As I understood your previous remark, it was about the meaning of
"cynical." It means "scornful of the motives or virtue of others;
bitterly mocking, sneering," or "pertaining to the Cynics or their
doctrines." Cynics were persons "who believe all men are motivated by
selfishness" or who "believed virtue to be the only good and
self-control to be the only means of achieving virtue" [a view that
requires knowledge, not innocence].
What has this to do with the context of the line? Words bring meanings
to a context; they are not simply whatever one finds in a line. The
awareness of evil and scepticism about innocence is in the word
"cynicism" itself, which is not in the line but in your statement. I
said nothing about any character in the poem.
>>> cr mittal <[log in to unmask]> 06/29/07 10:51 PM >>>
Nancy, you wrote:
To be cynical is //to be both very aware of evil and sceptical
about innocence at all.//
But we're talking of it in a context. Now where does one find in
the following lines
* We should play a game of chess
* The ivory men make company between us
an evidence of being "very aware of evil and sceptical
about innocence at all" ?
You'll agree that when we impute a motive to a character,
the evidence must be in the text. One can't just implant it
Diana had written: "The first two lines seem //anything but
but rather reeking with cynicism."
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