E.M. Forster: Howard’s End
A brief collection of moments from Howard’s End:
A goblin, with increased malignity, walked quietly over the universe from end to end. Panic and emptiness! Panic and emptiness! Even the flaming ramparts of the world might fall.
Deep down in him something whispered, “This girl would let you kiss her; you might not have such a chance again.”
Yes, the umbrella was the real trouble. Behind Monet and Debussy the umbrella persisted, with the steady beat of a drum. “I suppose my umbrella will be all right,” he was thinking. “I don’t really mind about it. I will think about music instead. I suppose my umbrella will be all right.” Earlier in the afternoon he had worried about seats. Ought he to have paid as much as two shillings? Earlier still he had wondered, “Shall I try to do without a programme?” There had always been something to worry him ever since he could remember, always something that distracted him in the pursuit of beauty. For he did pursue beauty, and, therefore, Margaret’s speeches did flutter away from him like birds.
“Last night, when we were talking up here round the fire, I began to think that the very soul of the world is economic, and that the lowest abyss is not the absence of love, but the absence of coin.”
This entry was posted on Sunday, January 30th, 2005 at 3:36 pm and is tagged with e m forster, beat of a drum, malignity, ramparts, two shillings, emptiness, debussy, goblin, abyss, monet, umbrella, speeches, birds, absence, universe, love, music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback.