Great Writing Passage for the Day
From the House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton. A searing depiction of existential ennui; the person described is Lily Bart, whom I'm beginning to see as one of the most fascinating characters in modern lit.
"These
thoughts so engaged her that she fell into a gait hardly likely to carry her to
church before the sermon, and at length, having passed from the gardens to the
wood-path beyond, so far forgot her intention as to sink into a rustic seat at
a bend of the walk. The spot was charming, and Lily was not insensible to the
charm, or to the fact that her presence enhanced it; but she was not accustomed
to taste the joys of solitude except in company, and the combination of a
handsome girl and a romantic scene struck her as too good to be wasted. No one,
however, appeared to profit by the opportunity; and after a half hour of
fruitless waiting she rose and wandered on. She felt a stealing sense of
fatigue as she walked; the sparkle had died out of her, and the taste of life
was stale on her lips. She hardly knew what she had been seeking, or why the
failure to find it had so blotted the light from her sky: she was only aware of
a vague sense of failure, of an inner isolation deeper than the loneliness
about her."
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