Xelucha ...

[Johnyxxx]

Hello,

I would like to ask if a good soul can enlighten me on several problems I have had recently in reading various texts.

The first one is the meaning of the phrase “to think“ used at the beginning of a sentence.

“To think she´s dead!“
“To think there is a being capable of killing!“

Am I to understand “to think“ in the usage aforementioned means a surprised exclamation, something like “Imagine she´s dead!“ “Cannot believe there is a being capable of killing!“


I have also troubles in understanding several sentences from the short story called Xelucha.
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0602851h.html

“At her horror of interest I grew sick, at her odour, and her words.Some unspeakable sense of insignificance, of debility, heldme dumb.“

(Horror of interest … Is he sick at what she has interest in?)

“ The hugest of losses is, of course, the loss of Time. Ifyou lose that, any of it, you plunge at once into the transcendentalisms, theinfinitudes, of Loss; if you lose all of it--“

"To hasten to the snare--that is woe! to drive your ship upon the lighthouse rock--that is Marah! To wake, and feel it irrevocably true that you went after her--and the dead were there---and her guests were in the depths of hell--and you did not know it!---though you might have.

(Cannot make head or tail of these two sentences …)

“ Look out upon the houses of the city this dawning day: not one, I tell you, but in it haunts some soul---walking up and down the old theatre of its little Day--goading imagination by a thousand childish tricks,vraisemblances---elaborately duping itself into the momentary fantasy that itstill lives, that the chance of life is not for ever and for ever lost--yet riving all the time with under-memories of the wasted Summer, the lapsed brief light between the two eternal glooms--riving I say and shriek to you!---riving, Mérimée, you destroying fiend--She had sprung--tall now, she seemed tome--between couch and table.“

(Am I to understand the “Wasted Summer“ is a metaphor for a Life, whereas the “Two eternal glooms“ are the darknesses before the birth and after the death?)

Ughh, some stories I read give me what for …

Thanks in advance if somebody is gonna try to help.

 

[Grumpy]

I see that no-one has yet attempted to answer your query, so here's my advice.

Your interpretation of the meaning and usage of "To think.." is correct.

As to the remainder of the passages you quoted, I have to admit that (despite a lifetime's experience of reading English literature) I am no closer than you at fathoming the exact meaning of the particular phrases. Don't worry about it. You will often find that in these sorts of fantasy stories, the writers routinely use words and phrases in ways far removed from their normal usage, in the belief that this adds to the "atmosphere" of the piece. If you try to burrow down to the exact meaning of every word, phrase, or even passage, you will waste a great deal of your time. Much better to just go with the flow, and enjoy (?) the story as a whole!

 

[Johnyxxx]

Thank you very much for your help.

 

[Rover_KE]

There is no need to write a new post just to say "Thank you", Johny. It makes us think there is new information or a follow-up question and we spend time opening the thread. Simply click on the "Thank" button at the bottom left-hand corner of any post you find helpful.

 

[Johnyxxx]

Sorry, I will get better. Being a decent lad, I am used to thank if somebody tries to help. But of course, next time I will do what you advise me.

 

[emsr2d2]

Sorry, I will get better. Being a decent lad, I am used to thank if somebody tries to help. But of course, next time I will do what you advise me.

By clicking on the "Thank" button, you are doing exactly that. You are thanking the person who wrote that specific post rather than appearing to thank the entire thread of posters.