In the Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare writes about "Choiring to Cherubim". What does this passage mean?
Here is the whole passage:
"How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!
Here will we sit and let the sounds of music
creep in our ears. Soft stillness and the night
become the touches of sweet harmony.
Sit, Jessica. Look how the floor of heaven
is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold.
There's not the smallest orb which thou beholdest
but in his motion like an angel sings,
still choiring to the young-eyed cherubim.
Such harmony is in immortal souls,
but while this muddy vesture of decay
doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it." (V,i,54-65)
I am only interested in this specific passage, not the whole scene. How would this passage be rendered in ordinary English? Can anyone refer me to an authoritative commentary?
Cherubim are the angels which support the throne of God. They are mentioned in Genesis and Ezekiel. "Choiring to cherubim" means singing to the angels as a choir.
It's an interesting use of the noun form of choir as a verb. Cherub is the singular form, btw.
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