The Facts on File Dictionary of Allusions - Green Valley High School

paths of glory
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paths of glory <strong>The</strong> route to greatness. This is a
quotation from Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
(1751) by the British poet Thomas Gray
(1716–71), in which the author contemplates the
lives of the people buried in a country churchyard
and the ultimate futility of the pursuit of glory. It
later became doubly familiar as the title of a Humphrey
Cobb novel dwelling on the terrible nature
of war, which was made into the acclaimed 1957
movie Paths of Glory, directed by Stanley Kubrick
and starring Kirk Douglas. Those who follow the
paths of glory should remember that there is little glory
in the grave.
patience of Job ( job) Endless patience in the
face of great diffi culty or suffering. Job’s patience
despite the manifold disasters that God infl icted
on him in order to test his faith (as related in the
book of Job) is proverbial and is referred to in
James 5:11. <strong>The</strong>se threads are so tangled that whoever
unravels them will need the patience of Job.
Patient Griselda See griselda.
patrician Aristocratic; fatherly. <strong>The</strong> word comes
from the Latin patres, meaning “fathers,” a title
reserved for the senators of Rome and their families
to distinguish them from the more humble
populace (see plebeian). “Sir Leicester receives
the gout as a troublesome demon, but still a demon
of the patrician order” (Charles Dickens, Bleak
House, 1852–53).
Patroclus See achilles and patroclus.
Paul See road to damascus.
Paul Bunyan (bunybn) A person of huge size
and strength. Paul Bunyan was a folk hero of the
American West, described as a gargantuan lumberjack
whose strength and appetite inspired
numerous myths that were swapped at the fi resides
of the lumber camps of the northwestern
United States. Among other things, he was said to
have created the Grand Canyon by dragging his
pick behind him, and to have kept as his companion
a gigantic blue ox called Babe. <strong>The</strong> team’s attack
was spearheaded by three Paul Bunyans who were as wide
as they were tall.
Paul Revere (rbveer) A patriot who brings a
timely warning. Paul Revere (1735–1818) was
an American silversmith and patriot who was
present at the Boston Tea Party of 1773. On
April 18, 1775, on the outbreak of the American
Revolution, he undertook a celebrated night
ride from Boston to Lexington to warn the
American troops there that the British were
coming. Because of Revere’s warning, the American
forces had time to prepare to defend themselves
against the British assault at the Battle of
Lexington. Revere’s ride was later immortalized
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his poem
“Paul Revere’s Ride” (1861). He rode that bike
home faster than Paul Revere galloping from Boston
to Lexington.
pavlova (pavlovb) A dessert comprising a
meringue covered with fruit and whipped cream.
<strong>The</strong> dessert was named in honor of the celebrated
Rus sian- born ballerina Anna Matveyevna Pavlova
(1881–1931), who was admired for her lightness
and grace of movement, during a tour she made of
Australia and New Zealand in 1926. <strong>The</strong> ruffl es on
the edge of the meringue are traditionally supposed
to represent the tutu of a ballet dancer. We
fi nished with a pavlova that was as light and enchanting
as the ballerina after whom it was named.