All 4 Uses of
muse
in
The Two Towers
- 'Unsay?' he mused, as if puzzled.†
Chpt 3.10mused = thought -- possibly aloud
- I did not tell you all this before, because it is only by musing on all that has happened that I have at last understood, even as we ride together.†
Chpt 3.11 *musing = reflecting (thinking) -- perhaps aloud
- For a while Sam sat musing, and tending the fire till the water boiled.†
Chpt 4.4
- Childless lords sat in aged halls musing on heraldry; in secret chambers withered men compounded strong elixirs, or in high cold towers asked questions of the stars.†
Chpt 4.5
Definitions:
-
(1)
(muse as in: her musings) reflect (think) deeply on a subject -- perhaps aloud
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(2)
(muse as in: She was his muse) the source of an artist's inspiration - especially a person or mythological goddessThe 9 muses were the daughters of the Greek gods Zeus & Mnemosyne. Each of the muses was thought to inspire and preside over one of the arts.
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(3)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
More rarely, muse is used as a synonym for "poet". In Shakespeare's time, muse could be used in the sense of being astonished or puzzled by something strange or unexpected.