Pile, etc.
Tae Roh
I'm reading Yeats's "The Man Who Dreamed of Faeryland" and am in need
of some grammatical help.
He stood among a crowd at Drumahair;
His heart hung all upon a silken dress,
And he had known at last some tenderness,
Before earth made of him her sleepy care;
But when a man poured fish into a pile, (line 5)
It seemed they raised their little silver heads,
And sang how day a Druid twilight sheds
Upon a dim, green, well-beloved isle . . . .
In line 2, is "hung" transitive or intransitive? Is "all" an adverb or
a pronoun? There is a similar line in the poem: "His mind ran all on
money cares and fears" (line 14).
What is the "pile" in line 5? I did look up my Random House
dictionary, but it didn't help me determine the word's meaning in the
context. A pyre?
And why the plural "were" in the following passage?
He mused beside the well of Scanavin,
He mused upon his mockers: without fail
His sudden vengeance _were_ a country tale,
Now that deep earth has drunk his body in . . .
Thanks in advance for your help!
Tae Roh
rhy...@post.com
Donna Richoux
> Hi all,
>
> I'm reading Yeats's "The Man Who Dreamed of Faeryland" and am in need
> of some grammatical help.
>
> He stood among a crowd at Drumahair;
> His heart hung all upon a silken dress,
> And he had known at last some tenderness,
> Before earth made of him her sleepy care;
> But when a man poured fish into a pile, (line 5)
> It seemed they raised their little silver heads,
> And sang how day a Druid twilight sheds
> Upon a dim, green, well-beloved isle . . . .
>
> In line 2, is "hung" transitive or intransitive? Is "all" an adverb or
> a pronoun? There is a similar line in the poem: "His mind ran all on
> money cares and fears" (line 14).
It's not a common phrase. It's poetic. Probably the man is love with a
woman in a silk dress, or maybe he would like to give a silk dress to
his lady-love. In some way, his emotions are tied to this dress.
>
> What is the "pile" in line 5? I did look up my Random House
> dictionary, but it didn't help me determine the word's meaning in the
> context. A pyre?
No, merely a heap. It talks about "their little silver heads." I've seen
big buckets of tiny fish for sale in the outdoor market here in the
Netherlands, some kind of sardine maybe.
I found this picture at Google Images:
http://www.bluewilderness.co.za/SARDINES.gif
>
> And why the plural "were" in the following passage?
>
> He mused beside the well of Scanavin,
> He mused upon his mockers: without fail
> His sudden vengeance _were_ a country tale,
> Now that deep earth has drunk his body in . . .
I don't know. It sounds vaguely Shakespearian. Some old-fashioned
dialect, or attempt to sound old-fashioned.
It's good that you try to understand this, but do remember that people
who write this kind of verse don't always mean much.
--
Best -- Donna Richoux
Alec Owen
"Tae Roh" <rhy...@post.com> wrote in message
news:8d790f5c.0203...@posting.google.com...
> Hi all,
>
> I'm reading Yeats's "The Man Who Dreamed of Faeryland" and am in need
> of some grammatical help.
>
> He stood among a crowd at Drumahair;
> His heart hung all upon a silken dress,
> And he had known at last some tenderness,
> Before earth made of him her sleepy care;
> But when a man poured fish into a pile, (line 5)
> It seemed they raised their little silver heads,
> And sang how day a Druid twilight sheds
> Upon a dim, green, well-beloved isle . . . .
>
> In line 2, is "hung" transitive or intransitive? Is "all" an adverb or
> a pronoun? There is a similar line in the poem: "His mind ran all on
> money cares and fears" (line 14).
Tae Roh, I am no expert but I'll give it a shot.
"Hung upon" in this sense could mean "thought about" or "dwelt upon" which
gives the idea of
a persistent thought (as in I hung to the task, hang in there ). "All"
therefore could be translated as "completely and is thus an adverb.
> What is the "pile" in line 5? I did look up my Random House
> dictionary, but it didn't help me determine the word's meaning in the
> context. A pyre?
"Pile" could indicate that the fish did not scatter about but remained piled
up.
> And why the plural "were" in the following passage?
I just don't know. Perhaps the poet thought that the sense
called for the subjunctive mood but I have no idea why.
A Owen
j...@radidelmex.net
> "Pile" could indicate that the fish did not scatter about but remained piled
> up.
Speaking of pilings, I just read that a Labor minister by the name of Paling
once called Churchill "a dirty dog". Churchill got up and replied,
"The Right Honorable Member will know what dogs do to palings."
Jerry Friedman
> Tae Roh <rhy...@post.com> wrote:
>
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I'm reading Yeats's "The Man Who Dreamed of Faeryland" and am in need
> > of some grammatical help.
> >
> > He stood among a crowd at Drumahair;
> > His heart hung all upon a silken dress,
> > And he had known at last some tenderness,
> > Before earth made of him her sleepy care;
> > But when a man poured fish into a pile, (line 5)
> > It seemed they raised their little silver heads,
> > And sang how day a Druid twilight sheds
> > Upon a dim, green, well-beloved isle . . . .
> >
> > In line 2, is "hung" transitive or intransitive?
Intransitive.
> Is "all" an adverb or
> > a pronoun?
Adverb. Yeats is imitating folk poetry and song, in which "all" can be
a meaningless or nearly meaningless intensifier or rhythmic placefiller.
"All around my hat I will wear the green willow." "Tom Pierce, Tom Pierce,
lend me your grey mare,/ All along, down along out along lee."
> > There is a similar line in the poem: "His mind ran all on
> > money cares and fears" (line 14).
Adverb again, pretty clearly meaning "entirely".
...
> > What is the "pile" in line 5? I did look up my Random House
> > dictionary, but it didn't help me determine the word's meaning in the
> > context. A pyre?
>
> No, merely a heap. It talks about "their little silver heads." I've seen
> big buckets of tiny fish for sale in the outdoor market here in the
> Netherlands, some kind of sardine maybe.
>
> I found this picture at Google Images:
> http://www.bluewilderness.co.za/SARDINES.gif
I think Donna is right about this.
> > And why the plural "were" in the following passage?
> >
> > He mused beside the well of Scanavin,
> > He mused upon his mockers: without fail
> > His sudden vengeance _were_ a country tale,
> > Now that deep earth has drunk his body in;
...
But one small knot-grass growing by the pool
Sang where - unnecessary cruel voice -
Old silence bids its chosen race rejoice,
Whatever ravelled waters rise and fall
Or stormy silver fret the gold of day,
And midnight there enfold them like a fleece
And lover there by lover be at peace.
The tale drove his fine angry mood away.
<http://www.web-books.com/Classics/Poetry/Anthology/Yeats/ManWho.htm>
The "were" looks like an old-fashioned or poetic conditional form, related
to "if I were you". The man's sudden vengeance _would have been_ told by
many people, except that the small knot-grass told him a tale about silence
that ended his anger. (Note also the subjunctive "fret" and "enfold", now
totally obsolete.)
> It's good that you try to understand this, but do remember that people
> who write this kind of verse don't always mean much.
Ahem. That's *Yeats* you're talking about. This poem is no "Easter 1916",
but it does appear to mean something.
--
Jerry Friedman
Jerry Friedman
> tr...@euronet.nl (Donna Richoux) wrote in message news:<1f9rc7y.lfrtkg112rileN%tr...@euronet.nl>...
> > Tae Roh <rhy...@post.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Hi all,
> > >
> > > I'm reading Yeats's "The Man Who Dreamed of Faeryland" and am in need
> > > of some grammatical help.
> > >
> > > He stood among a crowd at Drumahair;
> > > His heart hung all upon a silken dress,
> > > And he had known at last some tenderness,
> > > Before earth made of him her sleepy care;
> > > But when a man poured fish into a pile, (line 5)
> > > It seemed they raised their little silver heads,
> > > And sang how day a Druid twilight sheds
> > > Upon a dim, green, well-beloved isle . . . .
> > > And why the plural "were" in the following passage?
> > >
> > > He mused beside the well of Scanavin,
> > > He mused upon his mockers: without fail
> > > His sudden vengeance _were_ a country tale,
> > > Now that deep earth has drunk his body in;
> ...
>
> But one small knot-grass growing by the pool
> Sang where - unnecessary cruel voice -
> Old silence bids its chosen race rejoice,
> Whatever ravelled waters rise and fall
> Or stormy silver fret the gold of day,
> And midnight there enfold them like a fleece
> And lover there by lover be at peace.
> The tale drove his fine angry mood away.
>
> <http://www.web-books.com/Classics/Poetry/Anthology/Yeats/ManWho.htm>
>
> The "were" looks like an old-fashioned or poetic conditional form, related
> to "if I were you". The man's sudden vengeance _would have been_ told by
> many people, except that the small knot-grass told him a tale about silence
> that ended his anger. (Note also the subjunctive "fret" and "enfold", now
> totally obsolete.)
(And in "until God burn Nature with a kiss".)
...
By the way, I just noticed that all the stanzas have the same
conditional
form. "And he had known" means "And he would have known", and the
"But"
at the start of each stanza's fourth line means "except that" or "if
it
hadn't been true that". The construction seems very poetic, like the
others mentioned above.
--
Jerry Friedman