The Anathemata
Keel, Ram, Stauros (continued)
And the theweda bodies
the true-hearted men so beautiful
between perpendiculars
and over-all.
Timber of foundation
chosen as stoutest and topping them
forechosen and ringed
in the dark arbour-lands.b
David Jones notes
additional notes
see also
semantic structures
‘so beautiful’ is an overlapping phrase or zeugma: it is both the ‘many men so beautiful’ (Coleridge, Ancient Mariner) and the ship that is so beautiful between perpendiculars (from bowhead to rudder head) and overall. This double sense is very difficult to point when reading aloud.
glossary
a thewed: muscled.
b arbour-lands: woodlands (from Latin arbor, tree).
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