Suspiria de Profundis · Chapter
The Daughter of Lebanon explained
An evangelist returns to Damascus and encounters a fallen woman of transcendent beauty, the daughter of a prince in Lebanon.
What happens
An evangelist returns to Damascus and encounters a fallen woman of transcendent beauty, the daughter of a prince in Lebanon. She asks to be restored to her father's house, and the evangelist promises to fulfill this within thirty days. As she converts to Christianity and is baptized, a fever descends upon Damascus. On the thirtieth day, the evangelist reveals that her twin sister has died of grief and is waiting in Paradise. The daughter chooses to die and be reunited with her sister, and she is received into heaven as a firstfruit of Christian faith.
Themes in this chapter
Divine and Moral Order
The evangelist acts as God's messenger, binding and loosing, and the daughter's repentance and baptism restore her to divine favor, illustrating a moral and spiritual order.
Suffering and Grief
The daughter suffers from betrayal by her lover and rejection by her father, and later from fever and the grief of losing her twin sister, culminating in her death.
Memory and the Past
The daughter yearns for her native hills and the memory of her twin sister, with whom she wandered among the cedars in childhood.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator
Describes the scene in Damascus and the story of the Daughter of Lebanon.
- Jesus Christ
Referenced as the one whose armies muster to receive the firstfruits of Christian faith.
- Levana
Not directly present, but the theme of sorrow and divine intervention echoes Levana's domain.
Key passages
“Lord, that thou wouldest put me back into my father's house.”
The Daughter of Lebanon asks the evangelist to restore her to her earthly father's home.
This is her initial request, which the evangelist promises to fulfill within thirty days.
“O daughter! this is the thirtieth day, and the sun is drawing near to his rest; brief, therefore, is the time within which I must fulfil the word that God spoke to thee by me.”
The evangelist reminds her that the promised time is ending and he must fulfill God's word.
This leads to the revelation that her sister is in Paradise and she chooses to die.
“Oh yes—yes—yes”
The Daughter of Lebanon fervently agrees to accept God's gift through apparent refusal.
She accepts death as a means of being reunited with her sister in heaven.