As a dare-gale skylark scanted in a dull cage
Man’s mounting spirit in his bone-house, mean house, dwells.—Gerard Manley Hopkins, from “The Caged Skylark”
The use of “bone-house” to mean body is what does it here. He uses this technique more than once in the full poem, almost equaling the beauty of “bone-house” with his use of “meadow-down” for “dew.”
Last week: Laura Jacobs defines civilization.
Next week: Byron goes boldly.
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