This evocative literary term (pronounced er-yaard) originating from the Middle French œil, meaning eye, means an amorous, flirtatious, furtive, or suggestive glance, or ogle, as well as now rare red wine grape. In English the word was first recorded in 1592 by playwright Robert Greene, but was more famously coined by William Shakespeare in King Lear: "She gave strange oeiliads and most speaking looks."
In The Merry Wives of Windsor, Falstaff also remarks that “I have writ me here a letter to her; and here another to Pages wife, who euen now gaue mee good eyes too; examined my parts with most judicious oeillades.”
In another quote, from a 1849 piece called “The Barmaid” by Joseph Stirling Coyne that appeared in a book called Sketches of London Life & Character, he describes her thus, with the key word at the end:
“Who is she that sitteth in the shrine of the temple of Bacchus? — the Priestess of that ancient worship whose mysteries are celebrated in the Halls of Evans. Her brows are crowned with mint and juniper, and her shining tresses curl like the rind of the artfully peeled orange upon her polished shoulders … Who knows not the pretty Barmaid — the modern Hebe, whose champagne is not more intoxicating than her œillades?”
Another phrase for oeillade is glad eye. As well as the postcard above, here is a some romantic fiction translated from a French play:
The Glad Eye by Ranger Gull
The glad eye is also the name of a butterfly. Mycalesis junonia, more commonly known as the Malabar Glad-eye Bushbrown, a species of Satyrinae butterfly with a distinctive eye look on its wings, as much the ward off predators as attract mates, and is found in South India.
Mycalesis junonia, the Malabar Glad-eye Bushbrown
Meanwhile the grape Œillade noire was historically grown in the Languedoc and Provence wine region but it is now close to extinction.
Songs using the word? There is indeed one by French postpunk band KAEL, fronted by singer-songwriter Théo Serre, from a compilation titled Masilia’s Burning, out in 2024 on Lollipop Records:
Here is a songs about the same kind of look from a very famous 1960s star:
as for the glad eye alternative, here is a short selection of lively folk numbers:
Any further oeillade-related examples to share from your own music library? Feel free also to share anything related whether in music or wider culture, such as from film, art, or other contexts, in comments below.
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