My position was as utterly hopeless as that of the prisoner in an utter dungeon, whose only light is that of the dungeon above him; the doors were shut and escape was impossible. Dyson made his way slowly along, mingling with the crowd on the cobble-stones, listening to the queer babel of French and German, and Italian and English, glancing now and again at the shop-windows with their levelled batteries of bottles, and had almost gained the end of the street, when his attention was arrested by a small shop at the corner, a vivid contrast to its neighbours. Voted #1 site for Buying Textbooks. Experiment after experiment gave the same result, and I knew, and shrank even as the thought passed through my mind, that in the work I had to do there must be elements which no laboratory could furnish, which no scales could ever measure. One of the tradesmen to whom I spoke said he had known the dead woman well; she used to buy of him such quantities of grocery as were required for their small household, for they never kept a servant, but had a charwoman in occasionally, and she had not seen Mrs. Black for months before she died. The two doctors who made the autopsy were obliged to confess that they could not discover the faintest trace of any kind of foul play; their most exquisite tests and reagents failed to detect the presence of poison in the most infinitesimal quantity. Design, Layout. You have heard of Q, I think. Publisher's Summary. But he sighed with relief when his fingers touched the crumpled surface in an inside pocket, and he drew it out gently and laid it on the little desk by his easy-chair with as much care as if it had been some rare jewel. No one recognizes more decidedly than I do the impassable gulf, the fathomless abyss that separates the world of consciousness from the sphere of matter. ', 'Well, Dyson, I must say that I think you have contrived to surround the whole thing with a mystery of your own making. 'I think you are misled by a too fervid imagination; the mystery of London exists only in your fancy. No, no more; that stuff of yours is pretty strong. What do you think of it? The Great God Pan and The Inmost Light: 1894-00-00: Arthur Machen: John Lane : 168+ 4+ 16 hc? CallOfTheWildIbiblio Call of the Wild My Adventures with Your Money More E. K. Means The Great God Pan Illustrated The Girl from Alsace Up the Orinoco and down the Magdalena 'It was a pretty downright sort of question, and my doctor looked rather taken aback. Explicit, my tale is ended, and you see that though I knew Black, I know nothing of his wife or of the history of her death.That's the Harlesden case, Salisbury, and I think it interests me all the more deeply because there does not seem the shadow of a possibility that I or any one else will ever know more about it. I went again to Harlesden, and passed from one shop to another, making small purchases, and trying to find out whether there was anything about the Blacks which was not already common property, but there was very little to hear. When will you give me the sequel?'. Good God! Search books, movies, branches, programs & more The great god Pan, and, The inmost light. Davies, Mr. Davies, don't say thatdon't for Heaven's sake. Soft grass is very grateful to the feet after the infernal grit strewn on suburban sidewalks, and after walking about for some time I thought I should like to sit down on a bank and have a smoke. And the provoking part of it is that it's the merest nonsensebut, however, I will tell you all about it, by and by. 'What did you do then?' "I live up there," said Black, pointing to the tiles, "not in the frontin the back. Lane, 1895 - 168 pages. Synopsis On the cusp between life and light, between death and destruction. The storm seemed to grow more and more furious; he was wet through, and a new hat had become a ruin, and still Oxford Street seemed as far off as ever; it was with deep relief that the dripping man caught sight of a dark archway which seemed to promise shelter from the rain if not from the wind. During the restaurant dinner he had been forced to listen in almost absolute silence to a strange tissue of improbabilities strung together with the ingenuity of a born meddler in plots and mysteries, and it was with a feeling of weariness that he crossed Shaftesbury Avenue, and dived into the recesses of Soho, for his lodgings were in a modest neighbourhood to the north of Oxford Street. Once her soul was placed in this new vessel, something else suddenly inhabited her body. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Inmost Light and Other Tales by Arthur Machen (English) Paperback Book at the best online prices at eBay! "There's no Mr. Black lives here," she said. ', 'I see you are Dyson, unchanged and unchangeable,' said Salisbury, slowly sipping his Chianti. 48 pages | first published 1894. And yet another. ", '"My dear sir," I said, "you surprise me extremely. Public Domain (P)2017 FNH Audio Unabridged Audiobook Categories: Literature & Fiction Horror Where we fail is for want of Homers, not Agamemnons. I had really a good deal of trouble, but I was successful in a measure. ', 'No; but I have been a good deal bothered for the last few days. But I stick to my opinion, mind you, and I say this also. Harlesden, you know, or I expect you don't know, is quite on the out-quarters of London; something curiously different from your fine old crusted suburb like Norwood or Hampstead, different as each of these is from the other. Of course he wasn't to be found in Harlesden; he had left, I was told, directly after the funeral. Perhaps we might find a cipher of some sort, though I hardly think we shall.'. When at last he held it in his hand, and turned the pages, he found that the first two leaves were blank, but the third was covered with clear, minute writing, and Dyson began to read with the light of the opal flaming in his eyes. "The Inmost Light" is a 1894 short novel by Welsh author and mystic Arthur Machan, originally published along with "The Great God Pan" in John Lane's Keynotes Series. He was a man. Paul Jackson (13) He spoke quite coolly, and never moved a muscle. However, as I have begun, I will go on. It's a poor notion. 1 KentonSem. $15.99. But suddenlyI think indeed it was the work of a single night, as I lay awake on my bed gazing into the darknesssuddenly, I say, the old desire, the former longing, returned, and returned with a force that had been intensified ten times by its absence; and when the day dawned and I looked out of the window, and saw with haggard eyes the sunrise in the east, I knew that my doom had been pronounced; that as I had gone far, so now I must go farther with unfaltering steps. What is your opinion of the matter?". The bizarre quality of the inscription which had annoyed Salisbury was to him an attraction, and now and again he took it up and scanned thoughtfully what he had written, especially the quaint jingle at the end. The gas-lamps were being lighted, and the fifth edition of the evening papers was being howled through the streets, and Dyson, feeling that he wanted quiet, turned away from the clamorous Strand, and began to trend away to the north-west. Dr. Black began to surprise some very odd looks cast in his direction, and the practice, such as it was, fell off before his eyes. An influential writer of supernatural fiction, Arthur Machen was born in Wales, in 1863. . He thanked me for bringing him his hat, saying, "I don't think I should ever have got it, I can't run much now. The Inmost Light, one of Arthur Machen's most disturbing stories, involves a doctor's scientific experiments into occultism, and the vampiric force instigated by his unrelenting curiosity regarding the unseen elements. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. ', 'Exactly. It was a curious thing to say, but of course the jury brought in a verdict of death from natural causes, and, so far as the public was concerned, the case came to an end. Salisbury sat down on the settle by the hearth, and sniffed the mingled fumes of incense and tobacco, wondering and dumb before all this splendour after the green rep and the oleographs, the gilt-framed mirror, and the lustres of his own apartment. It was a Sunday afternoon, one of those few exquisite days that an English climate offers, and half London had strayed out into the fields, north, south, east, and west to smell the scent of the white May, and to see if the wild roses were yet in blossom in the hedges. "He's gone. The few stray passengers who had been loafing rather than walking about the street had scuttered away, like frightened rabbits, to some invisible places of refuge, and though Salisbury whistled loud and long for a hansom, no hansom appeared. Click to read more about The Inmost Light by Arthur Machen. Machen has turned has his back for good on writing society tales. It must have been a beautiful face, no doubt, but I can honestly say that I would not have looked in that face when there was life behind it for a thousand guineas, no, nor for twice that sum. "Well, you must remember that the Harlesden case was very peculiar. Free shipping for many products! Salisbury assented, and the two men sat sipping and smoking reflectively for some minutes before Dyson began. And yet, to put the doctor's opinion on one side, I knew what I had seen. He lifted the bed of wool on which the opal had reclined, and saw beneath, no more jewels, but a little old pocket-book, worn and shabby with use. 'Come to my rooms some evening; say next Thursday. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. Strong character development? The Inmost Light by Arthur Machen It's not a book in and of itself, but it is a story that you'll find in several old books that collect and anthologize Machen's stories. ', 'I know the spot; it's vacant. Moreover, the quiet and the peace I had enjoyed since my marriage had wiled me away to a great extent from places where I knew no peace could dwell. 24/31. As fate or my luck would have it, the door opened and a man came down the steps as I passed by. Then I looked up and saw Dr. Black of Harlesden waiting for me. A horrific transformation and a tinkering with the soul that resulted in her inevitable demise. Not to put too fine a point on it, I have had to confess that what I found out, or thought I found out, amounts in reality to nothing. He gave me an odd sort of glance, as if he were wondering what on earth I or anybody else could care about him, and I left him fumbling with his latch-key. Paperback. said he. Thanks. I am no dealer in unproved theories; what I say I have proved for myself, and at a terrible cost. An uncle died, and proved unexpectedly generous. What are commonly called the pleasures of life had never any attractions for me, and I lived alone in London, avoiding my fellow-students, and in my turn avoided by them as a man self-absorbed and unsympathetic. I don't blame him if he did. See all reviews. The fact is I had an odd kind ofofadventure, I suppose I may call it, that night I saw you, and it has worried me a good deal. 3 Reviews. Design, Layout. Here he composed himself to his morning's occupationthe perusal of a novel that dealt with sport and love in a manner that suggested the collaboration of a stud-groom and a ladies' college. Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Plot Summary submission guide. I didn't know you at first, I didn't indeed. It became a positive pain, like the foolish burden of a music-hall song, everlastingly quoted, and sung at all hours of the day and night, and treasured by the street-boys as an unfailing resource for six months together. I knew very well I had seen what I have tried to describe to you, and I was morally certain that I had seen Mrs. Black. If you knew, if you could even dream of what may be done, of what one or two men have done in this quiet world of ours, your very soul would shudder and faint within you. Jobs at the Library; I think he was justified.". Here's the address. Machen's contribution to literature * Features Machen's rst autobiography - discover the author's early life and rst inspirations * Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres Please note: 'The House of the Hidden Light' cannot appear in this collection due to being Members: Reviews: Popularity: Average rating: Conversations: 17: None: 1,034,229 (3.13) 1: The shop-keeper seems distressed when Dyson appears and relays the rhyme, but gives him the box anyway. '"I suppose you are not a man of science yourself? 19th Century, Comprehensive Exam List, Gothic Literature, Horror, Victorian List, 19th century, Arthur machen, british gothic, dangerous knowledge, decadence, degeneration, fin de siecle, london, pagan, race, science, urban gothic, weird fiction, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. About the Library. The Great God Pan: And the Inmost Light @inproceedings{Machen2007TheGG, title={The Great God Pan: And the Inmost Light}, author={Aruthur Machen}, year={2007} } Aruthur Machen; Published 3 November 2007; Philosophy In an ordinary way, however, Salisbury would have been carried on by the interest of the story up to lunch-time, but this morning he fidgeted in and out of his chair, took the book up and laid it down again, and swore at last to himself and at himself in mere irritation. I had learnt enough of the paths I had begun to tread to know that they were beyond all expression difficult and dangerous, that to persevere meant in all probability the wreck of a life, and that they led to regions so terrible, that the mind of man shrinks appalled at the very thought. Maybe you've already read or have heard of this story. And when I knew this, I knew also on whom this fate would fall; I looked into my wife's eyes. I think you will say I did pretty well when I tell you that within a few weeks I had made myself an intimate friend of Black's. 'The Inmost Light' is a 1894 short novel by Welsh author and mystic Arthur Machan, originally published along with 'The Great God Pan' in John Lane's . Depend upon it, it is mere nonsense, a wanton scribble. ', 'Of course not. But I am afraid, Salisbury, you are incorrigible. The Great God Pan is a horror and fantasy novella by Welsh writer Arthur Machen. 'Yes,' he said at length, 'it was a curious chance, your taking shelter in that archway just as those two went by. The paper happens to land near Salisburys feet. Dyson hailed a passing hansom, and Salisbury turned northward to walk home to his lodgings. 'You low rascal, you mean, contemptible cur,' she went on, after an incoherent storm of curses, 'you think I'm to work and slave for you always, I suppose, while you're after that Green Street girl and drinking every penny you've got? She shuddered, and wept, and called on her dead mother for help, and asked me if I had no mercy, and I could only sigh. the houses don't tumble down before one's eyes, I suppose! It seems to me a dull place enough. I gave the woman half a sovereign for her trouble, and went home thinking of Dr. Black and the epitaph she had made him, and wondering at his strange fancy that he had been robbed. There was nothing more. In the middle of theroadway a strange miscellany of nations sauntered to and fro, for therecab and hansom rarely ventured; and from window over window the in-habitants looked forth in pleased contemplation of the scene. Why, it's Dyson! We seldom hear of a really artistic crime in London, whereas I believe Paris abounds in that sort of thing. Arthur Machen was a leading Welsh author of the 1890s. By the time this preparation had been exhibited, and Salisbury's disturbed feelings had been soothed by a pipe of tobacco, he was able to get into bed in a happy state of vacancy, without a thought of his adventure in the dark archway, or of the weird fancies with which Dyson had seasoned his dinner. 'The Inmost Light' presents Dyson's first-hand account of a story he witnessed - the wife of a famous London doctor is found dead. He went out into the streets, and tried to forget his enemy in the jostling of the crowds and the roar and clatter of the traffic, but presently he would find himself stealing quietly aside, and pacing some deserted byway, vainly puzzling his brains, and trying to fix some meaning to phrases that were meaningless. I think I remember your telling me that you owed five weeks' rent, and that you had parted with your watch for a comparatively small sum. Dyson let the little pocket-book fall, and turned and looked again at the opal with its flaming inmost light, and then with unutterable irresistible horror surging up in his heart, grasped the jewel, and flung it on the ground, and trampled it beneath his heel. That's right; try some of this tobacco. 'Q. This book is one of the most popular novels of Arthur Machen, and has been translated into several other languages around the world. Used for all hardbacks of any size. 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