The Modern Prometheus modern design twist on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein | Page 36

The Modern Prometheus

consolation that I was capable of receiving. They elevated
me from all littleness of feeling, and although they did
not remove my grief, they subdued and tranquillized
it. In some degree, also, they diverted my mind from
the thoughts over which it had brooded for the last
month. I retired to rest at night; my slumbers, as it
were, waited on and ministered to by the assemblance
of grand shapes which I had contemplated during the
day. They congregated round me; the unstained snowy
mountaintop, the glittering pinnacle, the pine woods,
and ragged bare ravine, the eagle, soaring amidst the
clouds—they all gathered round me and bade me be at
peace.

Where had they fled when the next morning
I awoke? All of soul- inspiriting fled with sleep, and
dark melancholy clouded every thought. The rain was
pouring in torrents, and thick mists hid the summits of
the mountains, so that I even saw not the faces of those
mighty friends. Still I would penetrate their misty veil
and seek them in their cloudy retreats. What were rain
and storm to me? My mule was brought to the door,
and I resolved to ascend to the summit of Montanvert. I
remembered the effect that the view of the tremendous
and ever-moving glacier had produced upon my mind
when I first saw it. It had then filled me with a sublime
ecstasy that gave wings to the soul and allowed it to
soar from the obscure world to light and joy. The sight of
the awful and majestic in nature had indeed always the
effect of solemnizing my mind and causing me to forget
the passing cares of life. I determined to go without a
guide, for I was well acquainted with the path, and the
presence of another would destroy the solitary grandeur
of the scene.
The ascent is precipitous, but the path is cut into

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