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Comment 1 of 1, added on January 30th, 2008 at 6:52 PM.
“abashless” was not a word in my lexicon, but my knowledge of English word
formation let me infer that it meant “not bashful” or “without
bashfulness". This caused a momentary pause to wonder what “bash” could be
for “bashful” to mean “full of bash.” I later learned from the OED that
this bash is formed from abash by loss of the initial a (the process is
called aphesis); and that abash means “To destroy the self-possession or
confidence of (any one), to put out of countenance, confound, discomfit, or
check with a sudden consciousness of shame, presumption, error, or the
like”.
However, this still leaves me unsure as to what meaning Emily Dickinson
intended to convey. Perhaps it was “When one encounters a place of beauty
and tranquility for the first time, one cannot but be overcome by emotion”
– and perhaps not. Any thoughts?
Michael Arbib from United States
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“abashless” was not a word in my lexicon, but my knowledge of English word
formation let me infer that it meant “not bashful” or “without
bashfulness". This caused a momentary pause to wonder what “bash” could be
for “bashful” to mean “full of bash.” I later learned from the OED that
this bash is formed from abash by loss of the initial a (the process is
called aphesis); and that abash means “To destroy the self-possession or
confidence of (any one), to put out of countenance, confound, discomfit, or
check with a sudden consciousness of shame, presumption, error, or the
like”.
However, this still leaves me unsure as to what meaning Emily Dickinson
intended to convey. Perhaps it was “When one encounters a place of beauty
and tranquility for the first time, one cannot but be overcome by emotion”
– and perhaps not. Any thoughts?
Michael Arbib from United States