I fancy that Strickland saw vaguely some spiritual meaning in material things that was so strange that he could only suggest it with halting symbols.

我猜想，思特里克兰德在有形的事物上模模糊糊地看到某种精神意义，这种意义非常奇异，他只能用很不完善的符号勉强把它表达出来。