Egypt and its monuments . e fasci-, nate as beautiful women fascinate; some charmas a child may charm, naively, simply, but irre-sistibly. Some, like conquerors, men of blood and iron,without bowels of mercy, pitiless and determined, strikeawe to the soul, mingled with the almost gasping ad-miration that power wakes in man. Some bring asense of heavenly peace to the heart. Some, like cer-tain temples of the Greeks, by their immense dignity,speak to the nature almost as music speaks, and changeanxiety to trust. Some tug at the hidden chords ofromance and rouse a trembling response. Some seemto
Egypt and its monuments . e fasci-, nate as beautiful women fascinate; some charmas a child may charm, naively, simply, but irre-sistibly. Some, like conquerors, men of blood and iron,without bowels of mercy, pitiless and determined, strikeawe to the soul, mingled with the almost gasping ad-miration that power wakes in man. Some bring asense of heavenly peace to the heart. Some, like cer-tain temples of the Greeks, by their immense dignity,speak to the nature almost as music speaks, and changeanxiety to trust. Some tug at the hidden chords ofromance and rouse a trembling response. Some seemto be mingling their tears with the tears of the dead;some their laughter with the laughter of the traveler, sailing up the Nile, holds intercourse withmany of these different personalities. He is sad, per-haps, as I was with Denderah; dreams in the sun withAbydos; muses with Luxor beneath the little, taperingminaret whence the call to prayer drops down to beanswered by the angelus bell; falls into a reverie in 66. KARNAK the thinking place of Rameses II, near to the giantthat was once the mightiest of all Egyptian statues;eagerly wakes to the fascination of record at Deir-el-Bahari; worships in Edfu; by Philas is carried into arealm of delicate magic, where engineers are prompts him to a different mood; each wakes inhis nature a different response. And at Karnak whatis he? What mood enfolds him there? Is he sad,thoughtful, awed, or gay? An old lady, in a helmet and other things consideredno doubt by her as suited to Egypt rather than to her-self, remarked in my hearing, with a Scotch accent andan air of summing up, that Karnak was very nice in-deed. There she was wrong—Scotch and is not nice. No temple that I have seen upjonthe banks of the Nile is nice. And Karnak cannot besummed up in a phrase or in many phrases; cannoteven be adequately described in few or many words. Long ago I saw it lighted up with colored fires onenight for the khedive, i
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