#violin string

[msclaritea]

~Sherlock's Last Shot~

“And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud.“ Genesis 9-14

In The Blind Banker, as Sherlock is going through the book collections of the Black Lotus victims, he pauses at this passage in the bible. What does it mean? Something quite beautiful about rainbows.

“In this heaven-bow, there are many wonders: first, the beautiful shape and various colors; in which respect Plato thinks the poets feign Iris, or the rainbow, to be the daughter of Thaumas, or admiration. The waterish colors therein signify (say some) the former overthrow of the world by water. The fiery colours, the future judgment of the world by fire. The green, that present grace of freedom from both, by virtue of God’s covenant, whereof this bow is a sign.”

“That (Rain)bow in the clouds is the sign of God’s promise that whatever else God does to seek our restoration, destruction is off the table.”

A Rainbow follows Sherlock & John, TEH

After the great flood, God gives his promise of peace in the form of a covenant; His Vow. Covenant agreements were often remembered using some kind of visual sign or symbol “In the Genesis verse, God explained that the sign of this particular covenant would be His Bow, set in the clouds. This evokes the idea of a warrior setting his weapon aside once the battle is over and the time has come for peace.” The sign of this covenant, God’s bow in the clouds, is precisely the bow of battle. Ancient depictions of a deity armed with bow and arrow are not unusual. To hang up one’s bow is to retire from battle. .

The story title, His Last Bow was inspired by the Preface to The Reverberator , by Henry James, where he uses the bow as metaphor in the art of writing…how the writer conducts a sort of mental war with his materials, and he must approach his work like that of a soldier. “A soldier/writer may have need, in case of ‘anecdotic grace does breakdown’ of another string, or second to my bow.”

By John V. Hennessy in Sherlock Holmes: A Secret History

The symbol of the Rainbow has carried the dual distinction of a connection to Sun and Rain. Fire and Water (TAB/S4 Parallel)

Given all of this, a different interpretation of the title of His Last Bow is prompted. It is not Bow, as in, ‘to bow’, but as in His Last Shot.

ADDITIONS UNDER THE CUT

Read the synopsis to The Reverberator, to see where Arthur Conan Doyle got his idea for His Last Bow. Plots with themes including scheming nobility and foreigners, marrying for dark motives were favorite themes of his. Also, naming women in his stories after flowers. Here is the story of Henry James, and the lengths his family went to hide his Queerness. He can be added to the list of homosexual men/writers, who were a great influence on Sir Doyle. An interesting write-up about an H.J. expert, who uses the author's own work, to form a working profile of the man, shows that..."Mr. Edel's biographic scenario - darkly visible in James's fiction, he thinks - begins with a primal drama created by a crippled father, a dominant mother and a formidable elder brother, William, with whom the novelist was to be locked in a contest that lasted for life." Apparently, their younger sister, Alice was envious of her two brothers.           You meet William as Colonel Sir James Damery, in The Illustrious Client.

"Sharp to the half-hour, Colonel Sir James Damery was announced. It is hardly necessary to describe him, for many will remember that large, bluff, honest personality, that broad, clean-shaven face, and, above all, that pleasant, mellow voice. Frankness shone from his gray Irish eyes, and good humour played round his mobile, smiling lips. His lucent top-hat, his dark frock-coat, indeed, every detail, from the pearl pin in the black satin cravat to the lavender spats over the varnished shoes, spoke of the meticulous care in dress for which he was famous. The big, masterful aristocrat dominated the little room."

Special mention: The Rainbow across Mary's Chest from @johnlockstars

[smthngelse]

Slow-mo of vibrating violin string.