All 6 Uses of
cleave
in
Faust -- translated by Brooks
- But sure no cloven foot I see.†
Chpt Allcloven = split (or divided in two)
- Who calls from the rocky cleft below there?†
Chpt All *cleft = a split or crack in something"Editor's Notes"Cleft is the past tense of cleave like left is past tense of leave.
Today, cleft is most seen in the form cleft palate or cleft lip to refer to medical conditions at birth.
- No garter makes my rank appear,
But then the cloven foot stands high in honor here.†Chpt Allcloven = split (or divided in two)
- A dismal dream once came to me;
In it I saw a cloven tree,
It had a — but still,
I looked on it with right good-will.†Chpt All
- With best respect I here salute
The noble knight of the cloven foot!†Chpt All
- A world of folly in one little soul,
Man loves to think himself a whole;
Part of the part am I, which once was all, the Gloom
That brought forth Light itself from out her mighty womb,
The upstart proud, that now with mother Night
Disputes her ancient rank and space and right,
Yet never shall prevail, since, do whate'er he will,
He cleaves, a slave, to bodies still;
From bodies flows, makes bodies fair to sight;
A body in his course can check him,
His doom, I therefore hope, will soon o'ertake him,
With bodies merged in nothingness and night.†Chpt All
Definitions:
-
(1)
(cleave as in: cleave through) to split or cut through somethingIronically, this word can mean to split in two or to hold together.
Note that you may see cleaved, cleft, clove, or cloven as the past tense of this sense of cleave. -
(2)
(cleave as in: cleave to) to hold firmly to something -- such as an object, a person or ideaIronically, this word can mean to split in two or to hold together.
Note that you may see cleaved, clove, or clave as the past tense of this sense of cleave. -
(3)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) a proper noun or other word too rare to warrant focus