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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2009Crystal and diamond it glittered
Hello: "Crystal and diamond it glittered far and wide" I'm getting the image, however I'm trying to see if "Crystal and diamond" are nouns, in effect a plural: "It glittered/threw out/projected crystals and diamonds" or are they adverbs "It glittered like crystal?" ------ Crystal and diamond it glittered far and wide, the forest stood up very black and white, the quarter of the heavens where the moon was not showed deeply dark, embroidered with stars. The Magic Mountain, p. 273 by Thomas Mann, Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter ----- Thanks. Marius Hancu >Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >or are they adverbs >"It glittered like crystal?" The latter, I think. >------ >Crystal and diamond it glittered far and wide, the forest stood up [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >by Thomas Mann, Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter >----- Crystal-like and diamond-like it glittered far and wide,... or As if crystal and diamond encrusted it glittered far and wide,... >Thanks. >Marius Hancu  SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) On Jan 1, 10:37 am, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <m...@peterduncanson.net> wrote: > >"Crystal and diamond it glittered far and wide" > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > The latter, I think. > >Crystal and diamond it glittered far and wide, the forest stood up > >very black and white, the quarter of the heavens where the moon was [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > or > As if crystal and diamond encrusted it glittered far and wide,... Thank you all. Marius Hancu > Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > or are they adverbs > "It glittered like crystal?" Are we talking about the ground, here? The snow-covered ground? The snow? That would be "it", and, as Peter pointed out, the use of nouns like crystal (Crystal Palace) and diamond (diamond ring) as modifiers of the same noun is not rare at all. (OT I call some snow "Lux flakes", because its flakes glitter and have the diamond facets of that old detergent. Just lovely to sweep and shovel, but frustrating to try to make snowballs with.) Another way of combining, or chaining, modifiers is to add the suffix to the last of a pair or a series: crystal and diamondlike. > ------ > Crystal and diamond it glittered far and wide, the forest stood up [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > Thanks. > Marius Hancu > Are we talking about the ground, here? The snow-covered ground? The > snow? Sorry, I cut it too short. It's "the world": --------- In the evening, when the almost full moon appeared, the world lay in enchanted splendour, marvellous. Crystal and diamond it glittered far and wide, the forest stood up very black and white, the quarter of the heavens where the moon was not showed deeply dark, embroidered with stars. The Magic Mountain, p. 273 by Thomas Mann, Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter ----- Marius Hancu Marius Hancu >Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >by Thomas Mann, Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter >----- Another way to look at it is to regard the words as having been forced into the role of descriptive adjectives. Cf. "The sky shone carelessly blue upon the blood running red in the streets". I might consider them nouns and objects of an omitted preposition "like" if they appeared in plural. SignatureJohn |
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