sing epithalamium the sea-beast's dower

English translation: "sea-beast's dower" refers to a female character and is the indirect object of "sing"

09:40 Oct 29, 2019
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
English term or phrase: sing epithalamium the sea-beast's dower
Hello,

Could someone please help me understand the grammatical structure of the sentence?

...the rings of Saturn sing epithalamium the sea-beast's dower.

That's from The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth, an award-winning sci-fi novelette by Roger Zelazny (USA). It's the last line, like "They lived happily ever after" (the context in a nutshell: having killed a huge sea-beast, a man and a woman, who had been divorced, reunite). Truth be told, I can't grasp the grammar. I've checked several editions and critical reviews, there seem to be no missing prepositions or commas here.

I had two versions:
- Apposition (epithalamium = dower), but I guess it doesn't work without a comma or a dash.
- "Sing epithalamium" as a transitive verb (in one word that would be "epithalamize"), and the dower is the direct object (like in "sing the deeds of heroes").


A paragraph on this line from Carl Yoke, the author's friend and reviewer, just for some additional info:

The planet symbol in the last line of the story emphasizes this concept, “. . . but the rings of Saturn sing epithalamium the sea-beast’s dower” (p. 32). The image is perfect. The contrast of the glowing planet against the inky black of space visually suggests balance. It is a comment on the new relationship of Carl and Jean as well as reflecting the new relationship between the light and dark clusters of images in the story. No longer are the antithetical elements of the story at war; all have been brought into harmony. The use of Saturn is also appropriate in other ways. It picks up on the image of the comet rushing bright-tail-before, which was used earlier in the story to suggest that Carl has achieved some sort of internal balance. Moreover, Saturn is appropriate because of its rings. Rings themselves connote union, completeness, and integrity of a system while specifically calling marriage to mind. The fact that the rings sing epithalamium emphasizes the harmony that has been achieved and echoes Johann Kepler’s concept of the “harmony of the spheres.” And, quite literally, the dowery of the sea-beast is equal to the perfect relationship that Carl and Jean achieve.

And John Clute, reviewing another work of Zelazny, uses this expression twice (https://bit.ly/36gzJon), obviously as an intended pun:
…when he sang epithalamium the tropes of genre
…shaking of the tree of story till it sing epithalamium the teller and the told
Denys Dömin
Ukraine
Local time: 07:31
Selected answer:"sea-beast's dower" refers to a female character and is the indirect object of "sing"
Explanation:
The "sea-beast's dower" may be a character in the work.

If not, in classical literature this might be a reference to Andromeda, who was to be sacrificed to a sea-monster but was saved by Perseus. In E.A. Watt's version of Oviid's Metamorphosis, the words "sea-beast" and "dower" are used close together in the lines narrating the episode.

If this interpretation makes sense in terms of the story, "sea-beast's dower" refers to a female character and is therefore the indirect object of the compound verb "sing epithalamium". In other words, saturn's rings sing TO [sea-beast's dower=PERSON], although TO is elided, in the same way that in US English you can say "write X" where X is the indirect object (the direct object obviously being the latter).

(It could even be that the author was echoing MarK Twain, who famously ended his A Double-Barrelled Detective Story with the line "far in the empty sky a solitary esophagus slept upon motionless wing; everywhere brooded stillness, serenity, and the peace of God." Twain was basically sending up ponderous endings, and its sounds as if the author has a smiliar sense of humour)
Selected response from:

Tony Keily
Local time: 06:31
Grading comment
Thanks for the indirect object version ("sing to the dower") and the Andromeda hint.

(I'm still not sure if the dower is the girl herself, but it does not change the grammatical role of the indirect object)
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
3 +1transitive verb
Mark Nathan
3sing an epithalamium, with the sea beast serving as the dowry
philgoddard
3"sea-beast's dower" refers to a female character and is the indirect object of "sing"
Tony Keily
Summary of reference entries provided
Adjective
Alexandra Hirsch (X)

Discussion entries: 11





  

Answers


40 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
transitive verb


Explanation:
It is your second option, like to" sing the deeds of heroes".

"to sing epithalium" = the noise that Saturn's rings make which is like an epithalium
the sea-beast's dower = what they are singing about

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Note added at 2 hrs (2019-10-29 12:18:20 GMT)
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Sorry, epithalamium

Mark Nathan
France
Local time: 06:31
Meets criteria
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 88

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony Keily
51 mins
  -> thanks, I'm deeply epithalamized
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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
sing an epithalamium, with the sea beast serving as the dowry


Explanation:
This simply doesn't make grammatical sense. There's no way of finding out what the writer was trying to say, so I think you have to make an educated guess. If you insert a few words, as I've done, it makes more sense.

An epithalamium is a hymn in praise of a bride and groom.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epithalamium

philgoddard
United States
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 50
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1 day 4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
"sea-beast's dower" refers to a female character and is the indirect object of "sing"


Explanation:
The "sea-beast's dower" may be a character in the work.

If not, in classical literature this might be a reference to Andromeda, who was to be sacrificed to a sea-monster but was saved by Perseus. In E.A. Watt's version of Oviid's Metamorphosis, the words "sea-beast" and "dower" are used close together in the lines narrating the episode.

If this interpretation makes sense in terms of the story, "sea-beast's dower" refers to a female character and is therefore the indirect object of the compound verb "sing epithalamium". In other words, saturn's rings sing TO [sea-beast's dower=PERSON], although TO is elided, in the same way that in US English you can say "write X" where X is the indirect object (the direct object obviously being the latter).

(It could even be that the author was echoing MarK Twain, who famously ended his A Double-Barrelled Detective Story with the line "far in the empty sky a solitary esophagus slept upon motionless wing; everywhere brooded stillness, serenity, and the peace of God." Twain was basically sending up ponderous endings, and its sounds as if the author has a smiliar sense of humour)


    Reference: http://https://books.google.it/books?id=TPcG23-KEkkC&pg=PA91...
Tony Keily
Local time: 06:31
Meets criteria
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thanks for the indirect object version ("sing to the dower") and the Andromeda hint.

(I'm still not sure if the dower is the girl herself, but it does not change the grammatical role of the indirect object)
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Reference comments


1 hr
Reference: Adjective

Reference information:
Apparently, according to the Collaborative International Dict. Of E. epithalamium used to be an adjective as well. If your author has classical training or similar...

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Note added at 11 hrs (2019-10-29 20:43:40 GMT)
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Yep. Exactly.


    https://enacademic.com/dic.nsf/cide/60013/Epithalamium
Alexandra Hirsch (X)
Austria
Does not meet criteria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman
Note to reference poster
Asker: Thank you. Do you mean an adverbial adjective ("how they sing it?" "like epithalamium", "epithalamically")? And yes, the author was very bookish.


Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
neutral  Yvonne Gallagher: don't see how it could be an adjective here when it's clearly a noun, no?
1 day 5 hrs
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