"Vans" in T.S. Eliot's 'Ash-Wednesday'

[Peter Percival]

In

Because these wings are no longer wings to fly
But merely vans to beat the air

what did Eliot mean by 'vans'?

[Madrigal Gurneyhalt]

Wings. The word is a variant of 'fan'. He probably uses it because
its other meanings include 'shovel' and 'windmill sails' and thus
it heightens the sense of clumsiness and heavy-handedness (or
should that be heavy-wingedness?) by contrast to the delicacy of
wings that fly.

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

Yes.

The OED marks that sense of "van" as "Chiefly poetic".

--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.english.usage)

[Hen Hanna]

On Monday, February 26, 2018 at 10:05:49 AM UTC-8, Peter Duncanson wrote:
> On Mon, 26 Feb 2018 09:45:18 -0800 (PST), Madrigal Gurneyhalt

> <> wrote:
>
> >On Monday, 26 February 2018 17:30:52 UTC, Peter Percival wrote:
> >> In
> >>
> >> Because these wings are no longer wings to fly
> >> But merely vans to beat the air
> >>
> >> what did Eliot mean by 'vans'?
> >
> >Wings. The word is a variant of 'fan'. He probably uses it because
> >its other meanings include 'shovel' and 'windmill sails' and thus
> >it heightens the sense of clumsiness and heavy-handedness (or
> >should that be heavy-wingedness?) by contrast to the delicacy of
> >wings that fly.
>
> Yes.
>
> The OED marks that sense of "van" as "Chiefly poetic".
>
> --
> Peter Duncanson, UK
> (in alt.english.usage)

Etymology 4[edit]

Latin vannus ‎(“a van, or fan for winnowing grain”‎): compare French van and English fan, winnow.

Noun[edit]

van (plural vans)

1.A fan or other contrivance, such as a sieve, for winnowing grain.
2.A wing with which the air is beaten. [quotations ▲]

##1671, John Milton, “Book the Fourth”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: Printed by J. M[acock] for John Starkey at the Mitre in Fleetstreet, near Temple-Bar, OCLC 228732398, lines 578–580, pages 108–109:

--------- So Satan fell; and ſtrait a fiery Globe / Of Angels on full ſail of wing flew nigh, / Who on their plumy Vans receiv'd him ſoft […]

##1717, John Dryden, Ovid's Metamorphoses, book XII:
-------- He wheeled in air, and stretched his vans in vain; / His vans no longer could his flight sustain.

##1930, T.S. Eliot, Ash Wednesday: Because these wings are no longer wings to fly / But merely vans to beat the air […]


note Eliot's use is v. much like Dryden's
and Milton's


A “van” is an old-timey word for something you use to beat the air. Milton and Dryden, among others, used it to describe wings which no longer supported flight.

There may be an allusion here to the final canto of the Divine Comedy, where Dante gazes upon God and wonders how he can see what he is seeing, before noting that “my wings were not meant for such a flight.”

[John Varela]

So why didn't he say "vanes" and avoid confusion?

--
John Varela

[Madrigal Gurneyhalt]

Cos he be a poet. He's not meant to avoid confusion!

[Peter Percival]

Thank you for all replies. My ignorance embarrasses me.

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

Don't be too embarrassed. I didn't know that meaning of "van" before you
asked and I looked in the OED.

[Peter Percival]

Peter Duncanson [BrE] wrote:
> On Wed, 28 Feb 2018 11:22:07 +0000, Peter Percival
> <peterxp...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Peter Percival wrote:
>>> In
>>>
>>>     Because these wings are no longer wings to fly
>>>     But merely vans to beat the air
>>>
>>> what did Eliot mean by 'vans'?
>>
>> Thank you for all replies. My ignorance embarrasses me.
>
> Don't be too embarrassed. I didn't know that meaning of "van" before you
> asked and I looked in the OED.

Now I'm even more embarrassed because I've just looked it up in The New
Shorter OED (the most comprehensive dictionary I own) and not only is it
there, but the very bit of Eliot that first caught my eye is quoted!

>

[art...@taranis2.plus.com]

On Monday, 26 February 2018 17:30:52 UTC, Peter Percival wrote:

Another spelling of 'vane' as in weather 'vane' which is blown in the wind. Apparently, windmill arms can also be called vanes and a part of a bird's feather and a part of a propeller, the last two of which are both related to flying.

[Peter]

art...@taranis2.plus.com wrote:
> On Monday, 26 February 2018 17:30:52 UTC, Peter Percival wrote:
>> In
>>
>> Because these wings are no longer wings to fly But merely vans to
>> beat the air
>>
>> what did Eliot mean by 'vans'?

My! That was a long time ago...

> Another spelling of 'vane' as in weather 'vane' which is blown in the
> wind. Apparently, windmill arms can also be called vanes and a part
> of a bird's feather and a part of a propeller, the last two of which
> are both related to flying.

... but thank you for your reply anyway.