Re: James: so sacred to pleasant knowledge

Marius Hancu wrote::

First,
"the place had never before struck him as so sacred to pleasant
knowledge"
does this mean that
"pleasant knowledge held the place as sacred"
or
"the place had never before struck him as so sacred, leading to
pleasant knowledge?"

The idea is that the place is a temple, or other holy place, dedicated
to "pleasant knowledge".

Also,
"which was somehow becoming, improving to life"
does this mean
"these were becoming, improving, aspects to be given/assigned to
life" or that
"the pewter was becoming life itself?"

The commas mean that "becoming" and "improving" are adjectives, not
verb-forms. To see the world reflected in such pewter adorned and
improved life. Somehow.
---
[Strether visits Miss Gostrey]

This retreat was at the back of the house, with a view of a scrap of
old garden that had been saved from modern ravage; and though he had
on more than one other occasion had his legs under its small and
peculiarly polished table of hospitality, the place had never before
struck him as so sacred to pleasant knowledge, to intimate charm, to
antique order, to a neatness that was almost august. To sit there
was, as he had told his hostess before, to see life reflected for
the time in ideally kept pewter; which was somehow becoming,
improving to life, so that one's eyes were held and comforted.

Henry James, The Ambassadors, p. 379
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/432/432-h/432-h.htm
-----


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Relevant Pages

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