All 4 Uses of
poise
in
As I Lay Dying
- The sun, an hour above the horizon, is poised like a bloody egg upon a crest of thunderheads; the light has turned copper: in the eye portentous, in the nose sulphurous, smelling of lightning.†
Chpt 10
- He sits lightly, poised, upright, wooden-faced in the saddle, the broken hat raked at a swaggering angle.
Chpt 27 *poised = in control and prepared to move as needed
- He sits erect, poised, looking quietly and steadily and quickly this way and that, his face calm, a little pale, alert.†
Chpt 34
- Then the downstream one vanishes, dragging the other with him; the wagon sheers crosswise, poised on the crest of the ford as the log strikes it, tilting it up and on.†
Chpt 34
Definition:
-
(poise) calm and in control -- as in "shows poise under pressure"
and/or:
prepared for action -- as in "poised for action" -- (sometimes suspended or hovering as in "a finger poised over the mute button")
and/or:
confident and graceful in movement -- as in "the poise and balance of a dancer"