I’ve been puzzling over a couple of lines in John Clare’s early poem, “A Ramble” –
Arise my dog and shake they curdled coat
And bark thy friendly symptoms by my side
Curdled is the word I’m curious about here. I can’t locate a definition that makes literal sense of it, although the OED suggests a distant connection with matted. That would be close enough for metaphor, I guess. But I was wondering if I was missing an idiomatic or old-fashioned English use of the word that someone on the board might now.
Really, I just want to be able to imagine what kind of dog it is.
I doubt there is anything literal in the usage. It’s a poem. I suspect the poet is alluding to the image or textural quality of an old dog’s coat. “Matted” would be as good a synonym as any.
Curdled means tatted, that it has knots (or bumps) in it. My grandma used to say it, “Your hair is curdled.”
Perfect, Cranberry. I really like finding out this kind of stuff.
Just last night I saw a rare John Clare volume for sale at a Manhattan shop for $3000. You in?
Dale, isn’t there a C&F foundation for purchases like this? Could I apply for a grant? I have a little list: a Meacham & Pond flute like Thoreau’s, a first edition of The Bridge. Just a few things I’d like to have around.
For me the usage “curdled” meant “matted” straightaway, although I’d never heard it used so before. Made practical sense poetically, too, for the alliteration.
