Hopping.

"Spring" contained some lovely alliteration, which always just makes everything better. We had "long and lovely and lush" weeds in wheels, and there were five consecutive lines that began with the "th-" sound.

Also, there was an allusion to the Garden of Eden, which brings about the whole theme of the poem. Youth is finite; innocence is temporary, as we recall from Adam and Eve's first sin. Likewise, spring doesn't last forever. Winter inevitably arrives.

EB blogged about how the poem reminded her of Easter, and I could see that; I also pointed out that the author's name is Hopkins, which is just a silly coincidence, but nonetheless.... The Garden of Eden is unquestionably religious imagery, as is "heavens" and "sinning" "Christ, lord." "O maid's child" could refer to Jesus, which would make the final stanza an invocation on behalf of the children. The speaker hopes Christ will save the "girl and boy" before they lose their innocence to sin.

Double Standards and Drinking All the Time

"'My God!* The things a woman goes through!'"

Oh, Brett--just when I was saying how you're such a rebel for defying the stereotype**....

Cohn whines, and everybody "hates his suffering." When Brett whines, it's a real tragedy. Also, they tell Cohn to start drinking more, he does, and they still yell at him.

I don't like Cohn's whining any more than the rest of them do, but I hardly think yelling at him is going to help. I think it says something about human nature that we don't like to hear about other people's suffering. I mean... sometimes, we care a great deal about other people, but in the end, there's often an ulterior motive. In the absence of such a motive, unless the suffering is particularly tragic, or the sufferer is a particularly close friend... sometimes, it's dismissed as mere whining. It's unlikely that this is what Hemingway wanted me to get from chapter sixteen, but... that's what I got, nonetheless.

*another invocation

**more stereotype-talk

I Forgot to Give This Chapter a Title

It's funny to me that Jake feels the need to explain to his audience what an aficionado is, but he expects them to know what "getting tight" means.

In any case, when Brett says, "My God, isn't he beautiful?" in reference to Romero on page 144, it's an invocation. She is talking to God, although she can't see Him and is not religious, so she is unlikely to believe that God is always everywhere. It's worth noting, I suppose, that some people use the phrase more as an interjection than as an appeal.

Additionally, Mike mocks Robert for his allusion to Circe, mythological daughter of the Sun who turns men to pigs. While I can certainly see Mike's point, Robert's allusion makes an astute excuse for his behavior. He simultaneously implies that Brett is supernaturally beautiful and pleads for forgiveness for his pigheadedness. This also serves as a reminder from Hemingway that Robert writes for a living, and the audience recalls the beginning of the novel for a moment.