7/21: beginning

...to write commentary on the uses of Classics in Phineas Finn.  It took me 2.5 hours to write 6 glosses today.  That's a bit daunting (given that there are about 170 glosses to write), but there was also an element of fun.  For instance, I got to think about how Trollope was combining elements of an Aesopian fable and a Hans Christian Andersen story to set up some imagery that will connect with a poem by Juvenal later in the novel.  It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's mine.