(These passages were written in Hawthorne's American Note-Books after 3 January 1839, but no specific date is given.)
A very fanciful person, when dead, to have his burial in a cloud.
"A story there passeth of an Indian king that sent unto Alexander a fair woman, fed with aconite and other poisons, with this intent complexionally to destroy him!"Sir T. Browne.
Dialogues of the unborn, like dialogues of the dead, -- or between two young children.
A mortal symptom for a person being to lose his own aspect and to take the family lineaments, which were hidden deep in the healthful visage. Perhaps a seeker might thus recognize the man he had sought, after long intercourse with him unknowingly.
Some moderns to build a fire on Ararat with the remnants of the ark.
Two little boats of cork, with a magnet in one and steel in the other.
To have ice in one's blood.
To make a story of all strange and impossible things, as the Salamander, the Phoenix.
The semblance of a human face to be formed on the side of a mountain, or in the fracture of a small stone, by a lusus naturae?. The face is an object of curiosity for years or centuries, and by and by a boy is born, whose features gradually assume the aspect of that portrait. At some critical juncture, the resemblance is found to be perfect. A prophecy may be connected.
A person to be the death of his beloved in trying to raise her to more than mortal perfection; yet this should be a comfort to him for having aimed so highly and holily.
Showing posts with label January 1839. Show all posts
Showing posts with label January 1839. Show all posts
04 January
If cities were built by the sound of music
January 4th, 1839.
When scattered clouds are resting on the bosoms of hills, it seems as if one might climb into the heavenly region, earth being so intermixed with sky, and gradually transformed into it.
A stranger, dying, is buried; and after many years two strangers come in search of his grave, and open it.
The strange sensation of a person who feels himself an object of deep interest, and close observation, and various construction of all his actions, by another person.
Letters in the shape of figures of men, &c. At a distance, the words composed by the letters are alone distinguishable. Close at hand, the figures alone are seen, and not distinguished as letters. Thus things may have a positive, a relative, and a composite meaning, according to the point of view.
"Passing along the street, all muddy with puddles, and suddenly seeing the sky reflected in these puddles in such a way as quite to conceal the foulness of the street."
A young man in search of happiness, -- to be personified by a figure whom he expects to meet in a crowd, and is to be recognized by certain signs. All these signs are given by a figure in various garbs and actions, but he does not recognize that this is the sought-for person till too late.
If cities were built by the sound of music, then some edifices would appear to be constructed by grave, solemn tones, others to have danced forth to light, fantastic airs.
Familiar spirits, according to Lilly, used to be worn in rings, watches, sword-hilts. Thumb-rings were set with jewels of extraordinary size.
When scattered clouds are resting on the bosoms of hills, it seems as if one might climb into the heavenly region, earth being so intermixed with sky, and gradually transformed into it.
A stranger, dying, is buried; and after many years two strangers come in search of his grave, and open it.
The strange sensation of a person who feels himself an object of deep interest, and close observation, and various construction of all his actions, by another person.
Letters in the shape of figures of men, &c. At a distance, the words composed by the letters are alone distinguishable. Close at hand, the figures alone are seen, and not distinguished as letters. Thus things may have a positive, a relative, and a composite meaning, according to the point of view.
"Passing along the street, all muddy with puddles, and suddenly seeing the sky reflected in these puddles in such a way as quite to conceal the foulness of the street."
A young man in search of happiness, -- to be personified by a figure whom he expects to meet in a crowd, and is to be recognized by certain signs. All these signs are given by a figure in various garbs and actions, but he does not recognize that this is the sought-for person till too late.
If cities were built by the sound of music, then some edifices would appear to be constructed by grave, solemn tones, others to have danced forth to light, fantastic airs.
Familiar spirits, according to Lilly, used to be worn in rings, watches, sword-hilts. Thumb-rings were set with jewels of extraordinary size.
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