| 666 | 667 | 668 | 669 | 670 |
| 1 | 236 | 472 | 708 | 944 |
|
an abyss.
His head swam with double giddiness--the giddiness of ascent and
descent. A fatal combination.
He felt himself ascend, and felt not his fall.
It is appalling to see a new horizon.
A perspective affords suggestions,--not always good ones.
He had before him the fairy glade, a snare perhaps, seen through opening
clouds, and showing the blue depths of sky; so deep, that they are
obscure.
He was on the mountain, whence he could see all the kingdoms of the
earth. A mountain all the more terrible that it is a visionary one.
Those who are on its apex are in a dream.
Palaces, castles, power, opulence, all human happiness extending as far
as eye could reach; a map of enjoyments spread out to the horizon; a
sort of radiant geography of which he was the centre. A perilous mirage!
Imagine what must have been the haze of such a vision, not led up to,
not attained to as by the gradual steps of a ladder, but reached without
transition and without previous warning.
668
Page
Quick Jump
|