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All Site ContentTaming of the ShrewAct IntroductionScene 1
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“Grim death, how foul and loathsome is thine image!”
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Act Introduction,
Scene 1
Lines 27-31

An explanation of Lord’s description of drunken Sly in Introduction 1 of myShakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

Lord

What's here? One dead, or drunk? See, doth he breathe?    

Second Huntsman

He breathes, my lord. Were he not warmed with ale,
This were a bed but cold to sleep so soundly.    

Lord

O monstrous beast, how like a swine he lies!
Grim death, how foul and loathsome is thine image!    

The similarity in appearance between sleep and death was a common comparison in medieval literature.