All 25 entries tagged Animals
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June 07, 2008
minnow
minnow (2.XXXII.iii).
A minnow is a small freshwater fish (Bib:CALD), suggesting here the size of the plane in the distance and specifically in a term familiar to a fisherman, like Achille, whose viewpoint is given here.
Amanda Hopkins
07 Jun 2008 12:33
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Tags: Achille Animals Characters Fishing Glossary Minnow Water
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June 06, 2008
dromedary
dromedary (5.XXXVIII.i).
The dromedary is a single-humped camel, a beast renowned for its ability to bear great loads and go long distances; a beast of burden and toil.
Amanda Hopkins
06 Jun 2008 17:23
| Tags: Animals Dromedary Glossary
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June 05, 2008
mole crickets
mole crickets (3.XXXI.ii).
Any of several burrowing crickets of the family Gryllotalpidae that have fossorial forelegs and that feed on the roots of plants.
Amanda Hopkins
05 Jun 2008 13:41
| Tags: Animals Glossary Mole Crickets
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black dog heel
The black dog did dog-dances//around him, yapping, crouching, entangling his heel (3.XXXI.ii).
One of several references to Achille’s heel. In the classical tradition, Achilles’ heel was often cited as the most vulnerable area of his body, and it was sometimes said that he died when it was wounded. The legend goes that Achilles’ goddess mother Thetis, afraid of losing her child to mortal death, dipped him in the River Styx when he was just a child. This rendered his body totally invulnerable, except a spot on his heel where Thetis had held him (Bib:23).
Amanda Hopkins
05 Jun 2008 08:41
| Tags: Achille Achilles Animals Black Dog Heel Characters Epic Tradition
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Empires were swinish
Empires were swinish (1.XI.i).
The colonizing world is seen as dirty ('garbage', 'filth', 'sewers', 'swinish').
Amanda Hopkins
05 Jun 2008 06:23
| Tags: Animals Colonialism Context Empires Were Swinish Pigs
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July 09, 2007
hyphen stitched
her hyphen stitched its seam (7.LXIII.iii).
An idea common in epic texts, for example Penelope stitching her tapestry (The Odyssey) and Helen weaving her web (The Iliad). The creation of art by the characters parallels the creation of the text by Walcott. Here, the stitcher is the sea-swift, crossing the seas; the bird is presented as a 'hyphen' linking the continents, one of a variety of metaphorical references linking natural images with the practicalities of language, writing and typesetting used by Walcott (cf. e.g. 'asterisks of rain', 7.LXIV.i, and 'freshly written in sheets of exploding surf', 1.59.i).
Amanda Hopkins
09 Jul 2007 16:07
| Tags: Animals Epic Tradition Helen Of Troy Hyphen Stitched Iliad Odyssey Penelope Poetics Women
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khaki dog stretched
the khaki dog stretched at his feet (7.LXIII.i).
This evokes Odysseus' old and faithful dog Argos (Odyssey 17:290-327); the khaki dog is a guide of sorts for the blind Seven Seas.
Amanda Hopkins
09 Jul 2007 15:44
| Tags: Animals Colours Epic Tradition Khaki Dog Stretched Odyssey
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baleine
"Baleine" (7.LX.iii).
'Whale' (French).
Amanda Hopkins
09 Jul 2007 15:39
| Tags: Animals Baleine Glossary
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endangered species
Seven Seas would talk/bewilderingly that man was an endangered//species now […] Nature (7.LX.i).
We see here how Walcott portrays the ecological problems of modern times, where the balance in Nature is constantly threatened by men. Note once again Walcott's ecological focus.
Amanda Hopkins
09 Jul 2007 13:55
| Tags: Animals Aruac Context Egret Endangered Species Peoples
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schism starfish
schism/of a starfish (7.LIX.i).
A schism is a rent or breach, also used to describe disunity in the Christian church. The starfish, like the sea swift, makes the shape of the sign of the cross.
Amanda Hopkins
09 Jul 2007 13:35
| Tags: Animals Christianity Glossary Religion Schism Starfish
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