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
The seed falls to earth. The Holy Ghost rouses, saying: “_Come!_” And
out of the sky come the rays of the sun, and out of earth comes dampness
and dark and the death-stuff. They are called in, like those bidden to a
feast. The sun sits down at the hearth, inside the seed; and the dark,
damp death-returner sits on the opposite side, with the host between.
And the host says to them: “_Come! Be merry together!_” So the sun looks
with desirous curiosity on the dark face of the earth, and the dark damp
one looks with wonder on the bright face of the other, who comes from
the sun. And the host says: “_Here you are at home! Lift me up, between
you, that I may cease to be a Ghost. For it longs me to look out, it
longs me to dance with the dancers._”
So the sun in the seed, and the earthy one in the seed take hands, and
laugh, and begin to dance. And their dancing is like a fire kindled, a
bonfire with leaping flame. And the treading of their feet is like the
running of little streams, down into the earth. So from the dance of the
sun-in-the-seed with the earthy death-returner, green little flames of
leaves shoot up, and hard little trickles of roots strike down. And the
host laughs, and says: “_I am being lifted up! Dance harder! Oh wrestle,
you two, like wonderful wrestlers, neither of which can win._” So
sun-in-the-seed and the death-returner, who is earthy, dance faster and
faster and the leaves rising greener begin to dance in a ring
above-ground, fiercely overwhelming any outsider, in a whirl of swords
and lions’ teeth. And the earthy one wrestles, wrestles with the
sun-in-the-seed, so the long roots reach down like arms of a fighter
gripping the power of earth, and strangles all intruders, strangling any
intruder mercilessly. Till the two fall in one strange embrace, and from
the centre the long flower-stem lifts like a phallus, budded with a bud.
And out of the bud the voice of the Holy Ghost is heard crying: “_I am
lifted up! Lo! I am lifted up! I am here!_” So the bud opens, and there
is the flower poised in the very middle of the universe, with a ring of
green swords below, to guard it, and the octopus, arms deep in earth,
drinking and threatening. So the Holy Ghost, being a dandelion flower,
looks round, and says: “_Lo! I am yellow! I believe the sun has lent me
his body! Lo! I am sappy with golden, bitter blood! I believe death out
of the damp black earth has lent me his blood! I am incarnate! I like my
incarnation! But this is not all. I will keep this incarnation. It is
good! But oh! if I can win to another incarnation, who knows how
wonderful it will be! This one will have to give place. This one can
help to create the next._”
So the Holy Ghost leaves the clue of himself behind, in the seed, and
wanders forth in the comparative chaos of our universe, seeking another
incarnation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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