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.
1,357
questions
3
votes
2
answers
89
views
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
6
votes
4
answers
1k
views
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
-2
votes
1
answer
56
views
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
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.
...
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 ...
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. ‘...
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 ...
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." ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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
...
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 ...
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.
...