Isn’t this just a variation of “Why is a whale like a writing desk?”
Oh, wait, wrong riddler.
I think the plume of water from the blowhole is the best explanation, but it might be another reference to whalebone corsets-- they were the “best” corsets, and the women who could afford them had the fanciest dresses, which could be pretty ornate in Victorian times.
It has been many years since I read Moby Dick, but I recall that Melville spent quite a few paragraphs on the debate over whether whales were mammals or fishes. (I think Ishmael decided they were mammals, but I could be misremembering.)
Well, technically, that heat energy ultimately came from the solar nebula from which the Earth’s matter formed, so…
Eventually, all living things will die.
Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?
I’m pretty sure the answer is 14 k of g in a f p d, and the ‘g’ stands for “Gorbachev”.
With the help of a swallow.
I want to get one of these, just so my wife can ask, “Is that a terabyte in your pocket, or are you happy to see me?”
No, he makes the argument that they’re fish, while recognizing that zoologists disagree.
Fish and mammals are completely arbitrary classifications made by humankind. That division has nothing to do with the living world.
But are you suggesting the answer to the riddle may be either “fish” or “mammals”?
Reading the thread, the answer is probably whale, but the first thing that came to my mind was music. It’s in an orchestra, but you can’t really “see” it; birds, especially colorful ones, often sing; soundwaves eventually die out in the air and water, as well as in light and dark; and music can swim and fly. It breaks down with the holding its breath part and the “can be guessed more easily be a woman,” though.
I believe the most plausible answer is the mythological creature known as Sirens.
I was thinking it’s the five senses
I always guessed PEZ dispenser.
I was always wrong.
My guess is the planet Venus, which hits all lines nicely except the first one. I thought maybe Holst’s The Planets would cover it, but it was composed a bit later in 1914-ish. I’m betting that there is some time-period association with Venus and something pertaining to music, perhaps a popular folk song or singer of the time?
I’m the sweetest of sounds in Orchestra heard,
–some 1870’s piece like this that may relate to the morning star…
Yet in Orchestra never was seen.
–‘cause it’s a planet, silly
I’m a bird of gay plumage, yet less like a bird,
–bright, pretty, and not a bird.
Nothing ever in Nature was seen.
–“Nature” meaning earthly woods, wildlife, etc. The night sky, OTTH is “Heaven”
Touch the earth I expire, in water I die,
–Venus sets into the earth or water horizon
In air I lose breath, yet can swim and can fly;
–Venus doesn’t rise very high in the night sky, being in close orbit to the sun, yet dips in and out of the horizon
Darkness destroys me, and light is my death,
–Venus’ orbit again, it isn’t present in dark night or bright daylight, that’s why it’s known as the evening/morning star
And I only keep going by holding my breath.
–Under the horizon again
If my name can’t be guessed by a boy or a man,
By a woman or girl it certainly can.
–'cause Venus is a dame. Chicks dig dem moll planets (nice gams!)
The answer to the riddle could be swan.
“Sweetest of sound, in orchestra heard,
Yet in orchestra never have been." - This must be reffering to Swan lake,but physically in orchestra never have been - swans don’t go to opera.
“Bird in gay plumage” - it is known about swans that a lot of swan couples are gay. I also saw a version “Bird in light plumage” - light=white
“Yet I run, swim and fly” - they do all these things don’t they?
"If I cannot be guessed by a boy or a man,
A girl or a woman I certainly can!” - this could be twisted meaning…guessed=played,probably hard to play the character of a swan by a man but girl can play it easier or better.
This is what I got so far.
“Coloratura soprano” seems to fit the bill pretty well.
Paraphrased from Terry Pratchett’s The Last Hero.