The speaker is first astonished and later, in the last stanza, vexed over the girl's "
brown study" (19), which captures her lively inner life, since the expression refers to a serious reverie, thoughtful absent-mindedness, or a state of mental abstraction or musing.
The Book of Common Prayer in the Midst of Ransom's "Bells for John Whiteside's Daughter"
He looked up to find Marlowe lost in a
brown study.
MORNINGSERIAL
Daydream The cleaner was always prone to lapse into a reverie, and this
brown study was the fifth daydream of that humdrum day.
Daydream Number Five
*
BROWN STUDY: Prof Roderick Smith (centre) with (from left) senior applications engineer Daniel Iddon, director of production and innovation Scott Tran, group technology director Graham Penning and design engineer Greg Mackie
Professor praises engineering firm
started, when I found you in a
brown study, drifting reluctantly home
Fairy Tale
The
Brown study also gave the state high marks for the consistency of its design.
Delaware's first
As Zielenziger notes, "Teachers do not encourage pupils to acquire critical thinking skills--analysis, creativity, or independent reasoning." Incidentally, all of these skills are effectively developed through project-based learning, an approach demeaned by the
Brown study.
Backwards into the future--again
While we see evidence she was an early drinker and hear her describe waking most days in a "
brown study," Lina seems too unencumbered to make her outcome plausible; the seeds of her madness are not adequately planted.
Quiet 'Rain' is an odd fit for radiant Roberts
LITTLE GEM: Amsterdam is famous for its diamonds IN THE SADDLE: bikes are one of the easiest ways to get around Amsterdam JEWELLERY QUARTER: Gassan factory
BROWN STUDY: a traditional cafe
Travel: Diamond pedalling; Travel writer KEN BENNETT proves you really can have diamonds on the soles of your shoes - on a whistle-stop tour of Amsterdam
Still, we read the story through and read it again, then read it in translation as well, only to get lost in a
brown study. Such is life: strange encounters, inexplicable friendships, the way of fate that can be noted in an accidental loss of a spanner, the inevitability of death.
Ashokamitran. My Father's Friend and Other Stories
BROWN STUDY: Casual dresser; GOING GREEN: Rarely pictured suit; GREY DAYS: This smart suit means business; OLD FAITHFUL: Jeffrey in his navy pinstripe suit.
Suits me sir!; I DON'T DRESS TO IMPRESS, SAYS DONALDSON
Ansley, 1928, for example, is a latently cubist portrait of a handsome middle-aged man in a shadowy
brown study. His eyes express a friendly mixture of authority and attention, while his mouth is slightly drawn, as if to indicate the poignancy of the experience of his years; his carefully composed face contrasts subtly with his spotted tie, which is whimsically rendered.
Edwin Dickinson. (Reviews: New York)
He had his study painted brown so that people visiting him could find him "in a
brown study." He imitated and corresponded with Alexander Pope, and wrote in the style of Isaac Watts; to some extent he substituted aesthetic for purely moralistic standards in poetry.
Byles, Mather (1707-1788)