# Savannah-La-Mar explained — Suspiria de Profundis

> Chapter companion for Suspiria de Profundis by Thomas De Quincey.

## What happens

The narrator describes the destruction of the city Savannah-La-Mar by an earthquake, which sank it intact beneath the ocean. In dreams, he and the Dark Interpreter explore the submerged city, contemplating the nature of time, the present, and God's purposes. The Interpreter explains that God works through catastrophe and grief to prepare for a future that is His present, and that such suffering is necessary for the agriculture of God.

## Themes in this chapter

### The Sublime and the Dreadful

The chapter vividly portrays the sublime horror of a city destroyed by earthquake and preserved underwater, blending beauty with terror.

### Divine and Moral Order

The Dark Interpreter explains that God uses earthquakes and grief as instruments of divine agriculture, sacrificing the human present for a future that is God's present.

## Character check-ins

### The Narrator

The narrator dreams of exploring the sunken city of Savannah-La-Mar with the Dark Interpreter, and reflects on the nature of time and divine purpose.

### Levana

The Dark Interpreter, who accompanies the narrator in the dream and delivers a philosophical discourse on time, grief, and God's agriculture.

## Key lines

> God smote Savannah-la-mar, and in one night, by earthquake, removed her, with all her towers standing and population sleeping, from the steadfast foundations of the shore to the coral floors of ocean.

God struck Savannah-La-Mar with an earthquake, sinking the entire city intact to the ocean floor in a single night.

_Opening description of the city's destruction._

> Therefore it is that he works by earthquake. Therefore it is that he works by grief. O, deep is the ploughing of earthquake! O, deep is the ploughing of grief! But oftentimes less would not suffice for the agriculture of God.

God uses earthquakes and grief as deep plowing tools for His divine agriculture, because nothing less would be sufficient.

_The Dark Interpreter's explanation of divine purpose behind catastrophe._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/suspiria_de_profundis_se/chapters/savannah-la-mar
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/suspiria_de_profundis_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/suspiria_de_profundis_se/chapters