What does this mean?

[Cap1034]

There’s a man with a Nose,
And wherever he goes
The people run from him and shout:
“No cotton have we
For our ears if so be
He blow that interminous snout!”
So the lawyers applied
For injunction. “Denied,”
Said the Judge: “the defendant prefixion,
Whate’er it portend,
Appears to transcend
The bounds of this court’s jurisdiction.”

Does this mean, "Don't blow your nose! If you do, we will have no cotton for our ear muffs!"

The story is about the people of a town applying for an injunction to stop the man from blowing his nose, to which the court says, "We have no jurisdiction over the matter."

Am I right?

 

[Rover_KE]

You have nearly got it right. 'We have no cotton wool to stuff in our ears to muffle the sound'.

Please name the author of this poem.

 

[Cap1034]

This is from the Devil's Dictionary, and I did some searching on the net but to no avail. It looks like a poem written by this author for this particular definition.

 

[Cap1034]

But isn't this poem ungrammatical?
Because "blow" and "portend" should be accompanied by S.
What do you think?

 

[5jj]

The form without the -s​ suffix is subjunctive. It is grammatically correct, but few people use it these days - In BrE, at least.

 

[Cap1034]

But what about "whatever it portend"? This is not subjunctive

 

[5jj]

But what about "whatever it portend"? This is not subjunctive

It is.

 

[Cap1034]

https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/43311-subjunctive.html
This says its not.

 

[5jj]

https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/43311-subjunctive.html
This says its not.

No, it doesn't. One of the people there says that the subjunctive is not possible in a similar sentence. Another sees no reason for it. It is, however, a subjunctive.

Whate’er it portend has the idea of whatever it may portend.

When Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary appeared in 1906, most 'educated' speakers would have used this form.

 

[Cap1034]

So this is "should" missing here?
What is omitted here is may?

 

[5jj]

So this is "should" missing here?
What is omitted here is may?

Nothing is omitted. I keep telling you - it is a subjunctive ​form.

Today we would probably write whatever it means or whatever it might mean.

 

[Cap1034]

I see. Thank you very much.