01-18-2015, 04:33 PM
I'm afraid my Biblical knowledge isn't as nuanced as yours, Erthona 
The bull refers to the one the Jews started worshipping in the desert after the exodus from Egypt, before Moses laid down that "no idols" rule. As for "teem with lice", the original phrase was "snort with life", which I intended as a metaphor for the return of idolatrous worship, but I replaced it with the lice line a) because it rhymed, and b) because it's a nasty image, and I like nasty images. I'm afraid my reasoning wasn't any more complex than that. I must admit, I read the "down aisles" line as iambic, but then I may have been verbally moulding it to fit my intention without actually honing the line, if that makes sense. In fact, I'm sure that's what I was doing. Do you have any suggestions for converting it to iambs?
(As an aside, my understanding of iambic pentameter is derived from The Ode Less Travelled by Stephen Fry, in which he tells you to read a line of iambic pentameter like a "ti-tum-ti-tum" drumbeat. So I was unconsciously tricking myself into thinking that "down aisles built for yearning sheep" had that beat. I think
) Thank you for your help with all this, by the way. I really appreciate your knowledge and guidance.
The bull refers to the one the Jews started worshipping in the desert after the exodus from Egypt, before Moses laid down that "no idols" rule. As for "teem with lice", the original phrase was "snort with life", which I intended as a metaphor for the return of idolatrous worship, but I replaced it with the lice line a) because it rhymed, and b) because it's a nasty image, and I like nasty images. I'm afraid my reasoning wasn't any more complex than that. I must admit, I read the "down aisles" line as iambic, but then I may have been verbally moulding it to fit my intention without actually honing the line, if that makes sense. In fact, I'm sure that's what I was doing. Do you have any suggestions for converting it to iambs?(As an aside, my understanding of iambic pentameter is derived from The Ode Less Travelled by Stephen Fry, in which he tells you to read a line of iambic pentameter like a "ti-tum-ti-tum" drumbeat. So I was unconsciously tricking myself into thinking that "down aisles built for yearning sheep" had that beat. I think
) Thank you for your help with all this, by the way. I really appreciate your knowledge and guidance.
"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges." - Gene Wolfe