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There now ensued a series of incidents which transported me to the opposite extremes of ecstasy and horror; incidents which I tremble to recall and dare not seek to interpret. No sooner had I crawled beneath the overhanging foliage of the palm, than there dropped from its branches a young child of such beauty as I never beheld before. Though ragged and dusty, this being bore the features of a faun or demigod, and seemed almost to diffuse a radiance in the dense shadow of the tree. It smiled and extended its hand, but before I could arise and speak I heard in the upper air the exquisite melody of singing; notes high and low blent with a sublime and ethereal harmoniousness. The sun had by this time sunk below the horizon, and in the twilight I saw an aureole of lambent light encircled the child's head. Then in a tone of silver it addressed me: 'It is the end. They have come down through the gloaming from the stars. Now all is over, and beyond the Arinurian streams we shall dwell blissfully in Teloe.' As the child spoke, I beheld a soft radiance through the leaves of the palm tree, and rising, greeted a pair whom I knew to be the chief singers among those I had heard. A god and goddess they must have been, for such beauty is not mortal; and they took my hands, saying, 'Come, child, you have heard the voices, and all is well....'

H. P. Lovecraft#31

MysteryVisionChildrenEndSupernatural

About this quote

What does it mean?
The narrator encounters a radiant child in a supernatural setting just before a mysterious event.
In plain terms
A glowing child appears in the dark with singing birds.
What can you take from it?
Beauty can appear briefly before the end.

Where it applies

  • having a vision
  • seeking omens
  • experiencing the uncanny

Putting it to work

  • dream interpretation
  • storytelling
  • religious study

Questions to consider

  • What message would you give?
  • Is the end peaceful?

Another view

The scene is described as a delirious or dream state.

More from H. P. Lovecraft

  1. Some terror in the swishing tall grass seemed added to that of the diabolically pounding sea, and I started up crying aloud and disjointedly, 'Tiger? Tiger? Is…

    Permalink to quote #30
  2. I was obviously floating in the atmosphere; companioned not only by the strange child and the radiant pair, but by a constantly increasing throng of half-lumin…

    Permalink to quote #32
  3. I beheld such a sight as I had never beheld before, and which no living person can have seen save in the delirium of fever or the inferno of opium. The buildin…

    Permalink to quote #29

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