Despair

Passages

Every passage tagged with this emotion in the Vela corpus. Search the body text, narrow by source or register, click through to a book’s profile to see how the passage sits with the rest of the work.

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• From The Well of Loneliness (1928)

  She turned, looking wearily round the study, and it came upon her with a slight sense of shock that she was seeing this room for the very first time, and that everything in it was abnormally ugly. The flat had been furnished when her mind had been too much afflicted to care in the least what she bought, and now all her possessions seemed clumsy or puerile, from the small, foolish chairs to the large, roll-top desk; there was nothing personal about any of them. How had she endured this room for so long? Had she really written a fine book in it? Had she sat in it evening after evening and come back to it morning after morning? Then she must have been blind indeed—what a place for any author to work in! She had taken nothing with her from Morton but the hidden books found in her father’s study; these she had taken, as though in a way they were hers by some intolerable birthright; for the rest she had shrunk from depriving the house of its ancient and honoured possessions. Morton—so quietly perfect a thing, yet the thing of all others that she must fly from, that she must forget; but she could not forget it in these surroundings; they reminded by contrast. Curious what Brockett had said that evening about putting the sea between herself and England. . . . In view of her own half-formed plan to do so, his words had come as a kind of echo of her thoughts; it was almost as though he had peeped through a secret keyhole into her mind, had been spying upon her trouble. By what right did this curious man spy upon her—this man with the soft, white hands of a woman, with the movements befitting those soft, white hands, yet so ill-befitting the rest of his body? By no right; and how much had the creature found out when his eye had been pressed to that secret keyhole? Clever—Brockett was fiendishly clever—all his whims and his foibles could not disguise it. His face gave him away, a hard, clever face with sharp eyes that were glued to other people’s keyholes. That was why Brockett wrote such fine plays, such cruel plays; he fed his genius on live flesh and blood. Carnivorous genius. Moloch, fed upon live flesh and blood! But she, Stephen, had tried to feed her inspiration upon herbage, the kind, green herbage of Morton. For a little while such food had sufficed, but now her talent had sickened, was dying perhaps—or had she too fed it on blood, her heart’s blood when she had written The Furrow? If so, her heart would not bleed any more—perhaps it could not—perhaps it was dry.

• From Unbought and Unbossed: Transgressive Black Women, Sexuality, and Representation (2014)

  Wright's description helps elucidate the nexus of madness, race, gender, and the law, wherein a resistance to capitulate or embrace Jim Crow politics (laws that, in and of themselves, were biased and insanely nonsensical) provides momentary subjectivity and liberation for the otherwise disempowered, disenfranchised, and/ or marginalized. Rebelliousness and recalcitrance in the face of restriction (or the limit) land the transgressor in an asylum labeled as "mad," or living out another possible ending that, nonetheless, offers temporary relief and/or freedom from the limit. And so, the "oscillation" of Bigger between "intense elation and depression" is consequential and loaded. It is emblematic of the elation that accompanies the luxury of partaking in the freedoms of indulgence in the putative "norm" (access to which is restricted and not extended to all); yet, it quickly transforms into depression, the material/psychological condition that ensues as a consequence of both denial and the transgressor's reacclimation to disempowerment. This same nature surrounds madness in Eva's Man, wherein Eva transgresses several "taboos"-particularly those pertaining to gender, sexuality, and womanhood-while concomitantly gaining access to power in her eventual rejection of gendered sexual hegemony. And, she, too, ultimately lands in an asylum: the psychiatric ward of a prison. Because of the type of crime Eva commits, her status is dubious and defies comprehension; and, in her resistance to vocalizing precisely why she inflicts sexualized violence of such proportions on Davis, her transgressive behavior is inexplicable, though always associated and linked with a particular "craziness." As Eva's cellmate Elvira asserts, "You know, I ain't seen you laugh, I ain't seen you cry, I ain't seen you do nothing, cept breathe hard last night. You too serene. When a woman done something like you done and serene like that, no wonder they think you crazy" (155, emphasis mine). What stand out in Elvira's assertion are the operative words "they think you crazy," indicative of thought and a projection of insanity or psychosis onto Eva versus any indication or declarative affirmation (or, for that matter, diagnosis) as to whether she is indeed crazy. Because Eva commits a crime, especially one that is unfathomable and a severe breach of convention, she is associated with madness since such behavior, otherwise, has no label-no language, words, or terminology-by which to explain it in a rhetoric that is coterminous with or reflective of the act. It literally transgresses language and comprehension. This inability to understand and comprehend is evidenced in the degree to which Eva is interrogated not only by the police, the psychiatrist, and news reporters, but also by her cellmate Elvira. They simply cannot understand-it does not render itself subject to logic or reason-and they are left with the incessant and inevitable question: Why? "Why did you kill him? [...] Why did you think you bit it all off?" (167).

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  [Jer 38 ] 54 The waters ran down on my head; I said, “I am cut off (destroyed)!” 55 I called on Your name, O LORD , Out of the lowest pit. [Jer 38:6 ] 56 You have heard my voice, “Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief, From my cry for help.” 57 You drew near on the day I called to You; You said, “Do not fear.” [James 4:8 ] 58 O Lord, You have pleaded my soul’s cause [You have guided my way and protected me]; You have rescued and redeemed my life. 59 O LORD , You have seen the wrong [done to me]; Judge my case. 60 You have seen all their vengeance, All their schemes against me. 61 You have heard their reproach, O LORD , And all their schemes against me. 62 The lips and whispering of my assailants Are against me all day long. 63 Look at their sitting and their rising [their actions and secret counsels]; I am their mocking song [the subject of their ridicule]. [Ps 139:2 ; Is 37:28 ] 64 You will repay them, O LORD , According to the work of their hands. 65 You will harden their hearts; Your curse will be upon them. 66 You will pursue them in anger and destroy them From under the heavens of the LORD . Lamentations 4 Distress of the Siege Described 1 H ow dark and dim the gold has become, How the pure gold has changed! The sacred stones [of the temple] are poured out and scattered At the head of every street. 2 The [noble and] precious sons of Zion, [Once] worth their weight in fine gold, How they are regarded [merely] as earthen jars, The work of a potter’s hands! [Is 30:14 ; Jer 19:11 ; 2 Cor 4:7 ] 3 Even the jackals offer the breast, They nurse their young; But the daughter of my people has become cruel Like ostriches in the wilderness [that desert their young]. 4 The tongue of the infant clings To the roof of its mouth because of thirst; The little ones ask for food, But no one gives it to them. 5 Those who feasted on delicacies Are perishing in the streets; Those reared in purple [as nobles] Embrace ash heaps. 6 For the [punishment of the] wickedness of the daughter of my people [Jerusalem] Is greater than the [punishment for the] sin of Sodom, Which was overthrown in a moment, And no hands were turned toward her [to offer help]. [Gen 19:25 ] 7 Her princes were purer than snow, They were whiter than milk [in appearance]; They were more ruddy in body than rubies, Their polishing was like lapis lazuli (sapphire). 8 Their appearance is [now] blacker than soot [because of the prolonged famine]; They are not recognized in the streets; Their skin clings to their bones; It is withered, and it has become [dry] like wood.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  Go and do so.’ 22 “Now, you see, the LORD put a deceptive spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours; and the LORD has [actually] proclaimed disaster against you.” 23 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came up and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, “Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go [when he departed] from me to speak to you?” 24 Micaiah said, “Behold, you will see on that day when you go into an inner room [desperately trying] to hide yourself.” 25 Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son, 26 and say, ‘Thus says the king: “Put this man in prison and feed him just enough bread and water to survive until I return in peace (safely).” ’ ” 27 But Micaiah said, “If you actually return in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me.” And he added, “Listen [to what I have said], you people, all of you.” Ahab’s Defeat and Death 28 So [Ahab] the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up against Ramoth-gilead. 29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “c I will disguise myself and will go into battle, but you put on your [royal] robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into the battle. 30 Now the king of d Aram (Syria) had commanded the captains of his chariots, saying, “Do not fight with the small or the great, but only with the king of Israel.” 31 So when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat [of Judah], they said, “It is the king of Israel!” So they turned to fight against him, but Jehoshaphat called out [for God’s help], and the LORD helped him; and God diverted them away from him. 32 When the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. 33 Then a certain man drew his bow at random and struck [Ahab] the king of Israel between the scales of his armor. So Ahab said to his chariot driver, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, because I am seriously wounded.” 34 The battle raged that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot in front of the Arameans (Syrians) until the evening, and at sunset he died. 2 Chronicles 19 Jehu Rebukes Jehoshaphat 1 J EHOSHAPHAT THE king of Judah returned safely to his house (palace) in Jerusalem. 2 Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the ungodly and love those who hate the LORD and in doing so bring wrath from the LORD on yourself?

• From The Well of Loneliness (1928)

  cal man, a dangerous one too because he was brilliant. Yet she, Puddle, was actually grateful to this man; so dire were their straits that she was grateful to Brockett. Then came the remem- brance of that other man, of Martin Hallam — she had had such high hopes. He had been very simple and honest and good -— Puddle felt that there was much to be said for goodness. But for such as Stephen men like Martin Hallam could seldom exist; _as friends they would fail her, while she in her turn would fail them as lover. Then what remained? Jonathan Brockett? Like to like. No, no, an intolerable thought! Such a thought as that was an outrage on Stephen. Stephen was honourable and coura- geous; she was steadfast in friendship and selfless in loving; intolerable to think that her only companions must be men and women like Jonathan Brockett — and yet — after all what else? What remained? Loneliness, or worse still, far worse because it so deeply degraded the spirit, a life of perpetual subterfuge, of guarded opinions and guarded actions, of lies of omission if not of speech, of becoming an accomplice in the world’s injustice by maintaining at all times a judicious silence, making and keep- ing the friends one respected, on false pretences, because if they knew they would turn aside, even the friends one respected. Puddle abruptly controlled her thoughts; this was no way to be helpful to Stephen. Sufficient unto the day was the evil thereof. Getting up she went into her bedroom where she bathed her face and tidied her hair. ‘I look scarcely human,’ she thought ruefully, as she stared at her own reflection in the glass; and indeed at that moment she looked more than her age. 4 Ir was not until nearly the middle of July that Brockett took Stephen to Valérie Seymour’s. Valérie had been away for some time, and was even now only passing through Paris en route for her villa at St. Tropez. As they drove to her apartment on the Quai Voltaire, Brockett 278 THE WELL OF LONELINESS

• From The Well of Loneliness (1928)

  Then suddenly she had got to her feet and was talking aloud ~ she was talking to her father: ‘ You knew! All the time you knew this thing, but because of your pity you wouldn’t tell me. Oh, Father — and there are so many of us — thousands of miser- able, unwanted people, who have no right to love, no right to compassion because they’re maimed, hideously maimed and ugly - God’s cruel; He let us get flawed in the making.’ And then, before she knew what she was doing, she had found her father’s old, well-worn Bible. There she stood demand- ing a sign from heaven — nothing less than a sign from’ heaven she demanded. The Bible fell open near the beginning. She read: * And the Lord set a mark upon Cain. . . .’ Then Stephen hurled the Bible away, and she sank down completely hopeless and beaten, rocking her body backwards and forwards with a kind of abrupt yet methodical rhythm: ‘ And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, upon Cain. . . . she was rocking now in rhythm to those words, ‘ And the Lord set a mark upon Cain — upon Cain — upon Cain. And the Lord set a mark upon Calne kaa aF That was how Puddle came in and found her, and Puddle said: “Where you go, I go, Stephen. All that you’re suffering at this moment I’ve suffered. It was when I was very young like you — but I still remember.’ Stephen looked up with bewildered eyes: ‘Would you go with Cain whom God marked? ° she said slowly, for she had not understood Puddle’s meaning, so she asked her once more: ‘ Would you go with Cain? ’ THE WELL OF LONELINESS 233 Puddle put an arm round Stephen’s bowed shoulders, and she said: * You’ve got work to do—come and do it! Why, just be- cause you are what you are, you may actually find that you’ve: got an advantage. You may write with a curious double insight — write both men and women from a personal knowledge. Noth- ing’s completely misplaced or wasted, I’m sure of that — and we’re ali part of nature. Some day the world will recognize this, but meanwhile there’s plenty of work that’s waiting. For the sake of all the others who are like you, but less strong and less gifted per- haps, many of them, it’s up to you to have the courage to make good, and I’m here to help you to do it, Stephen.’ BOOK THREE CHAPTER 28 I â PALE glint of sunshine devoid or all warmth lay over the

• From The Decameron (1353)

  As for Cimon and his companions, their lives were granted them, in consideration of the liberty given by them to the young Rhodians the day before,--albeit Pasimondas used his utmost endeavour to procure them to be put to death,--and they were condemned to perpetual prison, wherein, as may well be believed, they abode woebegone and without hope of any relief. However, whilst Pasimondas, as most he might, hastened the preparations for his coming nuptials, fortune, as if repenting her of the sudden injury done to Cimon, brought about a new circumstance for his deliverance, the which was on this wise. Pasimondas had a brother called Ormisdas, less in years, but not in merit, than himself, who had been long in treaty for the hand of a fair and noble damsel of the city, by name Cassandra, whom Lysimachus ardently loved, and the match had sundry times been broken off by divers untoward accidents. Now Pasimondas, being about to celebrate his own nuptials with the utmost splendour, bethought himself that it were excellently well done if he could procure Ormisdas likewise to take wife on the same occasion, not to resort afresh to expense and festival making. Accordingly, he took up again the parleys with Cassandra's parents and brought them to a successful issue; wherefore he and his brother agreed, in concert with them, that Ormisdas should take Cassandra to wife on the same day whenas himself took Iphigenia. Lysimachus hearing this, it was beyond measure displeasing to him, for that he saw himself bereaved of the hope which he cherished, that, an Ormisdas took her not, he should certainly have her. However, like a wise man, he kept his chagrin hidden and fell to considering on what wise he might avail to hinder this having effect, but could see no way possible save the carrying her off. This seemed easy to him to compass for the office which he held, but he accounted the deed far more dishonourable than if he had not held the office in question. Ultimately, however, after long deliberation, honour gave place to love and he determined, come what might of it, to carry off Cassandra. Then, bethinking himself of the company he must have and the course he must hold to do this, he remembered him of Cimon, whom he had in prison with his comrades, and concluded that he might have no better or trustier companion than Cimon in this affair.

• From The Decameron (1353)

  LANDOLFO RUFFOLO, GROWN POOR, TURNETH CORSAIR AND BEING TAKEN BY THE GENOESE, IS WRECKED AT SEA, BUT SAVETH HIMSELF UPON A COFFER FULL OF JEWELS OF PRICE AND BEING ENTERTAINED IN CORFU BY A WOMAN, RETURNETH HOME RICH Lauretta, who sat next Pampinea, seeing her come to the glorious ending of her story, began, without awaiting more, to speak on this wise: "Most gracious ladies, there can, to my judgment, be seen no greater feat of fortune than when we behold one raised from the lowest misery to royal estate, even as Pampinea's story hath shown it to have betided her Alessandro. And for that from this time forth whosoever relateth of the appointed matter must of necessity speak within these limits,[91] I shall think no shame to tell a story, which, albeit it compriseth in itself yet greater distresses hath not withal so splendid an issue. I know well, indeed, that, having regard unto that, my story will be hearkened with less diligence; but, as I can no otherwise, I shall be excused. [Footnote 91: _i.e._ cannot hope to tell a story presenting more extraordinary shifts from one to the other extreme of human fortune than that of Pampinea.] The sea-coast from Reggio to Gaeta is commonly believed to be well nigh the most delightful part of Italy, and therein, pretty near Salerno, is a hillside overlooking the sea, which the countryfolk call Amalfi Side, full of little towns and gardens and springs and of men as rich and stirring in the matter of trade as any in the world. Among the said cities is one called Ravello and therein, albeit nowadays there are rich men there, there was aforetime one, Landolfo Ruffolo by name, who was exceeding rich and who, his wealth sufficing him not, came nigh, in seeking to double it, to lose it all and himself withal. This man, then, having, after the usance of merchants, laid his plans, bought a great ship and freighting it all of his own monies with divers merchandise, repaired therewith to Cyprus. There he found sundry other ships come with the same kind and quality of merchandise as he had brought, by reason of which not only was he constrained to make great good cheap of his own venture, but it behoved him, an he would dispose of his goods, well nigh to throw them away, whereby he was brought near unto ruin.

• From History of the Christian Church: The Complete Set of Eight Volumes (1858)

  The Elector appointed Luther, Melanchthon, Jonas, Spalatin, and Myconius, besides some prominent laymen, among the visitors. They carried on their work in 1528 and 1529. They found the churches in a most deplorable condition, which was inherited from the times of the papacy, and aggravated by the abuse of the liberty of the Reformation. Pastors and people had broken loose from all restraint, churches and schools were in ruins, the ministers without income, ignorant, indifferent, and demoralized. Some kept taverns, were themselves drunkards, and led a scandalous life. The people, of course, were no better. "The peasants," wrote Luther to Spalatin, "learn nothing, know nothing, and abuse all their liberty. They have ceased to pray, to confess, to commune, as if they were bare of all religion. As they despised popery, so they now despise us. It is horrible to behold the administration of the popish bishops."735 The strong arm of the law was necessary. Order was measurably restored. The property of churches and convents was devoted to the endowment of parishes and schools, and stipends for theological students (1531). The appointment of ministers passed into the hands of the Elector. The visitations were repeated from time to time under the care of regular superintendents and consistories which formed the highest ecclesiastical Councils, under the sovereign as the supreme bishop. In this way, the territorial state-church government was established and order restored in Saxony, Hesse, Braunschweig-Lüneburg, Mecklenburg, East Friesland, Silesia, and other Protestant sovereignties of Germany. § 89. Luther’s Catechisms. 1529. I. Critical editions of Luther’s Catechisms in his Works, Erl. ed., vol. XXI. (contains the two catechisms and some other catechetical writings); by Mönckeberg (Hamburg, 1851, second ed. 1868); Schneider (Berlin, 1853, a reprint of the standard ed. of 1531 with a critical introduction); Theodos. Harnack (Stuttgart, 1856; a reprint of two editions of 1529 and 1539, and a table of the chief textual variations till 1842); Zezschwitz (Leipz. 1881); Calinich (Leipz. 1882). See titles in Schaff: Creeds of Christendom, I. 245. The Catechisms are also printed in the editions of the Symbolical Books of the Lutheran Church, and the Little (or Small) Catechism, with English translation, in Schaff’s Creeds, etc., vol. III. 74–92. The text in the Book of Concord is unreliable, and should be compared with the works mentioned. II. Discussions on the history and merits of Luther’s Catech., by Köcher, Augusti, Veesenmeyer, Zezschwitz , and others, quoted by Schaff, l.c. 245. Add Köstlin: M. L., bk. VI. ch. IV. (II. 50–65).

• From The Decameron (1353)

  But it befell altogether otherwise than as she conceived, for that, the wind being northerly and very light and there being well nigh no sea, the boat rode it out in safety and brought her on the morrow, about vespers, to a beach near a town called Susa, a good hundred miles beyond Tunis. The girl, who, for aught that might happen, had never lifted nor meant to lift her head, felt nothing of being ashore more than at sea;[272] but, as chance would have it, there was on the beach, whenas the bark struck upon it, a poor woman in act to take up from the sun the nets of the fishermen her masters, who, seeing the bark, marvelled how it should be left to strike full sail upon the land. Thinking that the fishermen aboard were asleep, she went up to the bark and seeing none therein but the damsel aforesaid, who slept fast, called her many times and having at last aroused her and knowing her by her habit for a Christian, asked her in Latin how she came there in that bark all alone. The girl, hearing her speak Latin, misdoubted her a shift of wind must have driven her back to Lipari and starting suddenly to her feet, looked about her, but knew not the country, and seeing herself on land, asked the good woman where she was; to which she answered, 'Daughter mine, thou art near unto Susa in Barbary.' The girl, hearing this, was woeful for that God had not chosen to vouchsafe her the death she sought, and being in fear of shame and knowing not what to do, she seated herself at the foot of her bark and fell a-weeping. [Footnote 272: _i.e._ knew not whether she was ashore or afloat, so absorbed was she in her despair.] The good woman, seeing this, took pity upon her and brought her, by dint of entreaty, into a little hut of hers and there so humoured her that she told her how she came thither; whereupon, seeing that she was fasting, she set before her her own dry bread and somewhat of fish and water and so besought her that she ate a little. Costanza after asked her who she was that she spoke Latin thus; to which she answered that she was from Trapani and was called Carapresa and served certain Christian fishermen there. The girl, hearing the name of Carapresa, albeit she was exceeding woebegone and knew not what reason moved her thereunto, took it unto herself for a good augury to have heard this name[273] and began to hope, without knowing what, and somewhat to abate of her wish to die. Then, without discovering who or whence she was, she earnestly besought the good woman to have pity, for the love of God, on her youth and give her some counsel how she might escape any affront being offered her.

• From The Decameron (1353)

  The news was brought to Lipari, not by one or by two, but by many and divers persons, that he and all on board the bark had been drowned; whereupon the girl, who had been beyond measure woebegone for her lover's departure, hearing that he was dead with the others, wept sore and resolved in herself to live no longer; but, her heart suffering her not to slay herself by violence, she determined to give a new occasion[270] to her death.[271] Accordingly, she issued secretly forth of her father's house one night and betaking herself to the harbour, happened upon a fishing smack, a little aloof from the other ships, which, for that its owners had but then landed therefrom, she found furnished with mast and sail and oars. In this she hastily embarked and rowed herself out to sea; then, being somewhat skilled in the mariner's art, as the women of that island mostly are, she made sail and casting the oars and rudder adrift, committed herself altogether to the mercy of the waves, conceiving that it must needs happen that the wind would either overturn a boat without lading or steersman or drive it upon some rock and break it up, whereby she could not, even if she would, escape, but must of necessity be drowned. Accordingly, wrapping her head in a mantle, she laid herself, weeping, in the bottom of the boat. [Footnote 270: Lit. necessity (_necessità_).] [Footnote 271: _i.e._ to use a new (or strange) fashion of exposing herself to an inevitable death (_nuova necessità dare alla sua morte_).]

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  And c He has said, “I will rise, I will cover that land; I will certainly destroy the city and its inhabitants.” 9 Charge, you horses, And drive like madmen, you chariots! Let the warriors go forward: Ethiopia and Put (Libya) who handle the shield, And the Lydians who handle and bend the bow. 10 For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of hosts, A day of vengeance, that He may avenge Himself on His adversaries. And the sword will devour and be satiated And drink its fill of their blood; For the Lord GOD of hosts has a sacrifice [like that of a great sin offering] In the north country by the river Euphrates. 11 Go up to Gilead and obtain [healing] balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt! In vain you use many medicines; For you there is no healing or remedy. 12 The nations have heard of your disgrace and shame, And your cry [of distress] has filled the earth. For warrior has stumbled against warrior, And both of them have fallen together. 13 The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt: 14 “Declare in Egypt and proclaim in d Migdol, And proclaim in e Memphis and in Tahpanhes; Say, ‘Take your stand and get yourself ready, For the sword has devoured those around you.’ 15 “Why have your strong ones been cut down? They do not stand because the LORD drove them away. 16 “He will make many stumble and fall; Yes, they have fallen one on another. Then they said, ‘Arise, and let us go back To our own people and to the land of our birth, Away from the sword of the oppressor.’ 17 “They cried there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is destroyed and is merely a loud noise; He has let the appointed time [of opportunity] pass by!’ 18 “As I live,” says the King, Whose name is the LORD of hosts, “Surely like f Tabor among the mountains Or like Carmel by the sea, So shall he [the great king of Babylon] come. 19 “O you daughter who dwells in Egypt and you who dwell with her, Prepare yourselves [with all you will need] to go into exile, For Memphis will become desolate; It will even be burned down and without inhabitant. 20 “Egypt is a very pretty heifer, But a horsefly (Babylonia) is coming [against her] out of the north! 21 “Also her mercenaries in her army Are like fattened calves, For they too have turned back and have fled together; They did not stand [their ground], Because the day of their disaster has come upon them, The time of their punishment. 22 “The sound [of Egypt fleeing from the enemy] is like [the rustling of] an escaping serpent, For her foes advance with a mighty army And come against her like woodcutters with axes.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  9 If I say, “I will not remember Him Or speak His name anymore,” Then my heart becomes a burning fire Shut up in my bones. And I am weary of enduring and holding it in; I cannot endure it [nor contain it any longer]. 10 For I have heard the whispering and defaming words of many, “Terror on every side! Denounce him! Let us denounce him!” All my familiar and trusted friends, [Those who are] watching for my fall, say, “Perhaps he will be persuaded and deceived; then we will overcome him, And take our revenge on him.” 11 But the LORD is with me as a dread champion [one to be greatly feared]; Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not overcome [me]. They will be completely shamed, for they have not acted wisely and have failed [in their schemes]; Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten. 12 But, O LORD of hosts, You who examine the righteous, Who see the heart and the mind, Let me see Your vengeance on them; For to You I have committed my cause. 13 Sing to the LORD ! Praise the LORD ! For He has rescued the life of the needy one From the hand of evildoers. 14 Cursed be the day on which I was born; Do not bless the day on which my mother gave birth to me! 15 Cursed be the man who brought the news To my father, saying, “A son has been born to you!” Making him very glad. 16 And let that man be like the cities Which the LORD overthrew without regret. Let him hear an outcry in the morning And a shout of alarm at noon; 17 Because he did not kill me before my birth, So that my mother might have been my grave, And her womb always pregnant. 18 Why did I come out of the womb To see trouble and sorrow, So that my days have been filled with shame? Jeremiah 21 Jeremiah’s Message for Zedekiah 1 T HE WORD which came to Jeremiah from the LORD when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the priest the son of Maaseiah, saying, 2 “Please inquire of the LORD for us, because a Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the LORD will deal [favorably] with us according to all His wonderful works and force him to withdraw from us.” 3 Then Jeremiah said to them, “Say this to Zedekiah: 4 ‘Thus says the LORD , the God of Israel, “Behold, I will turn back and dull the edge of the weapons of war that are in your hands, [those] with which you fight against the king of Babylon and the b Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls; and I will bring them into the center of this city (Jerusalem).

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  18 “The offspring of your body and the produce of your land, the offspring of your herd and the young of your flock will be cursed. 19 “You will be cursed when you come in and you will be cursed when you go out. 20 “The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke in everything that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed, perishing quickly because of the evil of your deeds, because you have d turned away from Me. 21 “The LORD will make the pestilence and plague cling to you until He has consumed and eliminated you from the land which you are entering to possess. 22 “The LORD will strike you with consumption [causing you to waste away] and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with the sword and with blight and with mildew [on your crops]; and they will pursue you until you perish. 23 “The heaven which is over your head shall be bronze [giving no rain and blocking all prayers], and the earth which is under you, iron [hard to plow and yielding no produce]. 24 “The LORD will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it will come down on you until you are destroyed. 25 “The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you will go out against them one way, but flee before them seven ways, and you will be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth [when they see your destruction]. [2 Chr 29:8 ] 26 “Your carcasses will be food for all the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 27 “The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors and with the scab and the itch that you cannot heal. 28 “The LORD will strike you with madness and with blindness and with bewilderment of heart and mind; 29 and you will be groping at noon [in broad daylight], just as the blind grope in the darkness, and nothing you do will prosper; but you will only be oppressed and exploited and robbed continually, with no one to save you. 30 “You will be pledged to marry a wife, but another man will be intimate with her [before you]; you will build a house, but you will not live in it; you will plant a vineyard, but you will not use its fruit. 31 “Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat any of it; your donkey will be torn away from you, and it will not be returned to you; your sheep will be given to your enemies, and you will have no one to save you. 32 “Your sons and daughters will be given to another people, while your eyes look on and long for them continually; but there will be nothing you can do.

• From The Well of Loneliness (1928)

  Yet she, Puddle, was actually grateful to this man; so dire were their straits that she was grateful to Brockett. Then came the remembrance of that other man, of Martin Hallam—she had had such high hopes. He had been very simple and honest and good—Puddle felt that there was much to be said for goodness. But for such as Stephen men like Martin Hallam could seldom exist; as friends they would fail her, while she in her turn would fail them as lover. Then what remained? Jonathan Brockett? Like to like. No, no, an intolerable thought! Such a thought as that was an outrage on Stephen. Stephen was honourable and courageous; she was steadfast in friendship and selfless in loving; intolerable to think that her only companions must be men and women like Jonathan Brockett—and yet—after all what else? What remained? Loneliness, or worse still, far worse because it so deeply degraded the spirit, a life of perpetual subterfuge, of guarded opinions and guarded actions, of lies of omission if not of speech, of becoming an accomplice in the world’s injustice by maintaining at all times a judicious silence, making and keeping the friends one respected, on false pretences, because if they knew they would turn aside, even the friends one respected. Puddle abruptly controlled her thoughts; this was no way to be helpful to Stephen. Sufficient unto the day was the evil thereof. Getting up she went into her bedroom where she bathed her face and tidied her hair. ‘I look scarcely human,’ she thought ruefully, as she stared at her own reflection in the glass; and indeed at that moment she looked more than her age. 4 It was not until nearly the middle of July that Brockett took Stephen to Valérie Seymour’s. Valérie had been away for some time, and was even now only passing through Paris en route for her villa at St. Tropez. As they drove to her apartment on the Quai Voltaire, Brockett began to extol their hostess, praising her wit, her literary talent. She wrote delicate satires and charming sketches of Greek mœurs—the latter were very outspoken, but then Valérie’s life was very outspoken—she was, said Brockett, a kind of pioneer who would probably go down to history. Most of her sketches were written in French, for among other things Valérie was bilingual; she was also quite rich, an American uncle had had the foresight to leave her his fortune; she was also quite young, being just over thirty, and according to Brockett, good-looking. She lived her life in great calmness of spirit, for nothing worried and few things distressed her. She was firmly convinced that in this ugly age one should strive to the top of one’s bent after beauty. But Stephen might find her a bit of a free lance, she was libre penseuse when it came to the heart; her love affairs would fill quite three volumes, even after they had been expurgated.

• From The Well of Loneliness (1928)

  to face this terrible freedom. Like a vine that clings to a warm southern wall it had clung to her father — it still clung to Morton. In the spring had come gentle and nurturing rains, in the summer the strong and health-giving sunshine, in the winter a deep, soft covering of snow — cold yet protecting the delicate tendrils. All, all she had had. She had never gone empty of love in the days of her youthful ardour; had never known longing, shame, degra- dation, but rather great joy and great pride in her loving. Her love had been pure in the eyes of the world, for she had been able to indulge it with honour. Still with honour, she had borne a child to her mate — but a child who, unlike her, must go un- fulfilled all her days, or else live in abject dishonour. Oh, but a hard and pitiless woman this mother must be for all her soft beauty; shamelessly finding shame in her offspring. “I would rather see you dead at my feet. . . . ‘ Too late, too late, your love gave me life. Here am I the creature you made through your loving; by your passion you created the thing that I am. Who are you to deny me the right to love? But for you I need never have known existence.’ And now there crept into Stephen’s brain the worst torment of all, a doubt of her father. He had known and knowing he had not told her; he had pitied and pitying had not protected; he had feared and fearing had saved only himself. Had she had a coward for a father? She sprang up and began to pace the room. Not this — she could not face this new torment. She had stained her love, the love of the lover — she dared not stain this one thing that remained, the love of the child for the father. If this light went out the engulfing darkness would consume her, destroying her entirely. Man could not live by darkness alone, one point of light he must have for salvation — one point of light. The most perfect Being of all had cried out for light in His darkness — even He, the most perfect Being of all. And then as though in answer to prayer, to some prayer that her trembling lips had not uttered, came the memory of a patient, protective back, bowed as though bearing another’s burden. Came the memory of horrible, soul- sickening pain: “ No~ not that — something urgent-I want- THE WELL OF LONELINESS 209 to say. No drugs —I know I’m — dying — Evans.’ And again an heroic and tortured effort: ‘ Anna — it’s Stephen — listen.’ Stephen suddenly held out her arms to this man who, though dead, was still her father.

• From The Well of Loneliness (1928)

  Wanda would make her way to the statue of the silver Christ with one hand on His heart, and the other held out in supplica- tion. Kneeling down she would sign herself with His Cross, then cover her eyes and forget about Stephen. Standing quietly behind her Stephen would wonder what Wanda was saying to the silver Christ, what the silver Christ was saying to Wanda. She would think that He looked very weary, this Christ Who must listen to so many supplications. Queer, unbidden thoughts came to her at such moments; this Man Who was God, a God THE WELL OF LONELINESS 435 Who waited, could He answer the riddle of Wanda’s existence, of her own existence? If she asked, could He answer? What if she were suddenly to cry out loudly: ‘ Look at us, we are two yet we stand for many. Our name is legion and we also are waiting, we also are tired, oh, but terribly tired . . . Will You give us some hope of ultimate release? Will You tell us the secret of our salvation? Wanda would rise from her prayers rather stiffly to purchase a couple of votive candles, and when she had stuck them into the sconce she would touch the foot of the silver Christ as she bade Him farewell—a time-honoured custom. Then she and Stephen might turn again to the lake of fire that fowed round the monstrance.

• From Amplified Holy Bible (2015)

  2 Tola judged Israel for twenty-three years; then he died and was buried in Shamir. 3 After him, Jair the Gileadite arose, and he judged Israel for twenty-two years. 4 He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty towns in the land of Gilead that are called Havvoth-jair (towns of Jair) to this day. 5 And Jair died and was buried in Kamon. 6 Then the Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD ; they served the Baals, the Ashtaroth (female deities), the gods of Aram (Syria), the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. They abandoned the LORD and did not serve Him. 7 So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites, 8 and they oppressed and crushed Israel that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites who were beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. 9 The Ammonites crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was greatly distressed. 10 Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD [for help], saying, “We have sinned against You, because we have abandoned (rejected) our God and have served the Baals.” 11 The LORD said to the Israelites, “Did I not rescue you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, and the Philistines? 12 “Also when the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed and crushed you, you cried out to Me, and I rescued you from their hands. 13 “Yet you have abandoned (rejected) Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer rescue you. 14 “Go, cry out to the gods you have chosen; let them rescue you in your time of distress.” 15 The Israelites said to the LORD , “We have sinned, do to us whatever seems good to You; only please rescue us this day.” 16 So they removed the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD ; and He could bear the misery of Israel no longer. 17 Then the Ammonites were assembled together and they camped in Gilead. And the sons of Israel assembled and camped at Mizpah. 18 The people, the leaders of Gilead (Israel) said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” Judges 11 Jephthah the Ninth Judge 1 N ow Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah.

• From The Decameron (1353)

  Pietro, seeing this, hurriedly caught up his gear and springing on his hackney, addressed himself, as best he might, to flee by the way he had seen his mistress take; but finding her not and seeing neither road nor footpath in the wood neither perceiving any horse's hoof marks, he was the woefullest man alive; and as soon as himseemed he was safe and out of reach of those who had taken him, as well as of the others by whom they had been assailed, he began to drive hither and thither about the wood, weeping and calling; but none answered him and he dared not turn back and knew not where he might come, an he went forward, more by token that he was in fear of the wild beasts that use to harbour in the woods, at once for himself and for his mistress, whom he looked momently to see strangled of some bear or some wolf. On this wise, then, did the unlucky Pietro range all day about the wood, crying and calling, whiles going backward, when as he thought to go forward, until, what with shouting and weeping and fear and long fasting, he was so spent that he could no more and seeing the night come and knowing not what other course to take, he dismounted from his hackney and tied the latter to a great oak, into which he climbed, so he might not be devoured of the wild beasts in the night. A little after the moon rose and the night being very clear and bright, he abode there on wake, sighing and weeping and cursing his ill luck, for that he durst not go to sleep, lest he should fall, albeit, had he had more commodity thereof, grief and the concern in which he was for his mistress would not have suffered him to sleep.

• From The Well of Loneliness (1928)

  Stephen would fling herself down on the bed, completely ex- hausted by the night’s bitter vigil. 3 THERE was some one who went every step of the way with Stephen during those miserable weeks, and this was the faithful and anxious Puddle, who could have given much wise advice had Stephen only confided in her. But Stephen hid her trouble in het heart for the sake of Angela Crossby. With an ever-increasing presage of disaster, Puddle now stuck to the girl lixe a leech, getting little enough in return for her trouble — Stephen deeply resented this close supervision: ‘ Can’t you leave me alone? No, of course I’m not ill!’ she would say, with a quick spurt of temper. But Puddle, divining her illness of spirit together with its cause, seldom left her alone. She was frightened by something in Stephen’s eyes; an incredulous, questioning, wounded expression, as though she were trying to understand why it was that she must be so grievously wounded. Again and again Puddle cursed her THE WELL OF LONELINESS 173 own folly for having shown such open resentment of Angela Crossby; the result was that now Stephen never discussed her, never mentioned her name unless Puddle clumsily dragged it in, and then Stephen would change the subject. And now more than ever Puddle loathed and despised the conspiracy of silence that forbade her to speak frankly. The conspiracy of silence that had sent the girl forth unprotected, right into the arms of this woman. A vain, shallow woman in search of excitement, and caring less than nothing for Stephen. There were times when Puddle felt almost desperate, and one evening she came to a great resolution. She would go to the girl and say: ‘I know. I know all about it, you can trust me, Stephen.’ And then she would counsel and try to give courage: ‘ You're neither unnatural, nor abominable, nor mad; you’re as much a part of what people call nature as anyone else; only you’re un- explained as yet—you’ve not got your niche in creation. But some day that will come, and meanwhile don’t shrink from your- self, but just face yourself calmly and bravely. Have courage; do the best you can with your burden. But above all be honourable. Cling to your honour for the sake of those others who share the same burden. For their sakes show the world that people like you and they can be quite as selfless and fine as the rest of mankind. Let your life go to prove this — it would be a really great life-work, Stephen.’