On the other hand, just to state another possibility,
there are these lines:

She turned away, but with the autumn weather
Compelled my imagination many days,
Many days and many hours:
Her hair over her arms and her arms full of flowers.

La Figlia Che Piane : 17 - 20.

I find this, of all Eliot's work, one of the
most compelling. I am always deeply moved by it.

Cheers,
Peter.

Dr. Peter C. Montgomery
Dept. of English
Camosun College
3100 Foul Bay Rd.
Victoria, BC CANADA V8P 5J2
[log in to unmask]
www.camosun.bc.ca/~peterm


-----Original Message-----
From: D.Gregory Griffith [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 5:53 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Another thought on the Hyacinth Couple


Steve,

Yes, of course, "sexual" must be on the list of identity confusions in TWL.
Your posts on the Hyacinth garden, the most recent and the ones from
some time ago, have helped me see those confusions more clearly. Here's
another thought on the Hyacinth scene: if the two figures in the scene are
male and lovers, couldn't the phrase "your arms full" be an erotic
observation?
In other words, not "full" of something (flowers), but muscular? I don't
want
make assumptions that seem sexist, but might that not be a detail a gay man
would
focus on? If the person speaking those details is male and attracted to the
person
and arms described, it might be argued that some other more often eroticized
body parts might be the focus if the person described were female(?). Hope
everyone can follow that last sentence!

Just a quick thought...

                                              --Greg--

> Very interesting post, Greg.
>
> I'm intrigued by the notion that the line might be said in response to
trying to "fit in" or avoid raising suspicion with German occupiers. This
implies that the speaker might be hiding something and is fearful of the
consequences if the truth were known. It might play off of the earlier line
of TWL "We walked . . . in sunlight . . . into the Hofgarten", which implies
to me an openness and lack of fear.
>
> And not to belabor the point, but to your list of "identity confusions",
you might want to consider "sexual".
>
> -- Steve --