Jake's Flea Market

want his wife to be
his accomplice who removes
the purse from the pouch
the brooch on a chain from the neck
the ruby on the ring from the finger removes
the doublet of brocade from the torso
the pluderhosen (1) made of silk from the trunk
pointed poulaines (2) from the feet want
his wife to chew a leaf of henbane (3) to sit
watch over the spaded floor

want him to have a wife


1. Pluderhosen or Upper hose (also Upper hosen) – short, baggy trousers for men made of fabric, usually velvet, with vertical slits showing the lining, hence they were also called “filled trousers”, chausse à la gigotte, chausse bouffante, etc. These short pants were worn on top of Chausses or stockings. They are of three main types. The first type – up to the knee or slightly below, this type of trousers became the progenitor of breeches or culottes. The second type is a spherical, voluminous leg up to mid-thigh or higher. The legs consist of strips or slits, and the inside is stuffed with fabric, which is often visible between the ribbons. The third type combines the previous two.
The first such trousers appeared at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. Their origin is difficult to trace. In some countries they are called “Greek pants” (es. gregüescos), in others “Spanish”. But they gained particular popularity in Germany, in the first half of the 16th century. Landsknechts are a prime example.

2.Poulaines, also known by other names, were a style of unisex footwear with extremely long toes that were fashionable in Europe at various times in the Middle Ages. The poulaine proper was a shoe or boot of soft material whose elongated toe (also known as a poulaine or pike) frequently required filling to maintain its shape. The chief vogue for poulaines spread across Europe from medieval Poland in the mid-14th century and spread across Europe, reaching upper-class England with the 1382 marriage of Richard II to Anne of Bohemia and remaining popular through most of the 15th century. Sturdier forms were used as overshoes and the sabatons of the era’s armor were often done in poulaine style. -Wikipedia


3.The poisonous, narcotic henbanes were associated with witchcraft since earliest times. The Assyrians recommended hanging them on one’s door to ward off sorcery. Witches found them valuable especially due to their trance-inducing capabilities, and they were used in flying ointment rituals. They have been used to lessen pain, neuralgia and diminish convulsions. Dioscorides recommended them largely for external pain killing use. The leaves are made into a kind of cigarette to relieve asthma and other respiratory ailments. -wikipedia. Hamlet’s uncle Claudius poured a henbane tincture of the “cursed hebenon” into Hamlet’s father’s ear to murder him.