Friday, May 21, 2010

Mont Blanc Part II: Following Shelley's Clues

Clue #1


“Two leagues from Neufchâtel we saw the Alps: range after range of black mountains are seen extending one before the other, and far behind all, towering above every feature of the scene, the snowy Alps. They were an hundred miles distant, but reach so high in the heavens, that they look like those accumulated clouds of dazzling white that arrange themselves on the horizon during summer. Their immensity staggers the imagination, and so far surpasses all conception, that it requires an effort of the understanding to believe that they indeed form a part of the earth.”

—“Switzerland,” History of a Six Weeks’ Tour



Clue #2

“Mont Blanc was before us, but it was covered with cloud; its base, furrowed with dreadful gaps, was seen above. Pinnacles of snow intolerably bright, part of the chain connected with Mont Blanc, shone through the clouds at intervals on high. I never knew—I never imagined what mountains were before. The immensity of these serial summits excited, when they suddenly burst upon the sight, a sentiment of extatic wonder, not unallied to madness.”

—July 22nd, letter, History of a Six Weeks’ Tour



Clue #3

“On the other side rises the immense glacier of Montanvert, fifty miles in extent, occupying a chasm among mountains of inconceivable height, and of forms so pointed and abrupt, that they seem to pierce the sky. From this glacier we saw as we sat on a rock, close to one of the streams of the Arveiron, masses of ice detach themselves from on high, and rush with a loud dull noise into the vale. The violence of their fall turned them into powder, which flowed over the rocks in imitation of waterfalls, whose ravines they usurped and filled.”

—July 24th, letter, History of a Six Weeks’ Tour

Mer de Glace
(It has receded a bit since Shelley's day)

Clue #4

“It was nearly noon when I arrived at the top of the ascent. For some time I sat upon the rock that overlooks the sea of ice [Mer de Glace]. A mist covered both that and the surrounding mountains. Presently a breeze dissipated the cloud, and I descended upon the glacier. The surface is very uneven, rising like the waves of a troubled sea, descending low, and interspersed by rifts that sink deep. The field of ice is almost a league in width, but I spent nearly two hours in crossing it. The opposite mountain is a bare perpendicular rock. From the side where I now stood Montanvert was exactly opposite, at the distance of a league; and above it rose Mont Blanc, in awful majesty. I remained in a recess of rock, gazing on this wonderful and stupendous scene. The sea, or rather the vast river of ice, wound among its dependent mountains, whose aerial summits hung over its recesses. Their icy and glittering peaks shone in the sunlight over the clouds. My heart, which was before sorrowful, now swelled with something like joy, I exclaimed—‘Wandering spirits, if indeed ye wander, and do not rest in your narrow beds, allow me this faint happiness, or take me, as your companion, away from the joys of life.’


As I said this, I suddenly beheld the figure of a man, at some distance, advancing towards me with superhuman speed. He bounded over the crevices in the ice, among which I had walked with caution; his stature also, as he approached, seemed to exceed that of a man…I perceived, as the shape came nearer, (sight tremendous and abhorred!) that it was the wretch whom I had created…We crossed the ice, therefore, and ascended the opposite rock. The air was cold, and the rain again began to descend: we entered [the monster’s] hut, the fiend with an air of exultation, I with a heavy heart, and depressed spirits”

—Victor Frankenstein, Frankenstein


(Peak of Mont Blanc... yes, that is an observation tower up there and yes, we were in/on it!)




Tomorrow we will continue following the trail left by Percy, Mary, and Victor to Lucerne, via Interlaken. As this is the direction the creature I glimpsed was heading, I think we are on the right track.

Still not happy with the humans , but making progress despite them,

Parrington

No comments: