Milton conspicuously uses the topoi of wings and flight in Paradise  
Lost as a figure signifying the soaring of the intellect. Satan  
acquires wings and explores the cosmos. We know Eliot knew Milton's  
poem well, but whether "gulls against the wind" harks back to PL I  
don't have time to investigate.

Diana

Sent from my iPod

On Mar 8, 2010, at 6:13 AM, "Rickard A. Parker"  
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>>
>> So in that spirit, what are we to do with the following brief passage
>> which has always so caught my attentiohn:
>>
>>        Gull against the wind, in the windy straits
>> Of Belle Isle, or running on the Horn,
>> White feathers in the snow . . .
>>
>> (I deliberately stop short of the old man.)
>>
>> I asked this question before. Are those feathers those on the gull,  
>> or
>> are they blown off a dead gull? What is the visual image here? And  
>> what
>> does "against the wind" mean? Should I have cut the passage there and
>> not included "or running on the Horn"? It is perhaps the most  
>> _active_
>> image in the poem, but we need tonail down its _immediate_ sense  
>> before
>> considering how it fits into the economyof the whole poem.
>
>
> Sorry, I only have time to repost a section of what I wrote a few
> days ago.  I'm not sure if you missed it or are asking others for
> their input as well.
>
> ... Gull against the wind, in the windy straits
> Of Belle Isle, or running on the Horn,
> White feathers in the snow, the Gulf claims,
>   Whether you fight against your life
>   or go with its flow
>   your body fails; death is its home.
>   [Belle Isle is located in the northern-most of
>    the straits where the Gulf of Saint Lawrence
>    empties into the Atlantic.]
>
> Regards,
>    Rick Parker
>