which swallowed up every habit of my nature
metaphor for how consuming it is to him, but also metaphor for how his pursuit is corrupting him, and how it's contrary to his nature and human nature in general
7 Matching Annotations
- Feb 2022
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www.gutenberg.org www.gutenberg.org
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conclusion
Everything about this paragraph is disturbing. His pursuit is very antithetical to his "passion" for nature and natural philosophy. He's working with elements that exist naturally, but attempting a highly unnatural venture with them.
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supernatural horrors
foreshadowing
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I was now alone
Big turn in circumstance and sentiment as compared to his experiences before this moment.
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These are the reflections of the first days; but when the lapse of time proves the reality of the evil, then the actual bitterness of grief commences. Yet from whom has not that rude hand rent away some dear connection? And why should I describe a sorrow which all have felt, and must feel? The time at length arrives when grief is rather an indulgence than a necessity; and the smile that plays upon the lips, although it may be deemed a sacrilege, is not banished. My mother was dead, but we had still duties which we ought to perform; we must continue our course with the rest and learn to think ourselves fortunate whilst one remains whom the spoiler has not seized.
Interesting to question why he is explaining the feeling and stages of grief because he explains it so aptly yet concisely.
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It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn; and whether it was the outward substance of things or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of man that occupied me, still my inquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or in its highest sense, the physical secrets of the world.
This reminds me of "the sublime"
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- Jan 2022
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www.poetryfoundation.org www.poetryfoundation.org
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late and soon,
late and soon are antithetical concepts. "getting and spending" have a similarly polar relationship. The word "waste" being used as well makes these opening two lines have a bit of a defeatist or annihilistic energy.
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