>Midchuck, Thanks for the explanation: I never parsed the >sentence that way. They use a similar parallel structure >earlier, in the second verse: "She lowered her standards >by raising her glass, her courage, her eyes, and his >hopes..." But this one is a much clearer parallel, with >an identical structure in each of the parallel elements: >by raising a. her glass b. her courage c. her eyes d. >his hopes--in all cases a possessive pronoun followed by >a single word noun.

Remember that there is a similar structure in the firt verse as well: "..and he said as he hastened to put out the cat, the wine his cigar and the lamps..." In which 'out out" ius used rather differently in the various parallels. Thjis alerts one to expect similar parallel structures later

Also, I have heard the penultimate line as "a beard in her earlobe that tickled..." and "a voice in here earholehtat tickled..." on different recordings of Flanders and Swan. Which is correct?