Line 46: "Iff she flaunces, as veneficent as elled Sent Knickerless hermself, an innerscent ulled lay-die in a wurli cardiagran out strawling on the institrusion lorns."
Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "Off she flounces, as beneficent as old Saint Nicholas himself, an innocent old lady in a wooly cardigan out strolling on the institution lawns."
"Iff"
"Off" with a vowel change to remind everybody that Lucia is the River Liffey. This has something to do with Ulysses or Finnegans Wake. Not being a James Joyce scholar (or reader!), I can't speculate on the metaphor.
"flaunces"
A "flaunch" is "a cement or mortar slope around a chimney top, manhole, etc., to throw off water." Lucia "flouncing" across the lawn is reminiscent of water being thrown off something manmade. Here, Lucia, the River Liffey, water and light herself, is being thrown off the hospital and thrust into nature.
"veneficent"
"Venerable" combined with "beneficent." Old Lucia is respected and generous like Santa Claus. I believe there was an earlier allusion to The Venerable Bede which this would be a callback to but I don't know much about The Venerable Bede. You can check the Wiki on that guy and know as much as I do and then apply that knowledge to this yourself. I don't mean to sound short tempered or angsty; I just know I'll never hold in my head as much knowledge as Alan Moore does. I'm simply expressing the limits of my intelligence and asking you to do better!
"elled"
"Elle" or "she" in French, combined with "hermself" which follows the Saint Nicholas reference, this could just be a restatement that Lucia is the female version of Santa Claus. An "ell" is also a measurement. In this (Santa) clause, Lucia is being measured against Saint Nicholas for how venerable and beneficent she is.
"Sent Knickerless hermself"
The "her" in "hermself" is to assure the reader that it isn't Saint Nicholas who is going without underwear. "Sent Knickerless" probably just means she's been sent off on her walk without any pants (that's British for underwear! Trousers and slacks is British for pants!).
"hermself"
The next sentence makes the statement that Lucia isn't all woman. So this reads, in that context, as "Hermes" or "hermaphrodite." Lucia sees herself as somewhere between male and female.
"innerscent"
Probably the scent of Lucia's inner thighs because we were just told she was without knickers.
"ulled"
Moore's mangled version of "old." Why did he mangle it like this? I don't know! Maybe it invokes "pulled" as in "scored" in the dating scene so that we get Lucia's "inner scent" has allowed her to "pull" so that she can get a "lay." Or it's a reference to the Norse God (since we get a lot of those in this) Ullr who is sometimes seen as a kind of God of snow or skiing. This only fits in that we mentioned Saint Nicholas earlier and he lives in the snow (presumably!).
"lay-die"
When you die, you lay down (or is it lie down? I'll never understand when to use "lie" or "lay" because it's a binary decision. And when my brain is forced to remember binary things, it simply can't assign the proper definition to the proper concept. It just jumbles them all together. It's why I'll never consistently know which is further west, New Hampshire or Vermont). This could be more foreshadowing that this is Lucia's last day alive. Perhaps when she goes to lie down tonight, she will die.
"wurli"
"Wooly" but evoking "whirling" and possibly "world." Lucia "flounces" and "whirls" in her freedom on the hospital's lawn.
"cardiagran"
This is one of my favorites so far. Lucia is an old lady ("gran") with possibly a weak heart ("cardiogram").
"strawling"
"Strolling" combined with "trawling" which turns Lucia's fish metaphor on its head. Unless it just means she's in search of herself! Possibly "straw" with the suffix "ling" meaning Lucia is a little scarecrow. Does that work? Is that something?!
"institrusion"
Combination of "institution" and "intrusion." The hospital and staff are unwelcome here in Lucia's meandering outside the institution's buildings.
"lorns"
"Lawns" turned into "lorn." Lucia is ultimately lonely, having been abandoned long ago by her family to this intrusive institution.
Non-Lucy-Lips Version: "Off she flounces, as beneficent as old Saint Nicholas himself, an innocent old lady in a wooly cardigan out strolling on the institution lawns."
"Iff"
"Off" with a vowel change to remind everybody that Lucia is the River Liffey. This has something to do with Ulysses or Finnegans Wake. Not being a James Joyce scholar (or reader!), I can't speculate on the metaphor.
"flaunces"
A "flaunch" is "a cement or mortar slope around a chimney top, manhole, etc., to throw off water." Lucia "flouncing" across the lawn is reminiscent of water being thrown off something manmade. Here, Lucia, the River Liffey, water and light herself, is being thrown off the hospital and thrust into nature.
"veneficent"
"Venerable" combined with "beneficent." Old Lucia is respected and generous like Santa Claus. I believe there was an earlier allusion to The Venerable Bede which this would be a callback to but I don't know much about The Venerable Bede. You can check the Wiki on that guy and know as much as I do and then apply that knowledge to this yourself. I don't mean to sound short tempered or angsty; I just know I'll never hold in my head as much knowledge as Alan Moore does. I'm simply expressing the limits of my intelligence and asking you to do better!
"elled"
"Elle" or "she" in French, combined with "hermself" which follows the Saint Nicholas reference, this could just be a restatement that Lucia is the female version of Santa Claus. An "ell" is also a measurement. In this (Santa) clause, Lucia is being measured against Saint Nicholas for how venerable and beneficent she is.
"Sent Knickerless hermself"
The "her" in "hermself" is to assure the reader that it isn't Saint Nicholas who is going without underwear. "Sent Knickerless" probably just means she's been sent off on her walk without any pants (that's British for underwear! Trousers and slacks is British for pants!).
"hermself"
The next sentence makes the statement that Lucia isn't all woman. So this reads, in that context, as "Hermes" or "hermaphrodite." Lucia sees herself as somewhere between male and female.
"innerscent"
Probably the scent of Lucia's inner thighs because we were just told she was without knickers.
"ulled"
Moore's mangled version of "old." Why did he mangle it like this? I don't know! Maybe it invokes "pulled" as in "scored" in the dating scene so that we get Lucia's "inner scent" has allowed her to "pull" so that she can get a "lay." Or it's a reference to the Norse God (since we get a lot of those in this) Ullr who is sometimes seen as a kind of God of snow or skiing. This only fits in that we mentioned Saint Nicholas earlier and he lives in the snow (presumably!).
"lay-die"
When you die, you lay down (or is it lie down? I'll never understand when to use "lie" or "lay" because it's a binary decision. And when my brain is forced to remember binary things, it simply can't assign the proper definition to the proper concept. It just jumbles them all together. It's why I'll never consistently know which is further west, New Hampshire or Vermont). This could be more foreshadowing that this is Lucia's last day alive. Perhaps when she goes to lie down tonight, she will die.
"wurli"
"Wooly" but evoking "whirling" and possibly "world." Lucia "flounces" and "whirls" in her freedom on the hospital's lawn.
"cardiagran"
This is one of my favorites so far. Lucia is an old lady ("gran") with possibly a weak heart ("cardiogram").
"strawling"
"Strolling" combined with "trawling" which turns Lucia's fish metaphor on its head. Unless it just means she's in search of herself! Possibly "straw" with the suffix "ling" meaning Lucia is a little scarecrow. Does that work? Is that something?!
"institrusion"
Combination of "institution" and "intrusion." The hospital and staff are unwelcome here in Lucia's meandering outside the institution's buildings.
"lorns"
"Lawns" turned into "lorn." Lucia is ultimately lonely, having been abandoned long ago by her family to this intrusive institution.
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