Not P but Moby-Dick (6)

[Ian Livingston]

My impression is that Melville throughout this chapter is thumbing his nose
at warriors and conquerors as cowardly lugs in comparison to the whaling
man, who takes his noble battle right to the throne of God. Ergo, "drive
down your hat" seems to mean pull your hat down snug on your head to the
cowardly royals (the Czar) on land; doff it and bow in honor to the great
whaler (Queequeg).

On Mon, Aug 28, 2023 at 2:57 PM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:

> “Drive down” your hat for the Czar.
> (versus? the same action/sentiment?)
> “Take off” your hat for Queequeg.
>
> I take it the point is to raise Queequeg to the status of the Czar.
>
> On Mon, Aug 28, 2023 at 5:42 PM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > seems some old slang says: pull down; lower [the cap, brim of] your
> > hat.....
> >
> > On Mon, Aug 28, 2023 at 3:40 PM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com
> >
> > wrote:
> >
> > > The following excerpt is from Chapter 24:
> > >
> > > No dignity in whaling? The dignity of our calling the very heavens
> > attest.
> > > Cetus is a constellation in the South! No more! Drive down your hat in
> > > presence of the Czar, and take it off to Queequeg!
> > >
> > > What does "drive down" mean here? Some of the previous translations
> > > interpreted it as "remove", which doesn't seem right.
> > > --
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> > >
> > --
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> >
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>