Ishmael
Okay, after all these years, it’s nice to get this straight, and this time I’m not going to forget it. Ishmael is Abraham’s first son, by his servant, Hagar. Hagar and Ishmael are sent away after the birth of Isaac and wander in the desert. Their water runs out but they are miraculously saved by God and [reel change] Ishmael goes on to play Isaac’s part in the origins of Islam. Muhammad is his descendant. But let’s be honest, Melville probably probably doesn’t expect it to be taken from the Islamic angle. I think the key concept here is the unblessed, tainted son, sent wandering.
spleen, n.
8. With the: c. Excessive dejection or depression of spirits; gloominess and irritability; moroseness; melancholia. Now arch.
hypo, n. ? Obs.
Morbid depression of spirits. [Abbreviation of HYPOCHONDRIA: cf. HYP.]
Cato
Cato the Younger (95 BC-46 BC), politician who fought Caesar and committed suicide when Caesar defeated his forces, stabbing himself with a sword and then, apparently, ripping open his wound after it had been mended against his will. The classical image of principled suicide.
Manhattoes
OED gives this as a possible plural for
Manhattan, n.
a. A member of a North American Indian people formerly inhabiting Manhattan Island, N.Y.
mole, n.
2. A massive structure, esp. of stone, serving as a pier, breakwater, or causeway.
Sabbath
My 20th-century Jewish upbringing has left me uncertain as to whether a 19th-century non-Jew would have meant Saturday or Sunday by this word. OED says Sunday.
Corlears Hook
Correctly, or originally, “Corlaer’s Hook,” later “Corlear’s Hook.” Map. On the Lower East Side, where the shoreline bends northward. Example of:
hook, n.
9. A sharp bend or angle in the course or length of anything; esp. a bend in a river (now in proper names). [Perh. in some cases influenced by Du. hoek corner, nook.]
Coenties Slip
One of several “slips” on the very southern tip of Manhattan. We’ve walked south down the East River.
slip, n.
c. local. A narrow roadway or passage.
I think in this particular geographical case, as per the article above, it means a very narrow harbor/inlet.
Whitehall
Once, a mansion at the southern tip of Manhattan; nowadays just a short street very near Coenties Slip, heading north toward Broadway. It seems more likely, however, that we’re supposed to walk around up the shore on the other side of the island. Perhaps a different street used by be called Whitehall Street? [Wikipedia]
spile, n.
1. a. = PILE n. 3.
pile, n.
3. a. A pointed stake or post; spec. in later use, a large and heavy beam of timber or trunk of a tree, usually sharpened at the lower end, of which a number are driven into the bed of a river, or into marshy or uncertain ground for the support of some superstructure, as a bridge, pier, quay, wall, the foundation of a house, etc. Also extended to cylindrical or other hollow iron pillars, used for the same purposes.
pier-head, n.
1. The outward or seaward end of a pier.
See, I had to check, because it was either that or the opposite.
bulwark, n.
3. The raised woodwork running along the sides of a vessel above the level of the deck. Usually pl.
in the rigging
Well, “rigging” just means what I think it means (it apparently can also mean the ridge of a roof, but I don’t think he’d say “in the rigging” if that’s what he meant), so I’m confused. He’s describing the way “landsmen” gather at the piers to look out at the water. Is he saying that these non-sailors just trespass their way onto the ships and climb up in the rigging? That would surprise me. Maybe he is talking about people on the roofs. I’m asking a simple question here, people – someone answer me!
lath, n.
1. a. A thin narrow strip of wood used to form a groundwork upon which to fasten the slates or tiles of a roof or the plaster of a wall or ceiling, and in the construction of lattice or trellis work and Venetian blinds.
b. collect. Laths as a material used in building (chiefly as a groundwork for a coating of plaster) to form a wall or partition. Freq. in lath and plaster (often written with hyphens, esp. when used attrib. or quasi-adj.).
clinched, ppl. a.
Firmly fastened as a nail or bolt; clinker-built.
What do they here?
This oddly archaic construction (I assume I’m correct in reading this as syntactically parallel to “What want they here?”) would seem to indicate an allusion, but I can’t find anything to explain what does he here. The phrase “what do they here?” appears in several other places that don’t seem relevant. (Handel’s Belshazzar?) Was this just “an expression” at the time? I haven’t seen it before, or if I have, I haven’t thought about it.
lee, n.
1. a. Protection, shelter, rarely pl. Also in phrases in, under (the) lee (of) both in material and immaterial senses.
Surely, the nautical connotation is not coincidental. Whether it’s intentional is another question.
league, n.
a. An itinerary measure of distance, varying in different countries, but usually estimated roughly at about 3 miles; app. never in regular use in England, but often occurring in poetical or rhetorical statements of distance. marine league: a unit of distance = 3 nautical miles or 3041 fathoms.
I knew it was a measure of distance but I didn’t know how far. Again, with a nautical connotation.
the Saco
The Saco River, in Maine (and northern New Hampshire). Here’s a painting from the school he’s talking about. It would have been fun to find exactly the painting he’s describing but it probably doesn’t exist.
bark, barque, n.
3. spec. A sailing vessel of particular rig; in 17th c. sometimes applied to the barca-longa of the Mediterranean; now to a three-masted vessel with fore- and main-masts square-rigged, and mizenmast ‘fore-and-aft’ rigged: till recent times a comparatively small vessel; now there are many of 3,000 to 5,000 tons, nearly all the larger steamers being barks. (In this sense frequently spelt barque by way of distinction.)
It also means “boat” or “rowing boat” or “barge” in more general senses, but I thought it was worth checking out whether there was a more specific meaning. In this little rhetorical flourish he doesn’t mean anything too particular, I’d guess.
brig, n.
a. A vessel (a) originally identical with the brigantine (of which word brig was a colloquial abbreviation); but, while the full name has remained with the unchanged brigantine, the shortened name has accompanied the modifications which have subsequently been made in rig, so that a brig is now
(b) A vessel with two masts square-rigged like a ship’s fore- and main-masts, but carrying also on her main-mast a lower fore-and-aft sail with a gaff and boom.
schooner, n.
1. a. A small sea-going fore-and-aft rigged vessel, originally with only two masts, but now often with three or four masts and carrying one or more topsails.
That one I was comfortable enough with, but I thought I’d better cover all the bases here.
judgmatical, a. colloq.
Characterized by good practical judgement; judicious, discerning; judicial.
Hence judgmatically adv., in the manner, or with the air, of a judge.
What a great, stupid word!
It is out of the idolatrous dotings…
I know he’s being comical, but it’s a pretty wacky joke with a couple of layers, so I had to read it over and over to make sure I was understanding. He’s whimsically equating the Egyptians’ worship of certain animals with his “not to say reverential” fondness for chicken, and then saying, in jest, that the Egyptians actually liked to eat those animals and “worshipped” them on those terms – and that, accordingly, the pyramids are like big ovens to honor their favorite dishes, mummified inside. I think that sitting here and thinking about what he’s saying is making it a lot more ridiculous than he intended. But I was taken aback by the sudden shot of silliness, delivered with that characteristic ominous deadpan. I know, it’s not just silliness; these kinds of grandiose “pagan” parallelisms are obviously a serious part of the fabric of the book. But it’s still pretty silly.
forecastle
2. The fore part of a ship.
3. In merchant vessels, the forward part of the vessel, under the deck, where the sailors live.
OED offers, under Spellings:
Also written fo’c’sle, after sailors’ pronunc.
but doesn’t have a proper Pronunciation section and thus doesn’t answer my longstanding question: should I ALWAYS pronounce it that way or is that just an optional, low, “sailor-talk” version? I’m basically saying “Foxxle” in every context and I think that may be very wrong. Won’t somebody help me?
spar, n.
4. a. Naut. ‘The general term for all masts, yards, booms, gaffs, etc.’ (Young, 1846).
Van Rensselaer
Prominent New York Dutch family, descendants of Killian Van Rensselaer (1595-1644).
Randolph
Prominent Virginia family, from Williamsburg. Descendants of Sir John Randolph (1693-1737).
Hardicanute
This seems to be satire, a dig at the Van Rensselaers and such. Harthacanute (~1018-1042) was the King of Denmark and England until 1042, just one generation before the Norman conquest would end the Anglo-Saxon line. Here’s Wikipedia’s handy list of British monarchs. Anyway, seems to me that the point is: the great prominence of the “Hardicanutes,” who no doubt would have felt they were above being bossed around on a ship, was transient. Vanity. The subsequent example of the powerful country schoolmaster is a prod in the same direction.
tar, n.
3. A familiar appellation for a sailor: perh. abbreviation of TARPAULIN. Cf. JACK-TAR.
4. attrib. and Comb. c. Special Combs.: tar-pot, (a) a pot containing tar; (b) humorously applied to a sailor (cf. 3)
Either Melville’s punning the phrase off the expression “tar-pot,” or else he knows about some better derivation than the OED involving sailors actually using tar out of a pot.
Hm. Here we go: in Benito Cereno a short story from 1855, Melville describes a sailor “tarring a strap of a large block” by “continually thrusting his hand into the tar-pot” (I suppose I should have put a few …’s in there). “Block” in the “block and tackle” sense – a pulley, essentially. The tar is to make the strap (by which it is hung) water-resistant. I imagine this is something low-ranking sailors had to do all the time. OED, why didn’t you figure this out? “Tarpaulin”? Pshaw!
Seneca and the Stoics
Seneca the Younger (4 BC-AD 65), author and Stoic philosopher. Some of his works, like On Anger and On Tranquility of Mind deal with applying Stoic philosophy to the trials of life. Pretty self-helpish, actually.
hunks, n.
A term of obloquy for a surly, crusty, cross-grained old person, a ‘bear’; now, usually, a close-fisted, stingy man; a miser. (Generally with close, covetous, niggardly, or other uncomplimentary epithet.)
Pythagorean maxim
The Pythagorean maxim is: “Abstain from beans.” There seem to be widely differing opinions as to what this means and why – a seemingly reasonable theory is that the beans in question are vote-counting beans and this is Pythagoras’ instruction to his followers not to be become involved with politics – but the most entertaining and thus most popular possibility is that it’s advice about avoiding flatulence. This, in any case, is what Melville’s getting at. That’s right: Winds from astern? Atmosphere at secondhand? Fart humor!
quarterdeck, n. Naut.
a. Originally, a smaller deck situated above the HALF-DECK (q.v.), covering about a quarter of the vessel. Obs. b. In later use: That part of the upper or spar-deck which extends between the stern and after-mast, and is used as a promenade by the superior officers or cabin-passengers. Also transf.
commonalty, n.
3. The general body of the community; the common people, as distinguished from those in authority, from those of rank and title, or ‘the upper classes’ generally; the ‘commons’ collectively.
I put this here because I didn’t recognize the word, even though there was no question what it meant.
BLOODY BATTLE IN AFFGHANISTAN
First Anglo-Afghan War, 1838-1842. Presidential elections were held in 1836 and 1840. Am I wrong or does this quasi-date the events in the novel to 1840-1 (or, at least, between 1836 and 1842)?
spring, n.
23. fig. a. That by which action is produced, inspired, or instigated; a moving, actuating, or impelling agency, cause, or force; a motive.
Patagonian, a.
1. a. Of or relating to Patagonia or its inhabitants, spec. the Patagons. b. With reference to the Patagons’ alleged height: gigantic, huge, immense.
The question is whether he means “South American” or “big.” I’m a context-reader so I’m inclined to think he means “exotic and overwhelming” but I don’t really know.
would they let me
Opinion: does he mean “would it, the horror, let me,” or does he mean “would some generic conservative chaperone figures, they, let me”? I want it to be the former but I can’t quite hear “they” correctly. Is this an old-fashioned usage or the same usage that one still hears today as something lazy and inexact? I always thought that was a contemporary sloppiness, to say “they” for any third person.
flood-gate, n.
1. sing. and pl. A gate or gates that may be opened or closed, to admit or exclude water, esp. the water of a flood; spec. the lower gates of a lock.
b. transf. and fig. chiefly in expressions relating to rain or tears.
I hear this expression all the time but I wasn’t sure where real “flood-gates” might be found or what they’d look like, and it seemed like it might be relevant in this nautical atmosphere. But now I don’t think it is.