Anne of Green Gables, Chapters Thirty-One to Thirty-Three

In which Anne freaks out over the Entrance exam to Queen's Academy, does well enough on it, I suppose, then freaks out over a recitation at a concert, and does well enough at it, as well, I suppose.



In this extra-long installment (...sorry), we again get to see Ms. Montgomery's fondness for quoting within the narration, from sources not especially well-known today. The first time is while discussing the joys of learning, when she says "Hills peeped o'er hill and Alps on Alps arose." This is actually a past-tense paraphrase of a line from "An Essay on Criticism" by Alexander Pope, perhaps best-known for being the source of the phrase "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." This, though, actually means rather the opposite of what many people think. The full couplet, which is from the same section of the essay as the line above, reads: "A little learning is a dang'rous thing; / Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring," where the Pierian Spring is the source of knowledge in Greek mythology. Pope then goes on to discuss how only learning a little "intoxicates" you, while learning a lot "sobers us again." So, it's not that knowledge is dangerous, it's a little knowledge that's dangerous. Learning more shows you how little you actually know, and just how much more there is to learn; as we look out over the mountains of knowledge, "Hills peep o'er hills, and Alps on Alps arise!"

 The next quote comes as Marilla is thinking -- to herself, of course -- about how nice Anne looks all gussied up, with that "One moonbeam from the forehead to the crown." This is from the Fourth Book of the poetic novel Aurora Leigh by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. It comes from what appears to be an insincere compliment imagined by the eponymous narrator: "No one parts / Her hair with such a silver line as you, / One moonbeam from the forehead to the crown!" So basically, a poetic way of referring to a part in someone's hair.

At the concert, Anne recites "The Maiden's Vow" by Carolina Oliphant, a surprisingly short and determinedly Scottish poem where a woman swears she'll never marry, as her only love died at sea. Very tragical.

Lastly, Diana tells Anne that a romantic-looking American artist behind her referred to Anne as having "Titian hair." Anne herself explains what that means, at least well enough for our purposes. My wife, who has studied more art history than I have, tells me that there's an easy mnemonic to help remember what kinds of things Titian painted, but she won't tell me what it is.

Oh and hey! We finally get to see the frontispiece illustration!

28:45 - "'There's something so stylish about you, Anne,' said Diana."

Not the most action-packed picture in the book, but lovely in its own right.

And by the way, I had an audience for the last little bit of the recording. See if you can spot evidence of her!


If you would like to read along, the text can be found at Project Gutenberg. No reading ahead, though!