
E-text prepared by D Alexander, Juliet Sutherland,
DEATH - BY - MAURICE MAETERLINCK - TRANSLATED BY - ALEXANDER TEIXEIRA DE MATTOS
NEW YORK - DODD, MEAD & COMPANY - 1912
DEATH - I - OUR IDEA OF DEATH
II. A PRIMITIVE IDEA
III. WE MUST ENLIGHTEN AND ESTABLISH OUR IDEA OF DEATH
IV. WE MUST RID DEATH OF THAT WHICH GOES BEFORE
V. THE PANGS OF DEATH MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO MAN ALONE
VI. THE MISTAKE OF THE DOCTORS IN PROLONGING THE PANGS OF DEATH
VII. THEIR ARGUMENTS
In this contemplative essay, the author invites listeners to examine the single certainty that shapes every human life: death. Moving beyond superstition and societal chatter, he dissects the ways we dodge the subject, letting fear deepen the void it creates. By framing mortality as the most honest mirror of existence, the piece sets a tone of quiet courage and relentless curiosity.
He argues that true understanding demands meeting death head‑on, shedding the instinctual reflex to hide behind distraction. The essay weaves philosophy, poetry, and a probing psychological insight, urging readers to replace dread with a luminous, if unsettling, awareness of life’s finite span. Listeners will find a gentle yet persuasive call to reframe the inevitable as a source of meaning rather than mere terror.
Language
en
Duration
~1 hours (60K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Release date
2010-02-22
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1862–1949
A quiet, dreamlike voice in European literature, this Belgian writer helped shape Symbolist drama and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911. His plays and essays often turn simple images—silence, fate, light, bees, blue birds—into something haunting and memorable.
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