In the red ways of ...

[Johnyxxx]

Hello,

I have trouble in understanding a certain sentence.


"I had known for days of Pride´s coming and that alone had not worried me. In the red ways of Laverna we had laughed at him, Miriam and I; with vervain and talisman she had made magic and I had swung her censer; we had put a portrait of Pride beneath the crimson rug and trampled it with obscene bare feet chanting."

Leonard Cline, The Dark Chamber, 1927

It seems to me the author borrowed this phrase from Oliver Wilde who seems to be the only one to have used this strange phrase, judging by my net research. But his fact has not moved me an inch forward in understanding the exact meaning of it.



Thanks for help in advance.

 

[bhaisahab]

I think you mean Oscar Wilde.

 

[Johnyxxx]

I think you mean Oscar Wilde.

Yes, thank you for correcting me; it should have been Oscar Wilde.

 

[Rover_KE]

Can you tell us in what context Oscar Wilde used the phrase?

 

[Johnyxxx]

Can you tell us in what context Oscar Wilde used the phrase?

Here you go and thanks for trying to help.

http://www.ciudadseva.com/sevacity/poems/en/wilde/at_verona.htm

 

[Rover_KE]

Ah — right:

better far
That I had died in the red ways of war,
Or that the gate of Florence bare my head,
Than to live thus, by all things comraded
Which seek the essence of my soul to mar.(Wilde)

'Red ways' here appears to mean 'bloody slaughter'.

 

[Johnyxxx]

Thanks for bringing a light. It seems "in the red ways of Laverna" means "an aggressive action" in the original text by Cline.
Bad luck my favourite literature cannot do with so many nuts to crack but good luck there is always somebody around to help.