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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 19
stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 19 |
the new lucinda williams release, 'Minneapolis', contains the line: "I wish my thoughts were pure like the driven snow", which led me to wonder: why is driven snow poetically considered the most pure form of snow? what prezactly is "driven" snow? i'm presuming it's a reference to driving winds, rather than the greyish brown muck left on the side of the road after fresh snow's been driven.
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
Hello, guest!...and welcome to our Band of Merry Wordsters!  I would think the degree of purity of "driven" is enhanced by the fact it still hasn't touched the ground and been tarnished by the Earth. Just guessin'...no citation.
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
snowed by drifting in the purest google sense:
"I used to be pure as the driven snow, but then I drifted!". - Mae West(?)
Mae West's quote was actually "I used to be snow white... but I drifted." Actress Tallulah Bankhead, however, is supposed to have said "I'm as pure as the driven slush."
perhaps it is a Shakespearean Conflation:
Shakespearian, although it doesn't appear in that form in any of his writing. Shakespeare used snow as a symbol for purity and whiteness in several plays. In The Winter's Tale - Autolycus: Lawn as white as driven snow. In Macbeth - Malcolm: black Macbeth will seem as pure as snow. - The Phrase Finder
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
I agree with W'ON. Snow that is driven by the wind is still falling and would be the purest of snows--leastways as long as it's not falling through smog or smoking chimneys, but that's getting the phrase off-track.
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