GR translation: pitched out over the sea of ruins

[Mike Jing]

The problem is that here "pitched" is not used as the past tense of "pitch"
since present tense is being used in this passage, and as an adjective it's
parallel to "open" in "Ceiling-less rooms open to the sky". For the sense
of "rocking" to work I would expect "pitching", not "pitched".


On Mon, Feb 17, 2025 at 3:44 PM Laura Kelber <laurakelber at gmail.com> wrote:

> That was my first thought. But why the comparison to maritime things that
> pitch?
>
> If he means pitched, like a roof, why not make a comparison to the missing
> roofs themselves?
>
> On Mon, Feb 17, 2025, 3:22 PM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> It certainly could suggest "pitching" like a ship does. However, here the
>> word "pitched" seems to be a past participle used as an adjective, so I
>> think it's more likely to simply mean "thrust", as in "sticking out",
>> especially with the word "out" immediately following it.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Feb 17, 2025 at 1:08 AM Laura Kelber <laurakelber at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Given that he compares the rooms to prows and crow's nests, this
>>> definition seems most likely:
>>>
>>> (of a moving ship, aircraft, or vehicle) rock or oscillate around a
>>> lateral axis, so that the front and back move up and down.
>>> "the little steamer pressed on, pitching gently"
>>>
>>> So the rooms, unsupported by walls, are swaying above the ruins.
>>>
>>> On Mon, Feb 17, 2025, 12:47 AM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> V373.7-11, P379.6-10    Smooth facets of buildings have given way to
>>>> cobbly
>>>> insides of concrete blasted apart, all the endless-pebbled rococo just
>>>> behind the shuttering. Inside is outside. Ceiling-less rooms open to the
>>>> sky, wall-less rooms pitched out over the sea of ruins in prows, in
>>>> crow’s-nests. . . .
>>>>
>>>> What does "pitched" mean here?
>>>> --
>>>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>>>>
>>>