GR translation: pitched out over the sea of ruins

[Laura Kelber]

I agree that the adjectival form points to the sense of static leaning. And
from a translation view, that's probably the best meaning to convey. But I
think there's some overlap. I can imagine the bare bones of a room, leaning
precariously over the ruins below. It's not leaning the way, say, a
flagpole might lean. It's leaning with the tremendous potential energy of
swaying, leading to a fall.

On Mon, Feb 17, 2025, 7:12 PM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
wrote:

> 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
>>>>>
>>>>