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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>I suspect that, when we read "Mrs Dalloway" and
encounter 'lark' we should think of Pip and Joe in "Great Expections" - 'what
larks, eh Pip, old chap!', meaning what a fun time they'll have when 'Mrs Joe'
and her 'tickler' (with which she beats both Pip and Joe) are not
around.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Ruth Webb</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=jeremy.hawthorn@ntnu.no href="mailto:jeremy.hawthorn@ntnu.no">Jeremy
Hawthorn</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=vwoolf@lists.service.ohio-state.edu
href="mailto:vwoolf@lists.service.ohio-state.edu">vwoolf@lists.service.ohio-state.edu</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, September 17, 2013 12:08
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Vwoolf] larks</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; DIRECTION: ltr; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">I
can't be the first to be struck by the fact that the word "lark" appears very
near the opening of both <I>Mrs Dalloway</I> and <I>To the Lighthouse</I>. But
are they the same, etymologically? The TTL lark is unambiguous - up with the
lark refers to the bird. But about "What a lark! What a plunge!" (quoted from
memory as I'm on hoiliday) I'm less sure. It might also be a reference to the
bird, which does rise and plunge. But it seems to me more likely to be related
to lark meaning "game", still found in (I think) Lancashire dialect, where
"laiking" means playing. This meaning is (again, I think) etymologically
unrelated to the bird, and descends from an old Norse root from what I can
gather. In modern Norwegian, "å leke" means "to play" as in a child's game. In
modern British informal speech, "what a lark" does not suggest any
relationship to the feathered creature, at least not to me.<BR><BR>So: is
Clarissa comparing herself to the bird, or is she thinking that it's like
being a child again and rushing outdoors to play?<BR><BR>Jeremy
Hawthorn<BR><BR><BR></DIV>
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