“Low stars” meaningWhat does “low-growing” mean?Meaning of “be brought low”What's the meaning of “low” in this context?About quality - “low”, “bad” and “poor”What's the meaning of “Skip the rock stars”?What does “high letter, low letter” mean in contrast to “low number, high number”?double drift of starsWhat is the English word meaning “of low possibility”?need help interpreting a word from this primary documentLow-variance time set or Low-varying time set
Has any spacecraft ever had the ability to directly communicate with civilian air traffic control?
Pigeonhole Principle Problem
Selecting a secure PIN for building access
What happens if I start too many background jobs?
Accidentally deleted the "/usr/share" folder
Is Cola "probably the best-known" Latin word in the world? If not, which might it be?
Proof that when f'(x) < f(x), f(x) =0
Survey Confirmation - Emphasize the question or the answer?
Password expiration with Password manager
Why do computer-science majors learn calculus?
Hang 20lb projector screen on Hardieplank
Packet sniffer for MacOS Mojave and above
How to efficiently calculate prefix sum of frequencies of characters in a string?
How to scale a verbatim environment on a minipage?
Can a cyclic Amine form an Amide?
Why was the battle set up *outside* Winterfell?
My ID is expired, can I fly to the Bahamas with my passport
Can fracking help reduce CO2?
If Melisandre foresaw another character closing blue eyes, why did she follow Stannis?
Junior developer struggles: how to communicate with management?
If 1. e4 c6 is considered as a sound defense for black, why is 1. c3 so rare?
Why are there synthetic chemicals in our bodies? Where do they come from?
Can PCs use nonmagical armor and weapons looted from monsters?
How did Arya get back her dagger from Sansa?
“Low stars” meaning
What does “low-growing” mean?Meaning of “be brought low”What's the meaning of “low” in this context?About quality - “low”, “bad” and “poor”What's the meaning of “Skip the rock stars”?What does “high letter, low letter” mean in contrast to “low number, high number”?double drift of starsWhat is the English word meaning “of low possibility”?need help interpreting a word from this primary documentLow-variance time set or Low-varying time set
.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty margin-bottom:0;
I'm translating an excerpt from The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene and I don't know the exact meaning of "low" in this context: "The land went backward at a slow even roll, and the dark came quite suddenly, with a sky of low and brilliant stars."
Does it refer to the proximity of the stars? They are lower so they seem bigger (?) Or it has to do with the amount or the vivacity of them?
Thanks in advance!
single-word-requests meaning
asked Mar 28 at 19:55
ArendarArendar
222
add a comment |
I'm translating an excerpt from The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene and I don't know the exact meaning of "low" in this context: "The land went backward at a slow even roll, and the dark came quite suddenly, with a sky of low and brilliant stars."
Does it refer to the proximity of the stars? They are lower so they seem bigger (?) Or it has to do with the amount or the vivacity of them?
Thanks in advance!
single-word-requests meaning
asked Mar 28 at 19:55
ArendarArendar
222
Hm... ya know sometimes words are just there to fill in a gap and don't really mean anything. I can't think of a literal use for this word. Like in poetry, sometimes words are there just to fit the rhyme or meter and if they also make sense it's a bonus. Or maybe it has an obscure meaning that is not clear to me. Some literary analysis might make something up but I fear that analysis might be as much a work of art as the original passage.
– Mitch
Mar 28 at 20:37
1
I would take it to mean "close to the horizon".
– Hot Licks
Mar 28 at 22:05
add a comment |
I'm translating an excerpt from The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene and I don't know the exact meaning of "low" in this context: "The land went backward at a slow even roll, and the dark came quite suddenly, with a sky of low and brilliant stars."
Does it refer to the proximity of the stars? They are lower so they seem bigger (?) Or it has to do with the amount or the vivacity of them?
Thanks in advance!
single-word-requests meaning
asked Mar 28 at 19:55
ArendarArendar
222
I'm translating an excerpt from The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene and I don't know the exact meaning of "low" in this context: "The land went backward at a slow even roll, and the dark came quite suddenly, with a sky of low and brilliant stars."
Does it refer to the proximity of the stars? They are lower so they seem bigger (?) Or it has to do with the amount or the vivacity of them?
Thanks in advance!
single-word-requests meaning
single-word-requests meaning
asked Mar 28 at 19:55
ArendarArendar
222
asked Mar 28 at 19:55
ArendarArendar
222
asked Mar 28 at 19:55
ArendarArendar
222
asked Mar 28 at 19:55
ArendarArendar
222
asked Mar 28 at 19:55
ArendarArendar
222
222
Hm... ya know sometimes words are just there to fill in a gap and don't really mean anything. I can't think of a literal use for this word. Like in poetry, sometimes words are there just to fit the rhyme or meter and if they also make sense it's a bonus. Or maybe it has an obscure meaning that is not clear to me. Some literary analysis might make something up but I fear that analysis might be as much a work of art as the original passage.
– Mitch
Mar 28 at 20:37
1
I would take it to mean "close to the horizon".
– Hot Licks
Mar 28 at 22:05
add a comment |
Hm... ya know sometimes words are just there to fill in a gap and don't really mean anything. I can't think of a literal use for this word. Like in poetry, sometimes words are there just to fit the rhyme or meter and if they also make sense it's a bonus. Or maybe it has an obscure meaning that is not clear to me. Some literary analysis might make something up but I fear that analysis might be as much a work of art as the original passage.
– Mitch
Mar 28 at 20:37
1
I would take it to mean "close to the horizon".
– Hot Licks
Mar 28 at 22:05
Hm... ya know sometimes words are just there to fill in a gap and don't really mean anything. I can't think of a literal use for this word. Like in poetry, sometimes words are there just to fit the rhyme or meter and if they also make sense it's a bonus. Or maybe it has an obscure meaning that is not clear to me. Some literary analysis might make something up but I fear that analysis might be as much a work of art as the original passage.
– Mitch
Mar 28 at 20:37
Hm... ya know sometimes words are just there to fill in a gap and don't really mean anything. I can't think of a literal use for this word. Like in poetry, sometimes words are there just to fit the rhyme or meter and if they also make sense it's a bonus. Or maybe it has an obscure meaning that is not clear to me. Some literary analysis might make something up but I fear that analysis might be as much a work of art as the original passage.
– Mitch
Mar 28 at 20:37
1
1
I would take it to mean "close to the horizon".
– Hot Licks
Mar 28 at 22:05
I would take it to mean "close to the horizon".
– Hot Licks
Mar 28 at 22:05
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
This is figurative language. Excluding the Sun, stars are always the same distance away from us - at least, in any meaningful or perceptible sense.1 Likewise, the sky doesn't actually get any lower or higher, but sometimes it feels like it is. Around here, when the clouds are dark and thick, it feels like they're so low you could bump your head on them. In Montana, the mountains ringing the wide open prairies make you realize just how huge the sky is - which is why they call it "big sky country."
The phrase "low stars" has no exact meaning, except to say that the stars seemed especially close. Perhaps that's meant to make us feel cozy, or maybe claustrophobic. Hopefully the surrounding scene makes that clear.
1: You can try a little experiment at home. On a clear night, look at a star with your naked eye, then look at it with a pair of binoculars, or even the most powerful telescope you can find (for home use, not an observatory telescope). The star will look the same size, whether you're looking at it through the telescope, or with your naked eye. Now try looking at the moon, or a planet in our solar system, if any are visible.
answered Mar 28 at 20:55
JuhaszJuhasz
3,8011915
add a comment |
There's no reason why Greene would refer only to low (near the horizon) and bright stars as two separate categories - there are bright and dim stars in every part of the night sky. Having spent most of my life in densely populated, light-polluted, areas I have been struck by the brilliance of the stars on clear nights in areas such as the far north of Scotland, and my wife has actually remarked that she feels she could "reach up and touch the stars" under those conditions.
There must have been then, and probably still are, vast areas of Mexico not yet plagued with light pollution, and I suspect that this is what Greene is trying to convey, though only he could have given us the definitive answer.
answered Mar 29 at 1:12
gerry1149gerry1149
1
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function()
var channelOptions =
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "97"
;
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
createEditor();
);
else
createEditor();
);
function createEditor()
StackExchange.prepareEditor(
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader:
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
,
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
);
);
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f491770%2flow-stars-meaning%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
This is figurative language. Excluding the Sun, stars are always the same distance away from us - at least, in any meaningful or perceptible sense.1 Likewise, the sky doesn't actually get any lower or higher, but sometimes it feels like it is. Around here, when the clouds are dark and thick, it feels like they're so low you could bump your head on them. In Montana, the mountains ringing the wide open prairies make you realize just how huge the sky is - which is why they call it "big sky country."
The phrase "low stars" has no exact meaning, except to say that the stars seemed especially close. Perhaps that's meant to make us feel cozy, or maybe claustrophobic. Hopefully the surrounding scene makes that clear.
1: You can try a little experiment at home. On a clear night, look at a star with your naked eye, then look at it with a pair of binoculars, or even the most powerful telescope you can find (for home use, not an observatory telescope). The star will look the same size, whether you're looking at it through the telescope, or with your naked eye. Now try looking at the moon, or a planet in our solar system, if any are visible.
answered Mar 28 at 20:55
JuhaszJuhasz
3,8011915
add a comment |
This is figurative language. Excluding the Sun, stars are always the same distance away from us - at least, in any meaningful or perceptible sense.1 Likewise, the sky doesn't actually get any lower or higher, but sometimes it feels like it is. Around here, when the clouds are dark and thick, it feels like they're so low you could bump your head on them. In Montana, the mountains ringing the wide open prairies make you realize just how huge the sky is - which is why they call it "big sky country."
The phrase "low stars" has no exact meaning, except to say that the stars seemed especially close. Perhaps that's meant to make us feel cozy, or maybe claustrophobic. Hopefully the surrounding scene makes that clear.
1: You can try a little experiment at home. On a clear night, look at a star with your naked eye, then look at it with a pair of binoculars, or even the most powerful telescope you can find (for home use, not an observatory telescope). The star will look the same size, whether you're looking at it through the telescope, or with your naked eye. Now try looking at the moon, or a planet in our solar system, if any are visible.
answered Mar 28 at 20:55
JuhaszJuhasz
3,8011915
add a comment |
This is figurative language. Excluding the Sun, stars are always the same distance away from us - at least, in any meaningful or perceptible sense.1 Likewise, the sky doesn't actually get any lower or higher, but sometimes it feels like it is. Around here, when the clouds are dark and thick, it feels like they're so low you could bump your head on them. In Montana, the mountains ringing the wide open prairies make you realize just how huge the sky is - which is why they call it "big sky country."
The phrase "low stars" has no exact meaning, except to say that the stars seemed especially close. Perhaps that's meant to make us feel cozy, or maybe claustrophobic. Hopefully the surrounding scene makes that clear.
1: You can try a little experiment at home. On a clear night, look at a star with your naked eye, then look at it with a pair of binoculars, or even the most powerful telescope you can find (for home use, not an observatory telescope). The star will look the same size, whether you're looking at it through the telescope, or with your naked eye. Now try looking at the moon, or a planet in our solar system, if any are visible.
answered Mar 28 at 20:55
JuhaszJuhasz
3,8011915
This is figurative language. Excluding the Sun, stars are always the same distance away from us - at least, in any meaningful or perceptible sense.1 Likewise, the sky doesn't actually get any lower or higher, but sometimes it feels like it is. Around here, when the clouds are dark and thick, it feels like they're so low you could bump your head on them. In Montana, the mountains ringing the wide open prairies make you realize just how huge the sky is - which is why they call it "big sky country."
The phrase "low stars" has no exact meaning, except to say that the stars seemed especially close. Perhaps that's meant to make us feel cozy, or maybe claustrophobic. Hopefully the surrounding scene makes that clear.
1: You can try a little experiment at home. On a clear night, look at a star with your naked eye, then look at it with a pair of binoculars, or even the most powerful telescope you can find (for home use, not an observatory telescope). The star will look the same size, whether you're looking at it through the telescope, or with your naked eye. Now try looking at the moon, or a planet in our solar system, if any are visible.
answered Mar 28 at 20:55
JuhaszJuhasz
3,8011915
answered Mar 28 at 20:55
JuhaszJuhasz
3,8011915
answered Mar 28 at 20:55
JuhaszJuhasz
3,8011915
answered Mar 28 at 20:55
JuhaszJuhasz
3,8011915
3,8011915
add a comment |
add a comment |
There's no reason why Greene would refer only to low (near the horizon) and bright stars as two separate categories - there are bright and dim stars in every part of the night sky. Having spent most of my life in densely populated, light-polluted, areas I have been struck by the brilliance of the stars on clear nights in areas such as the far north of Scotland, and my wife has actually remarked that she feels she could "reach up and touch the stars" under those conditions.
There must have been then, and probably still are, vast areas of Mexico not yet plagued with light pollution, and I suspect that this is what Greene is trying to convey, though only he could have given us the definitive answer.
answered Mar 29 at 1:12
gerry1149gerry1149
1
add a comment |
There's no reason why Greene would refer only to low (near the horizon) and bright stars as two separate categories - there are bright and dim stars in every part of the night sky. Having spent most of my life in densely populated, light-polluted, areas I have been struck by the brilliance of the stars on clear nights in areas such as the far north of Scotland, and my wife has actually remarked that she feels she could "reach up and touch the stars" under those conditions.
There must have been then, and probably still are, vast areas of Mexico not yet plagued with light pollution, and I suspect that this is what Greene is trying to convey, though only he could have given us the definitive answer.
answered Mar 29 at 1:12
gerry1149gerry1149
1
add a comment |
There's no reason why Greene would refer only to low (near the horizon) and bright stars as two separate categories - there are bright and dim stars in every part of the night sky. Having spent most of my life in densely populated, light-polluted, areas I have been struck by the brilliance of the stars on clear nights in areas such as the far north of Scotland, and my wife has actually remarked that she feels she could "reach up and touch the stars" under those conditions.
There must have been then, and probably still are, vast areas of Mexico not yet plagued with light pollution, and I suspect that this is what Greene is trying to convey, though only he could have given us the definitive answer.
answered Mar 29 at 1:12
gerry1149gerry1149
1
There's no reason why Greene would refer only to low (near the horizon) and bright stars as two separate categories - there are bright and dim stars in every part of the night sky. Having spent most of my life in densely populated, light-polluted, areas I have been struck by the brilliance of the stars on clear nights in areas such as the far north of Scotland, and my wife has actually remarked that she feels she could "reach up and touch the stars" under those conditions.
There must have been then, and probably still are, vast areas of Mexico not yet plagued with light pollution, and I suspect that this is what Greene is trying to convey, though only he could have given us the definitive answer.
answered Mar 29 at 1:12
gerry1149gerry1149
1
answered Mar 29 at 1:12
gerry1149gerry1149
1
answered Mar 29 at 1:12
gerry1149gerry1149
1
answered Mar 29 at 1:12
gerry1149gerry1149
1
1
add a comment |
add a comment |
Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language & Usage Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f491770%2flow-stars-meaning%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Hm... ya know sometimes words are just there to fill in a gap and don't really mean anything. I can't think of a literal use for this word. Like in poetry, sometimes words are there just to fit the rhyme or meter and if they also make sense it's a bonus. Or maybe it has an obscure meaning that is not clear to me. Some literary analysis might make something up but I fear that analysis might be as much a work of art as the original passage.
– Mitch
Mar 28 at 20:37
1
I would take it to mean "close to the horizon".
– Hot Licks
Mar 28 at 22:05