The White Ship by HP LovecraftPublished November 1919
Illustration by Jason Thompson
Category: Dream Cycle
Our narrator, Basil Elton*, describes the lighthouse his family has kept for generations:
Past that beacon for a century have swept the majestic barques of the seven seas. In the days of my grandfather there were many; in the days of my father not so many; and now there are so few that I sometimes feel strongly alone, as though I were the last man on our planet.
And so when he alights upon the mysterious White Ship, seen only when the moon is full, on a "bridge of moonbeams" he is taken to a far off dream land of mist shrouded spires and long forgotten cities. This tale is a fantasy triptych through a strange and beautiful (and, yes, ultimately frightening) world - really quite lovely and poetic. Lovecraft was deeply influenced by the Arabian Nights and it's clear this Eastern pastiche of imagined architecture fits right in:
And the houses of the cities of Cathuria are all palaces, each built over a fragrant canal bearing the waters of the sacred Narg.
It's a quick little escapist read. Take a trip on that White Ship.
*Note that the name "Basil Elton" is solidly a British sounding name, which is unsurprising as HPL was a real Anglophile.
~~
I read this story in a lovely, comprehensive volume I found at Barnes & Noble in Union Square, while the wife and daughter were listening to a (very bad) reading hour. It's called Eldritch Tales: A Miscellany of the Macabre from Gollancz. The cover was really nice, leathery with gold leaf print and a wickedly evil illustration on it. The contents seemed pretty comprehensive - it contains all of his lesser known stories and official collaborations (rather than posthumous ones that many anthologies rightfully ignore.)
No comments:
Post a Comment