Not P but Moby-Dick (54)

[Mark Kohut]

I read the second line (after the semi-colon)  as that whales have slept
(in the water) by many a sailor's side--whales do not sleep on the ocean
floor---
and sleepless mothers---worried about their sons on a ship--- would rather
die so that they their sons could lay down again in their bed..."lay them
down" [in their bed] again is elided ...

On Fri, Dec 15, 2023 at 4:35 PM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:

> *“*
> *Thou hast been where bellor diver never went; hast slept by many a
> sailor's side, where sleepless mothers would give their lives to lay them
> down.”*
>
> The context proceeding the mother’s desires focuses on accessibility, or
> the great privilege of the whale to access places no human has ever been.
> So it seems to imply that the mothers would be willing to throw themselves
> to the bottom of the ocean, if by doing so they could lay beside their dead
> sons.
>
>
> On Fri, Dec 15, 2023 at 4:12 PM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I think it means the mothers would love to lay their sailors down in the
>> bed where they ly with other sailors...
>>
>