Care, and nothing more

[Egyption Arrow]

In the name of the Merciful Allah,
Hi, please confirm to me the exact meaning of " care" in this quotation written by William Shakespeare :" sleep that knits up the ravelled sleave of care". THANKS AHEAD.

[MrPedantic]

Hello EA,

I would take "care" in this context as, loosely, "things that you are concerned about".

Best wishes,

MrP

[vil]

Hi Egyptian Arrow,

There are a few words from my computer:

"Macbeth does murder sleep, the innocent sleep
sleep knits up the raveled sleeve of care,
the death of each day's life, sore labor's bath,
Balm of hurt mind, great nature's second course,
Chief nourisher in life's feast"

knit = tie or link together
ravel = disentangle, tangle or complicate

The mentioned above line is a very eloquent line in English about sleep!

Three things about sleep should be noted:
1. sleep as the great interpretor of life
2. sleep as healer, and
3. sleep as nourish

Something that is reveled is "tangled, confused,involved" or "frayed out" with frayed edges, ragged. A "sleeve" as a part of a garment or a "slender filament of silk obtained by separating a thicker thread" Finally the word "ravel" not only suggest the reality of tangledness or confusion, but was a kind of medieval bread ("ravel bread") of flour with the bran left in which may connect the "raveled" sleeve of care with the "nourisher" in the last line above.

In any case, the principle picture communicated here is that sleep "knits up" or secures which has become confused or tangled in our lives. It brings lose ends together, tightening them and producing an untangled sleeve or garment. It lets things settle, it suppresses some of the insistent voices that rang in our ears and lets other come to the fore, it smooths out what was so ragged or bumpy in our minds before we went to sleep."

Regards.

V.