The Sublime and the Dreadful

Where it surfaces

• The Affliction of Childhood

  The narrator contrasts the sublime beauty of summer with the dread of death, and describes the funeral service as a 'final artillery of woe,' blending awe and terror.

• The English Mail-Coach

  The overwhelming power and beauty of the mail-coach's motion, combined with the terror of potential accidents, embody the sublime.

• The Glory of Motion

  The mail-coach is described with 'terror and terrific beauty,' and the chapter juxtaposes the glory of victory with the grief of personal loss, as seen in the mourning lady and the anxious mother.

• Going Down with Victory

  The chapter juxtaposes the sublime spectacle of the mail-coach procession—laurels, cheers, and national pride—with the dreadful personal grief of a mother in mourning and the anxiety of a woman whose son is in the army.

• II: The Vision of Sudden Death

  The sudden appearance of Death amid a peaceful summer night exemplifies the sublime terror of mortality.

• I

  The vision of summer beauty and revelry is abruptly overshadowed by a sense of ruin and death, as the pinnace disappears and a ship is about to founder.

• II

  The chapter vividly portrays the sublime terror of the sea and storm, with towering waves, mists forming cathedral aisles, and the frigate's perilous flight.

• III

  The dream blends the sublime beauty of the girl and the white roses with the dreadful horror of the quicksand swallowing her.

• IV

  The chapter juxtaposes the grandeur of the cathedral and the joy of victory with the horror of the child's potential doom and the frozen bas-relief.

• V

  The vision of the cathedral, the music, and the mingling of life and death evoke both awe and terror.

• The Palimpsest of the Human Brain

  The near-death experience of drowning and the resurrection of memories evoke both awe and terror.

• Vision of Life

  The chapter explores the dreadful aspects of birth and self-dominion as necessary foundations for perfect rapture, illustrating the sublime through the union of terror and beauty.

• Levana and Our Ladies of Sorrow

  The Sorrows are described as Sublime Goddesses, embodying both awe-inspiring grandeur and terrifying darkness.

• The Dark Interpreter

  The Dark Interpreter embodies the sublime and dreadful aspects of the human spirit, projecting visions of pain and woe.

• Savannah-La-Mar

  The chapter vividly portrays the sublime horror of a city destroyed by earthquake and preserved underwater, blending beauty with terror.

• Endnotes

  The Brocken spectre is described as a sublime and dreadful apparition, a Titan among apparitions, and the Obeah magic evokes ghostly terrors.