A visionary fantasy set in a far future when the Sun has died; humanity survives in a vast pyramid while dark forces surround it. A man journeys through the Night Land to find the woman he loves, in a tale of love and horror. Its strange atmosphere and archaic prose make it a memorable listen.
For teachers and schools: paste the code into your site or blog.
Cover illustration generated by AI.
Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.
Opening of the book
THE NIGHT LAND
WILLIAM HOPE HODGSON
1912
THE DREAMS THAT ARE ONLY DREAMS
"This to be Love, that your spirit to live in a natural holiness with the
Beloved, and your bodies to be a sweet and natural delight that shall be never lost of a lovely mystery…. And shame to be unborn, and all things to go wholesome and proper, out of an utter greatness of understanding; and the Man to be an Hero and a Child before the
Woman; and the Woman to be an Holy Light of the Spirit and an Utter
Companion and in the same time a glad Possession unto the Man….
And this doth be Human Love…."
"…for this to be the especial glory of Love, that it doth make unto all Sweetness and Greatness, and doth be a fire burning all Littleness; so that did all in this world to have met The Beloved, then did
Wantonness be dead, and there to grow Gladness and Charity, dancing in the years."
Readnara
