And this very day I met her! Or the shade of her spirit, anyway--only hours ago.
Mary Shelley appeared to me during the witching hour, just minutes after my clock downstairs rang out its recorded chime at twelve. Yes, I saw her! Or at least I thought I saw her. I could not really be said to think (not the first time!), yet I saw--with shut eyes, but with acute mental vision--that pale author of unhallowed writing kneeling beside me.
So I smiled and wished her "Happy birthday!" and she smiled a brief smile in return.
I remembered that she had written about people returning to life centuries later in Valerius: The Re-animated Roman, and in an essay called The Reanimated Man, so I asked her if she liked the changes in the world since her time on Earth. To that she only lowered her gaze.
Then, thinking of Frankenstein, I asked her if she could now say whether there was any knowledge more valuable than love and sympathy. She seemed to look away, then I suddenly saw a small shape appear near her--I looked closer and it appeared to be a dark reddish-brown, leathery item, about the size of a fist. I had the impression it was very old. It swelled up a bit--then it suddenly faded away, as did Mary's ghost. Oh, damn, she disappeared too soon!
I felt a genuine loss...
Because I had a cake, and it was decorated with trick candles that won't blow out! Man, I was really looking forward to seeing the look on her face when the flames reappeared!
Read a virtual version of Frankenstein at this link--complete with the original illustrations and pages that 'turn.'
Mary Shelley appeared to me during the witching hour, just minutes after my clock downstairs rang out its recorded chime at twelve. Yes, I saw her! Or at least I thought I saw her. I could not really be said to think (not the first time!), yet I saw--with shut eyes, but with acute mental vision--that pale author of unhallowed writing kneeling beside me.
So I smiled and wished her "Happy birthday!" and she smiled a brief smile in return.I remembered that she had written about people returning to life centuries later in Valerius: The Re-animated Roman, and in an essay called The Reanimated Man, so I asked her if she liked the changes in the world since her time on Earth. To that she only lowered her gaze.
Then, thinking of Frankenstein, I asked her if she could now say whether there was any knowledge more valuable than love and sympathy. She seemed to look away, then I suddenly saw a small shape appear near her--I looked closer and it appeared to be a dark reddish-brown, leathery item, about the size of a fist. I had the impression it was very old. It swelled up a bit--then it suddenly faded away, as did Mary's ghost. Oh, damn, she disappeared too soon!
I felt a genuine loss...
Because I had a cake, and it was decorated with trick candles that won't blow out! Man, I was really looking forward to seeing the look on her face when the flames reappeared!
Read a virtual version of Frankenstein at this link--complete with the original illustrations and pages that 'turn.'
A wonderful visitation, wonderfully told.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the archive.org link. Isn't it amazing that someone from "Preservation Services" — of all people — would bang a date stamp right on the title page of a rare and very valuable book? Yikes!
I was startled by that, too. Disappointing, if ironic.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the compliment, Pierre.