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Bbk_agp Posted 18 years ago
Vocabulary

Devouring Famine, Plague, and War,... ?

what dose bold part means, please?

Devouring Famine, Plague, and War,
 Each able to undo mankind,
Death's servile emissaries are;
 Nor to these alone confined,
He hath at will
More quaint and subtle ways to kill;
A smile or kiss, as he will use the art,
Shall have the cunning skill to break a heart.

Thanks a lot
  

Top answer

Bbk_agp Devouring Famine, Plague, and War, without the previous lines, we don't know whether "devouring" is used as an adjective, or the start of a participial phrase. , what's doing the devouring. Each able to undo mankind, Death's servile emissaries are; "servile" is an adjective meaning "servant" / an "emissary" is someone you send on a mission / So death sends the following various servants on missions to perform its work.

— Avangi

  • Bbk_agp Devouring Famine, Plague, and War, without the previous lines, we don't know whether "devouring" is used as an adjective, or the start of a participial phrase.
  • , what's doing the devouring.
  • Each able to undo mankind, Death's servile emissaries are; "servile" is an adjective meaning "servant" / an "emissary" is someone you send on a mission / So death sends the following various servants on missions to perform its work.
  • Nor to these alone confined, He hath at will More quaint and subtle ways to kill; A smile or kiss, as he will use the art, Shall have the cunning skill to break a heart.
  • Thanks a lot
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1 Answers
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Bbk_agp Devouring Famine, Plague, and War, without the previous lines, we don't know whether "devouring" is used as an adjective, or the start of a participial phrase. "Devouring" seems like an incongruous modifier for "famine." (famine certainly destroys and kills, but it doesn't devour - unlike plague and war.) If it's a participial phrase, we need to know w
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