Sunday, January 23, 2011

MOBY-DICK, Page 538

Title: "Great God! but for one single instant show thyself," cried Starbuck; "never, never wilt thou capture him, old man - In Jesus' name no more of this, that's worse than devil's madness. Two days chased; twice stove to splinters; thy very leg once more snatched from under thee; thy evil shadow gone - all good angels mobbing thee with warnings: - what more wouldst thou have? - Shall we keep chasing this murderous fish till he swamps the last man? Shall we be dragged by him to the bottom of the sea? Shall we be towed by him to the infernal world? Oh, oh, - Impiety and blasphemy to hunt him more!"

12 inches by 8.25 inches
acrylic paint and ink on watercolor paper
January 15, 2011

2 comments:

  1. hey matt. love this. love text in paint, somehow. and this so impactful. as countdown proceeds...

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  2. There are a few places in the novel where I feel that the words, especially words that are spoken by one of the characters, are so important that nothing will do but those words. This was one of those times. Starbuck's plea to Ahab - and remember, at one point Starbuck contemplated putting a bullet in Ahab's head to save himself and the rest of the crew - are so deeply heartfelt, so poignant, and so agonized. I knew that this was what I had to do, and I am delighted with how this turned out.

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