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Bubu prasant Posted 22 years ago
Grammar

What is twinkling cloud

Hi,

This is the begining line of a poem "stockdoves" byAndrew young.

"The rose like a twinkling cloud"

How can be cloud be twinkling? Does it refer to the flashing caused by the fluttering of the wings of a flock of birds at the same time?

And then there is anothere phrase

They circled like a "flying town". What does flying town mean in this context?
  

Top answer

"cloud" is obvious in the sense of it being a dense shape in the air, made up of the birds, I guess an ordinary cloud doesn't do much twinkling, but if the cloud is made up of living creatures, then the movement of their wings through light and air could give a twinkling effect ... town is where ppl live, and maybe the idea is to suggest community, density of population, but flying rathter than static on the ground like a real town

— Suzi

  • "cloud" is obvious in the sense of it being a dense shape in the air, made up of the birds, I guess an ordinary cloud doesn't do much twinkling, but if the cloud is made up of living creatures, then the movement of their wings through light and air could give a twinkling effect ...
  • town is where ppl live, and maybe the idea is to suggest community, density of population, but flying rathter than static on the ground like a real town
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5 Answers
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"cloud" is obvious in the sense of it being a dense shape in the air, made up of the birds,
I guess an ordinary cloud doesn't do much twinkling, but if the cloud is made up of living creatures, then the movement of their wings through light and air could give a twinkling effect ...

town is where ppl live, and maybe the idea is to suggest community, density of population, but fly
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Hi Suzi,

So it does have a connection with their wings as i had guessed. I had told my students so. only I was not sure of it. But now that you have confirmed it i feel good. I have no sense of guilt.

Thanks.

Do you also consider flying town as a clumsy expression? It sounds so grand though it the leaves reader wondering what it means!
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I don't know what to say about the flying town. It sounds clumsy, but then, it is poetry, so in the context of the whole thing (and the fact that the poet wants us to look at things in a slightly different way) it could be a good idea to use such an expression.

I'm sure I would find it very hard to teach poetry in a language that is not my own!
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The number of stockdoves was very great. When it took to flight all a sudden the formation looked like a single entity which the poet compares with a cloud. However, unlike a cloud which never twinkles, this cloud of stockdoves was twinkling because at times the flying birds were visible quite handsomely and then the visilibility faded. This occurence of good visibility succeeded by a faded one
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You are free to comment on old threads, of course, because other forum members may be interested, but you should note that this thread was finished more than seven years ago, and the person who posted the original question is unlikely to be still around to see your comment.
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