To begin, the ghost was
"like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man." The spirit seems to embody
the innocence of children and yet possesses the wisdom associated with age: two things we
typically do not think of as going together. Usually as we gain wisdom, we lose our innocence.
The ghost has long, white hair that hangs down its back, but the "tenderest bloom" on
the skin. Its arms are "long and muscular," as though it has a great deal of strength,
and yet its legs are "delicately formed." The spirit is certainly a strange
combination of old and young. It also wears a tunic of whiteagain, as if to symbolize its purity
and innocencetrimmed with "summer flowers," and it carries a "branch of fresh
green holly."
Even more curious is that "from the crown of its
head there sprung a bright clear jet of light," and he carries "a great
extinguisher" as a hat. An extinguisher is the small bell-shaped apparatus, usually at the
end of a long stick, which one would use to...
No comments:
Post a Comment