Thursday, October 15, 2020

There might you see the laboring pioneer

Begrimed with sweat, and smeared all with dust;

And from the towers of Troy there would appear

The very eyes of men through loop-holes thrust,

Gazing upon the Greeks with little lust:

Such sweet observance in this work was had,

That one might see those far-off eyes look sad.

 

-Narrator

 Lucrece                       line 1380


This is the the part of the poem where Lucrece is walking around the house despondently, and she stops to gaze at a painting of the siege of Troy. You have to read it a few times, and try to get into the frame of mind of Lucrece, who is so down at this point that she feels her life is over. It's a good stanza. A little depressing, but worth the read. 

Also, it helps when you read it (aloud, of course) if you make 'smeared' a two syllable word with the accent on the second syllable: smear - ED. Try to think and talk like a Brit.



Here's my latest project. I've taken out some steps on this deck and I'm going to be replacing them with more bluestone to increase the size of the patio. I can assure you that I got begrimed with sweat, and smeared all with dust, but I don't think too many eyes were on me, and there was certainly no lust involved.



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