Reply
Fri 10 May, 2013 10:51 am
Context:
“Between the probable and proved there yawns
A gap. Afraid to jump, we stand absurd,
Then see behind us sink the ground and, worse,
Our very standpoint crumbling. Desperate dawns
Our only hope: to leap into the Word
That opens up the shuttered universe.”
― Sheldon Vanauken, A Severe Mercy
@oristarA,
Yes Ori he means "chancy seems our only hope"
It's poetic.
Desperate dawns our only hope.
Slow wakes my little son.
Happy begins my morning meal.
@oristarA,
Desperate is an adjective describing hope. The author is taking "poetic license" with the sentence structure.
It has been explained to oristarA before that poetry can break all rules.
What does "stand absurd" mean? Stand helplessly?
@oristarA,
Absurd means bizarre, incongruous.
Stand absurd means to stand out, noticeable, at odds with the surroundings.
@oristarA,
oristarA wrote:
What does "stand absurd" mean? Stand helplessly?
helplessly; ridiculously; foolish-seeming.
@oristarA,
Thank you Ori for selecting my response. However it was
wrong inasmuch as I said, "yes," where you had asked if it were a noun
@dalehileman,
dalehileman wrote:
Thank you Ori for selecting my response. However it was wrong inasmuch as I said, "yes," where you had asked if it were a noun
Relax. Of course I didn't take it as a noun. Because your "chancy" matches "desperate" there.
Thank you all.
@oristarA,
Ori you're most kind. Others hereabout might have attacked me mercilessly
@contrex,
Quote:It has been explained to oristarA before that poetry can break all rules.
Who explained that piece of nonsense to him, Contrex?
@oristarA,
Quote:"Desperate dawns" (subject + verb?) Adjective desperate has been used as a noun here?
A possibility, Ori, tho' I'd say
A tiny one. I'm not at all sure 'desperate' is being used as a noun/subject.
Quote:“Between the probable and proved there yawns
A gap. Afraid to jump, we stand absurd,
Then see behind us sink the ground and, worse,
Our very standpoint crumbling. Desperate dawns
'Desperate dawns' seems to me to mean "Nothing but days of desperation ahead unless ...
@dalehileman,
Quote:However it was wrong inasmuch as I said, "yes," where you had asked if it were a noun
Dale, could you explain to me why you chose 'were' where I've put it in bold?
@JTT,
No JTT sorry I can't. I think it's correct though
@dalehileman,
Quote:No JTT sorry I can't. I think it's correct though
You initially wrote: However it was wrong inasmuch as I said, "yes," where you had asked if it were a noun
Was your intended meaning the following, Dale?
However it was wrong inasmuch as I said, "yes," where you had asked whether or not it was a noun.
@dalehileman,
Dale initially wrote: However it was wrong inasmuch as I said, "yes," where you had asked if it
were a noun
jtt asked:
Quote:Was your intended meaning the following, Dale?
However it was wrong inasmuch as I said, "yes," where you had asked whether or not it was a noun.
You said "Yes", Dale, so why would you have used the subjunctive form 'were' in that sentence above? Was this something you were taught at one time?
@JTT,
Quote:so why would you have used the subjunctive form 'were' in that sentence above?
Dunno, it just sounded rifght
Quote:Was this something you were taught at one time?
I guess so
I react as did Prolix in the OP of
http://forum.thefreedictionary.com/postst1925_which-is-correct---was-vs--were-.aspx
Sometimes JTT even when grammatically accurate "was" just sounds wrong, as Michael Leddy explains in
http://mleddy.blogspot.com/2007/03/if-i-were-if-i-was.html
May be it's because "was" conveys a feeling of past tense
But thanks for making me look it up
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