(urth) Father Inire as giant vegetable

Mo Holkar lists at ukg.co.uk
Wed Nov 9 07:53:04 PST 2011


At 15:20 09/11/2011, Sergei wrote:
>And there is a great hidden reference (of course!) to T.S. Eliot: 
>"You who were with me in the ships at Mylae! That corpse you planted 
>last year in your garden, Had it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this 
>year? Or has the sudden frost disturbed its bed? Oh keep the Dog far 
>hence, that's friend to men, Or with his nails he'll dig it up 
>again!" Dorcas=disturbed corpse. Why the Dog has nails? It must be 
>Severian who is connected to Triskele (dog) and Triskele is 
>connected to aquastors, Malrubius, Inire - and Botanic Gardens - Sergei


I was thinking that this insight opens up Andrew Marvell's 'To His 
Coy Mistress' as a key to the BotNS, with its famous lines:
"My vegetable love should grow
Vaster then empires, and more slow."

Another couplet which Wolfe clearly drew upon:
"The grave's a fine and private place,
But none, I think, do there embrace."

And it ends:
"Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run."

Excellent work, Gerry!

best,

Mo


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