Questions tagged [meaning]

Questions regarding the meaning of certain terms or phrases used in a work of literature. If your question concerns the symbolic significance of something whose surface meaning is clear, use the [symbolism] tag instead. Please add specific tags as well: for the author (if known), the language (if not English), and either the work itself (if long) or the [poetry] or [short-stories] tags for short works.

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How do you become aware "of the earth as poetry"?

From p. 105 of National Geographic Stunning Photographs “It is only when we are aware of the earth and of the earth as poetry that we truly live.” ― Henry Beston How do you become aware "of ...
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2 votes
4 answers
2k views

What does Heraclitus mean by "if you do not expect the unexpected"?

I lit upon this quote on p. 177 in National Geographic's photo book Sublime Nature, that I riffled through based on recent posts. Goodreads has it. I don't know any philosophy, and don't understand ...
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3 votes
3 answers
14k views

What does "nature" mean in "One touch of nature makes the whole world kin"?

When I first saw this quote on p. 139 in National Geographic's photo book Sublime Nature: Photographs That Awe and Inspire, I interpreted "nature" to mean flora and fauna. I interpreted ...
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5 votes
2 answers
798 views

What is Litigious Little Bow in the Welsh poem "The Wind"?

The poem "The Wind" by 14th-century Welsh poet Dafydd ap Gwilym, which can be read online in an English translation by Gwyneth Lewis, mostly consists of an ode to the wind, described ...
Rand al'Thor's user avatar
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6 votes
4 answers
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Did "equator" have a different meaning from its common one in 19th-century English literature?

In "In the Midst of Alarms" (1894) by Robert Barr, the author is describing a man who was trying to make a friendly conversation with a rural young woman: “Yes,” Yates laughed uneasily. He ...
Ahmed Samir's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
2k views

When Hassan was around, ‘the oxygen seeped out of the room.’ What is happening here?

I am looking for an explanation as to what the phrase "oxygen seeped out of the room" means, in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini in the following passage. For example, I can write that it ...
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6 votes
1 answer
474 views

The second line of "God's Grandeur"

The second line of Gerard Manley Hopkins's sonnet God's Grandeur is: It will flame out, like shining from shook foil. What I found on the Internet regarding the analysis of this line was rather ...
CREATIVITY Unleashed's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
485 views

What is the pun in Fowles' The Magus?

Google has not helped me figure this out. This is from the first or second page of the book (I'm not sure exactly since my electronic copy of the book doesn't seem to have page numbers): I saw very ...
Novice's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
852 views

What does "steal my crown" mean in Kacey Musgraves's Butterflies?

I was enjoying a song "Butterflies" by Kacey Musgraves and in the lyrics there is "Stealing my heart 'stead of stealing my crown". What does "steal my crown" mean? I am ...
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1 vote
1 answer
41 views

What does "an appeal, a right violated and invoked" mean in this context?

I would like to know what "an appeal, a right violated and invoked" means in the following sentences: I stood. ‘I need to go,’ I said, knowing it was true. Your face, your limbs – it was as ...
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-2 votes
1 answer
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What does "I’d lost" mean in this context? [closed]

I would like to know what "I’d lost you" means in the following sentences: We walked back to the veranda, and I couldn’t look at you, only at the ground, not sure what had just happened. I ...
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1 vote
1 answer
205 views

What does "the same faces" mean in this context?

I would like to know what "the same faces" means in the following sentences: That afternoon Hania said she was preparing a surprise for us; after lunch she and Agata went out with two empty ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
42 views

What does "the gigantic gates and lines of soldiers that protected the castle that was the Soviet embassy" mean in this context?

I would like to know what "the gigantic gates and lines of soldiers that protected the castle that was the Soviet embassy" means in the following sentences: We whizzed off, speeding ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
72 views

What does "And it won’t be weird with Hania? Coming on to" mean in this context?

I would like to know what "And it won’t be weird with Hania? Coming on to you?" means in the following sentences: You stopped and looked at me with a consolatory smile. ‘Don’t worry, this ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
88 views

What does "look a little … something." mean in this context?

I would like to know what "You look a little … something." means in the following sentences: You and Maksio reached her just as the song came to an end, a storm of cheers and ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
363 views

What does "I wished it could be us out there." mean in this context?

I would like to know what "I wished it could be us out there." means in the following sentences: ‘Goodness,’ sighed Karolina, rolling her eyes, ‘doesn’t he tell you anything? Maksio and ...
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1 vote
1 answer
36 views

What does "quick, light beats prepared the room, gathered our attention, ecstatic, simple and single-minded." mean in this context?

I would like to know what "At once a string of quick, light beats prepared the room, gathered our attention, ecstatic, simple and single-minded." means in the following sentences: And then ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
135 views

What does "I pressed her against me" mean in this context?

I would like to know what "I pressed her against me" means in the following sentences: We had another drink and had just started to move to the music when an arm snaked itself around my ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
79 views

Does "bottles" refer to alcoholic drinks in this passage?

I would like to know what "bottles" means in the following sentences: We followed him through a wood-panelled corridor into a large room filled with smoke and people. Music blasted ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
42 views

What does "I need to check on somebody" mean in this context?

I would like to know what "I need to check on somebody." means in the following sentences: We followed him through a wood-panelled corridor into a large room filled with smoke and people. ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
56 views

In this passage from Swimming in the Dark, what does "arched back defined" mean?

I would like to know what "Your arched back defined" means in the following sentences: Afterwards you got up and switched on the radio, sitting on your haunches, turning the tune button. ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
280 views

In this passage from "Swimming in the Dark", does "came through to the corridor with me" mean they came out through the room to the corridor?

I would like to know what "came through to the corridor with me" means in the following sentences: ‘No, thank you,’ you said, waiting for her to stop. ‘I won’t trouble you for long. Ludwik ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
44 views

Does "pact you’ve made with yourself" refer to a concession or agreement in this passage?

I would like to know what "pact you’ve made with yourself" means in the following sentences: ‘Did you hear?’ he said with his smoker’s voice, almost immediately after picking up the phone. ‘...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
67 views

What does "searching the flats and offices, returning to interrogate the man and the woman and to take down their details" mean here?

I would like to know what "searching the flats and offices, returning to interrogate the man and the woman and to take down their details" means in the following sentences: There was a ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
64 views

What does "I heard her shoving the brooms up against it, heard running in other parts of the office..." mean in this context?

I would like to know what "I heard her shoving the brooms up against it, heard running in other parts of the office, and then the sound of her heels on the wooden floor of the corridor." ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
64 views

What does "It made me think that throughout my life, up to this point, everything I’d done had felt either irrelevant or replaceable." mean here?

I would like to know what "It made me think that throughout my life, up to this point, everything I’d done had felt either irrelevant or replaceable." means in the following sentences: I ...
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3 votes
1 answer
109 views

What does "Behind it lay the nuns’ convent, their cloister with its orchards and grazing cows..." mean here?

I would like to know what "Behind it lay the nuns’ convent, their cloister with its orchards and grazing cows, and new residential blocks towering just above." means in the following ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
61 views

Does “her bike” refer to a motorcycle or a bicycle in this passage?

I would like to know what "her bike" means in the following sentences: I was very young; Father had just left us and Mother was so distraught I was afraid she’d die from grief. She stayed ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
60 views

What does "tucked in below the ramparts of the faculty grounds" mean in this context?

I would like to know what "tucked in below the ramparts of the faculty grounds" means in the following sentences: During those weeks, you and I would go to the university pool every now and ...
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0 votes
1 answer
57 views

What does "mind our own business" mean in this context?

I would like to know what "mind our own business" means in the following sentences: ‘There’s no law against what we’re doing.’ ‘I know that.’ Your voice softened. ‘But we need to act as if ...
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2 votes
1 answer
33 views

Does "a satisfaction in the forbidden, a challenge" mean a satisfaction in doing what is forbidden?

I would like to know what "a satisfaction in the forbidden, a challenge" means in the following sentences: I walked home slowly. The air was suffocating. The sky was grey, and sticky wind ...
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2 votes
1 answer
46 views

In this passage from "Swimming in the Dark", does "a sort of thought-through whisper" mean a pondered-upon whisper?

I would like to know what "a sort of thought-through whisper" means in the following sentences: ‘That’s the right attitude.’ He leaned forward and put his chunky arms on the desk, his ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
55 views

What does "referred from the centre for student accommodation" mean in this context?

I would like to know what "referred from the centre for student accommodation" means in the following sentences: When I arrived in the flat, it seemed smaller to me than before. The kitchen ...
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0 votes
1 answer
20 views

"hung in parchment folds"

After a long climb, she emerged on a wooded hill, above a Greek-style amphitheater. She was surrounded by golden grasses, whose feathery seeds were borne on the wind. Eucalyptus fronds, giving off ...
Eddie Kal's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
49 views

What does "total inconsequence" mean in this context?

I would like to know what "total inconsequence" means in the following sentences: ‘You coming?’ First I slipped off my sandals, then my shirt. I folded it carefully and lay it on a soft ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
44 views

What does "There was so much I could not get enough of, so much I would never be able to grasp or possess, no matter how much I tried." mean here?

I would like to know what "There was so much I could not get enough of, so much I would never be able to grasp or possess, no matter how much I tried." means in the following sentences: You ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
30 views

What does "letting its current take over" mean in this context?

I would like to know what "letting its current take over" means in the following sentences: You smelled of water and pines. There was softness, and there was hardness. I could sense your ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
71 views

What does "said through a bite of radish" mean here?

I would like to know what "said through a bite of radish" means in the following sentences: ‘So you’re students,’ the mother said. ‘Yes, ma’am,’ you said through a bite of radish, looking ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
39 views

What does "suddenly close again in the dark" mean in this context?

I would like to know what "suddenly close again in the dark" means in the following sentences: We walked out of the barn and into the house. There was a dark corridor that smelled of must ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
63 views

What does "I was paralysed by possibility, caught between the vertigo of fulfilment and the abyss of uncertainty." mean here?

I would like to know what "I was paralysed by possibility, caught between the vertigo of fulfilment and the abyss of uncertainty." means in the following sentences: ‘Goodnight,’ you said ...
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1 vote
1 answer
81 views

Does "a country junction" mean a crossing of roads in the countryside in this passage?

I would like to know what "a country junction" means in the following sentences: The first car that stopped took us east. The driver, a middle-aged man, eyed us from time to time but asked ...
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2 votes
1 answer
52 views

What does "along a narrow arm of the river that snaked its way into the forest" mean in this context?

I would like to know what "along a narrow arm of the river that snaked its way into the forest" means in the following sentences: On our last evening the comrade leader made a speech, ...
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3 votes
2 answers
144 views

Does "Like an unwritten piece of paper" mean like a paper that is literally blank in this passage?

I would like to know what "Like an unwritten piece of paper" means in the following sentences: It did me good, this walk. It reminded me of the aimless ones I would take in Wrocław, when I ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
33 views

What does "They can’t bear to see us having fun" mean in this context?

I would like to know what "They can’t bear to see us having fun" means in the following sentences: At mealtimes I sat with Karolina and Beata, a friend from lectures. She was short and ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
235 views

What does "a guy from the year below" mean in this context?

I would like to know what "a guy from the year below" means in the following sentences: At mealtimes I sat with Karolina and Beata, a friend from lectures. She was short and round-faced and ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
57 views

What does "which gradually became the only thing we knew" mean in this context?

I would like to know what "which gradually became the only thing we knew" means in the following sentences: On the first morning of camp they woke us early, storming into the hut and ...
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0 votes
1 answer
23 views

What does "He told me how he’d been in the war" mean in this context?

I would like to know what "He told me how he’d been in the war" means in the following sentences: I wanted to run home straight away, knew I had to get away from this place, and remembered ...
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1 vote
1 answer
33 views

What does "which welcomed the touch of unknown fingers and summer air" mean in this context?

I would like to know what "which welcomed the touch of unknown fingers and summer air" means in the following sentences: ‘Come on,’ he said, taking the flask from me and letting his hand ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
60 views

What does "the morning when the darkness would be gone" mean in this context?

I would like to know what "the morning when the darkness would be gone" means in the following sentences: That night I lay awake in bed, the other guys fast asleep around me, the moon ...
Pasta Addict's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
202 views

Finally, the slick mountains of love break over us

This is the last part of Mary Oliver's poem "Her Grave", honoring the poet's dead dog. How strong was her dark body! How apt is her grave place. How beautiful is her unshakable sleep. ...
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