questions
This custom began, as I say, after the second book. When we'd each had a glass of champagne and a refill, I took her into the office, where a single sheet of paper still stuck out of my forest-green Selectric. On the lake, one last loon cried down dark, that call that always sounds to me like something rusty turning slowly in the wind. 'I thought you said you were done,' she said.

Question 1: In this case, what's the meaning of 'cried down dark'?

Question 2: What's the meaning of 'something rusty turning slowly in the wind'?

Question

questions
This custom began, as I say, after the second book. When we'd each had a glass of champagne and a refill, I took her into the office, where a single sheet of paper still stuck out of my forest-green Selectric. On the lake, one last loon cried down dark, that call that always sounds to me like something rusty turning slowly in the wind. 'I thought you said you were done,' she said.

Question 1: In this case, what's the meaning of 'cried down dark'?

Question 2: What's the meaning of 'something rusty turning slowly in the wind'?

Answer

'Cried down dark'
I am not 100% sure, but I took it to mean that the loons call signaled the coming of the night.  In Maine, where Bag of Bones is set, the loon's calls are distinct in an otherwise quiet night.  So, when everything gets quiet at night, hearing only the loon's calls can mean night has come.

'something rusty turning slowly in the wind'
I am also not completely sure here, but I took this as a literal simile between the loon's call and the screech of rough metal rubbing against each other.  It might help to imagine an old metal gate swiveling on its hinge, and comparing it to some audio of the loon's call.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Loons.ogg

Answers · 1

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