Quote by Victor Hugo
There, at a depth to which divers would find it difficult to descend, are caverns, haunts, and dusky mazes, where monstrous creatures multiply and destroy each other. Huge crabs devour fish and are devoured in their turn. Hideous shapes of living things, not created to be seen by human eyes wander in this twilight. Vague forms of antennae, tentacles, fins, open jaws, scales, and claws, float about there, quivering, growing larger, or decomposing and perishing in the gloom, while horrible swarms of swimming things prowl about seeking their prey.To gaze into the depths of the sea is, in the imagination, like beholding the vast unknown, and from its most terrible point of view. The submarine gulf is analogous to the realm of night and dreams. There also is sleep, unconsciousness, or at least apparent unconsciousness, of creation. There in the awful silence and darkness, the rude first forms of life, phantomlike, demoniacal, pursue their horrible instincts.
Summary
This quote describes the deep, hidden depths of the sea as a mysterious and eerie realm. It portrays the underwater world as a place where monstrous creatures thrive, consuming and being consumed in an endless cycle. The author uses vivid imagery to depict the peculiar and grotesque inhabitants of the sea, their vague and unsettling shapes moving through the darkness. By comparing the depths of the sea to the realm of night and dreams, the quote suggests that this underwater world is a primordial, subconscious space where life takes on strange and savage forms.
By Victor Hugo
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