The Rainbow (Oxford World’s Classics)

by Lawrence, D. H.

  the torture cell of a certain Bishop of France: in the Château de Loches, where Bishop La Balue was imprisoned during the reign of Louis XI.

  fledge: down.

  fools-parsley: the lesser hemlock, Aethusa cynapium.

  snirt: snort.

  Ruskin: John Ruskin (1819–1900), art critic and writer on social issues: Lawrence had read much of Ruskin by 1908.

  hatchet-carving: probably hatchment-carving: the carving of tablets with the armorial bearings of deceased persons.

  Southwell: in 1884 Southwell Minster became the cathedral for the diocese in which Nottingham is situated.

  sedilia: seats in the chancel near the altar, for the officiating clergy. Will’s use of a singular article and plural noun suggests the fact that he is self-taught in these matters.

  like the Devil looking over Lincoln: a semi-proverbial expression, of apparently unknown origin.

  butter-stamper: carved wooden implement used to imprint a design on freshly made pats of butter.

  phœnix: Lawrence was to make this fabled bird, who was eternally reborn from the ashes of its own funeral pyre (and hence functioned as a symbol for the resurrection) distinctly his own. He had only recently found the image, however, when reading Mrs Henry Jenner’s Christian Symbolism (1910) in late 1914 (see Letters ii. 250 and 252).

  paths: the Cambridge Edition notes that in manuscript this word is clearly ‘puther’, a dialect word meaning ‘scattering’.

  pent house: in the form of a leaning shed or out-house.

  dolly-tub: washtub: the dolly was a disk with two projecting arms used for stirring the washing.

  gorps: gapes, stares.

  white roses … fern: according to the Victorian ‘language of flowers’, the contents of Anna’s bouquet signified ‘worthy of love’ (white rose), ‘doubly dear’ (lily of the valley), ‘austere purity’ (tuber rose), and ‘sincerity’ (fern).

  white peacock: cf. the title of Lawrence’s first novel, The White Peacock (1911): the white peacock, already a bird whose vanity is legendary, is particularly aware of its rareness.

  no marriage in heaven: cf. Matthew 22: 30.

  wake: group of singers travelling around houses and inns at the time of an annual church or village festival.

  guysers … old mystery play of St George: men and boys visiting houses, in costume or disguise, putting on the traditional mummers’ play.

  Beelzebub: the Devil, in the mystery play, a comic character, traditionally carrying club and dripping pan.

  played Old Johnny Roger: possibly a phrase meaning ‘to play the fool’.

  blanket fair: have fun in bed.

  boss-eyed man: man with a squint.

  ‘In the fields with their flocks abiding’: carol by Frederick William Farrar (1831–1904).

  the Ark in the flood: Genesis 7: 7.

  Tablets of Stone: Exodus 31:18.

  a new world, a new earth: similar to Revelation 21: I but with the significant substitution of ‘world’ for ‘heaven’.

  the Lord in two burning bushes that were not consumed: Exodus 3:2.

  the youth in the fairy tale … beaten herd: unidentified, although possibly related to the tradition of the annual appointment of the Lord of Misrule. Herd = shepherd or cowherd.

  mashed: made.

  ‘And forgive us our trespasses … trespass against us’: from the Lord’s Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer version.

  the familiar yellow figure of the lamb holding the banner: symbol of the resurrected Christ, Agnus Dei, the Lamb of God.

  Pietà: representation of the Virgin Mary holding the dead body of Christ.

  Bamberg Cathedral: the Cathedral of St Peter and St George in Bamberg, Bavaria, is noted for its remarkable carvings and stonework.

  full-butt: in violent, head-on collision, like a butting animal.

  unclean dogs of the darkness: hell-hounds: the ancient Greeks regarded the dog as unclean; Cerberus, in classical mythology, guarded the entrance to Hades.

  Angel of the Presence: Gabriel (Luke 1: 19).

  water turned to wine at Cana: Christ’s first miracle: cf. John 2: 1–11; Will quotes from verses 4, 5, and 10.

  firkins: small cask for liquids.

  You’ve a right: you must.

  Woman was made out of Man’s body… born of woman: cf. Genesis 2: 21–3.

  oriflamme: the sacred banner of St Denis, made of two or three points of red or orange-coloured silk, attached to a lance, which the early kings of France used to receive from the abbot of St Denis on setting out for war.

  ‘Magnificat’: the song of the Virgin Mary, ‘My soul doth magnify the Lord’, Luke 1: 46–55.

  Fra Angelico’s ‘Entry of the Blessed into Paradise’: the left side of Fra Angelico’s (1387–1455) Last Judgment (1430–1), in the Museo di S. Marco, Florence: Ursula’s response to this work is given on p. 276.

  the story of David, who danced before the Lord … exultingly: 2 Samuel 6:14–23.

  ‘Thou comest to me … hands’: David’s words to Goliath, the Philistine giant: 1 Samuel 17:45,47.

  Saul proclaiming his own kingship: I Samuel 10: 8 and 13: 7–14. Saul’s presumption particularly lay in assuming that he, rather than the high priest Samuel, could offer a celebratory sacrifice to God.

  She was the ark, and the rest of the world was flood: Genesis 7: 6–24.

  the old man of the seas… another life: from the story of Sindbad in the Arabian Nights: the Old Man twines his legs around Sindbad’s shoulders to take him captive, until Sindbad gets him drunk, with the result that he falls off and is killed.

  fury: an avenging spirit in Greek mythology, usually female.

  the lion lay down with the lamb in him: semi-proverbial misquotation of Isaiah 11: 6.

  Ursula because of the picture of the saint: Ursula was the legendary daughter of a Breton king, and was supposedly martyred along with eleven thousand virgins by the Huns in Cologne. The painted version that Lawrence has Will recall would most probably be that by Vittore Carpaccio (active 1490–1523) in the Accademia, Venice, much praised by Ruskin.

  Pisgah mount: the mountain from which Moses saw the Promised Land, although he died without entering it: Deuteronomy 34:1–5.

  the three witnesses walked with the angel in the fire: Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace: Daniel 3: 23–8.

  ‘The History … Briswell’: cf. the history of Greasley parish by Rodolph, Baron von Hube (see note to p. 96), Grisleia in Snotinghscire (Nottingham: Murrays Nottingham Book Co., 1901).

  transitation: the action of passing, passage.

  God burned… bush: cf. Exodus 3: 2–4.

  rotonda: variant of ‘rotunda’, a round, domed building but with a space open to the sky, as in the Pantheon, Rome.

  glassie: glass marble.

  Twittermiss: chatterbox.

  lilies of the field: Matthew 6: 28–9.

  needle: compass needle.

  sprits: sprouts on seed potatoes.

  the Empire: the Empire Theatre of Varieties was opened in Nottingham in 1898: a rare anachronism within the careful time scheme of The Rainbow. Kinkead-Weekes suggests that Lawrence was confusing it with the Palace of Varieties, which flourished during the 1880s.

  new Swedish methods… and so on: the Department of Education approved woodwork as a subject for instruction in elementary schools in 1890. Certain Swedish methods were believed to impart manual dexterity through instruction in carpentry and carving.

  High School: Nottingham High School (for boys): in existence since the thirteenth century, and formerly known as the Free Grammar School. Lawrence attended the school from 1898 to 1901.

  Agnostic writings: particularly the work of Thomas Huxley (1825–95), such as Lay Sermons (1870), and probably that of Matthew Arnold (1822–81), such as Literature and Dogma (1872).

  suppering up: giving the animals their night-time feeds.

  slew: large expanse of water.

  Angel: The Old Angel Inn on the corne
r of Stoney Street and Woolpack Lane.

  Noah… olive branch an’ all: Genesis 8:11.

  top-sawyer: the sawyer who works the upper handle of a pit-saw; hence, figuratively, someone who has the upper hand.

  takes its hook: as in ‘to sling one’s hook’ or to make off, decamp.

  falleth as rain on the just and unjust: Matthew 5: 45.

  kindergarten: infant school run on the principles laid down by Friedrich Froebel in 1826, in which much emphasis was placed on developing children’s intelligence by interesting object lessons, exercises with toys, games, singing, and so on.

  bobby-dazzlin’: brightly coloured.

  ‘In my father’s house are many mansions.’: John 14: 2.

  the beginning and the end: Revelation 22: 13.

  raking: wandering about.

  ‘Fecundity’: Mark Kinkead-Weekes suggests that since Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) does not seem to have painted a picture with this title, possible candidates might be his Sacrifice to Venus, The Garden of Love, or The Feast of Venus.

  Andersen and Grimm: Hans Christian Andersen (1805–75), collector and compiler of fairy-tales, as were the brothers Jacob Ludwig (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Karl (1786–1859) Grimm.

  ‘Idylls of the King’: Tennyson’s epic poem appeared between 1842 and 1885: the lines quoted are from the opening of ‘Elaine’ (1859).

  without spot or blemish: Numbers 19:2.

  Arboretum: botanical tree garden.

  postulant: someone who seeks or petitions for something, esp. someone seeking admission to a religious office.

  ‘J’ai donné … frère’: ‘I have given the bread to my little brother.’

  ‘Via Latina’: by William C. Collar (1897).

  little grey Algebra book: Mark Kinkead-Weekes identifies this as Algebra Part I in Blackie’s Elementary Textbooks.

  sluthered: slithered, slipped.

  ‘Il était… patapon’: French folk-song: ‘There was a shepherdess And purr-purr-purr little pussy-paw’. Versions with risqué words are common, which explains Theresa’s comment.

  ‘Samuel, Samuel!’: 1 Samuel 3: 3–10.

  Sin, the serpent: Genesis 3:1–22.

  Judas with the money and the kiss: Mark 14: 10–11, 44–5; Matthew 26:14–16, 47–9; 27: 3–5.

  Stigmata: the marks of Christ’s wounds in his hands, feet, and side.

  revivalists: evangelicists such as the Primitive Methodists Lawrence remembered from his childhood in ‘Hymn in a Man’s Life’ (Phoenix II (London: Heinemann, 1968), 597–601) who ‘when I was a boy, were always having “revivals” and being “saved” ‘.

  throng: busy.

  fettling: tidying up, putting in order.

  Calvary: place of Christ’s crucifixion.

  ‘The Sons of God saw the daughters of men … men of renown ‘: Genesis 6: 2–4.

  only begotten Son: words of the Nicene creed.

  Jove had become a bull … a hero: slightly confused mythology. Jove (Zeus) came to Europa in the form of a bull, and fathered Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Sarpedon: he fathered Heracles (Hercules), who has a far better claim as a giant and a hero, when he visited Alcmene disguised as her husband.

  Pan: god of shepherds and huntsmen, represented with two small horns, flat nose, ruddy complexion, and the legs and feet of a goat.

  Bacchus: also known as Dionysus, Greek god of fertility.

  Apollo: god of music and poetry, and the type of manly youth and beauty.

  ‘It is easier for a camel to … enter into heaven’: Matthew 19:16–22.

  unless he gave… the poor: Matthew 19:16–22, Luke 18:18–23.

  Giotto: Giotto de Bondone (c.1267–1337), Italian painter.

  Filippo Lippi: Fra Filippo Lippi (c.1406–69), Italian painter of the Florentine school.

  Raphael’s ‘Dispute of the Sacrament’: Raphael (1483–1520) painted the Dispute for the Stanze della Segnatura in the Vatican.

  The star… in the sky: Matthew 2: 1–10.

  Peace of the World: Luke 2: 13–14.

  the Magi’s transport: Matthew 2: 10–11.

  the great light: Isaiah 9: 2, 42 and Matthew 14: 16.

  The veil of the temple… sank dead: see the account of the crucifixion in Mark 15: 37–8, Matthew 27: 50–1, Luke 23: 45–6.

  the Comforter was given: the coming of the Holy Spirit, celebrated seven weeks after Easter on the Feast of Pentecost. See John 14:16–17 and 26, and Acts 2:1–42.

  the Ascension: Luke 24: 51–3; Acts 1: 9–11.

  ‘Touch me not… my father’: John 20:17.

  thirty-three: Christ’s age at his crucifixion.

  when Mary says: Rabboni: i.e. Master: John 20: 16.

  walk this earth in gladness: adapted (‘the earth’) from a poem by Ernest Collings, sent to Lawrence by the author in 1912: see Letters i. 472.

  climbing the tree … five thousand people: miracles of Christ: see Luke 19:1–8; Matthew 14: 28–31; Mark 6: 34–44; John 6: 5–14.

  walking upon the waters … burn away: Mark 6: 48; Matthew 14: 25; Acts 9: 3–9; Exodus 13: 21; Exodus 3: 2–4.

  ripples of an unseen wind: suggestive of the language Shelley uses to describe the power of poetic inspiration and feeling in ‘A Defence of Poetry’ (1820).

  ‘Sell all thou hast, and give to the poor’: a conflation of Luke 18: 22 and Matthew 19: 21.

  drab: cloth of a natural, undyed colour.

  Nor could one turn the other cheek: Matthew 5: 39.

  ‘Oh, Jerusalem—Jerusalem … ye would not—Matthew 23: 37.

  the Son of Man: God’s address to Ezekiel (2: 1), adopted as title by Christ.

  lift up the lambs in his arms!: the good shepherd: cf. Psalm 23, Luke 15: 4–5, John 10:11 and 21:15.

  ‘Come unto me… give you rest’: Matthew 11: 28.

  the Engineers… Army, see Letters ii. 274 for Lawrence’s requests for information about army life.

  Adam been driven cringing: Genesis 3: 23–4.

  Once three angels… went: Genesis 18: 1–2.

  perpetuum mobile: perpetual motion.

  sappers: popular name for the Royal Engineers.

  ‘Wuthering Heights’: novel by Emily Brontë (1847), much admired by Lawrence.