"A Gaelic Blessing" has English lyrics; what makes it Gaelic?

[Dingbat]

A Gaelic Blessing by John Rutter is an SATB (soprano, alto, tenor and baritone) choral piece written as a parting gift for a much-loved choir director. It was commissioned by the Chancel Choir of First United Methodist Church, Omaha, Nebraska, USA (1978). Due to the gentle nature of both words and melody A Gaelic Blessing has become a popular choice at christenings, weddings and funerals. (It was used at the Commendation at the Funeral Mass for Tip O'Neill.) Sometimes known as 'Deep Peace', this piece became a hit in 2003 when a recording of it by Aled Jones was released.

Brighton Concert Choir 2005, Michael Griffin Conductor, Adelaide, Australia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d5ZuOVO3f4
http://www.lyricsera.com/990173-lyrics-a-gaelic-blessing.html


In contrast, "A German Requiem" is in German
http://www.classical-music.com/requiem

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Wednesday, March 9, 2016 at 8:55:54 PM UTC-5, Dingbat wrote:
> A Gaelic Blessing by John Rutter is an SATB (soprano, alto, tenor and baritone) choral piece written as a parting gift for a much-loved choir director. It was commissioned by the Chancel Choir of First United Methodist Church, Omaha, Nebraska, USA (1978). Due to the gentle nature of both words and melody A Gaelic Blessing has become a popular choice at christenings, weddings and funerals. (It was used at the Commendation at the Funeral Mass for Tip O'Neill.) Sometimes known as 'Deep Peace', this piece became a hit in 2003 when a recording of it by Aled Jones was released.
>
> Brighton Concert Choir 2005, Michael Griffin Conductor, Adelaide, Australia
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d5ZuOVO3f4
> http://www.lyricsera.com/990173-lyrics-a-gaelic-blessing.html

"Gaelic" doesn't have to refer to the language. That's simply the name by
which that text is known.

> In contrast, "A German Requiem" is in German
> http://www.classical-music.com/requiem

Unless it's sung in English or some other local language. The short movement
"Wie lieblich ..." is often sung as a church anthem to the words "How lovely
is Thy dwelling-place."

[bert]

On Thursday, 10 March 2016 02:55:54 UTC+1, Dingbat wrote:
> A Gaelic Blessing by John Rutter is . . .

. . . a translation from a Gaelic original.
--

[Ross]

If verifiable, fine. If not, see recent thread on "Pseudotranslations"
on sci.lang.

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

I suggest that "A Gaelic Blessing" uses the style of some traditional
Gaelic (Irish) blessings in which a series of things are asked for. Such
blessings are used in English as well as in Gaelic in Ireland.

The words of A Gaelic Blessing are:

Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the gentle night to you.
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you.
Deep peace of Christ,
of Christ the light of the world to you.
Deep peace of Christ to you.

Consider these Irish blessings (a few from this page):
http://islandireland.com/Pages/folk/sets/bless.html

Irish Marriage Blessing

May God be with you and bless you.
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortunes
and rich in blessings.
May you know nothing but happiness
from this day forward.

An Old Irish Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

An Old Celtic Blessing

May the blessing of light be on you—
light without and light within.
May the blessed sunlight shine on you
and warm your heart
till it glows like a great peat fire.

An Old Irish Blessing

May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!


Some more blessings from this website of "Gaelic and Irish Blessings":
http://www.gaelicmatters.com/irish-blessings.html

While many of these old blessings petition or request the help or
intervention of God in some way, it does not always mean that the
person saying them regards him or herself as being very religious.
These blessings, whether in Gaelic or English, were the way Irish
people had of expressing hope, desire for a better future and
solidarity with their family, friends and neighbours.

Some of the blessings:

May you escape the gallows, avoid distress, and be as healthy as a
trout.

Peace on your hand and health to all who shake it.

May you live as long as you want,
And never want as long as you live.

With the help of God, you'll pull through.
(Said to someone who is ill or out of sorts)

May the Lord keep you in his hand but never close his fist tight on
you.

May you have rye bread to do you good,
Wheaten bread to sweeten your blood,
Barley bread to do you no harm
And oatmeal bread to strengthen your arm.

To the doctor may you never hand any money,
And sweet be your hand in a pot full of honey.



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

[James Hogg]

Peter Duncanson [BrE] wrote:
> On Wed, 9 Mar 2016 17:55:51 -0800 (PST), Dingbat
> <ranjit_...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> A Gaelic Blessing by John Rutter is an SATB (soprano, alto, tenor and baritone) choral piece written as a parting gift for a much-loved choir director. It was commissioned by the Chancel Choir of First United Methodist Church, Omaha, Nebraska, USA (1978). Due to the gentle nature of both words and melody A Gaelic Blessing has
> become a popular choice at christenings, weddings and funerals. (It was used at the Commendation at the Funeral Mass for Tip O'Neill.) Sometimes known as 'Deep Peace', this piece became a hit in 2003 when a recording of it by Aled Jones was released.
>> Brighton Concert Choir 2005, Michael Griffin Conductor, Adelaide, Australia
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d5ZuOVO3f4
>> http://www.lyricsera.com/990173-lyrics-a-gaelic-blessing.html
>>
>>
>> In contrast, "A German Requiem" is in German
>> http://www.classical-music.com/requiem
>
> I suggest that "A Gaelic Blessing" uses the style of some traditional
> Gaelic (Irish) blessings in which a series of things are asked for. Such
> blessings are used in English as well as in Gaelic in Ireland.

I think Rutter was inspired by this:


Deep peace I breathe into you,
O weariness, here:
O ache, here!
Deep peace, a soft white dove to You;
Deep peace, a quiet rain to you;
Deep peace, an ebbing wave to you!
Deep peace, red wind of the east from you;
Deep peace, grey wind of the west to You;
Deep peace, dark wind of the north from you;
Deep peace, blue wind of the south to you!
Deep peace, pure red of the flame to you;
Deep peace, pure white of the moon to you;
Deep peace, pure green of the grass to you;
Deep peace, pure brown of the earth to you;
Deep peace, pure grey of the dew to you,
Deep peace, pure blue of the sky to you!
Deep peace of the running wave to you,
Deep peace of the flowing air to you,
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you,
Deep peace of the sleeping stones to you!
Deep peace of the Yellow Shepherd to you,
Deep peace of the Wandering Shepherdess to you,
Deep peace of the Flock of Stars to you,
Deep peace from the Son of Peace to you,
Deep peace from the heart of Mary to you,
And from Briget of the Mantle
Deep peace, deep peace!
And with the kindness too of the Haughty Father
Peace!
In the name of the Three who are One,
Peace! And by the will of the King of the Elements,
Peace! Peace!

From "The Dominion of Dreams. Under the Dark Star
by "Fiona Macleod" (William Sharp, 1895)

https://archive.org/stream/dominiondreamsu00shargoog#page/n438/mode/2up


--
James

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

On Thu, 10 Mar 2016 15:52:02 +0100, James Hogg <Jas....@gOUTmail.com>
wrote:

Ah, yes. I've not seen that before.

[Ross]

Nice!
So who was William Sharp?
At any rate, if not actually Celtic it was at least some
Englishman's idea of Celtic style. And PWD's examples
are apposite, too.

[Peter T. Daniels]

> Nice!
> So who was William Sharp?
> At any rate, if not actually Celtic it was at least some
> Englishman's idea of Celtic style. And PWD's examples
> are apposite, too.

A glance at the first page of the score (above the left end of the first
line of music) will tell you exactly where the composer got the text.

[James Hogg]

So why can't you tell us?

--
James

[Ross]

You mean where it says "Words adapted from an old Gaelic rune"?
Somehow that falls outside my idea of "exactly"...

[Peter Moylan]

On 2016-Mar-10 12:55, Dingbat wrote:
> A Gaelic Blessing by John Rutter is an SATB (soprano, alto, tenor and
> baritone) choral piece written as a parting gift for a much-loved
> choir director. It was commissioned by the Chancel Choir of First
> United Methodist Church, Omaha, Nebraska, USA (1978).

It was also used (the words, not the music) in the novel "A Wreath of
Stars" (1976) by Bob Shaw.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW, Australia

[Peter T. Daniels]

Because I do not own the score, and I despise all music by John Rutter (as
far as I know).

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Thursday, March 10, 2016 at 5:46:38 PM UTC-5, Ross wrote:

> You mean where it says "Words adapted from an old Gaelic rune"?
> Somehow that falls outside my idea of "exactly"...

Now you've got my attention. What's a "Gaelic rune"? Runes were used for all
sorts of Germanic languages.

[Ross]

Ask Mr Rutter. I just read it off one of the scores you can see online.
Here I thought you were going to give us the answer...

[James Hogg]

+1

--
James

[James Hogg]

That sounds like bigotry to me.

--
James

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

A different sort of rune.

OED:
rune, n.2

2.
a. An ancient Finnish poem or a division of such a poem, esp. any of
the separate songs of the Kalevala, a runo. Also (occas.): an

b. In extended use. Any song, poem, or verse, esp. a cryptic or
magic verse, a spell, an incantation; (also) a lament.

1841 R. W. Emerson in Dial Oct. 210 But the runes that I
rehearse Understands the universe.
1860 C. Sangster Hesperus 128 My heart would sit and sing
Shrillest runes of wintry cold.
1889 F. A. Knight By Leafy Ways 9 The light-hearted and
irrepressible starling..crooning his own quaint runes.
1908 E. Œ. Somerville & ‘M. Ross’ Further Experiences Irish R.M.
viii. 211 She chanted..words in measured cadence... By the time
this rune had been repeated three times she was in the hall.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. ix. [Scylla and Charybdis] 197 There
he keened a wailing rune.—Pogue mahone! Acushla machree!
1936 W. Holtby South Riding i. i. 20 Curses could be lifted by
spells. Midge was always trying them, inventing her own runes and
incantations.
1977 P. Fitzgerald Knox Brothers i. 32 Eddie had begun on
Kennedy's Latin Grammar; there were more inexplicable runes for
Wilfred to repeat in the nursery: ‘Caesar adsum jam forte—Cæsar
had some jam for tea.’
2008 B. F. Torgerson One Witch's Way 30, I lit a single candle
atop the northern cairn, and bare-breasted except for amber, sang
runes.

[Janet]

In article <nbtlq3$6p8$2...@dont-email.me>, Jas....@gOUTmail.com says...

SOP for anything PTD doesn't know/never saw/never heard before.

Janet.

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Friday, March 11, 2016 at 12:44:31 AM UTC-5, James Hogg wrote:
> Peter T. Daniels wrote:
> > On Thursday, March 10, 2016 at 5:37:44 PM UTC-5, James Hogg wrote:
> >> Peter T. Daniels wrote:

> >>> A glance at the first page of the score (above the left end of the first
> >>> line of music) will tell you exactly where the composer got the text.
> >> So why can't you tell us?
> > Because I do not own the score, and I despise all music by John Rutter (as
> > far as I know).
>
> That sounds like bigotry to me.

Is "(as far as I know)" unclear to you?

I have never walked out of a concert where a Rutter piece was programmed, for
fear I might hear it. However, I have despised every work by John Rutter that
I have ever heard.

How is it that you don't know what "bigotry" means?

[Peter T. Daniels]

Now _that_ sounds like bigotry.

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Friday, March 11, 2016 at 7:57:36 AM UTC-5, PeterWD wrote:
> On Thu, 10 Mar 2016 20:22:02 -0800 (PST), "Peter T. Daniels"
> <gram...@verizon.net> wrote:
> >On Thursday, March 10, 2016 at 5:46:38 PM UTC-5, Ross wrote:

> >> You mean where it says "Words adapted from an old Gaelic rune"?
> >> Somehow that falls outside my idea of "exactly"...
> >
> >Now you've got my attention. What's a "Gaelic rune"? Runes were used for all
> >sorts of Germanic languages.
>
> A different sort of rune.
>
> OED:
> rune, n.2
>
> 2.
> a. An ancient Finnish poem or a division of such a poem, esp. any of
> the separate songs of the Kalevala, a runo. Also (occas.): an
>
> b. In extended use. Any song, poem, or verse, esp. a cryptic or
> magic verse, a spell, an incantation; (also) a lament.
>
> 1841 R. W. Emerson in Dial Oct. 210 But the runes that I
> rehearse Understands the universe.

I find it quite unlikely that Ralph Waldo Emerson failed to observe number
concord between subject and verb.

[Ross]

But not unlikely that he could invert word order (object-verb-subject) in
his poetry? The full sentence:

Only thy Americans
Can read thy line, can meet thy glance,

But the runes that I rehearse
Understands the universe.

More screwy word order in the following couplet:

The least breath my boughs which tossed
Brings again the Pentecost;

[The poem's called "Wood Notes II".
It's a pine tree speaking; beyond that you're on your own.]

[Peter T. Daniels]

The OED citation, then, is deceptive and misleading.

[Ross]

Just because you misread it?

[James Hogg]

Oh for Christ's sake!

--
James

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Friday, March 11, 2016 at 5:57:09 PM UTC-5, Ross wrote:
> On Saturday, March 12, 2016 at 10:36:45 AM UTC+13, Peter T. Daniels wrote:
> > > On Saturday, March 12, 2016 at 4:04:16 AM UTC+13, Peter T. Daniels wrote:
> > > > On Friday, March 11, 2016 at 7:57:36 AM UTC-5, PeterWD wrote:

> > > > > 1841 R. W. Emerson in Dial Oct. 210 But the runes that I
> > > > > rehearse Understands the universe.
> > > > I find it quite unlikely that Ralph Waldo Emerson failed to observe number
> > > > concord between subject and verb.

> > The OED citation, then, is deceptive and misleading.
>
> Just because you misread it?

How else can that couplet, shorn of any context, be read?

[Ross]

Just as I explained.

[CDB]

On 11/03/2016 10:04 AM, Peter T. Daniels wrote:

> PeterWD wrote:
>> "Peter T. Daniels" <gram...@verizon.net> wrote:
>>> Ross wrote:

>>>> You mean where it says "Words adapted from an old Gaelic
>>>> rune"? Somehow that falls outside my idea of "exactly"...

>>> Now you've got my attention. What's a "Gaelic rune"? Runes were
>>> used for all sorts of Germanic languages.

>> A different sort of rune.

>> OED: rune, n.2

>> 2. a. An ancient Finnish poem or a division of such a poem, esp.
>> any of the separate songs of the Kalevala, a runo. Also (occas.):
>> an

>> b. In extended use. Any song, poem, or verse, esp. a cryptic or
>> magic verse, a spell, an incantation; (also) a lament.

>> 1841 R. W. Emerson in Dial Oct. 210 But the runes that I
>> rehearse Understands the universe.

> I find it quite unlikely that Ralph Waldo Emerson failed to observe
> number concord between subject and verb.

In this case, the subject is "universe". The speaker is a pine-tree; so
make allowances.

[CDB]

On 11/03/2016 11:01 PM, Peter T. Daniels wrote:

> Ross wrote:
>> Peter T. Daniels wrote:

>>>> Peter T. Daniels wrote:
>>>>> PeterWD wrote:

>>>>>> 1841 R. W. Emerson in Dial Oct. 210 But the runes that
>>>>>> I rehearse Understands the universe.

>>>>> I find it quite unlikely that Ralph Waldo Emerson failed to
>>>>> observe number concord between subject and verb.
>>> The OED citation, then, is deceptive and misleading.

>> Just because you misread it?

> How else can that couplet, shorn of any context, be read?

You start by thinking that Emerson was unlikely to fail to observe
number concord, and you look around for a singular subject. Maybe you
remember that word-order in verse was looser then than it is now.

[Jerry Friedman]

Remembering this might help too:

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Awaits alike the inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Peter T. Daniels]

That is simply wrong. Nothing in that passage suggests contorting its syntax to
extract sense from it, as opposed to taking one of the s's as a solecism or a typo.

[Peter T. Daniels]

Again, neither of those facts is evident FROM THE QUOTED PASSAGE. It was BADLY SELECTED to illustrate the sense of the word.

[Peter T. Daniels]

Mr Ockam would suggest that one of the s's is a typo.

[Katy Jennison]

Occam's Razor?

--
Katy Jennison

[Peter T. Daniels]

Snap! Jinx!

[CDB]

On 12/03/2016 11:13 AM, Peter T. Daniels wrote:

> CDB wrote:
>> Peter T. Daniels wrote:
>>> PeterWD wrote:
>>>> "Peter T. Daniels" <gram...@verizon.net> wrote:
>>>>> Ross wrote:

>>>>>> You mean where it says "Words adapted from an old Gaelic
>>>>>> rune"? Somehow that falls outside my idea of "exactly"...
>>>>> Now you've got my attention. What's a "Gaelic rune"? Runes
>>>>> were used for all sorts of Germanic languages.
>>>> A different sort of rune. OED: rune, n.2 2. a. An ancient
>>>> Finnish poem or a division of such a poem, esp. any of the
>>>> separate songs of the Kalevala, a runo. Also (occas.): an b.
>>>> In extended use. Any song, poem, or verse, esp. a cryptic or
>>>> magic verse, a spell, an incantation; (also) a lament. 1841
>>>> R. W. Emerson in Dial Oct. 210 But the runes that I rehearse
>>>> Understands the universe.
>>> I find it quite unlikely that Ralph Waldo Emerson failed to
>>> observe number concord between subject and verb.

>> In this case, the subject is "universe". The speaker is a
>> pine-tree; so make allowances.

> "a kind of utteance' Again, neither of those facts is evident FROM

> THE QUOTED PASSAGE. It was BADLY SELECTED to illustrate the sense of
> the word.

Maybe there weren't many candidates for the job. It seems to me that
the relevant phrase, "the runes that I rehearse" illustrates the use of
"rune" to mean "a kind of utterance" (and not a kind of letter) just as
well as it would in "But the universe understands the runes that I
rehearse".

Is your unwillingness to look things up caused by a slow connection? I
searched for the phrase in GB and found sufficient context quite quickly.

[David Kleinecke]

Once more context. I think that, out of context, the obvious reading is
that "runes" is the subject - since that reading makes sense. But I fear
Emerson really did mean "universe" to be the subject.

Exactly how much context one should supply remains an open question.

[Ross]

Well, it seems to have suggested it to me, and a couple of others
here. Perhaps it might have suggested it to you, too, if you hadn't
been so eager to catch OED in an error.

[Peter T. Daniels]

A user of the OED in 1910 or whenever that fascicle was published did not
have that luxury, nor probably, for that matter, access to a run of back
issues of *The Dial* including the October 1847 one. (At least they bothered
to name the author of a magazine contribution, unlike their usual practice.)
And even the Collected Works of Emerson would be of no use, since the poem's
title isn't given. The poem fills 10 pages of the Library of America edition,
and the proper title is "Woodnotes II."

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Saturday, March 12, 2016 at 3:30:14 PM UTC-5, Ross wrote:

> Well, it seems to have suggested it to me, and a couple of others
> here. Perhaps it might have suggested it to you, too, if you hadn't
> been so eager to catch OED in an error.

It's you that seems to be so eager to find errors where none exist.

It's Whitney's *Century Dictionary* in which it is claimed no typographic
error has ever been found.

[CDB]

The OED example was used to illustrate a use of "rune". Whether the
verb "understands" has a strangely-placed subject or there has been an
error in reproducing the line or Emerson had a transcendental
brain-fart, the form and putative subject of that verb hardly affect the
point being made.

As for your fear, there's not much doubt about it:

"Once again the pine-tree sung:--
'Speak not thy speech my boughs among:
Put off thy years, wash in the breeze;
My hours are peaceful centuries.
Talk no more with feeble tongue;
No more the fool of space and time,
Come weave with mine a nobler rhyme.

Only thy Americans
Can read thy line, can meet thy glance,

But the runes that I rehearse

Understands the universe;"

http://readbookonline.net/readOnLine/7417/

> Exactly how much context one should supply remains an open question.

As I said, for uncommmon usages it may be a question of what examples
are available.

[Dingbat]

Does "the pants that I wear" have a singular or plural subject?

[CDB]

On 12/03/2016 9:48 PM, Dingbat wrote:
> CDB wrote:
>> David Kleinecke wrote:

[1841 R. W. Emerson in Dial Oct. 210 But the runes that I rehearse
Understands the universe.]

>>> Once more context. I think that, out of context, the obvious
>>> reading is that "runes" is the subject - since that reading
>>> makes sense. But I fear Emerson really did mean "universe" to be
>>> the subject.

>> The OED example was used to illustrate a use of "rune". Whether
>> the verb "understands" has a strangely-placed subject or there
>> has been an error in reproducing the line or Emerson had a
>> transcendental brain-fart, the form and putative subject of that
>> verb hardly affect the point being made.

> Does "the pants that I wear" have a singular or plural subject?

I'm not sure what you're getting at. The subject of the only verb in
sight ("wear") is the singular pronoun "I". If "pants" turns out to be
the subject of some verb, it will be a plural subject. "The pants that
I wear while lugeing are well-insulated and very well padded." On the
other hand, {:-x) "The pants that sees the multitude are not pants to
the eye of God."

Is there a symbol, like the disparaging "*", that points out the
silliness of an example?

[...]

[Dingbat]

On Sunday, March 13, 2016 at 5:33:23 PM UTC+5:30, CDB wrote:
> On 12/03/2016 9:48 PM, Dingbat wrote:
> > CDB wrote:
> >> David Kleinecke wrote:
>
> [1841 R. W. Emerson in Dial Oct. 210 But the runes that I rehearse
> Understands the universe.]
>
> >>> Once more context. I think that, out of context, the obvious
> >>> reading is that "runes" is the subject - since that reading
> >>> makes sense. But I fear Emerson really did mean "universe" to be
> >>> the subject.
>
> >> The OED example was used to illustrate a use of "rune". Whether
> >> the verb "understands" has a strangely-placed subject or there
> >> has been an error in reproducing the line or Emerson had a
> >> transcendental brain-fart, the form and putative subject of that
> >> verb hardly affect the point being made.
>
> > Does "the pants that I wear" have a singular or plural subject?
>
> I'm not sure what you're getting at. The subject of the only verb in
> sight ("wear") is the singular pronoun "I".

OK, object then.

> If "pants" turns out to be
> the subject of some verb, it will be a plural subject. "The pants that
> I wear while lugeing are well-insulated and very well padded."

Is pants equally plural in these two?
The pants that I wear are of various colors.
The pants that I'm wearing are blue.

[CDB]

On 13/03/2016 9:39 AM, Dingbat wrote:
> CDB wrote:

>> Dingbat wrote:

>> [1841 R. W. Emerson in Dial Oct. 210 But the runes that I
>> rehearse Understands the universe.]

[...]

>>> Does "the pants that I wear" have a singular or plural subject?

>> I'm not sure what you're getting at. The subject of the only verb
>> in sight ("wear") is the singular pronoun "I".

> OK, object then.

>> If "pants" turns out to be the subject of some verb, it will be a
>> plural subject. "The pants that I wear while lugeing are
>> well-insulated and very well padded."

> Is pants equally plural in these two? The pants that I wear are of
> various colors. The pants that I'm wearing are blue.

I see what you mean; but they're both plural, and I don't think degrees
of plurality are a grammatical distinction we make. If you wanted to
make a point of the difference in this case, you could distinguish
between a pair of pants and pairs of pants.

[...]

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Sunday, March 13, 2016 at 8:03:23 AM UTC-4, CDB wrote:
> On 12/03/2016 9:48 PM, Dingbat wrote:
> > CDB wrote:
> >> David Kleinecke wrote:
>
> [1841 R. W. Emerson in Dial Oct. 210 But the runes that I rehearse
> Understands the universe.]
>
> >>> Once more context. I think that, out of context, the obvious
> >>> reading is that "runes" is the subject - since that reading
> >>> makes sense. But I fear Emerson really did mean "universe" to be
> >>> the subject.
> >> The OED example was used to illustrate a use of "rune". Whether
> >> the verb "understands" has a strangely-placed subject or there
> >> has been an error in reproducing the line or Emerson had a
> >> transcendental brain-fart, the form and putative subject of that
> >> verb hardly affect the point being made.
> > Does "the pants that I wear" have a singular or plural subject?
>
> I'm not sure what you're getting at. The subject of the only verb in
> sight ("wear") is the singular pronoun "I".

Hunh? The head of the noun phrase he wants to use with a verb is "pants."
"Pants" takes a plural verb. "These pants are too tight." *"This pants is too tight."

> If "pants" turns out to be
> the subject of some verb, it will be a plural subject. "The pants that
> I wear while lugeing are well-insulated and very well padded." On the
> other hand, {:-x) "The pants that sees the multitude are not pants to
> the eye of God."
>
> Is there a symbol, like the disparaging "*", that points out the
> silliness of an example?

Just the reader's common sense. Is the classic "Spiro conjectures Ex-Lax"
in that category?

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

As pants the hart for cooling streams, so longs my soul for thee, O God.

>
>> On the
>> other hand, {:-x) "The pants that sees the multitude are not pants to
>> the eye of God."
>>
>> Is there a symbol, like the disparaging "*", that points out the
>> silliness of an example?
>>
>> [...]

--
athel

[CDB]

On 13/03/2016 1:40 PM, Peter T. Daniels wrote:
> CDB wrote:

>> Dingbat wrote:

[Emerson runes the moment]

>>> Does "the pants that I wear" have a singular or plural subject?

>> I'm not sure what you're getting at. The subject of the only verb
>> in sight ("wear") is the singular pronoun "I".

> Hunh? The head of the noun phrase he wants to use with a verb is
> "pants." "Pants" takes a plural verb. "These pants are too tight."
> *"This pants is too tight."

Can't resist pointing out that I said that ... not exactly earlier, not
exactly later.

>> If "pants" turns out to be the subject of some verb, it will be a
>> plural subject. "The pants that I wear while lugeing are

>> well-insulated and very well padded." On the other hand, [...]

>> "The pants that sees the multitude are not pants to the eye of
>> God."

[more silliness]