p17

 Let's break down the difficult words and phrases from the provided text:

• "The evening passed, staying warm, nice."

  • Meaning: This is a straightforward description. The evening went by, and the weather remained pleasant – warm and agreeable.

• "aroused more emotion"

  • Meaning: Stirred up more feelings; caused a stronger emotional response. In this context, the natural sounds made him feel more deeply than man-made sounds.

• "Natural things gave back more than they took"

  • Meaning: This is a philosophical statement. It suggests that nature provides benefits (peace, beauty, resources) without demanding a heavy price or causing harm, unlike some human endeavors.

• "the way man was supposed to be"

  • Meaning: This implies a belief in a more natural, perhaps simpler or more harmonious, state of being for humans, one that is aligned with nature rather than detached from it.

• "major engagement"

  • Meaning: In a military context, a "major engagement" refers to a significant battle or armed conflict.

• "“It’ll keep you from going crazy,” his father had told him the day he’d shipped out."

  • "shipped out": This means to depart for military service, usually by ship, but it's a general term for deploying.

  • Meaning: His father was telling him that finding solace in nature (or "God's music") would help him maintain his sanity and cope with the stress and trauma of war.

• "“It’s God’s music and it’ll take you home.”

  • "God's music": A metaphorical way of describing the sounds of nature as something divine, comforting, and inherently good.

  • "take you home": Not literally transport him, but bring him a sense of peace, familiarity, and emotional connection to his true self or a place of comfort, like his actual home.

• "turned on the porch light on his way back out"

  • Meaning: He switched on the light fixture on the porch as he was going back outside.

• "It had even taken a bullet for him once."

  • Meaning: This is a literal statement. The book was in a position where it stopped a bullet that would have otherwise hit Noah, saving his life.

• "rubbed the cover, dusting it off just a little"

  • Meaning: He gently stroked the cover of the book, removing a small amount of dust from it.

• "Then he let the book open randomly"

  • Meaning: He didn't choose a specific page; he just allowed the book to fall open wherever it might.

• "This is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless, / Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done, / Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes / thou lovest best, / Night, sleep, death and the stars."

  • This is a poetic excerpt from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. Let's break down the lines:

    • "This is thy hour O Soul": "Thy" means "your." It's addressing the soul directly, saying this is its special moment.

    • "thy free flight into the wordless": The soul is taking a free journey into a realm beyond language, thought, or definition – a place of pure experience or intuition.

    • "Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done": The soul is freed from the constraints of formal learning, intellectual pursuits, and the demands of daily life.

    • "Thee fully forth emerging": "Thee" means "you." The soul is fully revealing itself, coming to the forefront.

    • "silent, gazing, pondering the themes / thou lovest best": The soul is quietly observing, contemplating the profound subjects it finds most meaningful.

    • "Night, sleep, death and the stars": These are the profound, elemental themes that the soul contemplates – the mysteries of existence, rest, mortality, and the vastness of the cosmos.

• "For some reason Whitman always reminded him of New Bern"

  • Meaning: There was an inexplicable connection in his mind between the poet's works and the town of New Bern. Perhaps Whitman's themes of nature, America, or individualism resonated with his feelings about his hometown.

• "Though he’d been away for fourteen years, this was home"

  • Meaning: Despite being absent for a significant period, he still felt a deep sense of belonging and familiarity with New Bern; it was where he truly felt at home.

• "Like so many southern towns, the people who lived here never changed, they just grew a bit older."

  • Meaning: This is a common observation about some small, traditional towns, especially in the American South. It suggests that the core character, values, and even the community of people remain largely consistent over time, even as individuals age. There's a sense of timelessness or resistance to significant change.

• "homemade liquor"

  • Meaning: Alcoholic beverages produced at home, not commercially. This often implies a strong, potentially unrefined, spirit.

• "Brunswick stew"

  • Meaning: A traditional Southern American stew, typically tomato-based and containing various meats (often squirrel, rabbit, chicken, or pork) and vegetables like corn, lima beans, and potatoes.

• "getting drunk and telling stories"

  • Meaning: They consumed alcohol to the point of intoxication and shared personal narratives or anecdotes with each other. This is a common way for people to bond and relax.