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Wholegrain Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
...stooping to it
HERMAN MELVILLE - THE CONFIDENCE MAN
http://www.online-literature.com/melville/confidence-man/7/
"Like the benign elm again, the good man seemed to wave the canopy of his goodness over that suitor, not in conceited condescension, but with that even amenity of true majesty, which can be kind to any one without stooping to it."
Does "stooping to it" mean "bowing down to a person"?
http://www.online-literature.com/melville/confidence-man/7/
"Like the benign elm again, the good man seemed to wave the canopy of his goodness over that suitor, not in conceited condescension, but with that even amenity of true majesty, which can be kind to any one without stooping to it."
Does "stooping to it" mean "bowing down to a person"?
Top answer
I'm a little puzzled by the use of "it" rather than "him", but I think it means that just as the canopy of the elm does not droop down, but remains graciously aloft, so the good man remained gracious but did not stoop down to the level of the suitor. In this context sentence I would usually understand the good man not "stooping" to indicate that the suitor was his inferior. However, the preceding text seems to suggest that the suitor was physically shorter than him as well as being his inferior, so I guess there's a dual meaning.
- I'm a little puzzled by the use of "it" rather than "him", but I think it means that just as the canopy of the elm does not droop down, but remains graciously aloft, so the good man remained gracious but did not stoop down to the level of the suitor.
- In this context sentence I would usually understand the good man not "stooping" to indicate that the suitor was his inferior.
- However, the preceding text seems to suggest that the suitor was physically shorter than him as well as being his inferior, so I guess there's a dual meaning.
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2 Answers
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I'm a little puzzled by the use of "it" rather than "him", but I think it means that just as the canopy of the elm does not droop down, but remains graciously aloft, so the good man remained gracious but did not stoop down to the level of the suitor. In this context sentence I would usually understand the good man not "stooping" to indicate that the suitor was his inferior. Howev
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