maudlin

maudlin And now where’er he goes
Among the Galilean mountains
Or more unwelcome ways,
He's followed by two faithful fountains;
Two walking baths;
Two weeping motions;
Portable and compendious oceans.


The English poet Richard Crashaw (1613–1649) wrote this curious poem about Jesus and Magdalene. Mary Magdalene is often portrayed by classical painters with eyes swollen and red from weeping. In an early French form her name was spelled Madelaine; in English it was Magdalene. Gradually the name was corrupted to Maudlin, which has come to stand for stupidly sentimental. To be unguardedly drunk is to be maudlin drunk, characteristic of one who goes on a crying jag after overimbibing. Any tearfully or weakly emotional person is maudlin, whether drunk or a teetotaler. The word is applied to those who shed tears over little or nothing.

The British pronunciation of Magdalene is “maudlin,” and the spelling followed the sound. Cambridge University has an institution named Magdalene College. Oxford University has its Magdalen College. But whether or not the final “e” is used, the names are pronounced the same—“Maudlin.”