All 4 Uses of
compose
in
The Poisonwood Bible
- Several days later, once Father had regained his composure and both his eyes, he assured me that Mama Tataba hadn't meant to ruin our demonstration garden.†
Chpt 1 *composure = calm state of mind
- This is what I most admire about Father: no matter how bad things might get, he eventually will find the grace to compose himself.†
Chpt 1
- Ripe fruits, acrid sweat, urine, flowers, dark spices, and other things I've never even seen—I can't say what goes into the composition, or why it rises up to confront me as I round some corner hastily, unsuspecting.†
Chpt 2 *
- I was allowed to spend two weeks with him there on the wind-swept plain, mostly waiting in the strange vacancy of a cold apartment, trying to compose cordial things to say to the other wives.†
Chpt 3
Definitions:
-
(1)
(compose as in: compose a poem) to write or create something with care -- especially music or a literary work, but could be other things as diverse as a plan or a letter
-
(2)
(compose as in: composed of many parts) to create something by arranging parts; or to be those parts
-
(3)
(compose as in: compose myself) to calm someone or settle something
-
(4)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) Specialized senses of compose include typesetting (preparing text for printing). There are many specialized senses of composition where context tells what something is made up from. Finally, in classic literature, compose may have been used to indicate settling a dispute.