NPPF Canto 1 "that golden paste!"

[Scott Badger]

Rob:

>         No free man needs a God; but was I free?
>         How fully I felt nature glued to me
>         And how my childish palate loved the taste
>         Half-fish, half-honey, of that golden paste!
>                                         (101-5)
>
> I must admit I wasn't convinced by Keith's ("shocking"!) incest with Aunt
> Maud theory, but there are questions about what in heck Shade's
> referring to
> with his description of the odd mixture of flavours here.

Though clearly lacking the prurient spunk of Keith's shocking screen-play, I
read "golden paste" as simply the mixture of honey and the wax of the
honeycomb, that Shade might have sampled, stickily, directly from a hive.
Does unprocessed honey have a more "gamey" taste that might be likened to
fish? Is there a bee-keeper in the house? "No free man needs a God; but was
I free? / How I felt nature glued to me" might then set free will against
either instinct ("nature glued to me") or a controlling God (hive-mind). The
"childish palate" being less refined, or REASONed.

Scott Badger