19 Matching Annotations
  1. Mar 2024
    1. without science; in the manner of quacks.

      What on earth? How can this word, which in my experience describes precisely the manner that makes something science, at the same time have a meaning that means "without science" and in the manner of a charlatan? I'd never heard of this meaning before...

  2. Dec 2021
    1. slacken

      To diminish in strength. To become slow and less active.

    2. sharp north

      bitter cold of winter

      In some copies the 'north' is written 'frost.'

      It can also be interpreted as the sharp compass pointing north.

    3. hemispheres

      The eyes are the microcosm of the complete spherical sphere.

    4. declining west

      The direction of sunset (start of the cold night and time flow)

      Natural sign of direction.

    5. maps

      chart of the heavens

      In addition to sea and land exploration, astronomy was another interest of the intellectual of Donne's Era.

      Source: Redpath, The Songs and Sonnets of John Donne (1956)

    6. worlds

      Can be either interpreted as continents or celestial bodies.

    7. good-morrow

      good morning

    8. den

      A cave where wild animals live.

      Another expression to demean the immature pleasures the speaker and the addressee once enjoyed.

      Also, the imagery of cave connects to the Plato's allegory of the cave which is the inspirational basis for line 6 and 7.

    9. troth

      Truth

      It can also be interpreted as a marital oath, implying that the previous night they spent together is not an ordinary one but a wedding night. The plausible addressee of this poem is Donne's wife , Anne More.

    10. weaned

      To start feeding food other than mother's breast milk.

      The speaker is supposing that everything that him and his lover did before they met and loved was infantile and immature.

    11. snorted

      Snored

      It seems disrespectful to use a verb such as 'snored', which has lowly imagery, adjacent to a religious allusion. Maybe Donne was purposeful with this uncommon decision in order to diminish the power of religious interpretation and draw the readers' attention more onto the power of love itself.

  3. Mar 2021
  4. May 2020
    1. A "tag" is a snippet of code that allows digital marketing teams to collect data, set cookies or integrate third-party content like social media widgets into a site.

      This is a bad re-purposing of the word "tag", which already has specific meanings in computing.

      Why do we need a new word for this? Why not just call it a "script" or "code snippet"?

  5. Jun 2016
  6. Dec 2015
  7. Oct 2015
    1. perspicacity

      Perspicacity is a penetrating discernment—a clarity of vision or intellect which provides a deep understanding and insight.

      Wiktionary Definition

      Pronunciation on Youtube

  8. Apr 2014