in the sock

[jiang]

Dear teachers,

Please read the following part of a sentence:

The drama, an animated poem, is either in the buskin or in the sock;

Could you please kindly explain the underlined phrase ?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

 

[emsr2d2]

It makes no sense to me. I've never even heard the word "buskin". Is this another quote from something written in 1776?

 

[jiang]

Yes. It is from the same book.

I was unable to find the word "buskin", either. So I surf the Internet and found the definition "tragedy".

 

[Rover_KE]

Yes. It is from the same book.

Please quote the source and author in every new thread.

 

[jiang]

The Philosophy of Rhetoric by George Campbell.

 

[Rover_KE]

Thank you. In addition, please add (1776) after it, for the benefit of anybody reading your quotes for the first time.

 

[jiang]

The first publication was in 1776. The one I am reading was published in 1850. Next time I shall quote the page number.

 

[Tarheel]

I was able to find the definition of buskin several places. However, that was not helpful. For me to understand the underlined phrase I would need to see the context in which it appeared.

 

[Rover_KE]

The first publication was in 1776. The one I am reading was published in 1850. Next time I shall quote the page number.

There's no need for sarcasm or to quote the page number, as none of us has a copy of the book to refer to.

Just give more context.

 

[jiang]

Dear Rover KE,
The following is the context:
The epopee, a picturesque, or graphical poem, is either heroic, or what is called mock-heroic, and by Aristotle iambic, from the measure in which poems of this kind were at first composed. The drama, and animated poem, is either in the buskin or in the sock; for farce deserves not a place in the subdivision, being at most but a kind of dramatical apologue, whereof the characters are monstrous, the intrigue unnatural, the incidents often impossible, and which, instead of humor, has adopted a spurious bantling called fun.

 

[Tarheel]

It's self-explanatory. The point is the humor.

 

[jiang]

Dear Tarheel,
Thank you very much for your help. So this part means "either in tragedy or in comedy". Is that right?
And it occurred to me there might be a misprint. Is it possible the word in "in the buskin"should have been "buckskin" which parallels "in the sock"?
Looking forward to hearing from you.

 

[jiang]

Thank you very much for your help.
The problem with it is I wasn't able to find the work "buskin" in my dictionaries and the meaning on the Internet is "tragedy". The word for a kind of boot is "buckskin".
I have no idea what the word "sock" means.

 

[emsr2d2]

Well, it appears you've successfully stumped us all. This is a problem you might find more than occasionally when reading something written in 1776. Words might have become obsolete, meanings could have changed, there could be misprints, errors in copying.

If I were you, I'd finish that book, understanding as much of it as you can simply from context, and then move on to something a bit more modern!

 

[jiang]

Thank you very much for your suggestion.
I agree with you. Those are the three questions that I don't understand in 35 pages. And you have already solved two problems which helps me understand the word. As for the other sentence I think it is a misprint.
Anyhow, I shall try to understand the rest of the book.

 

[jiang]

Dear Piscean,

Thank you very much for your help. I think the sentence makes sense now if I understand it correctly.
It is interesting that basing on Oxford dictionary the origin of the word is Early 16th century (designating a calf-length boot): probably from Old French bouzequin, but I can't find the word either in Cambridge Dictionary or Longman dictionary.

 

[GoesStation]

It's an obscure, archaic word. Lexicographers have many reasons to limit the number of such words they include in a dictionary.

 

[JMurray]

From Wikipedia.
"The sock and buskin are two ancient symbols of comedy and tragedy. In Greek theatre, actors in tragic roles wore a boot called a buskin that elevated them above the other actors. The actors with comedic roles only wore a thin-soled shoe called a sock."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sock_and_buskin

"The drama, and animated poem, is either in the buskin or in the sock; … "
Perhaps the point being made is that drama is either tragic or comedic.

 

[jiang]

Dear JMurray,

Thank you for providing the source. This makes sense.