because one more day, one more year like this without love and none to give

[Coffee Break]

Hello everyone. I encountered this expression, "because one more day, one more year like this without love and none to give", and I am wondering what it means in the following sentences:

I tried to think of this very apartment on New Year’s Eve. Only the happy few. At midnight they’d come out on the terrace, watch the fireworks, pop Champagne bottles before retreating inside by the fireplace, and chat about love in the manner of old banquets. My father would have liked Clara. She’d have helped with the bottles on the balcony, helped with the party, added life to his tired couplets, snickered when the old classicist threw in his yearly hint about Xanthippe pussy-whipping her husband, Socrates, into drinking the poisoned brew, which he gladly downed, because one more day, one more year like this without love and none to give . . . With Clara, his yearly sermon to me on the balcony as we tended to the wine wouldn’t have been laced with so much distemper.

- André Aciman, Eight White Nights, First Night

This is a novel published in the United States of America in 2010. This novel is narrated by the nameless male protagonist. The protagonist meets Clara at a Christmas party in Manhattan. Here, the protagonist is thinking how his late father would have liked Clara if he was alive and able to meet her. (He passed away about a year ago.)

Here, I wonder how "one more day, one more year", which appears to be a noun, is connected to the rest of the sentence. There appears to be only nouns after "because", but I learned that "because" is followed by a whole sentence rather than a noun, so I am confused...

Also, I wonder what "none to give" might mean. I assume it might mean there was no person to give love to, but I am not sure.

I would very much appreciate your help.

 

[Skrej]

It's suggesting that Socrates knowingly ingested the poisoned drink because he couldn't go another day or stand another year without love and affection from his shrew of a wife.

"None to give" means that Socrates had no love to give to anyone, or possibly that he was so full of love for himself that he had none to share.

One account of his death states that when given a chance to chose his punishment after a trial conviction, he suggested that he be given free daily meals as recognition of his value to Athens. He also once claimed to be God's gift to Athens.

 

[jutfrank]

I think without love and none to give suggests that there was no love lost between Socrates and Xanthippe.

 

[Coffee Break]

@Skrej and @jutfrank,

Thank you very much for the explanations.
So the omitted words in the "..." would be "because one more day, one more year like this without love and none to give [was unbearable to Socrates]."
Socrates needed his wife's love and affection, so he drank the poisoned drink. (By the way, "brew" here might mean "wine" because wine can be brewed, I guess.)

And "none" here does not mean "no one" but means "no love"! He cannot stand another minute without receiving love from his wife ("without love"), and also, he cannot stand another minute without having no love to share to anyone, especially to his wife ("none to give"). The exchange of love between Socrates and his wife was very important to Socrates, so that he drank the poison.

I learned many things all thanks to you. I truly appreciate your help.

 

[GoodTaste]

I think without love and none to give suggests that there was no love lost between Socrates and Xanthippe.

Sorry I don't quite understand you. If it were "without love to give", then I would think the love between the two was exclusively enjoyed by them and was given to none - just as you pointed out " there was no love lost between Socrates and Xanthippe".

But the insertion of "and none" makes it hard to parse. Only when it is removed that I could understand it the way you suggested.

Can you rewrite "without love and none to give" in more words so that I can understand your idea?

 

[GoodTaste]

It's suggesting that Socrates knowingly ingested the poisoned drink because he couldn't go another day or stand another year without love and affection from his shrew of a wife.

Does "his shrew of a wife" mean "his wife who acted like a shrew"?

 

[jutfrank]

The exchange of love between Socrates and his wife was very important to Socrates, so that he drank the poison.

Although that's the suggestion, remember that this is just a joke. It wasn't really why he drank the poison.

Sorry I don't quite understand you. If it were "without love to give", then I would think the love between the two was exclusively enjoyed by them and was given to none - just as you pointed out " there was no love lost between Socrates and Xanthippe".

No, I meant that she didn't love him and he didn't love her.

But the insertion of "and none" makes it hard to parse. Only when it is removed that I could understand it the way you suggested.

Can you rewrite "without love and none to give" in more words so that I can understand your idea?

Yes, it is hard to parse because it's written in poetic language. I read it like this:

without [receiving any] love and [with] none to give

Does "his shrew of a wife" mean "his wife who acted like a shrew"?

See the dictionary entry here: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/shrew

 

[Coffee Break]

@GoodTaste, and @jutfrank,

Thank you very much for the explanations and comments.

Yes, it is hard to parse because it's written in poetic language. I read it like this:

without [receiving any] love and [with] none to give

Indeed, that part was difficult because there were "without" and "none"! But then now I see that "with" is omitted in front of "none."

Socrates could not stand another minute while not receiving love from his wife, and while having no love to give to his wife.

There was no love between Socrates and his wife to start with, but still Socrates gladly downed the wine, in the hope of gaining his wife's love, I guess...

I sincerely appreciate your help.

 

[5jj]

Socrates gladly downed the wine, in the hope of gaining his wife's love, I guess...

No. The suggestion is that he happily downed the poison because of the complete absence of love between him and his wife. He would sooner be dead than carry on living with her.

 

[Coffee Break]

@5jj,

Thank you very much for the explanation.
Oh, so he downed the wine because he thought it was preferable to end his life than continuing his loveless life!
I truly appreciate your help.

 

[Skrej]

Yes, he was willing to commit suicide just to get away from her.

As Jutfrank mentioned though - that's not the real case. It's a slightly misogynistic altering of the true story, laced with elements of truth. His wife was reported to be rather domineering, but the hemlock-laced wine was the result of a criminal conviction.

It wouldn't surprise me if the father wasn't projecting his own loveless marriage into the story of Socrates, but without reading the entire book I can't say that with any certainty.

Note this excerpt from Amazon and the theme that is echoed in the father's telling of the Socrates story (emphasis mine).

Eight White Nights is an unforgettable journey through that enchanted terrain where passion and fear and the sheer craving to ask for love and to show love can forever alter who we are.