1. Allusion

   The disconsolate chimera

   Burnt Norton V · Line 23 · the disconsolate chimera

   The Chimera is the fire-breathing hybrid monster of Greek myth, and by extension any wild illusion. In Flaubert’s The Temptation of Saint Anthony (1874) — a hermit tempted by visions in the desert — the Chimera appears near the end in dialogue with the Sphinx. The association with a desert temptation makes Flaubert a plausible background, though not a certain one. Its loud lament joins the shrieking and chattering voices that assail the Word.

   Interpretive Word & silence

   Sources Gustave Flaubert † (locator to be verified)

   See also The Word in the desert

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