But look, twin snakes, i shudder even to talk about this, from tenedos, loom
over the calm, deep sea, with huge coils and they stretch side by sidde towards
the shores. Their chests race among the waves and their bloody crests overpower
them. The rest of their body, trailing behind them, skims over the sea, and each
snakes twists its huge body into a coil, they hiss while the salt is spreading.
And now they overwhelm the plowed fields, having suffused their burning eyes,
with blood and fire, they were licking their hissing mouths with flickering
tongues.
In my opinion, this passage is just ridiculous, i have no idea how he thought of it. Vergil's language is excellent, it is really descriptive. It would be crazy if this happened in real life, although some might say that it did happen, just think of how frightening it would be to see two giant snakes coming out of the water to devour you?
What strikes me most is the almost excessive alliteration. Phrases like, "they stretch side by side towards the shores," seem to simulate the incessant hissing of the snakes themselves. I would even go so far as to say the sentence structure, in which the independent clauses are interspersed with many subordinate ones, mimics the long, coiling masses that are the snakes' bodies.
ReplyDeleteHahahahahah Clayton, i knew that you were going to read this book.
ReplyDeleteBut I do have to agree with you on the statement of the language being very excellent,this line "Their chests race among the waves and their bloody crests overpower
them." espically has great language, and I love how the word bloody is being used, giving us a very vivid description of what is happening.