Suspiria de Profundis · Chapters

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Chapter companions for Suspiria de Profundis by Thomas De Quincey.

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Chapter 1
Editor's Preface
The preface outlines the complex publication history of Thomas De Quincey's Suspiria de Profundis, originally published in Blackwood's Magazine in 1845 as a sequel to Confessions of an English Opium-Eater. It details the various editions, including the Collected Works versions and posthumous publications, and explains the editorial choices made for this digital transcription, such as the ordering suggested by Alexander H. Japp and the removal of a duplicated paragraph.
Chapter 2
Suspiria de Profundis
In this deeply introspective chapter, the narrator explores the profound depths of human suffering and the subconscious, weaving together personal grief, childhood afflictions, and sublime visions. Through a series of dream-like episodes and moral reflections, he contemplates the nature of sorrow, memory, and the divine order, ultimately finding a paradoxical beauty in the dreadful and the sublime.
Chapter 3
Dreaming
De Quincey reflects on the grandeur of human dreams and the faculty of dreaming, arguing that it is a powerful but neglected capacity that requires solitude and often opium to fully develop. He explains that his own dreams were shaped by two agencies: childhood afflictions and opium, which together amplified the intensity and reality of his dream visions. He describes the terrifying expansion of time and space in dreams, and concludes with a note on the lost balance of his narrative due to printing accidents.
Chapter 4
The Affliction of Childhood
The narrator recounts the profound grief following his sister's death, describing his secret visit to her chamber and the intense emotional and philosophical reflections on death, memory, and the sublime. He explores the interplay between summer's vitality and death's sterility, the power of childhood love, and the transformative effect of grief, culminating in a meditation on the funeral service and his own moral change.
Chapter 5
The English Mail-Coach
This chapter recounts the author's experiences with the English mail-coach system, exploring its speed, grandeur, and the profound emotional and symbolic impact it had on him. It weaves together personal memories, historical events like the delivery of the Waterloo news, and vivid dreams, reflecting on themes of time, mortality, and the sublime.

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Editor's Preface

Suspiria de Profundis

Dreaming

The Affliction of Childhood

The English Mail-Coach