The Reading Room

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10:53 AM

Q: In the song "Whiskey in the Jar", would Captain Farrell have been British or Irish?

In the song "Whiskey in the Jar", would Captain Farrell have been British or Irish? What was the historical setting and context of the song's tale?

Rand al'Thor

@Bookworm Oh yay, Irish folk songs!

2 hours later…

Bookworm

12:58 PM

Q: Why is the Star of the County Down referred to as Colleen?

While listening to the Irish Rovers version of the traditional Irish song "Star of the County Down", I noticed an apparent discrepancy in her name: Near Banbridge town, in the County Down One morning in last July Down a boreen green came a sweet Colleen And she smiled as she passed me by. [...] ...

song-lyrics cultural-context oral-tradition

Knight

1:51 PM

@Tsundoku I want to understand Burnt Norton by T.S. Eliott, I have read the background on which the poem is based. I read Murder in the Cathedral in March (they say these two works are a little connected). But still it seems like each and every is disconnected in the poem and have no meaning at all.

Can you please help me?

1 hour later…

Tsundoku

3:02 PM

@Knight I haven't read those works for 20 years now, so I would need to reread them. I hope there are other people on this site who are familiar with T. S. Eliot.

Knight

3:24 PM

@Tsundoku Okay. But how to ask it as a question on the main site?

“Time present and time past both are contained in time future” what it could possibly mean? Is it related to some philosophy or to allusion to some other work (like Conrad’s work)

Tsundoku

3:39 PM

@Knight That can be perfectly asked as a meaning question on the main site.

Knight

Okay

Thanks.

Bookworm

4:19 PM

Q: Did William Somerset Maugham's uncle treat his nephew in an emotionally cruel way?

William Somerset Maugham's mother died in 1882, when he was only eight years old, and his father died two years later. William was sent to his paternal uncle, Henry MacDonald Maugham, who was a vicar. According to Wikipedia, The move was emotionally damaging, as Henry Maugham was cold and emotio...

somerset-maugham

2 hours later…

Bookworm

6:00 PM

Q: Why do all the lines of Burnt Norton seem unconnected?

I'm reading Burnt Norton by T.S. Eliot. I have read it's background (that manor house theme) and a few months ago read Murder in the Cathedral (as Wikipedia says says, "He created it while working on his play Murder in the Cathedral"). Despite these things I find the poem to be not making the ord...