According to my dictionary, to bedew means to cover with dew or sprinkle with drops of water. That part seems fair enough, but it goes on to state that poets can also use the word to mean sprinkle with tears.Does it seem fair to you that a poet's characters' cheek may be be bedewed with tears but mine may not?
No, I didn't think so. Oh well, sometimes life isn't fair, so I'll confine all my bedewing to that involving unsalted water.
It's also the sound the robot in Buck Rogers made. (Almost!)
ReplyDeleteI don't recall him saying that - but it's been a while since I've seen it.
DeleteHi Patsy - it's rather a lovely word ... and I'm sure our cheeks could at times be bedewed ... cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteIt's quite classy sounding, isn't it?
DeleteIt's an interesting word, one of those that sometimes sounds evil when you say it out loud, and other times sounds perfectly sublime. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteYou've now got me trying to say it in an evil manner, Debi!
DeleteHmm, well I didn't know poets had their own special usage for bedew! (And interesting that my spell checker has underlined it.)
ReplyDeleteSusan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
Poets seemed to have a lot of their own special words. I don't think they go in for that so much these days.
DeleteI like the word for its basic meaning but would find it a bit prosy for tears!
ReplyDeleteI like it, but can't imagine using it in a story, Rosemary. Perhaps in dialogue?
DeleteI'd put it in the same category as 'prithee' - that is, OK for an archaic or ironic use, but unlikely to make an appearance in anything I write. That's not to say you can't use it any way you like, of course, Patsy.
ReplyDeleteI like that so much that I am overcome with emotion - and consequently bedewed head-to-foot with salty tears.
ReplyDeleteFascinating word choice. I think all our characters' cheeks have the right to be bedewed:)
ReplyDelete