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Discussion Groups / English Usage / July 2009Auden: lovers of big numbers
Hello: 1. Which "Millerites" are these? Are they: ----------- : a believer in the doctrine of the American preacher William Miller who taught that the end of the world and the second coming of Christ were at hand and who specifically predicted that this would occur in 1843 ----------- ? 2. Why abolish the Swiss? Are they too stingy/economical for the taste of the "lovers of big numbers"?:-) ---- Numbers and Faces by W. H. Auden ... Lovers of small number go benignly potty, Believe all tales are thirteen chapters long, Have animal doubles, carry pentagrams, Are Millerites, Baconians, Flat-Earth-Men. Lovers of big numbers go horridly mad, Would have the Swiss abolished, all of us Well purged, somatotyped, baptized, taught baseball: They empty bars, spoil parties, run for Congress. p. 473 http://ivihsm.cua.edu/poem0112.htm ----- -- Thanks. Marius Hancu > Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > ----------- > ? I think those are the ones: examples of holders of harmless potty views. > 2. Why abolish the Swiss? > Are they too stingy/economical for the taste of the "lovers of big > numbers"?:-) I don't understand that one, but I wonder if it refers to Swiss neutrality, which people like that might find annoying. Or maybe it's just a destructively insane opinion with no real rationale. > ---- > Numbers and Faces [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > p. 473 > http://ivihsm.cua.edu/poem0112.htm -- Mike. >> 2. Why abolish the Swiss? > I don't understand that one, but I wonder if it refers to Swiss > neutrality, which people like that might find annoying. Or maybe > it's just a destructively insane opinion with no real rationale. Cf. the old joke: "The Jews are the cause of all our troubles." "Yes, the Jews -- and the bicycle riders." "Why the bicycle riders?" "Why the Jews?" (Like many Jewish jokes, this one has other versions, each with its own point.)  Signature--- Joe Fineman joe_f@verizon.net ||: First you find out that there is no Santa Claus, then that :|| ||: there is no God, and then that there are no grownups. :|| ... > 2. Why abolish the Swiss? > Are they too stingy/economical for the taste of the "lovers of big > numbers"?:-) Something like that. I suspect the lovers of big numbers would stereotype the Swiss as being content with small excellences in a small country instead of wanting to reform the world. > ---- > Numbers and Faces > by W. H. Auden > ... > Lovers of big numbers go horridly mad, > Would have the Swiss abolished, all of us [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > p. 473 > http://ivihsm.cua.edu/poem0112.htm |
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