Not P but Moby-Dick (95)

[Michael Bailey]

“Own” in archaic parlance is maybe more like “admit”, I think


On Wed, Mar 27, 2024 at 5:13 AM Michael Bailey <michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Context suggests it’s himself
>
> “I know the way to act with you: defiance. You’re going to be cruel even
> if I offer love & reverence. If you choose to punish my defiance, all you
> can do is kill me - and what the heck, everyone is going to die anyway.
>
> “I’m not fearless out of foolishness or ignorance - I know (“own” -
> archaic usage) how powerful you are, but I will defy you to my last gasp”
>
>
>
> On Wed, Mar 27, 2024 at 12:10 AM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> From Chapter 119:
>>
>> “Oh! thou clear spirit of clear fire, whom on these seas I as Persian once
>> did worship, till in the sacramental act so burned by thee, that to this
>> hour I bear the scar; I now know thee, thou clear spirit, and I now know
>> that thy right worship is defiance. To neither love nor reverence wilt
>> thou
>> be kind; and e’en for hate thou canst but kill; and all are killed. No
>> fearless fool now fronts thee. I own thy speechless, placeless power; but
>> to the last gasp of my earthquake life will dispute its unconditional,
>> unintegral mastery in me.
>>
>> In "No fearless fool now fronts thee", is Ahab talking talking about
>> himself, i.e. "I am no fearless fool", or is he making a general
>> statement,
>> meaning there is no one fearless and foolish enough to confront the
>> spirit?
>> --
>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>>
>