| What is "Four basic language skills"? | How much 'net speaking time' per lesson? |
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 #46 (permalink) Tue Jun 17, 2008 22:19 pm Usage of "supply" |
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Part 2:
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Ugly and futile: lean neck and thick hair and a stain of ink, a snail's bed. Yet someone had loved him, borne him in her arms and in her heart. But for her the race of the world would have trampled him underfoot, a squashed boneless snail. She had loved his weak watery blood drained from her own. Was that then real? The only true thing in life?
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I can't see any allusions, in this reflection on maternal love; except perhaps to the Stephen D. of Portrait of an Artist. Sargent's case seems to be Stephen's own; it isn't quite clear at which point S. begins to think of his own mother, rather than Sargent's.
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His mother's prostrate body / the fiery Columbanus / in holy zeal bestrode.
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Here S. breaks into verse again. St Columbanus (an Irish missionary from the late 6th century) might be seen by S. as the antithesis of the Irish intellectuals he considered earlier: exporting religion into Europe, rather than entertainment into England.
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She was no more: the trembling skeleton of a twig burnt in the fire, an odour of rosewood and wetted ashes.
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This returns to S's earlier vision of his mother. (I particularly like that last phrase.)
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She had saved him from being trampled underfoot and had gone, scarcely having been. A poor soul gone to heaven: and on a heath beneath winking stars a fox, red reek of rapine in his fur, with merciless bright eyes scraped in the earth, listened, scraped up the earth, listened, scraped and scraped.
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This fox is troublesome. On the one hand, we have St C. and S's mother; on the other, contrastingly, the fox and S. himself. The fox has buried its grandmother, in the non-riddle; in the usual phrase, S. has "buried his mother". (Earlier, too, S. was "poor dogsbody"; and a real dog's body will appear later.)
I wonder myself whether these fox references look forward, rather than elsewhere: perhaps to the "tallyho" scene in Nighttown. Except that there may be an allusion to Tennyson's In Memoriam, in the "red reek of rapine":
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And he, shall he,
Man, her last work, who seem’d so fair,
Such splendid purpose in his eyes,
Who roll’d the psalm to wintry skies,
Who built him fanes of fruitless prayer,
Who trusted God was love indeed
And love Creation’s final law–
Tho’ Nature, red in tooth and claw
With ravine, shriek’d against his creed–
Who loved, who suffer’d countless ills,
Who battled for the True, the Just,
Be blown about the desert dust,
Or seal’d within the iron hills?
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It is a very pregnant passage: moving from the ugly and "futile" boy to the bright-eyed fox.
All the best,
MrP |
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MrPedantic
I'm a Communicator ;-)
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| #47 (permalink) Wed Jun 18, 2008 5:59 am Usage of "supply" |
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| Many thanks again. |
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Haihao
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 2471
Location: Japan
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| #48 (permalink) Thu Jun 19, 2008 1:09 am Usage of "supply" |
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Hello MrP,
Just one line but puzzles me no little.
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| He tapped his savingsbox against his thumbnail. |
I wonder if it suggests he repeatedly knocked the box with his thumbnail like filliping out his thumb onto (against) the box.
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| He went to the desk near the window, pulled in his chair twice and read off some words from the sheet on the drum of his typewriter. |
Does it imply he went to the desk, sat in his chair and then pulled it in twice?
And sorry for another trifle from Oxen of the Sun:
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| Also the lady was of his avis and repreved the learning knight though she trowed well that the traveller had said thing that was false for his subtility. But the learning knight would not hear say nay nor do her mandement ne have him in aught contrarious to his list and he said how it was a marvellous castle. |
#1 I have no idea what 'avis' is.
#2 Is 'repreved' = reproved?
#3 No idea about 'do her mandement ne'. Kind of 'refuse her amendment'?
#4 contrarious to his list = against his will?
Thank you!
Haihao |
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Haihao
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 2471
Location: Japan
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| #49 (permalink) Thu Jun 19, 2008 18:31 pm Usage of "supply" |
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Hello Haihao,
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| He tapped his savingsbox against his thumbnail. |
It's an odd gesture. The savingsbox in question is a pocket coin dispenser of some kind. If it holds sovereigns, it can't be a small or light object; and so I would expect Mr Deasy to knock his thumb against the box, as you suggest. Yet Joyce presents it the other way round: Mr Deasy knocks the box against his thumbnail.
(When I try this myself with a small object, it does not feel entirely natural. But then, to carry a pocket coin dispenser is not an entirely natural habit.)
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He went to the desk near the window, pulled in his chair twice and read off some words from the sheet on the drum of his typewriter.
Does it imply he went to the desk, sat in his chair and then pulled it in twice?
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Yes, I agree – his chair is presumably not quite in the right position, after the first "pull".
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| Also the lady was of his avis and repreved the learning knight though she trowed well that the traveller had said thing that was false for his subtility. But the learning knight would not hear say nay nor do her mandement ne have him in aught contrarious to his list and he said how it was a marvellous castle. |
I think this is part of Joyce's pastiche of Sir Thomas Malory, who translated a collection of French stories about King Arthur into robust 15th century English.
"Avis" is the French word for "opinion"; "repreved" is "reproved", in Malory; and "nor do her mandement ne have him in aught contrarious to his list" means "nor do what she commanded nor act in any way contrary to his own will".
All the best,
MrP |
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MrPedantic
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 1326
Location: Southern England
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| #50 (permalink) Fri Jun 20, 2008 0:54 am Usage of "supply" |
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| As clear as day to me now. Thank you very much indeed! |
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Haihao
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 2471
Location: Japan
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| #51 (permalink) Fri Jun 20, 2008 9:03 am Usage of "supply" |
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Hello MrP,
I am pleased to see you again and here is my another trifle.
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| He saw their speeds, backing king's colours, and shouted with the shouts of vanished crowds. |
#1 I guess "backing king's colours" is somewhere around "holding king's marks'' but why 'back'?
#2 Does 'shouted' suggest SD shouted (in his heart)?
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| He stepped swiftly off, his eyes coming to blue life as they passed a broad sunbeam. He faced about and back again. |
It puzzles me: He turned about and got ack to his speech again, or, He turned about and came back again, or, He looked about and looked back again, or...?
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| His eyes open wide in vision stared sternly across the sunbeam in which he halted. |
How 'across'?
Thank you!
Haihao |
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Haihao
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 2471
Location: Japan
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| #52 (permalink) Sat Jun 21, 2008 1:52 am Usage of "supply" |
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Hello Haihao,
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| He saw their speeds, backing king's colours, and shouted with the shouts of vanished crowds. |
Tentatively: S., surrounded by pictures of well-known horses, imagines himself in the crowd of spectators at the races. The "elfin (small-built) riders" wait for the signal to start the race; S. assesses their different speeds; puts a bet on ("backs") a horse owned by the king (it is in "king's colours"); and in his imagination cheers on his chosen horse with the rest of the crowd.
(Edward VII was king in 1904; he was well known for his love of horse-racing, as Wikipedia attests: "In 1896, his horse Persimmon won both the Derby Stakes and the St. Leger Stakes. In 1900, Persimmon's brother, Diamond Jubilee, won five races (Derby, St Leger, 2,000 Guineas Stakes, Newmarket Stakes and Eclipse Stakes) and another of Edward's horses, Ambush II, won the Grand National".)
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| He stepped swiftly off, his eyes coming to blue life as they passed a broad sunbeam. He faced about and back again. |
Yes, it puzzles me too. It seems to mean "he turned to face SD and then turned away again". But I find some of the the movements in this interview quite difficult to imagine!
All the best,
MrP |
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MrPedantic
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 1326
Location: Southern England
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| #53 (permalink) Sat Jun 21, 2008 1:57 am Usage of "supply" |
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Addendum:
| Haihao wrote: |
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| His eyes open wide in vision stared sternly across the sunbeam in which he halted. |
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I think the sunbeam is to be envisaged as between Mr D. and Stephen. So he is "across" the sunbeam, in the sense that someone might be "across the road", i.e. "on the other side of the sunbeam".
Best wishes,
MrP |
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MrPedantic
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 1326
Location: Southern England
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| #54 (permalink) Sat Jun 21, 2008 2:33 am Usage of "supply" |
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Thank you, MrP. Just a word again for the last one. I imagined so as "across the road" but was still a little puzzled by "in which he halted". I wonder if it could imply a movement: stared across, went into, and then halted.
My best regards,
Haihao |
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Haihao
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 2471
Location: Japan
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| #55 (permalink) Sat Jun 21, 2008 2:47 am Usage of "supply" |
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| I see what you mean. Yes, that makes sense; because otherwise, you would expect it to be "in which he had halted". |
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MrPedantic
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 1326
Location: Southern England
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| #56 (permalink) Sat Jun 21, 2008 3:00 am Usage of "supply" |
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| That's exactly what I wanted to say and to make sure. Thanks again and now I feel like going to have a cup of tea! :) |
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Haihao
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 2471
Location: Japan
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| #57 (permalink) Sat Jun 21, 2008 11:25 am Usage of "supply" |
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| Haihao wrote: |
| a cup of tea! :) |
(Not as strong as old mother Grogan's, I hope.) |
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MrPedantic
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 1326
Location: Southern England
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| #58 (permalink) Sat Jun 21, 2008 11:43 am Usage of "supply" |
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| MrPedantic wrote: |
| (Not as strong as old mother Grogan's, I hope.) |
That's right. But sometimes I have to make a strong afternoon tea to keep up my wrestling with Ulysses. :) BTW, I love tea as well as Guinness. :D |
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Haihao
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 2471
Location: Japan
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| #59 (permalink) Sat Jun 21, 2008 23:17 pm Usage of "supply" |
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| Haihao wrote: |
| ...Guinness... |
I don't drink it myself; but I often admire it across a crowded bar. |
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MrPedantic
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 1326
Location: Southern England
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| #60 (permalink) Sun Jun 22, 2008 0:01 am Usage of "supply" |
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| O it's flavorful and nutritious. Especially together with Joyce! :) |
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Haihao
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 2471
Location: Japan
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| What is "Four basic language skills"? | How much 'net speaking time' per lesson? |
