Friday, March 28, 2014

look downward angel, annotated

"Look downward Angel now, and melt with ruth:
And, O ye Dolphins, waft the hapless youth."
I'm making an obscure literary allusion to Thomas Wolfe's autobiographical novel, the title of which came from lines from Milton's poem Lycidas, noted above. With my edits.  I have never heard of ruth used as a non-proper noun, and have no idea what that couplet means.  But it speaks to the magical realism of these boots. 
P.S. 
Refreshed and caffeinated, I perceive that Milton,  that incorrigible imp, was merely stretching for a rhyme with youth when he grasped at ruth, though you'd think vermouth would have been right handy.  Another revelation of the a.m. is that, duh,  "with ruth" is the opposite of "without ruth" or as we more commonly see it, with francine  ruthless.  Or in a more modern interpretation,  Chris Martin is positively Gwynethless.  See, it all makes sense now!  A couple of crazy kids were playing with their My Little Manatees and let the grilled cheese sandwiches burn. 

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