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Mokmokmok Posted 19 years ago
Grammar
a sentence in a poem by Browning
I can't wrap my head around this passage from Browning's [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Last_Duchess#Text]"My Last Duchess"[/url]:
"Even had you skill
In speech ...
...
... and if she let
Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set
Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse,
--E'en then would be some stooping, and I choose
Never to stoop."
In particular, "nor plainly set / Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse" befuddles me. For example, how is "nor" to be understood exactly? I guess my question is, how would this passage look like if it were written in modern, ordinary english?
Thanks in advance
"Even had you skill
In speech ...
...
... and if she let
Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set
Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse,
--E'en then would be some stooping, and I choose
Never to stoop."
In particular, "nor plainly set / Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse" befuddles me. For example, how is "nor" to be understood exactly? I guess my question is, how would this passage look like if it were written in modern, ordinary english?
Thanks in advance
Top answer
Even if she would accept to be criticized by you And not quarrel with you And would apologize Even then, this would mean some stooping on my part, and I choose Never to stoop.
- Even if she would accept to be criticized by you And not quarrel with you And would apologize Even then, this would mean some stooping on my part, and I choose Never to stoop.
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4 Answers
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Even if she would accept to be criticized by you
And not quarrel with you
And would apologize
Even then, this would mean some stooping on my part, and I choose
Never to stoop.
And not quarrel with you
And would apologize
Even then, this would mean some stooping on my part, and I choose
Never to stoop.
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Marius
I need some help. I can't post questions here. It is blocked. When I post a question, I get the message of pending. A moderator has to approve it. I just posted one.
I had this problem two days ago. That question appeared as from an anonymous person.
Are you able to help me?
I have no way of sending a message to a moderator.
I need some help. I can't post questions here. It is blocked. When I post a question, I get the message of pending. A moderator has to approve it. I just posted one.
I had this problem two days ago. That question appeared as from an anonymous person.
Are you able to help me?
I have no way of sending a message to a moderator.
00
Rotter,
Same happens to me too on some threads. Also to others, see:
Pls be patient, as you can see from the above thread, the admins know about it.
Same happens to me too on some threads. Also to others, see:
Pls be patient, as you can see from the above thread, the admins know about it.
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Marius, that was very enlightening. I hadn't thought of "excuse" as "apology" & wasn't familar at all with what apparently was an idiom ("set [one's] wits to"). I thought that the speaker of the poem was making a comparison between "her" intelligence to "yours", which might be an intended effect -- though admittedly not the primary one -- & which, by ambiguity, reinforces the condenscending tone
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