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meaning of this sentence

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haruhichan | 09:29 Sat 03rd May 2008 | Arts & Literature
3 Answers
"A stillness gloves sheet-ice and sedge, that cluster
of willows above
the darkening rim."

Can anyone help me? i don't understand the meaning at all.Does it mean that the stillness covers the piece of paper? And that the cluster of willows above is like ice and sedge? Or is there suppose to be a pun in using sheet-ice?It's a poem

Thank u
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Without knowing the writer of the prose and his/her style and world view, my best guess is the word picture engendered is of a slight valley (in which the writer sees himself) "rimmed" with a cluster of willows covered with sheet-ice. The sedge referenced here is probably relating to a variety of grass known as sedge that has willow like characteristics. Thus, the stillness tightly covers the willows on a slight rim (somehow the writer sees this as above himself) that has been covered by an ice storm, probably at dusk...
From the accompanying posts, you appear to be a fan or student of rather esoteric prose, a lot of which is open to almost any interpretation, since the genre' in which the writer resides is often indeciphrable... in my opinion.
Question Author
yes, student:) and at times translator. but they're not exactly my specialty. i usually do prose, so i have a bit of a hard time with postmodernist poetry.

thank u very much:)
May I draw on my polar experience and offer a slightly different interpretation.

From the short extract quoted, I would take the setting to be Arctic Tundra. Not sure about the 'rim' which could be a lake shore or a sea shore.

To me, I interpret 'gloves' as 'blankets' or 'envelops', meaning to gently cover.
Sheet-ice implies a continuous flat sheet of ice such as that which forms on ponds, lakes and still seas.
Sedge is a short grass-like plant that grows in moist peaty ground.
In arctic tundra, willow does not grow as trees, but grows over the surface of the ground, closely hugging it and with short branched upright stems. Overall, it resembles the moorland heather that you see in the UK.

The whole piece then reads to me as the narrator sitting at the shoreline of a frozen expanse of water where sedges grow. The air is still and a silence blankets the whole area suggesting isolation from civilisation. The higher ground behind the narrator is covered in low willow trees.

Now that may be totally wrong. I am placing that short extract in the context of my own experience, but the rest of the poem may locate the narrator as being somewhere else entirely.

I hope that is helpful to you.

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