Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Robert Frost

I was reading Robert Frost's ghost story poem "The Witch of Coös" today when the thought ocurred to me that the name of the witch's husband, Toffile, might be a pun on the German word for "devil": "Teufel." A quick Google search revealed that a few other readers, some even scholars, had wondered as well. After a couple minute's reflection, however, I couldn't see that the sense of "devil" for "Toffile" enhanced the meaning or advanced the narrative. I therefore dropped the notion from further consideration.

2 Comments:

At 7:11 PM, Blogger Kevin Kim said...

So rare to see an "oö" these days. How many names have this? I can come up with "Laocoön," and that's it.

 
At 8:07 PM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

No idea. Not many, I guess.

Jeffery Hodges


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