Reflections on the death of a porcupine and other essaysLawrence, D. H. (David Herbert)
Philosophy
Reflections on the death of a porcupine and other essays
Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert)
English essays -- 20th century
All the time, these cries take place within the womb, these are the
myriad unborn uttering themselves as they come towards maturity, cry
after cry as the darkness develops itself over the sea of Light, and
flesh is born, and limbs; cry after cry as the light develops within the
darkness, and mind is born, and the consciousness of that which is
outside my own flesh and limbs, and the desire for everlasting life
grows more insistent.
These are the cries of the two adversaries, the two opposites.
First of all the flesh develops in splendour and glory out of the
prolific darkness, begotten by the light it develops to a great triumph,
till it dances naked in glory of itself, before the Ark, naked in glory
of itself in the procession of heroes travelling towards the wise
goddess, the white light, the Mind, the light which the vessel of living
darkness has caught and captured within itself, and holds in triumph.
The flesh of darkness triumphant circles round the treasure of light
which it has enveloped, which it calls Mind, and this is the ecstasy,
the dance before the Ark, the Bacchic delirium.
And then, within the womb, the light grows stronger and finds voice, it
cries out: “Behold, I am free, I am not enveloped within this darkness.
Behold, I am the everlasting light, the Eternity that stretches forward
for ever, utterly the opposite of that darkness which departs backward,
backward for ever. Come over to me, to the light, to the light that
streams into the glorious eternity. For now the darkness is revoked for
ever.”
It is the voice of the unicorn crying in the wilderness, it is the Son
of Man. And behold, in the fight, the unicorn beats the lion, and drives
him out of town.
But all of this is within the Womb. The darkness builds up the warm
shadow of the flesh in splendour and triumph, enclosing the light. This
is the zenith of David and Solomon, and of Assyria and Egypt. Then the
light, wrestling within the vessel, throws up a white gleam of universal
love, which is St. Francis of Assisi, and Shelley.
Then each has reached its maximum of self-assertion. The flesh is made
perfect within the womb, the spirit is at last made perfect also, within
the womb. They are equally perfect, equally supreme, the one adhering to
the infinite darkness of the beginning, the other adhering to the
infinite light of the end.
Yet, within the womb, they are eternally opposite. Darkness stands over
against light, light stands over against dark. The lion is reared
against the unicorn, the unicorn is reared against the lion. One says,
“Behold, the darkness which gave us birth is eternal and infinite: this
we belong to.” The other says, “We are of the Light, which is
everlasting and infinite.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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