Memoirs of a Midget · Chapter
Epigraph explained
The epigraph presents three quotations that evoke themes of wildness, captivity, and the tension between earthly existence and celestial grace, setting a contemplative and somewhat melancholic tone for the book.
What happens
The epigraph presents three quotations that evoke themes of wildness, captivity, and the tension between earthly existence and celestial grace, setting a contemplative and somewhat melancholic tone for the book.
Themes in this chapter
Nature and the Sublime
The epigraph references the orix beast and the dog star, linking natural phenomena to a sense of awe and ritual.
Solitude and Self-Discovery
The image of a lark in a cage and the soul in the body evokes a sense of imprisonment and longing for transcendence, a key aspect of solitary reflection.
Key passages
“A wild beast there is in Aegypt, called orix, which the Aegyptians say, doth stand full against the dog starre when it riseth, looketh wistly upon it, and testifieth after a sort by sneesing, a kind of worship.”
In Egypt, there is a wild beast called the oryx that, according to the Egyptians, stands facing the rising dog star, gazes intently at it, and through sneezing, offers a form of worship.
This quotation from Philemon Holland's translation of Pliny introduces a motif of natural reverence and the mysterious connection between creatures and celestial bodies.
“Did’st thou ever see a lark in a cage? Such is the soul in the body: this world is like her little turf of grass; and the heaven o’er our heads, like her looking-glass, only gives us a miserable knowledge of the small compass of our prison.”
Have you ever seen a caged lark? That is what the soul is like inside the body: this world is just a small patch of grass for it, and the sky above is like a mirror that only shows us how confined our prison truly is.
From John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi, this simile underscores the theme of spiritual confinement and the painful awareness of one's limitations.
“Provoke them not, fair sir, with tempting words; the heavens are gracious.”
Do not provoke them, kind sir, with enticing words; the heavens are merciful.
This line from Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy advises restraint and acknowledges divine grace, hinting at the dangers of temptation and the hope of celestial benevolence.