Hello,

I would be glad if you could post it, but, to avoid the confusion, I would like to specify that the question I have is not about the ‘whine’ word ( I understand it refers to the sound of the old-fashioned streetlight), but more about the meaning of the entire sentence which is not quite clear to me. I can’t quite get the exact ‘message’ of this specific sentence and how it fits the context:

Let’s say, it would be very helpful if you or someone else could rephrase it somehow. If it is explaining why she took the lamp with her when exiting to the street, still, why is it explained not directly, but after a sentence describing how the street appeared to her? What relevance does that streetlight have to the described situation? If it explains why the street looked like that to her then she must have seen the light itself as she saw the effect it had on the crowd.

I guess I’m not making myself quite clear… I’m struggling with the meaning of this particular detail. 

Thank you in advance.

Evgeny

вс, 25 февр. 2024 г. в 19:31, D. Campbell <dmcampbellwsu@gmail.com>:

Hello Evgeny,

May I post this to the Crane Society site in case anyone has a suggestion?

My guess would be that the whine has something to do with the gas-powered street light and that she can’t see it because she’s blinded by the lamp and perhaps deafened by the crowd. 

Sincerely,

Donna

Donna Campbell

Professor of English

Washington State University

On Thu, Feb 8, 2024 at 9:19 AM Evgeny Sidorenko <evgsid@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello,

I am translating and self-publishing Crane’s stories into my native language.

I am struggling with one sentence in Chapter V of the Monster, which is underlined below. 

At one of these houses a woman came to the door bearing a lamp, shielding her face from its rays with her hands. Across the cropped grass the avenue represented to her a kind of black torrent, upon which, nevertheless, fled numerous miraculous figures upon bicycles. She did not know that the towering light at the corner was continuing its nightly whine.

 While I know the meaning of the words, I cannot yet understand what the ‘towering light’ at the corner means here and why it is ‘whining’ at nights. If it’s a street light, why did she not know it as she could see it in the dark. It’s a very confusing sentence. 

Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. 

Evgeny