“Let Romamti-ezer bless with the Ferret-
The Lord is a rewarder of them, that diligently seek him”
(A 43). Sherbo notes that this connection is not necessarily arbitrary:
“the association is with activities of the ferret as exemplified
in the verb ‘to ferret out’” (Sherbo 46). For Smart, the diligent
do not act like ferrets: they become ferrets. The pun works
because ferret can be both noun and verb, but the pun is a
microcosm of Smart’s view of all language. The verb “ferret”
(q.v. “to ferret out”) is as alive as the actual breathing animal.
That same power that gave the ferret (n.) life at the Creation
animates language (ferret [v.]). Thus, not only is the sign the
signified, but they both have an existence beyond the arbitrary
realm of language/reality. Linguistic constructs, for Smart, live.
“Let Romamti-ezer bless with the Ferret-The Lord is a rewarder of them, that diligently seek him,” Smart writes in Fragment A of the Jubilate . The association is not accidental, but turns on the pun of the verb and noun “ferret” and “ferret out.”
Daniel Ennis elaborates: “For Smart, the diligent do not act like ferrets: they become ferrets. The pun works because ferret can be both noun and verb, but the pun is a microcosm of Smart’s view of all language. The verb ‘ferret’ (q.v. ‘to ferret out’) is as alive as the actual breathing animal. That same power that gave the ferret (n.) life at the Creation animates language (ferret [v.]). Thus, not only is the sign the signified, but they both have an existence beyond the arbitrary realm of language/reality. Linguistic constructs, for Smart, live.”
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