Description of eclipse in ‘The Eclipse’ by ‘Virginia Woolf ” Virginia Woolf, English novelist, essayist, and critic has beautifully portrayed the natural phenomenon of eclipse. She has also enlightened the importance of the sun. She has narrated the essay dramatically and has regarded sun as an actor that was going to come on the stage to perform as if a drama was going on. The sky served as a stage. She has made the scene vivid and ravishing by the usage of colors, images and similes. The way she has described it is so highly coloured and realistic that the readers visualize the eclipse to be occurring before their eyes.
People were anxiously going towards a hilltop from where all would view the sun with reverence. People had gathered on the hilltop and stood in a straight line that it seemed they were statues standing on the edge of the world. As the sun rose, clouds glowed up. Light gleamed and peered over the rim of the clouds. The sun raced towards the point where eclipse had to take place. But the clouds were impeding it.
The sun with a tremendous speed endeavoured to escape the mist. At some point it came forth then again was shrouded by the fleecy clouds. The sun then appeared hollow as the moon had come in front of it. A substantial proportion of the Sun was covered and the loss of daylight became noticeable. The writer has efficaciously described the sun’s efforts to break free from the cloudy hurdle. She has continuously personified sun as it was putting its best efforts to make its face appear before the world.
The clouds were stifling the sun’s speed. The sanctified twenty-four seconds had begun but still the sun was entrapped and was striving to disencumber itself from the clump of clouds. “Of the twenty-four seconds only five remained, and still he was obscured.” The time of the eclipse was passing and it seemed that the sun was losing. It was continuously obliterated by the clouds.
The colours of the valleys seemed to disappear. Everything was fading as ‘All the colour began to go from the moor.’ The colours were changing, “The blue turned to purple, the white became livid as at the approach of a violent but windless storm. Pink faces went green, and it became colder than ever.” The light and warmth were vanishing. the people felt that something more had to happen. “The shadow growing darker and darker over the moor was like the healing over of a boat, which instead of righting itself at the critical moment turns a little further and then a little further on its side: and suddenly capsizes.” Moon’s shadow swept over the face of the Earth. The visible crescent of the Sun decreased in width until the two disks reached their closest approach.
That was the moment of maximum phase and thus it became totally dark. O dark, dark, dark amid the blaze of noon Irrecoverably dark, total eclipse, Without all hope of day! – SAMSON by John Milton ” The flesh and blood of the world was dead; only the skeleton was left.” Earth had lost all its splendour. It was totally dead. Then gradually the genuflection of light to the darkness began to over and degradation of the grandeur ended. After maximum phase, the crescent of the Sun widened again until the Moon passed out of the Sun’s disk. Then slowly light began to spread everywhere.
Everything was recuperating. The colours were returning. Earlier, when the sun had totally disappeared, earth had lost all its glamour. The people who were standing on the hill and impatiently gazing the sky felt that the earth was a hollow frame work, a fragile shell. It could even have blustered. But steadily the fear got mitigated and the people and their faith got firmed as everything was becoming brightly painted.
Then the world appeared to be full of life. Everything could be viewed clearly. The earth then gave the impression of vivacity. Thus the episode of eclipse, from beginning to end has been unfolded in a style to deepen the impression which exhibit naturalness through out the anecdote..