Billy Budd, by Herman Melville

Billy Budd, by Herman Melville is my newest reading project. This past weekend, I finished reading "Hospitals: What They Are and How They Work", by I. Donald Snook, Jr. Billy Budd is a complicated read thus far. I found what appears to be, upon first glance, a good website on Billy Budd. The book is set at the end of the 18th century, on a British warship. I've never had a compelling interest in stories of the sea, but I'm not bored by them either.

Following is some vocabulary from "Billy Budd":

bronzed (adj.): tan e.g.-...a stroller along the docks of any considerable seaport would occasionally have his attention arrested by a group of bronzed mariners...

Aldebaran (n.): a red star of the first magnitude that is seen in the eye of Taurus and is the brightest star in the Hyades. e.g.--...moving along with them like Aldebaran among the lesser lights of his constellation.

unadulterated (adj.): pure e.g.-...so intensely black that he must needs have been a native African of the unadulterate blood of Ham.

gay (adj.): bright, lively; brilliant in color e.g.-The two ends of a gay silk handkerchief thrown loose about the neck...

bonnet (n.): (chiefly Scottish)-1) a man's or boy's cap. 2) a brimless Scottish cap of seamless woolen fabric. e.g.-...in his ears were big hoops of gold, and a Scotch Highland bonnet with a tartan band set off his shapely head.

tartan (adj.): a plaid textile design of Scottish orgin consisting of stripes of varying width and color usually patterned to designate a distinctive clan. e.g.-see "bonnet" above.

lustrous (adj.): reflecting light evenly and efficiently without glitter or sparkle. synonym: bright. e.g.-It was a hot noon in July, and his face, lustrous with perspiration, beamed with barbaric good humor.

barbaric (adj.): marked by a lack of restraint; wild. e.g.-see "lustrous" above.




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