Ardith Hinton - Anton Shepelev:

> AS>  The great Ambrose Bierce quotes the following in
> AS>  his definition of conscience:
>
> AS>  "Woes that defy the world's religions --
> AS>  The Spirit's brooding ills --
> AS>  We scatter, like a flock of pigeons,
> AS>  With pills."
>
> AS>  I don't understand the comparison: how does one
> AS>  employ pills in scattering a flock of pigeons?
> AS>  Or is a handfull of small pebbles?
>
>             I'm reminded here of Jacqueline Susann's novel VALLEY
> OF THE DOLLS, where women in particular were given pills which
> may have made them feel better temporarily but which did not
> address the underlying problem(s).

[A learner's question:]
I never became friendly with this consturction: may have made. Does
it mean "it is possible that they made"? If so, is it correct to
use the present tense to describe events in a novel introduced in
the past tense (were given)?

> Recently I've heard that some folks have run afoul of the laws
> re practising medicine without a licence in advertisements for
> vitamin & mineral supplements, claiming they'll prevent or even
> cure COVID-19.

Yeah, perfidious peddlers of lucrative lies.

> While I am not a medical professional (standard disclaimer) I
> think I know enough about nutrition to realize that while some of
> these things may help support the immune system the results can't
> be guaranteed .. and there is a lot of evidence suggesting that a
> person's spiritual beliefs &/or relationships with other people
> may help too.

Scientific evidence? I wonder how and what they found out.

> When I read his biography I see why this author
> may have found neither of the latter met his needs....  :-Q

Bierice? Because he was so bitter?

>             I imagine human nature hasn't changed much since
> then, at any rate. Folks often resort to pills when their state
> of health or whatever is in doubt,

And all the readier because taking pills takes only a negligible
effort.

> and at present many of us are being advised... if not required...
> to stay home. When pigeons find something to eat on a public
> sidewalk they tend to congregate there until something startles
> them, then they "scatter".  Human beings tend to congregate in
> pubs, restaurants, and coffee shops for similar reasons.

Well said!

> Just as pigeons "scatter" when there is a perceived threat,
> we've done much the same in our own way.  Looking at Bierce's
> description, however, I read "like a flock of pigeons" as a
> parenthetical expression.

Well, I do understand it is a parenthetical expression, which can
be removed without structural damage.

> IMHO the author is commenting on how & why people "scatter"...
> and what may or may not frighten pigeons is irrelevant.

I see what you mean. We scatter like a flock of pigeons when it is
startled. But how does your reading treat the complement "with
pills"? If "scatter" is intransitive, there is nothing to scatter
with pills, is it? And what are "woes" and "ills" if not the objects
of "scatter"?

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