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When was Charlotte Mew's "The Trees Are Down" published?
The poem is available at the Poetry Foundation. A Slideshare presentation makes the unsourced claim that the trees mentioned were cut down in the "early 1920s". However, the level of grief expressed within the poem suggests that another event might…
Anagram Ataf
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Why does Merion react so strongly to being asked what their gender is?
In the September/October 2017 issue of the Cicada magazine, they ran a story by Nino Cipri, entitled "A Silly Love Story". (Published online by the author (who also goes by Nicole).)
The story focuses on Jeremy - our main character, a man - and…
Mithical
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Why is the Emperor Beyond the Sea named that?
Closely related: Why does the Emperor-Over-the-Sea play such a small role in the Chronicles of Narnia?
Why is the Emperor Beyond The Sea in The Chronicles of Narnia named that? What sea is he beyond, and why is he beyond it? Is this implying that…
EJoshuaS - Stand with Ukraine
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8
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Why was an American diplomat's family considered the best place for the Antichrist?
In Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, the original master plan (foiled by dumb chance and human incompetence) was that the newly born Antichrist should be brought up in the family of the US Cultural Attaché in Britain.
Why was this…
Rand al'Thor
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Why rename Kipling's poem "The Beginnings" to “The Wrath of the Awakened Saxon”?
Several white nationalist and neo-Nazi websites have published a modified version of Kipling's poem "The Beginnings." In the new version of the poem, the title was renamed to "THE WRATH OF THE AWAKENED SAXON" (often posted in all caps), and the word…
user111
8
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Does Neil Gaiman's "Mouse" criticise abortion?
The short story "Mouse", collected among other places in Smoke and Mirrors, is about a man who is buying a trap to get rid of the mouse in his house. He doesn't want to kill the mouse, so he buys a safe trap.
Meanwhile, at home, his wife seems…
Gallifreyan
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Are any of Kino's attackers directly linked to the one pearl buyer?
In The Pearl, chapter 4, when Kino is trying to sell his massive pearl in the village market, it's revealed that all the pearl buyers work for one man:
It was supposed that the pearl buyers were individuals acting alone, bidding against one another…
Nathaniel is protesting
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What does Pudd'nhead Wilson's joke about half a dog mean?
In Pudd'nhead Wilson, by Mark Twain, the character David Wilson makes a remark that results in the townspeople writing him off as a "pudd'nhead".
He had just made the acquaintance of a
group of citizens when an invisible dog began to yelp and…
l2151628
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What's the significance of Liza-Lu?
In Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles, the character Liza-Lu (Tess's sister) plays a very minor background role throughout most of the novel, until near the very end when Tess says she wants Angel to marry her after she, Tess, is gone. Angel…
Rand al'Thor
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How does Effie Trinket's name relate to how she is portrayed throughout the series?
Merriam-Webster defines Trinket like this:
1: a small ornament (such as a jewel or ring)
2: a small article of equipment
3: a thing of little value
How does Effie Trinket's name - either her first or last - relate to how she is portrayed…
Mithical
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What book has monsters that disguise themselves as black tire chunks on the sides of roads?
I read a book in the 80s or 90s that I had thought was "The Talisman". I've just finished reading "The Talisman" and found that it wasn't the book I had read back then, though there are many similarities.
Here are some of the elements of the story…
John Sherwood
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Why is Josef K.'s last name never revealed?
Throughout the novel, the main character's name is given only as "Josef K." In fact, as I recall, several characters even actually refer to him as Josef K. Why isn't he given a last name? Is this symbolic of the soul-crushing influence of the…
EJoshuaS - Stand with Ukraine
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Where did the Fables get all those weapons in the first place?
In the second volume of Fables, Animal Farm, we see that the Fables possess an enormous amount of various firearms:
Where did they come from? Snow White states in the first volume that Fables are on a tight budget. She also states most of them…
Gallifreyan
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Why do translations of the line "Now have I told you soothly in a clause" ignore the word soothly?
I personally prefer to read The Canterbury Tales in the original English, but over the course of asking questions on this site I've come across several modern English translations.
One thing that I've noticed is that in most translations of line 715…
user111
8
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In "Bullet the Blue Sky", what is the symbolism of Jacob and the angel?
U2's song "Bullet the Blue Sky" was inspired by Bono's trip to El Salvadore in 1986, and America's role on the Salvadoran Civil War. As Bono said in an interview,
And it upset me as a person who read the Scriptures, to think that Christians in…
HDE 226868
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