Spiritual Darkness.^119
shares his solitude. The human faces that
smiledonhimhavevanished; thehumanvoices
that cheered him are silent: the human love
thatcaressedhimhasgrownchill. His"lovers
and friendsare putawayfrom" him; and no
wordsofcomfort reach him across the deadly
stillness. To moveforward,when theground
on whichthe footmust be plantedisinvisible,
feelsasifheweresteppingoveraprecipice,and
adullsurgingof wavesatafardepthseemsto
threaten destruction, while their verydistance
belowintensifiesthenearersilence. Heavenis
shutoutaswellas earth; sun,moon andstars
havevanished,and noglimmeroftheirradiance
pierces the gloom from above. He feels as
though suspended in an abyss of nothingness,
andas though hewould shortlypass intothat
nothingness himself; his flameof life seemstoflickerin the darkness,as though,in sympathy
with the universal gloom,it would itself cease
to shine. The "horrorof great darkness" is
upon him, paralysing every energy, crushing
everyhope. Godandmanhave desertedhim
- heisalone,alone.