Dog days folklore tradition

“Or the violence of the dog days”

Angela & Uncle Jerry extensively discuss the folklore associations of the dog days referenced in the bridge. Uncle Jerry identifies multiple folk-literature traditions: (1) the miasma of swamps breeds poison in the dog days, (2) wounds don't heal in the dog days, (3) anything you drink can turn to poison in the dog days. He also discusses the classical origin, the rising of Sirius, the dog star, in the constellation Canis Major, and its association with frightening portents, citing Achilles killing Hector as the dog star rises in the Iliad, Seneca the Elder writing a tragedy set in the dog days, and Virgil referencing the dog days. Uncle Jerry notes these folklore meanings connect directly to the surrounding lyrics: the speaker goes 'on waves' right after mentioning dog days (connecting to the folk prohibition on bodies of water), and the wound-that-doesn't-heal connects to the speaker's persistent depression.