a lamentable ruin in the searching glare

[Caorthine]

More "poetic" prose that I don't understand. Could someone please explain to me what the author means by a lamentable ruin in the searching glare.


His face, a livid brown, with red blotches of anger and lips sunken in like an old man's, was a lamentable ruin in the searching glare.


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[BobK]

I suspect the phrase 'lamentable ruin' is a quote (sounds Biblical, though I can't place it; nearest I get is this Calvin commentary on Isaiah: Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. 15: Isaiah, Part III: Chapter 35 ).

b

[Anglika]

Looking at the passage, the glare of the electric light at the end of the wharf reveals the ruined nature of Mr Royall's pale and blotched face.

I agree that there may well be a Biblical reference in the term "lamentable ruin", though I feel Wharton is more concerned with the physical state of Royall's face than a metaphysical meaning.

[Caorthine]

Looking at the passage, the glare of the electric light at the end of the wharf reveals the ruined nature of Mr Royall's pale and blotched face.

I agree that there may well be a Biblical reference in the term "lamentable ruin", though I feel Wharton is more concerned with the physical state of Royall's face than a metaphysical meaning.

Yes, I think you're right, Anglika. It's not very hard to visualize his drunken face in that kind of light. Thanks.