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Expression: And yet it was in some way...



 
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Phrase "boarded on" | Expression "had to have done"
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Expression: And yet it was in some way... Wed Aug 15, 2007 4:41 am  Expression: And yet it was in some way...
 

Hi,

Could you please help me with the following passage:

Quote:
--You, Cochrane, what city sent for him?
--Tarentum, sir.
--Very good. Well?
--There was a battle, sir.
--Very good. Where?
The boy's blank face asked the blank window.

Fabled by the daughters of memory. And yet it was in some way if not as memory fabled it.

Could I take the latter part of the sentence as:

And yet it was fabled in some way even if it was not (totally) the way as memory fabled it.

Thank you!

Haihao
Haihao
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Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 1307
Location: Japan

Expression: And yet it was in some way... Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:33 am  Expression: And yet it was in some way...
 

.
Yes, I think so-- but I really don't know what's going on in this passage.
.
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Expression: And yet it was in some way... Wed Aug 15, 2007 9:12 am  Expression: And yet it was in some way...
 

Thank you, MM, and I am sorry for the insufficient context. It seems the setting is a classroom and questions and answers between a teacher and students on history. The wholer part is like this:

--You, Cochrane, what city sent for him?

--Tarentum, sir.

--Very good. Well?

--There was a battle, sir.

--Very good. Where?

The boy's blank face asked the blank window.

Fabled by the daughters of memory. And yet it was in some way if not as memory fabled it. A phrase, then, of impatience, thud of Blake's wings of excess. I hear the ruin of all space, shattered glass and toppling masonry, and time one livid final flame. What's left us then?

--I forget the place, sir. 279 B. C.

--Asculum, Stephen said, glancing at the name and date in the gorescarred book.

--Yes, sir. And he said: ANOTHER VICTORY LIKE THAT AND WE ARE DONE FOR.

That phrase the world had remembered. A dull ease of the mind. From a hill above a corpsestrewn plain a general speaking to his officers, leaned upon his spear. Any general to any officers. They lend ear.

--You, Armstrong, Stephen said. What was the end of Pyrrhus?

--End of Pyrrhus, sir?

--I know, sir. Ask me, sir, Comyn said.

--Wait. You, Armstrong. Do you know anything about Pyrrhus?

A bag of figrolls lay snugly in Armstrong's satchel. He curled them between his palms at whiles and swallowed them softly. Crumbs adhered to the tissue of his lips. A sweetened boy's breath. Welloff people, proud that their eldest son was in the navy. Vico road, Dalkey.

--Pyrrhus, sir? Pyrrhus, a pier.

All laughed. Mirthless high malicious laughter. Armstrong looked round at his classmates, silly glee in profile. In a moment they will laugh more loudly, aware of my lack of rule and of the fees their papas pay. (The beginning part of Chapter II, Ulysses)

Thank you again!

HH
Haihao
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 1307
Location: Japan

Expression: And yet it was in some way... Wed Aug 15, 2007 15:18 pm  Expression: And yet it was in some way...
 

.
Quote:
Fabled by the daughters of memory. And yet it was in some way if not as memory fabled it. A phrase, then, of impatience, thud of Blake's wings of excess. I hear the ruin of all space, shattered glass and toppling masonry, and time one livid final flame.

Yipes-- Joyce! Are you sure you are getting any of this, Haihao?-- Not just 'as memory fabled it' but also the 'daughters of memory' and 'Blake's wings of excess'-- and probably the whole last sentence, all of which I think are literary/cultural references... and none of which I could elucidate with much clarity without further research of my own.
.
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Expression: And yet it was in some way... Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:40 am  Expression: And yet it was in some way...
 

Thank you for your indication, Mister Micawber. Just as you pointed out, actually I couldn't possibly read and understand it without making a lot of research, which takes me more time, maybe much more time, than the reading itself. But I really feel it's worth it and maybe that's what the wonderful book is meant to be.

I would just like to have your precious help at the time my own researching source dries up and I would appreciate it so very much as ever.

Haihao
Haihao
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 1307
Location: Japan

Expression: And yet it was in some way... Thu Aug 16, 2007 5:37 am  Expression: And yet it was in some way...
 

.
If you are serious about working your way through Ulysses, why don't you do what native students do?-- pick up a copy of Stuart Gilbert's 'James Joyce's Ulysses: A Study', an inexpensive paperback that very authoritatively outlines the chapters, their structure and significance. It is an invaluable exegesis.
.
_________________
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who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
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Mister Micawber
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Expression: And yet it was in some way... Thu Aug 16, 2007 5:59 am  Expression: And yet it was in some way...
 

Thank you for the valuable information and I would try to get from Amazon the invaluable exegesis you recommended for the invaluable masterpiece.

Haihao
Haihao
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 1307
Location: Japan

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Phrase "boarded on" | Expression "had to have done"
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