Google
English-Test.net
Find penpals and make new friends today!
 
person who purchases something; client; customer; shopper; purchaser
broker
menu
buyer
exclusion
Free TOEIC test: Free word games online: Nouns Quiz Answer
 
Username
Password
 Remember me? 
Search   FAQ   Memberlist   Profile   Private messages   Register   Log in 

"Hereunder lies the above who up below..."



 
ESL/EFL Worksheets and Handouts for Students Printable, photocopiable, clearly structured
Designed for teachers and individual learners
For use in a classroom, at home, on your PC
ESL Forums | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
'Have somebody wait' vs 'Have somebody waiting' | The conjunction "AND"
Listening exercises
Message
Author
"Hereunder lies the above who up below..." #1 (permalink) Mon Jul 03, 2006 5:52 am   "Hereunder lies the above who up below..."
 

Hello everybody

Please read the lines given below:Could you please explain the lines in bold to me? What is the writer trying to say?

I am sitting on a tomb, and when the time comes to piss again, I have my pick. Or I wander, hands clasped behind my back, among the slabs, the flat, the leaning and the upright, culling the inscriptions. Of these I never weary, there are always three or four of such drollery that I have to hold on to the cross, or the stele, or the angel, so as not to fall.Mine I composed long since and am still pleased with it, tolerably pleased. My other writings are no sooner dry than they revolt me, but my epitaph still meets with my approval. There is little chance unfortunately of its ever being reared above the skull that conceived it, unless the State takes up the matter.But to be uneatrhed I must first be found, and I fear those gentlemen will have as much trouble finding me dead as alive. So I hasten to record it here and now, while there is yet time:

Hereunder lies the above who up below
So hourly died that he survived till now


Thanks in advance

Tom
Tom
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 30 May 2006
Posts: 2061

"Hereunder lies the above who up below..." #2 (permalink) Mon Jul 03, 2006 21:30 pm   "Hereunder lies the above who up below..."
 

Hi Tom,
This is classic example how to piss off moderators
I mean iritate ha, ha...

pick - translate as choice (where to have a piss or under which tomb)

drollery - black humor? /some amusing transript or epitaph which shouldn't be amusing but become somehow,

skull (a man) how had thought (reared above)out the text
of epitaph can't be sure they will write after his death that text unless State ( government) would take care of this.

To be unearthed you need to be remebered ,
and he is afraid to be forgotten after his death as he was ignored being alive.So to be sure they wouldn't miss the epitaph he writes now everything down.

Epitaph is weird and the "skull" is just sick and mental but
if you want the tranlation...

Here lies the guy (written on tomb)above who finish lying below
So hour after hour dying that somehow still alive up to now

Regards
poetry expert Jan
(burn this book)
Jan
I'm here quite often ;-)


Joined: 01 Apr 2006
Posts: 318
Location: At sea

Sign up for FREE and explore English! Click to subscribe to email English courseAre you a native speaker of English? Then you should read this!Can you find all the prepositions in this story?English grammar exercises — improve your English knowledge and vocabulary skills
"Hereunder lies the above who up below..." #3 (permalink) Mon Jul 03, 2006 21:38 pm   "Hereunder lies the above who up below..."
 

Jan wrote:
Hi Tom,
This is classic example how to piss off moderators
I mean iritate ha, ha...

Laughing Laughing Laughing

You seem to be pretty good at interpreting things, Cap'n Poetry Jan. Laughing

Jan wrote:
Regards
poetry expert Jan
(burn this book)

Laughing Laughing Laughing

Amy
Yankee
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 8265
Location: USA

"Hereunder lies the above who up below..." #4 (permalink) Tue Jul 04, 2006 12:39 pm   "Hereunder lies the above who up below..."
 

Thanks a lot, Jan. Very Happy

Dear Amy

How would you feel if I told you I needed some more explanation/ elaboration on the given lines? Shocked Please help!

1-...that I have to hold on to the cross, or the stele, or the angel, so as not to fall

2- But to be uneatrhed I must first be found...

3-Hereunder lies the above who up below
So hourly died that he survived till now


Tom
Tom
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 30 May 2006
Posts: 2061

"Hereunder lies the above who up below..." #5 (permalink) Tue Jul 04, 2006 13:05 pm   "Hereunder lies the above who up below..."
 

Just off-topic Very Happy Amy,I was sure that Tom would address to you anyway!
Pamela
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 14 Mar 2006
Posts: 1239
Location: Rf

"Hereunder lies the above who up below..." #6 (permalink) Tue Jul 04, 2006 15:50 pm   "Hereunder lies the above who up below..."
 

Tom wrote:
1-...that I have to hold on to the cross, or the stele, or the angel, so as not to fall

He's laughing so hard from the "drollery" that he needs to hold on to the variious tombstones, etc. so that he doesn't fall.

2- But to be unearthed I must first be found...

Literally: Someone has to first find where I'm buried before they can dig me up.

3-Hereunder lies the above who up below
So hourly died that he survived till now


This is the inscription that he's written for his own tombstone.
hereunder => under this tombstone
the above => refers to the name written on the tombstone above the inscription
who up below So hourly died that he survived till now => whose life has been such a slow death that he has lived all the way up to now

Tom


Hi Tom

I've written down some fairly literal interpretations (blue). Not nearly as poetic as Cap'n Jan. Laughing

Amy
Yankee
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 8265
Location: USA

Display posts from previous:   
'Have somebody wait' vs 'Have somebody waiting' | The conjunction "AND"
ESL Forums | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms "Hereunder lies the above who up below..." All times are GMT + 1 Hour
Page 1 of 1
Latest topics on ESL EFL Forums
Act like a cat on the hot bricks?Vendor vs. venderSophaholic? (Confessions of a Sophaholic)"Raise" or "Rise"Expression: "sweated through"THE VERB 'stay out'What is the origin of the word 'yankee' (any connection to Independence Day?)Expression: Like a rebel'put in' vs. 'input' (verbs)Rather matey with somebody?Nervous versus NervouslyThe adverb 'now'The followed by present participleThe usage of 'one day'How to unquote 'nested' quotes at once?BE DYING FOR + noun"As usual" versus "As always"Are we on the same page? (How much do you like this idiom?)"Hereunder lies the above who up below..."

Discover English-test.net
Slang expression for the boss - the chief manAdditional marketing elementsPrepositions: I put the forks over|on the tablewhat and when is "to be + V-ing" being used?MCAT vocab test: Vocabulary Quiz: English Nouns Adverbs AdjectivesMCAT vocabulary test: Word find games: Free Online Noun Adverb Adjective GameDefine osmoregulation, permeability, articular cartilage, noble gas, locally, malleability, loop of HenleLearning to speak American English: Download free PimsleurGrammar pronouns: Funny IdiomsRichmal Crompton: The Woman Behind Just William audiobook download

 
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Subscribe to FREE email English course
First name E-mail