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10:32 AM

Q: What did H. G. Wells mean by "Manifestly their line lay straight along the lane to the sea"?

I've been reading Kipps by H. G. Wells, and I came across this sentence, which I am having trouble understanding. They (the protagonist Kipps and his friend Sid) proceeded to the question of how two accomplished Hurons might most satisfactorily spend the morning. Manifestly their line lay st...

3 hours later…

Feeds

1:16 PM

twitter.com/StackLiterature/status/1173212252628901888

Bookworm

1:53 PM

Q: What does Neruda mean when he says ‘Maybe January light will consume My heart with its cruel Ray.’?

I’ve been a fan of Neruda for a while now. In his Sonnet LXVI: I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You, he says ‘Maybe January light will consume My heart with its cruel Ray, stealing my key to true calm.’, I do not understand these verses. Especially why does he mention January specifically?...

pablo-neruda

b_jonas

2:45 PM

@CowperKettle That looks a bit too short for a sonnet.

CowperKettle

3:13 PM

@b_jonas I was translating a pharmacology document in which there was a sentence with a weird word order: "Tuberculosis results doubtful twice". This word order reminded me of the sonnet by Shakespeare and I remodeled it a bit.

Feel free to remodel the preceding lines

@b_jonas It's just my way to amuse myself while working

I did write a full sonnet based on a sentence in a translation (Russian to English). The sentence went like this:

> "It was found that there exists a practice of leaving one or two pre-signed blank forms to the workers of the night shift, so that they could handle materials in the absence of responsible persons entitled to sign material permits."

And my sonnet

> Lo! Thus, determination has been made
Of practice nightly, where a brace of blanks
Is given out, ere sun begins to fade,
Unspoilt, for use in lieu of higher ranks
By lower ranks, in their nocturnal toil,
And bearing all the while the needed marks
Allowing them to handle bottled oil,
And barrel’d cod, and meat in spicy shanks.

> A practice glorious, well-nigh ideal!
But galling those whom charge to supervise,
To level keep all scales, all books precise
Makes hot as stoves with law-abiding zeal.
A tiny pinch they would declaim a steal,
Unless allowed a part to utilize.

I gave a book as a gift this spring, and wrote a dedication to the friend I gave it to

> Would you accept this little gift,
And read it at your leisure –
When you are off your working,
Bicycling, hiking or boarding shift?

To know that you have liked this book
Will give me such a pleasure
As when I see one person smile –
I hope you get my drift.

3 hours later…

b_jonas

6:03 PM

Sorry, I can't comment on those poems any deeper than counting the lines.

CowperKettle

@b_jonas Do you have favorite poems and poets?

b_jonas

@CowperKettle Yes, but not English ones. My favourite poet is probably Arany János.

I don't read English poems.

CowperKettle

I love Edna St Vincent Millay, Keats, Theodore Roethke

János Arany

János Arany (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈjaːnoʃ ˈɒrɒɲ]; archaic English: John Arany; 2 March 1817—22 October 1882) was a Hungarian journalist, writer, poet, and translator. He is often said to be the "Shakespeare of ballads" – he wrote more than 102 ballads been translated into over 50 languages, as well as the Toldi trilogy, to mention his most famous works. == Biography == He was born in Nagyszalonta, Bihar county, Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire. He was the youngest of ten children, but because of tuberculosis running in the family, only two of them lived beyond childhood. At the time of...

Looks like a very cool translator and poet.

I also love Gerard Manley Hopkins.

BBL

4 hours later…

Bookworm

10:36 PM

Q: Why would Hamlet fear suicide if he knew of life after death?

Prince Hamlet describes his fear of death in poetic phrases. Prince Hamlet: To be, or not to be, that is the question: ... To die, to sleep, perchance to Dream; aye, there's the rub, For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pau...