Suspiria de Profundis · Chapter
Endnotes explained
The chapter consists of endnotes that provide additional commentary, references, and explanations for various topics mentioned in the main text, including childhood suffering, Obeah magic, the Brocken spectre, and historical and literary al
What happens
The chapter consists of endnotes that provide additional commentary, references, and explanations for various topics mentioned in the main text, including childhood suffering, Obeah magic, the Brocken spectre, and historical and literary allusions.
Themes in this chapter
Suffering and Grief
The endnotes discuss a child who suffers slowly and is inspired by the depth of its sufferings, and the story of a little girl anxious for her father's conversion.
Childhood and Innocence
The chapter reflects on a child who puts off the childish mind due to suffering, and references the story of a schoolboy forbidden to return home.
The Sublime and the Dreadful
The Brocken spectre is described as a sublime and dreadful apparition, a Titan among apparitions, and the Obeah magic evokes ghostly terrors.
Divine and Moral Order
The chapter references the conversion of a father, the resurrection of the dead, and the prophetic role of revealing divine truths.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator
The narrator reflects on childhood suffering and inspiration, and provides personal commentary throughout the endnotes.
- Coleridge
Coleridge is mentioned in relation to his translation of 'Death of Wallenstein' and his experience with the Brocken spectre.
- Mr. Wordsworth
Wordsworth is referenced for a sketch of the Brocken spectre appearance.
- Jesus Christ
Christ is referenced in the context of resurrection and the story of the young girl's conversion.
Key passages
“organic disorder, so, therefore, as to die slowly, and aware of its own condition. Because such a child is solemnized, and sometimes, in a partial sense, inspired—inspired by the depth of its sufferings, and by the awfulness of its prospect.”
A child suffering from a slow, conscious decline becomes solemn and inspired by the depth of its suffering and the gravity of its future.
This passage reflects on the profound effect of suffering on a child's mind.
“Such a child, having put off the earthly mind in many things, may naturally have put off the childish mind in all things.”
Such a child, having shed earthly concerns, also sheds childishness entirely.
The narrator describes how suffering can mature a child beyond their years.
“The spectre takes the shape of a human figure, or, if the visiters are more than one, then the spectres multiply; they arrange themselves on the blue ground of the sky, or the dark ground of any clouds that maybe in the right quarter, or perhaps they are strongly relieved against a curtain of rock, at a distance of some miles, and always exhibiting gigantic proportions.”
The Brocken spectre appears as a giant human figure or multiple figures, projected against the sky or clouds, and mimics the observer's movements.
This describes the phenomenon of the Brocken spectre.