Long sentence from "Self-Reliance" by R.W.Emerson

[szaroczek]

Hello everybody. I see you haven't band me yet! That too bad for you then... :-D So I'm back again with some more of R.W Emerson's "Self-Reliance" stuff... Now, at some point Emerson is preaching man shouldn't look so much backwards or to the future but should live his presence and enjoy it. Then he follows with such a statement:

"This should be plain enough. Yet see what strong intellects dare not yet hear God himself, unless he speak the phraseology of I know not what David, or Jeremiah, or Paul."

Friends, I really don't know where to bite this second sentence of the quotation. What I get of is:

1. That first "yet" suggests Emerson is giving some negative example of what he believed was the right stance.

2. Those "strong intellects" (whoever they might be) despite of being bed example DO hear God himself.

3. David, Jeremiah and Paul are (in my sensation) persons to whom one should NOT refer when conveying God's words.

Questions:

1. What precisely does Emerson say in this sentence; could you write it in another, clear way?

2. Who is in your opinion that "he" who "speaks phraseology" - God or the "strong intellects"?

3. Why this "he" "speak", not "speaks"? (I mean why there is no suffix "-s" like the proper third sing. case of the verb should have?)

Thank you ;-)

 

[emsr2d2]

I'm about to hit the sack so no time to answer your question but I do have time to say it's "banned", not "band". ;-)

 

[szaroczek]

Got it.

 

[5jj]

1. That first "yet" suggests Emerson is giving some negative example of what he believed was the right stance. Yes. This (whatever 'this' might be) should be plain enough but ..."

2. Those "strong intellects" (whoever they might be) despite [STRIKE]of[/STRIKE] being a b[STRIKE]e[/STRIKE]ad example DO hear God himself. There is no mention of their being a bad example. They hear God only if he uses the phraseology of the people named.

3. David, Jeremiah and Paul are (in my s[STRIKE]ensation[/STRIKE] opinion) persons to whom one should NOT refer when conveying God's words.That opinion does not affect the meaning of the words.


1. What precisely does Emerson say in this sentence; could you write it in another, clear way? Clear? Not really.
"But just look at those people of strong intellect who dare to hear God only if he speaks to them in the language of some biblical character or other."

2. Who is in your opinion that "he" who "speaks phraseology" - God or the "strong intellects"? God

3. Why this "he" "speak", not "speaks"? (I mean why there is no suffix "-s" like the proper third sing. case of the verb should have?) It's a sunjunctive form in a conditional clause.

Two suggestions:

1. If you want to improve your command of modern English, do not read Emerson.

2. If you do want to read Emerson, see if there is a modern translation into Polish.

 

[szaroczek]

Two suggestions:

1. If you want to improve your command of modern English, do not read Emerson.

2. If you do want to read Emerson, see if there is a modern translation into Polish.

Though I totally agree with the above first statement it does not become of a great help to me; I'm on the second semester of ESL BA study and that's what we are due to read on "American Literature 1820-1865" course... :-(

As to the second - I don't really think this kind of short cut would eventually work well for me neither... :-|