Thus, one of the most noticeable phenomena
connected with opium-eating is the burden of life resting back upon the
heart, which deliberately pulsates the moments of existence, as if the
most momentous issues depended upon each separate throb. But this very
reflux of sensibility will produce great effects at the surface, which
are purely negative. This latter class of effects Homer has indicated
with considerable accuracy, in the ninth Odyssey, (82-105,) where he
notices specifically an air of carelessness regarding external
things,--carelessness as to the mutual interchange of conversation by
question and answer, and as to the ordinary pursuits of life as
disturbing an inward peace. The same characteristics are more fully
developed in Tennyson's "Lotos-Eaters":--
"Branches they bore of that enchanted stem,
Laden with flower and fruit, whereof they gave
To each; but whoso did receive of them,
And taste, to him the gushing of the wave,
Far, far away, did seem to mourn and rave
On alien shores; and if his fellows spake,
His voice was thin, as voices from the grave;
And deaf-asleep he seemed, yet all awake,
And music in his ears his beating heart did make.
Pages:
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342