Was this quote from Poe, and from where is it from, what book or poetry? "Oh the tangeled webs we weave, when first we practice to decieve".

-- Anonymous, April 29, 2000

Answers

Tammy,

This powem is not from Edgar Allan Poe but is from the poem "Marmion", written in 1808 by Sir Walter Scott.

Regards,

-- Anonymous, April 29, 2000

Sorry, that would be 'poem', not 'powem'!

-- Anonymous, April 29, 2000

I do believe it was from Shakespeare...

-- Anonymous, October 10, 2000

Yes, it was by Sir Walter Scott, but hell if i cant find Marmion lol

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2002

Oh, what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive!

Sir Walter Scott 1771-1832

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2003

It's from Shakespeare: 'Oh What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.' I *believe* that it is from A Midsummer Night's Dream but I am not sure, and am currently seeking the reference for a paper that I'm writing. Too bad I can't seem to find it lol

-- Anonymous, September 09, 2003

The quote is from Sir Walter Scott's "Marmion" Canto vi Stanza 17.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2003

The answer that it is from 'Marmion' by Sir Walter Scott is correct, Canto sixth stanza V11 (17)...Note however that in the original version the word "practice" in the attached quote was spelled "practise" which does alter the meaning significantly

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2003

AFAIK nothing (of course you have to pay for each beverage you get on board). Once I flew with Ryan Air to London and that was ok (for EUR 60 round trip). O yes, the airports may be quite far away from downtown. My trip from Frankfurt to London was actually from Hahn (2h from Frankfurt) to Stanstead (1.5h from London). And with the train you will see more of the count-ries, and it's more comfortable.

-- Anonymous, November 11, 2003

so is it from shakespeare "twelth night" or from sir walter scott???

-- Anonymous, February 04, 2004

It's Walter Scott-- http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/495.html Check it there. First line, 18th stanza. Just for cross referance.

-- Anonymous, February 13, 2004

The quote, "Oh the tangeled webs we weave..." is from Shankespeare's Macbeth

-- Anonymous, March 10, 2004

Opps... I appear to be mistaken. I got this from a sight dedicated to setting the record straight about quotes mistakenly attributed to Shakespeare.

"Oh what a tangled web we weave/When first we practice to deceive" - Sir Walter Scott (Marmion, 1808)

-- Anonymous, March 10, 2004

cindy harris is correct,i checked it's from Marmion canto v1 stanza xv11

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2004

u guys its from the play Othello writen by Shakespear i just read the book in school

-- Anonymous, April 18, 2004

The quote is originally from Sir Walter Scott's Marmion, written in 1808. However, it is often (wrongly) attributed to Shakespeare, as I believe he did use the quote, or a paraphrase thereof, in Midsummer Nights Dream. if I could find my script...which is slightly worrying that I can't, as I have lines to learn! I could tell you, I believe it's Puck or Oberon, although I could be totally wrong!

-- Anonymous, April 21, 2004

Roxie, you ARE totally wrong, 'cause Shakespeare wrote his plays some 200 years before Sir W. Scott was ever born...

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2004

Here is Marmion: Canto vi Stanza 17

XVII.

'In brief my lord, we both descried— For then I stood by Henry's side— The Palmer mount and outwards ride Upon the earl's own favorite steed. All sheathed he was in armor bright, And much resembled that same knight Subdued by you in Cotswold fight; Lord Angus wished him speed.'— The instant that Fitz-Eustace spoke, A sudden light on Marmion broke:— 'Ah! dastard fool, to reason lost!' He muttered; ''T was nor fay nor ghost I met upon the moonlight wold, But living man of earthly mould.— O dotage blind and gross! Had I but fought as wont, one thrust Had laid De Wilton in the dust, My path no more to cross.— How stand we now?— he told his tale To Douglas, and with some avail; 'T was therefore gloomed his rugged brow.— Will Surrey dare to entertain 'Gainst Marmion charge disproved and vain? Small risk of that, I trow. Yet Clare's sharp questions must I shun, Must separate Constance from the nun— Oh! what a tangled web we weave When first we practise to deceive! A Palmer too!— no wonder why I felt rebuked beneath his eye; I might have known there was but one Whose look could quell Lord Marmion.'

Woody Quiñones

-- Anonymous, May 26, 2004

I think I recall the line coming from John Dryden, but now with Scott thrown in the mix I am unsure. Dryden had a wonderful way of making pithy couplets, quite memorable. It is just my memory that is suspect.

-- Anonymous, May 29, 2004

shakespeare was born 200 years before sir walter scott, so how could he have borrowed the phrase?

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2004

It is actually from The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air.. Carlton said it.

-- Anonymous, June 21, 2004

It was Sir Walter Scott who wrote it. HOWEVER,

THIS QUOTE IS SO APPLICABLE TO MOST DEMOCRATS....., ESPECILALLY CLINTON AND GORE... LOL

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!

-- Anonymous, June 25, 2004

Oh, Patty Patty Patty -- only a Republican could redirect a search for a literary quote into bashing others! Remember this, dear, while you're having a great day: NO ONE DIED WHEN CLINTON LIED!! And I am having a really wonderful day! Thanks!

-- Anonymous, July 27, 2004

Fat bum bums make me giggle.

-- Anonymous, August 12, 2004

Yes the quote is from one of shakespeares plays, because I never read Marmion written by sir walter scott, and I am familiar with the quote.

-- Anonymous, September 12, 2004

Listen yopu lot who live on the other side of the Atlantic..... It is from Sir Walter Scott's Marmion as you have already been told. Do you never listen to anybody? A McDonald, and proud of it.

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2004

the lines are from the epic poem "marmion" by sir walter scott, all about a battle that took place in 1513 in the english county of northumberland where i live "the battle of flodden field" on 9th september 1513 was the last battle to take place between the english and the scots in this northernmost county of england.

-- Anonymous, September 25, 2004

I think my parents came up with it because they say it all the time and they are really old.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2004

Has any one noticed how there is a "poe" in poem?

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2005

whos the scottish guy and what does he have to go with Edgar Allan Poe? same with Shakespear. (dont worry i know wo Shakespear is)

-- Anonymous, January 29, 2005

Too bad you can't spell shakespeare. It is Sir Walter Scott, and why is this discussion continuing..?

-- Anonymous, February 08, 2005

I can not believe that no one got this answer - The quote is from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice and spoken by the character Portia

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2005

Absolutely not Shakespears folks. Contrary to the common belief, it is not from Merchant of Venice, or Othello, or Macbeth, or Twelth Night, or Midsummer Night's Dream... It does not appear in a Shakespearean work. That is a little scary for those that claimed to have been studying it !

It was originally from Sir Walter Scott, and as everyone has pointed out Shakespeare was born much earlier than good old Walt, but since it didn't appear before then, there was no copying !

A lesson from the land of Oz...

-- Anonymous, February 13, 2005

OK OK OK......Now all you literate and educated people have finally established that it was from Sir Walter Scott. (Which is correct by the way!) How about we have some definitions for said quote!

Now this should be interesting!

-- Anonymous, March 05, 2005