Captain Ahab threw his harpoon; it lodged in Moby Dick’s side, and the rope pulled Ahab after it. The great white whale sounded; when he resurfaced, Ahab was lashed to him by the rope. What did Moby Dick (or God) whisper in Ahab’s ear, down in the deep sea?
This may be it!
The sentence sits in my Book with no context, and the Horrors that precede and follow give no possible hint. I don’t teach Melville’s wondrous novel (how could it be adequately done except in a dedicated seminar?), and I can’t recall ever getting a paper about it. The gradebook where it was recorded was 2007-08, so remembering shouldn’t be all that hard.
Associating what my student wrote with Captain Ahab is all in my imagination. I have no other guesses, either—not even about texts that would suggest the sentence my student meant to write.
Of course she meant to type “God.” But she didn’t proofread, so I have to treat her typo as intentional.
As it stands, it may be at the least a sober warning to all us New Englanders, and especially the people of Massachusetts. Time to become cod-fearing?
Whatever she was talking about, this is one great sentence, ringing with majesty and doom. Glory hallelujah.
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!
This picture of the Atlantic cod from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Atlantic_cod.jpg
August 27th, 2012 at 9:53 am
I’m smiling from ear to ear. Your mind must be a wonderful place to live in.
August 27th, 2012 at 11:20 am
Sometimes! This is a winner, isn’t it?
August 27th, 2012 at 10:01 am
Good cod almighty, you (and your students) make me laugh like crazy. .
August 27th, 2012 at 10:33 am
OMC
August 27th, 2012 at 11:24 am
LOL
August 27th, 2012 at 11:20 am
Oh, thank you! And now I think I’ll start saying “Good Cod Almighty!”
August 27th, 2012 at 11:16 am
She must have been fishing for something….anything?
There’s a spark of the divine to be found in everything?
This one’s a real catch….just rowing across that sea of laughter.
August 27th, 2012 at 11:23 am
Thanks, Phil. Yes, fishing for something. But with such sonority! Your suggestion of the divine to be found in all things is very like you. If only my student had been thinking of that….
August 27th, 2012 at 6:06 pm
Thank Cod for small Merseys.
August 27th, 2012 at 9:55 pm
I always knew I should be more reverential of the fish in my life…
August 27th, 2012 at 11:14 pm
No matter how many there are in the sea, every one deserves respect (if we know what’s good for us!).
January 5th, 2013 at 9:53 pm
Well, you know, Jonah did get swallowed by a great fish!!
September 1st, 2012 at 1:31 pm
Delightful. The connection with Moby Dick fits perfectly.