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Though I've almost forgotten all my Greek knocking about the world, or rather had it knocked out of me in a midshipmen's mess, if I recollect aright, old Homer describes the noise of the waves nearly in your own words, my dear. His term for it is polyploisboio thalasses the `murmuring of the many-voiced sea! Grand, isn't it; grand, eh?
Yes, my pretty one, what is the Unintelligible but the Ideal? what is the Ideal but the Beautiful? what the Beautiful but the Eternal? And the Spirit of Man that would commune with these is like Him who wanders by the thina poluphloisboio thalasses, and shrinks awe-struck before that Azure Mystery." Emily's eyes filled with fresh-gushing dew. "Speak on, speak ever thus, my George," she exclaimed.
Which pronunciation do you prefer for his often-recurring and famous sea-epithet: the thunder-on-the-precipices of poluphloisboio thalasses, or the lisping-on-the-sands of poluphleesbeeo thalassace? For truly there are advocates of either; but neither I suppose would have appealed much to Mr. Pope.
The 'Union Jack, the 'Sash and Marlin-spike' Military Clubs. 'The True Blue, the 'No Surrender, the 'Blue and Buff, the 'Guy Fawkes, and the 'Cato Street' Political Clubs. 'The Brummel' and the 'Regent' Dandy Clubs. The 'Acropolis, the 'Palladium, the 'Areopagus, the 'Pnyx' the 'Pentelicus, the 'Ilissus' and the 'Poluphloisboio Thalasses' Literary Clubs.
And a voice in the crowd cried "Death!" And the others took it up; there was a roar: "Death! Death!" Said the Grand Imperial Kleagle: "Arma virumque cano, tou poluphlesboiou thalasses!" Then, facing the staring ex-servicemen: "Tetlathi mater erne kai anaskeo ko-omeneper!"
It was nicer even than playing the Hungarian March. She thought it was funny that the lines like Pope's Iliad came easiest, though they had to rhyme. "Silent he wandered by the sounding sea," was good, but the Greek line that Mark showed her went: "Be d'akeon para thina poluphloisboio thalasses"; that was better. "Don't you think so, Mark?" "Clever Minx. Much better."
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