“The pleasure of hearing that poem arose from more than the satisfaction of strong emotion. It came from containment; from the fact that, after all, we could always turn on the light, and call for our parents if we got scared, and generally revel in the security of being well cared-for. As an adult, it is easier to understand that aching loneliness is stronger even than fear. And that, whatever the historical and cultural trappings of a piece of folklore, there are reasons they persist.”
Read more from Sadie Stein on Sir George Douglas’s “The Strange Visitor” here.
