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What does but mean? ...whatever Lucretius has said, would not deny but that...



 
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What does but mean? ...whatever Lucretius has said, would not deny but that... Sat Aug 02, 2008 21:17 pm  What does but mean? ...whatever Lucretius has said, would not deny but that...		  
Nay, even Venus herself, notwithstanding whatever Lucretius has said, would not deny but that all her virtue were lame and fruitless without the help of my deity.

Well, I thought this construction was parallel to "Love is but poison". But but meaning only and when replaced by only, the sentence sounds quite strange and non-nonsensical. I don't know, I am not a native speaker. Can someone enlighten me? Thanks.
ConfidenceMan
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What does "but" mean in this sentence? Sat Aug 02, 2008 21:26 pm  What does "but" mean in this sentence?		  
'Love is but poison' - love is only/merely poison.
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What does "but" mean in this sentence? Sat Aug 02, 2008 21:31 pm  What does "but" mean in this sentence?		  
Thanks

So the sentence means:

"Nay, even Venus herself, notwithstanding whatever Lucretius has said, would not deny that all her virtue were lame and fruitless without the help of my deity and nothing else or more"?
ConfidenceMan
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What does "but" mean in this sentence? Sun Aug 03, 2008 1:57 am  What does "but" mean in this sentence?		  
Thank you.
ConfidenceMan
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What does "but" mean in this sentence? Sun Aug 03, 2008 15:26 pm  What does "but" mean in this sentence?		  
Hi CM,

Yes, it means as much as '...would not deny that all her virtues were merely lame and fruitless without the help of my deity - and nothing else'.

Take care,

Ralf
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What does "but" mean in this sentence? Mon Aug 04, 2008 4:55 am  What does "but" mean in this sentence?		  
There's something that makes me wondering if it is the case though.

Here are two responses I got from another site:

Quote:
"Nay, even Venus herself, notwithstanding whatever Lucretius has said, would not deny that without the help of my deity all her virtue were lame and fruitless."

AND
Quote:
No. but = [no meaning]

That is, but can be left out. In fact, in modern English it is left out, and the verb is in the indicative. In older English it is associated with the subjunctive mood (Note were lame.).

Older English: ... would not deny but that the key were lost.

Modern English: ... would not deny that the key was lost.

They seem to insinuate that but sometimes doesn't have a meaning, are they right? I personally think they are wrong, because I have never heard of such thing.
ConfidenceMan
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Joined: 02 Aug 2008
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