Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Quotes: Prairie (2)

Impressions of the prairie:


Prairie 40 "All those fall afternoons were the same, but I never got used to them; as far as we could see, the miles of copper-red grass were drenched in sunlight that was stronger and fiercer than at any other time of the day...blond cornfields were red gold, the haystacks turned rosy and threw long shadows...whole prairie was like the bush that burned with fire and was not consumed." Cather, My Ántonia


Prairie 37 "This formless prairie had no heart that beat, no waves that sang, no soul that could be touched…or cared….." Rölvaag, Giants in the Earth.


Prairie 37 "The infinitude surrounding her on every hand might not have been so oppressive, might even have brought her a measure of peace, if it had not been for the deep silence, which lay heavier here than in a church…no warbling of birds rose on the air, no buzzing of insects sounded; even the wind had died away; the waving blades of grass that trembled to the faintest breath now stood erect and quiet, as if listening, in the great hush of the evening." Rölvaag, Giants in the Earth.


Prairie 193 "Before the snow came, Beret thought it delightful to have such [white] walls [inside]; but after there was nothing but whiteness outside—pure whiteness as far as the eye could see and the thought could reach…her eyes were blinded wherever she looked, either outdoors or indoors; the black-brown earthen floor was the only object on which she could rest them comfortably; and so she always looked down now, as she sat in the house." Rölvaag, Giants in the Earth.


Prairie 363 "Even the bravest would find it hard to face and conquer the strangeness of it all [the prairie], the hopeless chill, the overwhelming might of this great solitude." Rölvaag, Giants in the Earth.

No comments: