Analyzing and Interpreting Literature / Unit 7 AIL 0618 short lesson, about 20 seconds
"It Leans, and Hearkens After It"
Captions available
The idea
When the travelling foot roams, Donne says the fixed one leans and hearkens after it, and grows erect as that comes home. Leaning and listening are human; a compass does neither. The conceit has personification working inside it, which is how these figures actually arrive.
In practice
The compass leans and listens.
Where people slip
Figures nest inside one another.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
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