Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[welkins2139]

The February streets, wind-washed by night, blow full of strange half-intermittent damps, bearing on wasted walks in shining wet snow splashed into gleams under the lamps, like golden oil from some divine machine, in an hour of thaw and stars.


Would you explain the bold text?

Thak you

[redset]

Heh, this is the kind of thing that people studying English at university could spend months discussing! This is poetic language, and it's open to interpretation, but I'll try and explain what I think it means and maybe some other people can chime in.

The whole passage is describing a scene on a cold night, in the streets of a town or city, so it's mostly about the things you'd see and feel if you were there. 'The February streets... blow full of strange half-intermittent damps' seems to be describing the way that wind blows along the streets, with a feeling of dampness on your skin, and 'half-intermittent' sounds like the wind blows in intermittent gusts, but never really dies down before coming back.

'Bearing on wasted walks' sounds like it's describing where the wind is blowing, it's bearing on (pressing against) the pavements or sidewalks, places where people walk, and they're described as 'wasted' - like a wasteland, bare and lifeless and inhospitable. Alternatively, when people go out walking the activity is called a walk, so it's possibly talking about the wind blowing on people who are out trying to enjoy a walk. I think it's probably describing the actual streets, though.

'In an hour of thaw and stars' - well hour is a word often used to describe the time of day in general, so this part is saying that the scene is taking place at a time of night when the snow and ice are thawing and the stars are shining. Maybe this is the feeling the author wants you to have, that you're standing in this street surrounded by nothing but melting snow and a sky full of stars.

I hope that helps a bit!

[welkins2139]

Thank you very much! I got it.