← All chapters
Poetry · Chapter
CCXL explained
The chapter reflects on the fear of darkness as more than mere superstition, suggesting that night is when the king truly thinks.
What happens
The chapter reflects on the fear of darkness as more than mere superstition, suggesting that night is when the king truly thinks.
Key passages
“Fear of the darkness is more than an inherited superstition—it is at night, mostly, that the king thinks.”
The fear of darkness goes beyond ancestral belief; it is primarily during the night that the king contemplates.
This line introduces a reflection on the psychological significance of darkness and the solitude of thought.