![]() At the same time, it is the chanticleer-note to the ghost that has so long overawed us. The clock strikes, and is the knell of our welfare. It must, it shall be undertaken to-day, and yet we put it off until to-morrow, and why? There is no answer, except that we feel perverse, using the word with no comprehension of the principle. The most important crisis of our life calls, trumpet-tongued, for immediate energy and action. We know that it will be ruinous to make delay. ![]() We have a task before us which must be speedily performed. The phrase has a long history in literature, and was popularized (and perhaps coined) by Edgar Allan Poe in his short story, " The Imp of the Perverse". The impulse is compared to an imp (a small demon) which leads an otherwise decent person into mischief, and occasionally to their death. The Imp of the Perverse is a metaphor for the urge to do exactly the wrong thing in a given situation for the sole reason that it is possible for wrong to be done. For the short story by Edgar Allan Poe, see The Imp of the Perverse (short story). ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |