"Crickets creaking trills so loud we had to raise our voices, even on the beach down from the cycladic wall under the yellow spongy dry scrub with spiky stars of flowers." "Fifty-seven Views of Fujiyama" by Guy Davenport
"This trail was blazed back in the century's teens by a knickerbockered and tweed-capped comitatus from Yale, carrying on a tradition from Raphael Pumpelly and Percy Wallace and Steel MacKaye, from Thoreau and Burroughs: a journey with no purpose but to be in the wilderness, to be in its silence, to be together deep among its trees and valleys and heights." "Fifty-seven Views of Fujiyama" by Guy Davenport
"The sampan pilot from Siogama to Ishinomaki, the postman galloping from Kyoto to Ogaki, what do they travel but time?" from "Fifty-seven Views of Fujiyama" by Guy Davenport
from Tate Collection website: "The term ‘flenite’ used in the title was invented by Jacob Epstein to refer to the flinty hardness of the stone used, actually a material called serpentine."
"Sat on the floor at Hulme's widow's while he talked bolt upright in his North Country farmer's body and stuttered through his admiration and phlegmatic defense of Epstein's flenite pieces, so African as to be more Soninke made than Soninke derived. . ." from "The Bowmen of Shu" by Guy Davenport
from Middlemarch, the political subplot. Short for "plumper votes," plumpers were votes for just one candidate, when the ballot asked them to choose 2.
from Middlemarch, of course, since it has to do with duty. Farebrother is the one suffering from laches. This is just a few paragraphs from the excellent sentence, "But Duty has a trick of behaving unexpectedly--something like a heavy friend whom we have amiably asked to visit us, and who breaks his leg within our gates."
Comments by jaime_d
Show previous 200 comments...
jaime_d commented on the word cycladic
I think this is meant as resembling work by the Bronze Age Cycladic people -- ancient, white, stone
January 19, 2010
jaime_d commented on the word cycladic
"Crickets creaking trills so loud we had to raise our voices, even on the beach down from the cycladic wall under the yellow spongy dry scrub with spiky stars of flowers." "Fifty-seven Views of Fujiyama" by Guy Davenport
January 19, 2010
jaime_d commented on the word comitatus
"This trail was blazed back in the century's teens by a knickerbockered and tweed-capped comitatus from Yale, carrying on a tradition from Raphael Pumpelly and Percy Wallace and Steel MacKaye, from Thoreau and Burroughs: a journey with no purpose but to be in the wilderness, to be in its silence, to be together deep among its trees and valleys and heights." "Fifty-seven Views of Fujiyama" by Guy Davenport
January 19, 2010
jaime_d commented on the word provender
"We had provender for a fortnight in the wilderness. . ." "Fifty-seven Views of Fujiyama" by Guy Davenport
January 19, 2010
jaime_d commented on the word sampan
"The sampan pilot from Siogama to Ishinomaki, the postman galloping from Kyoto to Ogaki, what do they travel but time?" from "Fifty-seven Views of Fujiyama" by Guy Davenport
January 19, 2010
jaime_d commented on the word flenite
from Tate Collection website: "The term ‘flenite’ used in the title was invented by Jacob Epstein to refer to the flinty hardness of the stone used, actually a material called serpentine."
http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=4124
January 19, 2010
jaime_d commented on the word flenite
"Sat on the floor at Hulme's widow's while he talked bolt upright in his North Country farmer's body and stuttered through his admiration and phlegmatic defense of Epstein's flenite pieces, so African as to be more Soninke made than Soninke derived. . ." from "The Bowmen of Shu" by Guy Davenport
January 19, 2010
jaime_d commented on the word fluviatile
related to a stream or river
from Thoreau's A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
July 19, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word bittern
from Thoreau's A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
also from from Thomas Carlyle's The French Revolution
July 19, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word bream
from Thoreau's A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
July 19, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word mullein
from Thoreau's A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
July 19, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word parterre
from Thoreau's A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
July 19, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word tumulus
from Thoreau's A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
July 19, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word weir
from Thoreau's A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
July 19, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word cessile
from Thoreau's A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. Fun fact: this adjective (meaning "yielding") is only used to modify air.
July 19, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word alburnum
the sapwood (newer, softer wood between the heartwood and the bark)
from Thoreau's A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
July 19, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word purling
from Thoreau's A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
July 19, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word equinoctial
from Thoreau's A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
July 19, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word plectrum
from Thoreau's A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
July 19, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word cisalpine
from Thoreau's A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
July 19, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word cisatlantic
on the near side of the Atlantic
from Thoreau's A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
July 19, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word buttonwood
from Thoreau's A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, probably meaning sycamore
July 19, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word kerseymere
from Thoreau's A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
July 19, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word autochthones
natives, or originals
from Thoreau's A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
July 19, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word rockites
Irish term for 1812 revolutionaries
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word babes of the wood
Irish term for outlaws
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word peep-of-day boys
Irish term for Protestant insurgents
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word cottiers
Irish term for cottage dwellers
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word ribbonmen
Irish term for members of the Catholic Ribbon Society
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word redshanks
Irish term for the bare-legged
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word bogtrotters
Irish term for peasants
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word stook-of-duds
shock of rags
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word hallanshakers
Scottish term for beggars
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word satanic poetry
what we now refer to as "the Romantics"--esp. Byron
from Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus"
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word aesthetic tea
an intellectual salon-type thing
from Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus"
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word dandiacal
sarcastic term for the English Dandy type
from Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus"
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word blinkard
mean term for someone with bad eyesight OR used figuratively for one who lacks intellectual perception
from Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus"
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word magnetic sleep
hypnotism
from Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus"
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word gukguk
cuckoo fish?
from Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus"
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word proem
from Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus"
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word riancy
bright or smiling character
from Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus"
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word calenture
from Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus"
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word skyey
from Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus"
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word grand-climacteric
the year of life, usually figured to be the 63rd, supposed to be especially critical
from Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus"
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word ambuscade
from Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus"
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word desiderate
from Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus"
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word wiredrawn
excessively minute or subtle
from Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus"
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word peptic
from Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus"
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word hirundine
from Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus"
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word serbonian
from Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus"
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word otaheitean
old form of "Tahitian"
from Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus"
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word coruscation
from Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus"
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word ormolu
from Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus"
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word royer collards
never could find out what this means. from Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus"
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word geognosy
from Carlyle's "Sartor Resartus"
January 11, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word fremitus
sensation felt by a hand placed on the body, feeling the vibration caused by speech
October 8, 2008
jaime_d commented on the word looby
from Middlemarch. An awkward fellow.
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word mulct
from the Ring and the Book.
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word mansuetude
from the Ring and the Book.
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word cachinnation
from the Ring and the Book.
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word elucubrate
from the Ring and the Book.
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word dandiprat
from the Ring and the Book. a lovely word for an urchin.
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word guimp
from Middlemarch
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word hustings
from Middlemarch
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word mercer
from Middlemarch
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word batrachian
from Middlemarch
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word margrave
from Middlemarch
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word loobie
an awkward, clumsy fellow. from Middlemarch
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word lunette
from Middlemarch
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word megrim
from Middlemarch
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word plumpers
from Middlemarch, the political subplot. Short for "plumper votes," plumpers were votes for just one candidate, when the ballot asked them to choose 2.
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word laches
from Middlemarch, of course, since it has to do with duty. Farebrother is the one suffering from laches. This is just a few paragraphs from the excellent sentence, "But Duty has a trick of behaving unexpectedly--something like a heavy friend whom we have amiably asked to visit us, and who breaks his leg within our gates."
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word obloquy
from Middlemarch
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word rechercy
from Middlemarch
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word salubrity
from Middlemarch
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word vulpine
from Ruskin.
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word latitudinarian
from Trollope. I love this one.
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word plethoric
from Trollope
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word cacoethes
from Trollope
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word termagant
from Trollope
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word succedaneum
from Trollope
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word defalcation
from Trollope
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word velocipede
from Louisa May Alcott's "An Old Fashioned Girl."
October 1, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word deal bookcase
deal here means pine or fir wood
April 2, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word pelerine
a piece of 19th century women's clothing, a little cape
March 28, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word lucubration
I read this recently in a letter from John Ruskin, a lovely put-down to art critics he found ignorant.
February 11, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word maugre
I first saw this word used by RW Emerson: "Nature says--he is my creature, and maugre all his impertinent griefts, he shall be glad to see me."
December 26, 2006
jaime_d commented on the word alembic
I first saw this in an RW Emerson metaphor. "Thus is Art a nature passed through the alembic of man."
December 26, 2006