Prithee English texts, and the difference between the two terms has been debated by scholars. Scholars such as Roger Brown and Albert Gilman have suggested that "prithee" was an ingroup indicator. Other scholars suggest that it is simply the more deferential form. The relationship between the two is complicated by the phrase "beseech you", which was used in the same time period and was clearly the form used most deferentially. Although the closest Modern English equivalent of "prithee" is "please", the two terms presume different attitudes within the addressee. While "please" accompanies a request addressing itself to the positive desire of
One Word is Too Often Profaned One Word is Too Often Profaned <poem>ONE word is too often profaned One feeling too falsely disdain'd One hope is too like despair And pity from thee more dear I can give not what men call love; The worship the heart lifts above The desire of the moth for the star, The devotion to something afar </poem> "One Word Is Too Often Profaned" is a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, written in 1822 and published in 1824 (see 1822 in poetry). The poem was intended for Jane Williams. It expresses Shelley's deep and genuine devotion for her. Shelley met Jane