What follows is a list of literary allusions appearing in L.M. Montgomery’s novel Jane of Lantern Hill, first published in 1937.
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1
There are no literary allusions in this chapter.
2
the fourteenth chapter of Exodus Bible, Exodus 14 (KJV). This chapter narrates the parting of the Red Sea as Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt to the promised land. The first four verses are as follows: “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in. And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. And they did so.”
the Lord’s Prayer Bible, Matthew 6:9–13 (KJV): “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Given us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
a chapter full of “knops” and “taches” Bible, Exodus 26 (which contains three instances of the word “taches”), 36 (which contains two instances of the word “taches”) and 37 (which contains three instances of the word “knops”).
3
There are no literary allusions in this chapter.
4
the worm turned From the sixteenth-century proverb “Tread on a worm and it will turn.”
Jane had longed to get into the looking glass as Alice did Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (1871), sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865).
5
There are no literary allusions in this chapter.
6
There are no literary allusions in this chapter.
7
There are no literary allusions in this chapter.
8
The Little Baby of Mathieu The source of this poem is unknown, but its style of “habitant” English suggests the work of William Henry Drummond (1854–1907), Irish-born Canadian author of several books of poems, including The Habitant (1897).
the gates of sleep Virgil, Aeneid, book 6, line 893: “There are two gates of Sleep.”
9
coral strands and icy mountains Reginald Heber, “From Greenland’s Icy Mountains” (1819 hymn), verse 1, lines 1–2: “From Greenland’s icy mountains, / From India’s coral strand.”
tides that moving seemed asleep Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Crossing the Bar” (1889 poem), line 5: “tide as moving seems asleep.”
islands that lifted their fronded palms in air John Greenleaf Whittier, “The Eternal Goodness” (1865 poem), lines 81–82: “I know not where His islands lift / Their fronded palms in air.”
reapers that bore harvest treasures home John Morrison, “The Prince of Peace” (1871 hymn): “Joyous as when the reapers bear / Their harvest treasures home.”
years like shadows on sunny hills that lie Edward H. Bickersteth, “O God, the Rock of Ages” (1860 hymn), verse 2, lines 1–2: “Our years are like the shadows / on sunny hills that lie.”
10
There are no literary allusions in this chapter.
11
Jane would have thanked God, fasting, if she had ever heard of the phrase William Shakespeare, As You Like It (1595 play), act 3, scene 5, line 63: “And thank heaven, fasting, for a good man’s love.”
12
There are no literary allusions in this chapter.
13
Morning comes at last, be the night ever so long John Foxe, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs: “‘Although the day be ever so long, yet at the last it ringeth to evening song.”
14
put on thy beautiful garments and let’s be on our way Bible, Isaiah 52:1 (KJV): “put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city.”
a girl after my own heart Bible, Samuel 13:14 (KJV): “the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart.”
Behold a mute inglorious Milton in your dad Thomas Gray, “Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard” (1751 poem), line 59: “Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest.”
an epic on the life of Methuselah Bible, Genesis 5:27 (KJV): “And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.”
15
let us return to our muttons A literal translation of the French phrase “Revenons à nos moutons,” from the anonymous play La Farce de Maistre Pierre Pathelin (ca. 1460), referring to a return to the subject at hand.
16
Bang goes saxpence Punch (weekly periodical), 1868 issue: “Mun, a had na’ been the-erre abune two hours when—bang—went saxpence!!!”
Jane’s thumbs pricked William Shakespeare, Macbeth, act 4, scene 1, line 44: “By the pricking of my thumbs.”
And now, Jane, it’s brillig . . . “Four o’clock in the afternoon.” Jane knew her Alice Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, chapter 6: “‘’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves / Did gyre and gimble in the wabe’ . . . ‘“Brillig” means four o’clock in the afternoon—the time when you begin broiling things for dinner.’”
17
in the golden mansions Homer, The Iliad (translated by Alexander Pope), book 11, line 103: “The gods in peace their golden mansions fill.”
Wouldn’t you like it yourself, blithe spirit? Percy Bysshe Shelley, “To a Skylark” (1820 poem), line 1: “Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!”
her right there was none to dispute William Cowper, “Verses Supposed to Have Been Written by Alexander Selkirk, During His Solitary Abode in the Island of Juan Fernandez” (poem), line 2: “My right there is none to dispute.”
“a thing of beauty and a joy forever” John Keats, Endymion: A Poetic Romance (1818 poem), book 1, line 1: “A thing of beauty is a joy for ever.”
“Magic seas in fairylands forlorn” John Keats, “Ode to a Nightingale” (1819 poem), stanza 7, line 10: “Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.”
18
Her foot was on her native heath and her name was Jane Sir Walter Scott, Rob Roy, chapter 34: “my foot is on my native heath, and my name is MacGregor!”
First Peter and Second Peter Bible, 1 Peter and 2 Peter.
19
There are no literary allusions in this chapter.
20
She looketh well to the ways of her household and eateth not the bread of idleness Bible, Proverbs 31:27 (KJV): “She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.”
Jane and I are both owls of the desert and pelicans of the wilderness Bible, Psalm 102:6 (KJV): “I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.”
21
It is well with the child Bible, 2 Kings 4:26 (KJV): “Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it will with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well.” See also Christina Rossetti, “Is It Well with the Child?” (poem); Rudyard Kipling, “A Nativity” (poem).
22
Cooks are born, not made Hampton Cook Book (1903): “Good cooks are born, not made, they say; / The saying’s most untrue; / Hard trying and these prime receipts / Will make good cooks of you.”
Jane . . . counted the day lost whose low-descending sun didn’t see her copying a new one on the blank leaves at the back of Cookery for Beginners Author unknown, “Count that day lost whose low descending sun / Views from thy hand no worthy action done.”
‘The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at His reproof’ Bible, Job 26:11 (KJV): “The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.”
And all the hills will be joyful together Bible, Psalm 98:8 (KJV): “Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together.”
23
knops and taches See chapter 2, above.
‘When all the morning stars sang together’ Bible, Job 38:7 (KJV).
that immortal music of the spheres From “The Triumphant Whale—A Sombastiad,” attributed to Dugald Moore, in The Modern Pythagorean: A Series of Tales, Essays, and Sketches, by Robert Macnish (1802–1837) and D.M. Moir (1798–1851): “With the immortal music of the spheres.”
‘Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon and thou, moon, in the vale of Ajalon’ Bible, Joshua 10:12 (KJV): “Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.”
‘Here shall thy proud waves be stayed’ . . . ‘so far and no further’ Bible, Job 38:11 (KJV): “And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?”
‘Give me neither poverty nor riches’ . . . the prayer of Agar, son of Jakeh Bible, Proverbs 30:8 (KJV): “Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me.”
‘A fool uttereth all his mind’ Bible, Proverbs 29:11 (KJV): “A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.”
‘Wither thou goest I will go; and where thou lodgest I will lodge; thy people shall be my people and thy God my God; where thou diest will I die and there will I be buried; the Lord do so to me and more also if aught but death part thee and me’ Bible, Ruth 1:16–17 (KJV): “And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried; the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.”
‘All the daughters of music shall be brought low’ Bible, Ecclesiastes 12:4 (KJV): “And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low.”
‘They have taken away my lord and I know not where they have laid him’ Bible, John 20:13 (KJV): “And they say unto her Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.”
‘Ask for the old paths and walk therein and ye shall find rest’ Bible, Jeremiah 6:16 (KJV): “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.”
‘As cold water to a thirsty soul so is good news from a far country’ Bible, Proverbs 25:25 (KJV): “As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.”
‘A thousand years in thy sight is but as yesterday when it is past and as a watch in the night’ Bible, Psalm 90:4 (KJV): “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.”
‘Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free’ Bible, John 8:32 (KJV): “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
‘Glimpses of the moon’ William Shakespeare, Hamlet, act 1, scene 4, line 58: “Revisits thus the glimpses of the moon.”
‘On the road to Mandalay’ Rudyard Kipling, “Mandalay” (poem).
‘horns of elfland faintly blowing’ Alfred, Lord Tennyson, The Princess: A Medley (1847 poem), part 3, line 357: “The horns of Elfland faintly blowing!”
‘Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings’ Bible, Psalm 8:2 (KJV): “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightiest still the enemy and the avenger.”
Can you guess who the dark lady was, Jane? William Shakespeare, Sonnets.
Beatrice Beatrice Portinari (1266–1290), portrayed as the “ideal woman” in Dante, Divine Comedy.
Laura Laura de Noves (1308–1348), the muse and subject of Petrarch’s poetry.
Lucasta Richard Lovelace, “To Lucasta, Going to the Wars” (poem).
Highland Mary Mary Campbell (1763–1786) died young but was immortalized in several songs by Robert Burns, including “The Highland Lassie.”
The weeds are growing over Troy but we remember Helen In Greek mythology, Helen of Troy was seduced and carried off by Paris, which led to the Trojan War.
‘And so I sing the poplars and when I come to die / I will not look for jasper walls but cast about my eye / For a row of wind-blown poplars against an English sky.’ Bernard Freeman Trotter, “The Poplars” (1917 poem), lines 22–24.
‘the cloudy Apennines’ Henry Warwick Cole, Saint Augustine: A Poem in Eight Books (poem), book 2, line 58: “Whilst on the west, far as the eye could reach, / When turning from the cloudy Apennines, / Appeared stupendous mountains in the air, / Like sentinels who watched the plains below.”
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