The Facts on File Dictionary of Allusions - Green Valley High School

wrath to come A future punishment or revenge.
<strong>The</strong> phrase is biblical in origin, appearing in Matthew
3:7, Luke 3:7, and 1 <strong>The</strong>ssalonians 1:10,
referring each time to the wrath of God for sinners
at judgment day. “Must I beg to him then?
Must I kneel to him? Must I ask him to save me
from the wrath to come?” (Anthony Trollope, Lady
Anna, 1874).
Wreck of the Hesperus (hespbrbs) An appalling
disaster or other dreadful event or sight. <strong>The</strong> allusion
is to a shipwreck that occurred off the coast
of Massachusetts in 1839, when the schooner Hesperus
struck an offshore reef and was lost. <strong>The</strong>
event was commemorated in a famous poem,
“<strong>The</strong> Wreck of the Hesperus” (1840), which
became a favorite choice for public recital during
the Victorian period: “It was the schooner Hesperus,
/ That sailed the wintry sea; / And the skipper
had taken his little daughter, / To bear him company.”
She staggered out of the swamp looking like the
wreck of the Hesperus.
writing on the wall A warning of imminent catastrophe
or failure. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to the biblical story
of belshazzar’s feast, which relates how King
Belshazzar entertained a thousand nobles at a magnifi
cent banquet at the royal palace, the food served
on golden vessels looted from the Temple at Jerusa-
Wuthering Heights
lem (Daniel 5:1–28). <strong>The</strong> occasion ended in consternation
when a spectral hand appeared and
wrote the enigmatic words “mene, mene, tekel,
upharsin” on the palace wall. Belshazzar was seized
with fear (see belshazzar’s palsy) and offered a
share of his kingdom to any astrologer who could
interpret the message. He was subsequently
informed by Daniel that the words meant “MENE;
God hath numbered thy kingdom, and fi nished it.
TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art
found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided,
and given to the Medes and Persians” (Daniel
5:26–28). That very night the Median and Persian
armies swept into Babylon, conquering it and slaying
Belshazzar. <strong>The</strong> phrase is also encountered as
handwriting on the wall. “As the government
announces plans to regulate its special advisers, is
the writing on the wall for these little Machiavellis?”
(Guardian, June 25, 2001).
Wuthering Heights (wbTHering) A desolate,
weather- beaten, comfortless place. <strong>The</strong> allusion is
to the novel (1847) of the same title by Emily
Brontë, which takes its name from the moorland
farmstead that is home to the turbulent heathcliff.
“Wuthering” means “wild weather” in Yorkshire
dialect. He had promised his aunt a comfortable
luxury hotel so she was not best pleased when she found
herself in Wuthering Heights.
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