What does "sharply peaked" mean in this sentence:"In the offing the sea and the sky were welded together witho

Question

In the offing the sea and the sky were welded together without a joint, and in the luminous space the tanned sails of the barges drifting up with the tide seemed to stand still in red clusters of canvas sharply peaked, with gleams of varnished sprits.

Answer 1

He is describing a sunrise...

the distant horizon across the sea meets the sky in such a way one can not distinquish where one ends and the other begins. ("welded together without a joint") In addition, ships wait out at sea for the incoming tide and come in to shore with it, so they don't get stuck in the shallow water... (in this area, the tide can be as much as 14 feet - in low tide, the loaded barge can not make it all the way to shore.) "tanned sails of the barges drifting up with the tide seemed to stand still in red clusters of canvas sharply peaked with gleams of vanished sprits" is descriptive of the sunrise... the canvas is the sky, the red is the color of the morning sun's light reflecting across the horizon... but is used here also as a warning... (remember: "red sky in the morning, sailors take warning") and the warning is "sharply peaked"... the vanished sprits, are the clouds as they are burned off by the morning sun.

As far as a physical description of a typical sunrise, the author has painted a very accurate picture... so accurate in fact, that his mention of the tide coming at sunrise, and the fact that the ships have to wait for it - reveals he is at or near the River Thames and facing east across the North Sea.

(I do hope you are reading the book... )

Answer 2

It is like on a painting that the paint is raised to the eye and touch.  It is in sharp contrast to everything around it and stands out.

Answer 3

tall and pointy ( but indicates that the sails stood out against the sky very bold and clear)

Answer 4

you know when you fould a epice of paper in lots of long folds, like for a fan,  if you were to lay it down on a table, each of those edges sticking up are peaks, so think sharp, stark edges, altough not nessecarity even like the paper, rising up. Try to place that more in context.  

I don't know if it makes alot of sense, but I hope it helps.