Aus den Stage-Directions von Eugene O'Neills Desire Under The Elms (1925)

"Two enormous elms are on each side of the house. They bend their trailing branches down over the roof. They appear to protect and at the same time subdue. There is a sinister maternity in their aspect, a crushing, jealous absorption. They have developed from their intimate contact with the life of man in the house an appalling humaneness. They brood oppressively over the house. They are like exhausted women resting their sagging breasts and hands and hair on its roof, and when it rains their tears trickle down monotonously and rot on the shingles."


Während der Symbolismus dieser Zeilen, so hauchzart er auch sein mag, noch die Aufmerksamkeit des Lesers erregen dürfte, ist die erste Szene derart subtil gearbeitet, daß man völlig vergessen könnte, daß es sich hierbei um eine Vermittlung von narrativer Information handelt:

SIMEON--(grudgingly) Purty.
PETER--Ay-eh.
SIMEON--(suddenly) Eighteen years ago.
PETER--What?
SIMEON--Jenn. My woman. She died.

Bin sprachlos.