| 释义 |
‖ Progne|ˈprɒgniː|
Also 5 proigne; and in Gr. form Procne.
[L. Prognē, variant of Procnē, Gr. Πρόκνη, name of the sister of Philomela, according to Greek mythology transformed into a swallow. So F. progné.]
1. A poetic name for the swallow. (Cf. note on Philomel.)
But the poets appear to have thought it some song-bird.
c1374Chaucer Troylus ii. 15 (64) The swalwe proigne with a sorwful lay, Whan morwe com gan make here weymentynge. [1390Gower Conf. II. 328 And of hir Soster Progne I finde, Hou sche was torned..Into a Swalwe swift of winge.] 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 178 And Progne, on whose brest as yet is seene The blooddy marke of hands that Itys slewe. a1584Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 5 About ane bank..The merle and maueis micht be sene, The Progne and the Phelomene. a1784Johnson Ode to Autumn v, Soft pleasing woes my heart invade, As Progne pours the melting lay. 1803H. K. White Clifton Grove 230 Lorn Progne's note from distant copse behind. 1956E. Pound tr. Sophocles' Women of Trachis 41 As Progne shrill upon the weeping air, 'Tis no great sound. 1980‘A. T. Ellis’ Birds of Air 125 ‘You seem very cheerful,’ she snapped... ‘Oh, I am,’ said Mary..Procne to mute Philomela grieving for her Itys, she thought.
2. Ornith. An American genus of Hirundinidæ or Swallows, including the common Purple Martin of the United States (P. purpurea or subis). |