[lit-ideas] Re: Galaxy in Donne
- From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2004 20:16:47 EDT
In a message dated 9/14/2004 1:52:11 PM Eastern Standard Time,
andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:
I was reading Donne's poems last night and he writes about galaxies. Did
people know what
galaxies were in the 1600s? I thought it was only in the early 1900s that
astronomers
realized what these were. What did Donne mean by his idea of galaxy?
Interestingly, this seems to be one of those cases where the figurative uses
outnumber the non-figurative. Thus, 'galactic' used to mean, I learn from
the OED, plain 'lactic', i.e. "of or pertaining to milk". The OED gives just
two
quotes:
1844 HOBLYN Dict. Med.,
Galactic acid, Lactic acid, the acid of milk.
and
1854 in MAYNE; and in mod. Dicts.
--- but this cannot be what Donne was thinking of, since, according to his
stats, he could not have consulted a medical dictionary published in 1854 (cf.
Geary, J -- 'Anachronisms in Lexicology -- and how to solve them',
Glossologia, 3)
----
Now, the 'figurative' use of 'galactic' is the fairly common astronomic use.
I append the first two from the numerous OED cites below.
Cheers,
JL
'galactic', fig. Astron.
Of or pertaining to the Galaxy or Milky Way; of or pertaining to another
galaxy or to galaxies in general
1839 BAILEY Festus xix. (1848) 224 Her brow [grew] Brighter with thought,
as with galactic light Mid heaven when clearest.
1849 J. HERSCHEL Outl. Astron. xv. 534 The following table, expressing the
densities of the stars at the respective distances, 1, 2, 3, &c., from the
galactic plane. Ibid. 535 The law of the visible distribution of stars over
the
southern galactic hemisphere, or that half of the celestial surface which has
the south galactic pole for its center.
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