tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post2214200180301529706..comments2024-03-29T06:02:33.720-07:00Comments on the prowling Bee: Like Some Old fashioned Miracle Susan Kornfeldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-34536171436399992252024-02-17T08:44:46.348-08:002024-02-17T08:44:46.348-08:00Baize, Definition 1a & example from Dickens, O...Baize, Definition 1a & example from Dickens, Oxford English Dictionary:<br /><br />1578– “A coarse woollen stuff, having a long nap, now used chiefly for linings, coverings [especially of billiard tables], curtains, etc., in warmer countries for articles of clothing, e.g. shirts, petticoats, ponchos; it was formerly, when made of finer and lighter texture, used as a clothing material in Britain also.”<br /><br />“Gentlemen of the green baize road who could discourse, from personal experience, of foreign galleys and home treadmills.” (C. Dickens, Bleak House, 1853, xxvi. 257)<br /><br />Word Origin, late 16th century, from French baies, feminine plural of bai ‘chestnut-coloured’, treated as a singular noun, from Latin badius. The name is presumably from the original colour of the cloth, although several colours are recorded. (https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/baize)<br /><br />Anyone who has handled chestnuts is aware of their near-permanent brown handstain, which suggests the word “baize” derives from the original source of the die used to color baize linings of violin cases, hence ED’s Line 15, “The Violin in Baize replaced –”. [Larry B]Larry Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810899482852120751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-24010205843298764652024-02-17T08:43:43.214-08:002024-02-17T08:43:43.214-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Larry Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810899482852120751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-83186758419225524592023-08-03T14:24:28.640-07:002023-08-03T14:24:28.640-07:00"Like Some Old fashioned Miracle
When Summert..."Like Some Old fashioned Miracle<br />When Summertime is done — <br />Seems Summer's Recollection <br />And the Affairs of June <br /><br />As infinite Tradition <br />As Cinderella's Bays — <br />Or Little John — of Lincoln Green — <br />Or Blue Beard's Galleries —"<br /><br />ED considered “exquisite” as an alternative word for “infinite” in Line 5.<br /><br />Survivor ED’s brain protects itself from madness by distancing itself from “the Affairs of June”, specifically June 1, 1862, the day Wadsworth sailed from New York with his wife and two children, bound for San Francisco. She feels he put a dagger in her heart and hung her on a hook, like Blue Beard did his first six wives. <br /><br />No wonder her subconscious composed this poem.<br />Larry Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810899482852120751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-60513851782550980422023-08-03T13:48:07.552-07:002023-08-03T13:48:07.552-07:00For some unstated reason, Franklin dates F407 and ...For some unstated reason, Franklin dates F407 and F408 as “recorded about autumn 1862”. He dates previous and following poems simply “About 1862”. Is he suggesting these two poems may pre-date 1862?Larry Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810899482852120751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-9781483167426352922023-08-03T13:37:07.033-07:002023-08-03T13:37:07.033-07:00Betcha ED stuck "Blue Beard's Galleries&q...Betcha ED stuck "Blue Beard's Galleries" in just to trip up readers like me, whose speed-reading brain saw “Black Beard’s Galleys”. <br /><br />One version of the folk tale, which dates from the 14th century and possibly from the 6th century, has Blue Beard’s seventh wife discover a room (gallery) “flooded with blood and the murdered corpses of Bluebeard's previous six wives hanging on hooks from the walls.” (Wikipedia)Larry Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02810899482852120751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-23785779562074022482023-05-31T18:43:29.111-07:002023-05-31T18:43:29.111-07:00Love Kevin's comment above (from 10 years ago)...Love Kevin's comment above (from 10 years ago) that this is one of most enlightening things on the entire internet. Still true. It seems hyperbolic, seeing as to how much is out there, but being able to have such a good guide into such a great poet is especially rich and rare.<br /><br />I like your take on the syntax change in the "strain" line, the strain of that line coming after all that smooth summer amazing grace sailing, and then that awkward word there "review", which does seem to poignantly point the reader to review their own summer, and coming winter, or present winter and past summer, whichever the case may be...d scribehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08242682202760522439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-37594161646100214022021-10-24T15:23:50.243-07:002021-10-24T15:23:50.243-07:00Well, I'll be. I had him as a pirate -- must h...Well, I'll be. I had him as a pirate -- must have been thinking of Black Beard. Thank you for pointing this outSusan Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-91773378716263715142021-10-24T15:14:56.628-07:002021-10-24T15:14:56.628-07:00I hadn't even noticed bays and baize!! Thanks!...I hadn't even noticed bays and baize!! Thanks!Susan Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-82399960455158230772021-10-24T15:03:32.003-07:002021-10-24T15:03:32.003-07:00I think the reference to Blue Beard is more sinist...I think the reference to Blue Beard is more sinister than Treasure Island. See the entry for Blue Beard in the ED lexicon. Robin Cooperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06335324252360372642noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-80116924119017080162020-08-15T07:16:36.772-07:002020-08-15T07:16:36.772-07:00Wordplay: bays and baize! Such brilliant wordpla...Wordplay: bays and baize! Such brilliant wordplay! Dumb and numb knock me out!Pphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01023162636086533197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-16751039521341418072015-02-23T05:06:41.977-08:002015-02-23T05:06:41.977-08:00Bravo Susan; Bravo Emily; Bravo summer.
Encore, e...Bravo Susan; Bravo Emily; Bravo summer.<br /><br />Encore, encore!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-3725913694938602952013-03-26T18:31:37.835-07:002013-03-26T18:31:37.835-07:00Yes, I agree: as Indian Summer heads towards fall,...Yes, I agree: as Indian Summer heads towards fall, we look back on the enchantment of summer with nostalgia. I do think that Cinderella's Bays are the carriage horses as you suggest. For words like "baize," I depend on the ED Lexicon (http://edl.byu.edu/lexicon).Susan Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-62710709405381230002013-03-26T16:48:26.012-07:002013-03-26T16:48:26.012-07:00I read this as a poem about Indian Summer. This s... I read this as a poem about Indian Summer. This seems clear from the first stanza -- an old fashioned miracle when Summertime is done that "Seems Summer's Recollection".<br /><br /> It is similar to "These are the Days when Birds come back" -- although not as beautiful as that poem. Still, ED uses some of the same words (plausible; plausibility) and images ("Her bees have a fictitious hum"; "fraud that cannot cheat the bee").<br /><br /> I have a little trouble with some of the phrases. "Cinderella's Bays" makes no sense to me (horses for Cinderella's carriage?). Similarly, I don't know what "Violin in Baize replaced" means (maybe a cloth wrapping as you suggest). <br /><br /> I suppose the works of fiction cited in the second stanza echo with the fictitious hum of the bees. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-56682624591663368462013-01-22T20:30:01.424-08:002013-01-22T20:30:01.424-08:00And... In between I can go back to the beginning a...And... In between I can go back to the beginning and catch up with all that I have missed. Emily is difficult but ultimately rewarding. "Forcing" us to concentrate on one poem at a time is a great way to enrich our understanding. Thank you for your effort! Kevin Ryannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-58754832582702244602013-01-22T18:25:14.922-08:002013-01-22T18:25:14.922-08:00Thank you, Kevin!!Thank you, Kevin!!Susan Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05384011972647144453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4029797379711350813.post-85126831808155959612013-01-22T18:14:56.696-08:002013-01-22T18:14:56.696-08:00Susan, this blog is one of the most interesting an...Susan, this blog is one of the most interesting and enlightening ones I have ever come across on the entire Internet. Your pacing is perfect. It is now something I can look forward to every day or so. Thank you!Kevin Ryannoreply@blogger.com