“He had been weak enough to let himself be influenced by Jack’s dismay at the childish omen, and by the young man’s death; and although this was in some ways the easiest of his important missions he had a premonition of disaster. He wondered at it, and at his own attachment to life. There were so many exquisite things in it–the smell of the clean sea, the golden light of the westering sun, to say nothing of an eagle soaring on the wind. His strength was not as great as he had supposed.”
Patrick O’Brian, The Surgeon’s Mate
Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City
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