Lesson 15 No Signposts in the Sea Victoria Mary Sackville- West

Lesson 15 No Signposts in the Sea

Victoria Mary Sackville- West

Objectives of teaching

get familiar with the background of the author;

understand the main idea and theme of this text;

master the key words and phrases and their use;

try to learn and appreciate the writing style of this passage

Important and difficult points

understand the main idea of this passage;

learn to use key words and phrases; learn and appreciate the writing sty

le

I. Background information

1. About the author Victoria Mary Sackville- West (1892-1962) was an English

poet and novelist, a member of the Bloomsbury group, an informal group of literary and artistic friends, a close friend of Virginia Woolf.

Her poems include The Land (1926), Solitude (1938), The Garden (1946), All Passion Spent (1931). Her poetry is traditional in form, reminiscent of the work of the English nature poets of the age of romanticism.

A prolific writer, Victoria Sackville-West is the author of 15 novels, as well as biographies and travel books.

I. Background information 2. About the novel No Signposts in the Sea

This novel is writen in the form of a journal kept by a man called Edmund

Carr, 50, an influential political columnist and bachelor. He learns that he

has a limited time to live--- a few days or weeks, a month or two at most.

How shall he spend them? In this quandary, he learns that a widow who he

has lately met at random social occasions has booked passage on a cruise t

o the Far East. Her qualities, her intelligence and warmth stiffened by a de

ep reserve, have struck him as uncommon; he decided to be abroad. His co

ntact with Laura, the widow, gives Carr an unfamiliar peace and a profoun

d change in perspective. Power, prestige, practicality--- the former watchw

ords of his career--- lose their ring. Illusion, which he had adhorred, and th

e natural world, uninvaded by civilization, begin to seem transcendent. An

d a third-some Colonel arouses his all-too-human ignominy of jealousy, de

spair, meanness, and outbursts of disappointment against his “rival”.

II. Detailed Study of the Text

1.I have never had much of an eye for noticing the clothes of women:

I have never paid much attention to nor have ever had a keen appreciation of the clothes of women.

have an eye for : to have the ability to see, judge and understand clearly; to have a keen appreciation of


2. she wears soft rich colours: Metonymy. The word colours stands for clothes of these colours.

rich colours: deep, intense colours such as dark red, olive green and midnight blue .

The word rich conveys various meanings when applied to modify different objects, e.g.

a rich banquet ( luxurious, sumptuous ) rich wine ( full of strength and flavour ) rich soil ( fertile, yielding in abundance ) a rich mine ( producing in abundance ) a rich prize ( worth much, valuable )


3. I ventured to say …: I expressed my opinion, expecting her to laugh at me.

venture: to express ( an opinion ) at the risk of criticism, objection, denial

4. beguile ourselves: pass our time pleasantly, while away our time

beguile: to cause (time) to pass without being noticed

5. who is not too offensively an Empire-builder: In Carr’s eyes, Empire-builders are all aggressive people causing offence and disgust. But this one ( a military officer sent to the colonies ) is not so bad.


6. he used to read me : Metonymy. Me stands for books or articles written by me.

Examples:I like Shakespeare. ( Shakespeare’s works ) I find Saul Bellow very difficult to understand.

( books written by Saul Bellow )

7. He is by no means stupid or ill-informed: He is not at all stupid or ignorant.

In the compound adjective ill-informed, ill means badly, imperfectly, wrongly, improperly, e.g. ill-advised, ill-bred, ill-considered, ill-defined, ill-founded, ill-mannered, ill-treatment, etc.

II. Detailed Study of the Text8. just about as far to the Right as anybody could go : just a

bout as conservative as anybody could be; extremely conservative politically

9. try not to tease him by putting forward views which would only bring a puzzle look to his face: Carr knew if he put forward some liberal views the conservative Colonel would look puzzled. So he refrained from doing so because personally he like the Colonel and didn’t want to make fun of him .


10. I observe with amusement how totally the concerns of the world … to the extent of a bored distaste:

I was once so completely absorbed in the important affairs of the world that I devoted all my attention, time and energy to them and only occasionally did I allow myself a little rest by reading poetry or listening to music. Yet now these world problems no longer hold any interest for me. Actually I dislike them and they bore me now. I feel quite amused as I watch how this dramatic change in perspective is taking place.


1 ） to the exclusion of : so as to keep out, bar, leave out , excluding

Examples: All editorials were about the general election to the exclusi

on of all other topics.He was advised to study English literature to the exclusion

of all other subjects.

2 ） to the extent of a bored distaste: to such an extent or degree that they give me a bored distaste


11. some instinct impels me gluttonously to cram these the last weeks of my life with the gentler things I never had time for :

Perhaps because I know my days are numbered, I am impelled by instinct to enjoy myself to the full with more refined, pleasant and softer things ( as compared with writing political leaders and so on ) which I never had time to enjoy in the past.

gluttonously to cram: eating like a glutton, too much and greedily; greedily filling his life with the gentler things


12. releasing some suppressed inclination which in fact was always latent:

allowing my likings and wishes to show themselves, setting free my likings and wishes, which had always existed but had been ignored and suppressed

inclination: liking, wish

Examples: She has no inclination to be an actress.You must think of our feelings instead of following your o

wn inclinations.

II. Detailed Study of the Text13. Or maybe Laura’s unwitting influence has called it

out: Or maybe my suppressed inclination has been brought out under Laura’s unconscious ( or unintentional ) influence.

14. Dismissive as Pharisee, I regarded as moon lings all those whose life was lived on a less practical plane: I was as puritanical as a Pharisee and I viewed with contempt all those who lived a less practical life than my own and regarded them as impractical inhabitants on the moon.

plane: a level of existence

II. Detailed Study of the Text15. Protests about damage to ‘ natural beauty ’ froze

me with contempt: I was not moved by the protests about damage to ‘ na

tural beauty ’ and I viewed them with great contempt. Believing in practicality and materialism, Carr disagreed with those who protested that industrialization had spoiled the natural beauty of the world.

freeze: to make or keep motionless, or stiff, unable to show one’s feelings

Examples: He froze the little girls with his stern gaze.We all froze at the sight of the snake.

II. Detailed Study of the Text16. spare no regrets for … ; feel no regrets at all for

spare: refrain from, omit, avoid using or use frugally

17. a lake dammed into hydraulic use: A dam is built on a lake in order to make use of its water power.

18. A hard materialism was my creed, accepted as a law of progress: I firmly believed in uncompromising materialism which in my opinion represented the law of human progress.


19. any ascription of disinterested motives aroused not only my suspicion but my scorn: When people imputed unselfish motives to their actions. I suspected them and viewed them with contempt. I not only disbelieved people when they said they did things out of unselfish motives, I also held them contempt.

20. And now see how I stand, as sentimental and sensitive, as any old maid doing water-colours of sunsets: Just imagine how I have changed now. Here I stand, sentimental and sensitive, like an old unmarried woman painting a water-colour picture of sunset.

II. Detailed Study of the Text21. any ascription of disinterested motives aroused not

only my suspicion but my scorn: When people imputed unselfish motives to their actions. I suspected them and viewed them with contempt. I not only disbelieved people when they said they did things out of unselfish motives, I also held them contempt.

22. And now see how I stand, as sentimental and sensitive, as any old maid doing water-colours of sunsets: Just imagine how I have changed now. Here I stand, sentimental and sensitive, like an old unmarried woman painting a water-colour picture of sunset.

II. Detailed Study of the Text23. suffering from calf-love into the bargain: moreover e

xperiencing the pain of puppy love calf-love: immature love that adolescent boys and g

irls may feel for each other; puppy love. The narrator uses this word probably to imply that he had never truly been in love before he met Laura.

into the bargain: in addition, moreover

24. I want my fill of beauty before I go: Before I die, I want to enjoy beauty to my heart’s content; to enjoy as much as I can.

fill: all that is needed to satisfy, e.g. eat and drink one’s fill

II. Detailed Study of the Text25. There are no signposts in the sea: The implication is

there’s nothing to guide one’s mind on the sea; there’s nothing to stop one’s imagination.

26. The young moon lies on her back tonight as is her habit in the tropics, and as, I think, is suitable if not seemly for a virgin: Personification. The moon which has just risen lies on her back, which is her habit in the tropics, and I think the way the young moon lies is suitable if no tropics for a virgin.

Here the narrator personifies the moon, describing it as a beautiful virgin.

seemly: suitable, proper, fitting, as regarded by conventional standards of conduct or good taste

II. Detailed Study of the Text27. Not a star but might not shoot down: Every single st

ar might come down quickly. but: adv. used for emphasis 28. dispersed to bed: went to bed in their own cabins 29. I creep up again to the deserted deck and slip into th

e swimming pool and float … a vision of the world inspired from Olympus: I come up stealthily again to the empty deck and slip into the swimming pool and let myself float in the water freely. At this moment I am not a middle-aged journalist that people believe me to be spending a holiday on an ocean-going liner. I have now become a liberated person, bathed in magic waters, and I feel I am like Endymion, a young and strong youth who has a god for his father and gifted with the power to see the world given by gods at Olympus.


mythological waters: magic waters, that appear in mythology, such as the Lethe, the river of forgetfulness whose water produced loss of memory in those who drank of it;

Here the narrator uses this allusion because he feels he has become incapable of envy, ambition, malice, etc. while floating in the swimming pool, as if the pool had changed him completely by a miracle just like mythological waters.


30. I understand the meaning of pantheism: I understand why people worship many objects as their

gods. The narrator implies man is passing and transient, while Nature, the objective world, is lasting.

pantheism: the doctrine that God is not personality ( as in Christianity ) but that all laws, forces, manifestations, etc, of the self-existing universe are God.

31. discarded … all usual frailties: got rid of all moral weaknesses usually found in a person, such as envy, malice, etc.

II. Detailed Study of the Text32. score off my neighbour: defeat my neighbour in competitions; gain some advant

age over my neighbour cf. keep up with the Joneses

33. enjoy this purification: enjoy the purification of the soul –the state of being free

from all those moral weaknesses

34. the clean voluptuousness of the warm breeze on my skin: transferred epithet; the sensual delight, pleasure produced by the clean warm breeze brushing against my skin.

the cool support of the water: another instance of transferred epithet; the support of the cool water


36. rippled with little white ponies: White ponies ( small horses ) are a metaphor referring t

o the spray of breaking waves.

37. when the sky surely seems blacker and the stars more golden because the air here is infinitely cleaner than at home ( in England ) :

The air is not polluted, and there is no fog on the sea.

38. sometimes these untaught scribblers have a way of putting things: Sometimes these uneducated people who write carelessly know how to describe things, express ideas.

II. Detailed Study of the Text39. it may be precipitious bluffs of grey limestone rising

sheer out of the sea: The coast may be high, steep cliffs of grey limestone, rising perpendicularly out of the sea.

40. bleached and barren: Alliteration.bleached: white, colourless barren: not producing crops or fruit; having little or no

vegetation e.g. barren soil, barren hills

41. forbidding: looking dangerous, threatening or disagreeable

II. Detailed Study of the Text42. These coasts remind me of people, either they are forbidding or … all they have to give at a glance: Analogy.

The author compares the sheer steep cliffs to forbidding, unapproachable people, and the barren open sandy beach to people who have nothing to reveal.

43. with ranges of mountains soaring behind them, full of possibilities, peaks to be scaled by the most daring:

Behind the stern cliffs, rising high into the sky are ranges of mountains and peaks which only the most daring people climb. There mountains may have all kinds of beautiful things hidden in them, things that cannot be seen from outside. For instance, one may find some strange species of plants or animals there.


44. grow unravished among their crags and valleys: grow unharmed among the rocky crags or deep in the v

alleys. The word unravished is used figuratively.

ravish: to take or carry away by force; to rape ( a woman )

45. So do I let my imagination play over the recesses of Laura’s character: In the same way I let myself freely imagine what the innermost part of Laura’s character presents.

II. Detailed Study of the Text46. so austere in the foreground but nurturing what trea

sures of tenderness. like delicate flowers, for the discovery of the venturesome:

( She looks ) so severe outwardly, but inwardly she is full of tenderness---tenderness like delicate flowers waiting for the daring to discover. This is another instance of analogy. The author is comparing the cliffs to Laura. Both look stern at first glance. Behind the cliffs there are mountains and peaks whose crags and valleys present mysterious things. And Laura, serious though she may look, has a deep reserve and profound feelings of tenderness in the recesses of her character. The mysterious peaks are to be scaled by the most daring. Similarly only the courageous can discover the secrets in the innermost place of Laura’s heart.


47. a great purple mountain overhung by a great purple cloud: There was a big purple cloud over a large purple mountain.

48. Haunted: The spot must be haunted, that is, frequented by ghosts.

49. he gets relieved every so often: Very often somebody else would replace him so that he would be set free from the post and take a rest.


50. I find it refreshing to think there are still a few odd fish left in the world:

I feel comfortable when I think that there are still a few strange and stupid people left in the world ( who are willing to do the jobs people usually hate doing ).

fish: (colloquial ) person thought of as like a fish in being easily lured by bait; person lacking intelligence or emotion

51. there is a touch of rough poetry about him: There is a trace of simple poetic quality in his character.


52. has used his eyes and kept his ears open: has observed carefully and learnt much from what he h

as heard

53. knowing the latitude we can permit ourselves: knowing how far we can allow ourselves to go; knowing

how much freedom of conduct we can allow ourselves to have. Here the word latitude, used figuratively, means freedom of opinion, conduct, action, etc.

II. Detailed Study of the Text54. Thus, and no farther, can I follow Laura: Like the albatross, I should know how far I can not follo

w Laura farther than that. What he means is that there is a limit to his relationship with Laura, and that he should not allow himself to go beyond that limit. This reveals the narrator’s feeling torn between love of Laura and his self-acknowledgement that she is unattainable for him.

55. there is quite a lot of lore stored away in the Colonel’s otherwise not very interesting mind:

There is quite a lot of knowledge stored away in the Colonel’s mind, which is not interesting except for that.

lore: knowledge or wisdom, especially of an unscientific kind, about a certain subject, e.g. a countryman’s weather lore

II. Detailed Study of the Text56. I prefer having her to myself: I prefer being with he a

lone without the presence of a third party.

57. it is seldom that we espy so much as another ship: We seldom catch sight of even another ship.

58. to see the last of the monster which bears us into and out of sight: to see no more the great, strange-looking ship which carries us into and out of the range of their sight

59. Our wake closes up and we might never have been: When the track left in the water by our moving ship disappears, the sea is peaceful and quiet again, as if we had never been there.

Cf. in the wake of : close behind, as a result of

II. Detailed Study of the Text60. a small manageable domain in a large unmanageabl

e world: Antithesis.domain: territory under one government or ruler.

61. but of such incommunicative quirks is the private mind made up: Inversion. The normal order should be: the private mind is made up of such incommunicative quirks. The secret mind is made up of these peculiar traits that are secretive, reserved, and that one find difficult to tell others

62. to find my imagination always truing towards the idyllic: to find my imagination always leading me to invent the life on the islands as pleasing, simple and picturesque

II. Detailed Study of the Text63. This is the new Edmund Carr with a vengeance: This is the new Edmund Carr ( the narrator himself ) , w

ho has changed excessively or to an unusual extent. with a vengeance: to a high degree, excessively, e.g. a

wind blowing with a vengeance

64. as he beaches his craft: as he grounds his boat on the beach

65. His woman : his wife 66. she takes his catch from him : She takes the fish he h

as caught from him.

67. steeply humped against the faint reflected moonlight: in the shape of a steep arch under the dim moonlight reflected by the sea.

II. Detailed Study of the Text68. the humps receded into the darkness: The steeply humped islands moved backward ( as our s

hip moved forward ).recede: the tide / his hair / early memory /etc. recedes

69. So peaceful and secret; so self-contained: Elliptical with “ The two villages are” omitted.

70. leper colony: an isolated settlement of lepers. The lepers are isolated to prevent the spreading of the disease.

71. penal settlement: an isolated community of convicts


72. watching for the green flash: watch for because the green flash does not appear ever

y time the sun sets. They have to watch wait for it to come.

It is said that only under certain conditions does the green light come ---the sky must be clear with good visibility; humidity of the air should low; there must be no cloud our mist in the sky. The green light appears on the land only where the line of horizon is straight without any building s or forests. Very rarely can this streak of green light be seen at the instant the sun rises above the horizon.

II. Detailed Study of the Text73. sinks to is daily doom: goes down to where it is desti

ned to go everyday

74. the winepink width of water merging into lawns of aquamarine: the wide expanse of winepink water mixing with strips of bluish-green water. The whole phrase is a nominative absolute construction. The word lawns is used metaphorically, meaning wide strips of bluish-green water.

75. the sky a tender palette of pink and blue: again nominative absolute construction. A palette is a board on which an artist mixes his paints. Here it is a metaphor, meaning the sky is like a palette of soft pink and blue colours. The adjective tender is a transferred epithet, which actually modifies pink and blue


76. You did always lose yourself in the pleasure of words:

You were always absorbed by the pleasure of words. You slways enjoyed playing with words so much that you noticed nothing else.

Examples with to lose oneself in:

He lost himself in the book and didn’t notice the man who had come in.

The Trojans lost themselves in their celebration, forgetting all about their enemy.

II. Detailed Study of the Text77. Say green as jealousy and be done with it : I suggest you say the light is green as jealousy and then

we will finish this game on words. green as jealousy: cf. green with envy, very jealous. No

w Laura is joking about Edmund Carr’s love of words.

78. into the full torrid glare of an open space: into the hot, dazzling brightness of a space without any covering

79.snatch it away, burnt: take my hand away quickly, feeling very hot. All these d

etails given in this paragraph show the change in he narrator’s perspective.


80. I would never have believed in the simple bliss of being, day after day, at sea:

If I had not taken this trip by boat, I would never have believed in the simple but great joy of this kind of life—a life spent at sea day after day.

81. I should like this empty existence to be prolonged beyond calculation:

I wish this idle voyage without any worry or suffering could go on for ever.

empty existence: an idle life with no practical problems of the world to disturb or trouble a person


82. The Pacific alone dwarfs all the continents put together: The Pacific Ocean alone is much larger than all the continents combined.

83. I shed all that I have ever been : I throw off all the qu

alities, likes, dislikes and everything else that I have had before.

III.Rhetorical devicesMetonymy ： she wears soft rich colours. …he used to read me.

Personification: The young moon lies on her back tonight as is her habit

in the tropics, and as, I think, is suitable if not seemly for a virgin.

Transferred epithet: …the clean voluptuousness of the warm breeze on my s

kin; …the cool support of the water…

III.Rhetorical devicesMetaphor: …rippled with little white ponies.

Alliteration: …bleached and barren…

Antithesis: …a small manageable domain in a large unmanageable

world…

Inversion: …but of such incommunicative quirks is the private mi

nd made up…

IV. Question for discussion

Why does Carr say: “God, is there no escape from suffering and sin?”

Documents

Lesson 15 No Signposts in the Sea Victoria Mary Sackville- West