Questions tagged [allusions]
Questions about references to other works, external incidents, etc. in literature. Use this tag with the relevant author and work tags if applicable.
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Is the 'Quincey's moat' referenced in Edmund Blunden's 'Almswomen' a real place?
Edmund Blunden's poem 'Almswomen' begins:
At Quincey's moat the squandering village ends,
Does 'Quincey's moat' refer to a real place?
The only notable Quincey I know of is Thomas De Quincey, the ...
- 60k
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What is the "black sphinx" in Greek magical papyrus IV?
In the Greek magical papyri (Papyri Graecae Magicae or PGM), lines 2307–2314 of papyrus IV were translated into English by Hans Dieter Betz as follows:
The hair of a virgin cow, the seed of Pan
Fire ...
- 677
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2
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Which saying or proverb is Stendhal referring to in this passage from "Le rouge et le noir"?
The following passage from chapter XVI of Book I of the novel Le rouge et le noir (The Red and the Black) by Stendhal refers to "un dicton de province", that is, at some kind of saying or ...
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What does the expression "Mignon country" refer to in Elsschot's "Cheese"?
I'm reading Willem Elsschot's novel Cheese in a French translation by Xavier Hanotte. In chapter 3, I have found an expression that I believe it can be translated as "Mignon country" (...
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Who is “very fond of bearing false witness” in Byron’s “Don Juan”?
Here’s a stanza from canto I of Byron’s Don Juan, published in 1819. The narrator has been surveying the talents (or lack thereof) of his fellow-poets, and comments:
Thou shalt not covet Mr. Sotheby’...
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Does "Two legs good, two legs bad" from "Smiley's People" allude to George Orwell's "Animal Farm"?
From John Le Carre's Smiley's People:
Returning to bed, he opened a copy of Cobbett’s Rural Rides and tried to read it while he loosely pondered, among other weighty matters, his sense of civitas and ...
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What are these allusions to other poems in Louis MacNeice's poem "The Gardener"
Louis MacNeice's poem "The Gardener" (1939) contains the lines:
He would talk to amuse the children,
Or the robin waiting for worms
Perched on the handle of the spade;
Would remember ...
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What are "the feelings of an Emma towards her Henry"?
In Jane Austen's Persuasion, when Louisa has her accident, and her friends and family are figuring out who's going to stay with her, we have this quote from Anne:
She endeavoured to be composed, and ...
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What is a Pillycoddian gesture?
From "Jo's Boys," by Louisa May Alcott...
'A true woman, and a born sailor's wife! You are a happy man, Emil, and I'm sure this trip will be a prosperous one,' cried Mrs Jo, delighted with ...
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In 《猫城记》 (Cat Country), is 迷叶 an allusion to opium?
I'm re-reading the Chinese novel 《猫城记》 by 老舍. On page 33, referring to the cat people of cat country, it says:
五百年前，他们是种地收粮，不懂什么��迷叶。忽然有个外国人把它带到猫国来。最初只有上等人吃得起，后来他们把迷树也搬运了来，于是大家全吃入了瘾。不到五十年的工夫，...
- 47.3k
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What is the "love-god's string" in Sarojini Naidu's "A Song in Spring"?
Sarojini Naidu's "A Song in Spring" begins like this:
Wild bees that rifle the mango blossom,
Set free awhile from the love-god's string,
Wild birds that sway in the citron branches,
Drunk ...
- 3,388
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Is the story of Jill and Eustace meant to evoke that of Cain and Abel?
Towards the beginning of The Silver Chair, Eustace and Jill get into a little fight which culminates in Eustace falling off the cliff to his apparent death.
“What are you doing, Pole? Come back — ...
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Is there any significance in the cry "Euan, euan, eu-oi-oi-oi" in Prince Caspian?
In Prince Caspian, there's a passage where Aslan apparently uses his power to summon up the spirit of Old Narnia, leading to the eventual defeat of the Telmarines with very little bloodshed. A wild ...
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Meaning of "Rustum" in Trollope's "Orley Farm"
Trollope in Orley Farm refers to "the wisest Rustums of the law." Who was the original Rustum?
He had left that congress, though the wisest Rustums of the law from all the civilized ...
- 1,219
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Reference to Novalis in Ghérasim Luca's poem "La Poésie Pratique"
Ghérasim Luca's poem "La Poésie Pratique" / "Practical Poetry" contains the following lines:
En pratiquant le bouche à bouche de mot à mot
de « feu » le mort à « feu » vif
d' « ...
- 9,864