 (SN 1604) on the SOF webpage today?
The Supernova was first observed today, 420 years ago – on October 9, 1604.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dtXf0XzDdA&pp=ygUZYWxleGFuZGVyIHdhdWdoIHN1cGVybm92YQ%3D%3D
Alexander points out in it not only that “Avon” was a common name of Hampton Court Palace back then, but also that the whole “Sweet Swan of Avon” section might very well be a reference to the SN 1604, thus a connection the Author of the works to Earl of Oxford, who had died just a few months before SN 1604 appeared, while the Stratford Man was still alive and can’t fit in the description of a poet who was dead when SN 1604 appeared.
I’m a great fan of this presentation because it demolishes the “Sweet Swan of Avon” as a reference to Stratford convincingly, imho. In addition, it adds a new perspective to the interpretation of Jonson’s poem.
Greetings from Germany,
Jens”
