Coleridge
The self-same moment I could pray;
And from my neck so free
The Albatross fell off, and sank
Like lead into the sea.("The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", 288-91)
Gardner has a long note on "so free" on p. 74 of the Annotated Ancient Mariner.
So free: It is hard to say exactly what Coleridge intended by this phrase. Most commentators have taken it to mean "thus made free." The albatross is freed as a result of the Mariner's ability to pray. The word "so" is sometimes used, however, in the sense of "then" or "thereafter," in which case the phrase may mean nothing more than that the albatross was freed after the Mariner found himself able to pray.It also is possible that "so" is intended to intensify the word "free," which in turn may modify either "albatross" or "neck." The Mariner may be saying: After I found I could pray, the albatross was so free that it dropped from my neck; or, from my neck, which suddenly felt extremely free, dropped the albatross.
That reminds me:
This was called "writing a commentary" -- that was a common thing to do -- and these commentaries were appreciated.(Richard M. Stallman, Copyright and Globalization in the Age of Computer Networks)
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October 29, 2008 Reviewer:
