Dr.+H's+experiment

**__MADISON, SAM, AND AMANDA'S STUDY GUIDE__**
**__Dr. H__** was published in Hawthorne's collection //Twice-Told Tales// in 1837

**__Argument__** Theme of learning from your mistake; that people \

**__Themes in Dr. Heidegger:__** Pride is evil= Widow Wycherly- Pride in looks (Vanity) Although humans may greatly believe in and desire complete perfection, it is an impossibility and any quest for it is futile

**__Characters__** "Each of Dr. Heidegger's four guests represent the waste of something that people prize" CAPITAL LETTER ARE FOR THE BAD PART of that "prize"


 * Widow Wycherly- represents beauty and VANITY
 * Colonel Killigrew- represents wasted health and LUST
 * Mr. Medbourne- represents fortune and GREED
 * Mr. Gascoigne- represents power and ABUSE OF POWER/OBSCURITY

**__Symbols__**


 * Mirror- Through this ordinary mirror, "Dr. Heidegger also sees images of his deceased patients, the mirror symbolizes his past failures, those patients he could not save"


 * Rose- The rose is a continuing symbol throughout the allegory. It represents the youth of the guests; as they become young it blossoms and when they grow old again it withers away.


 * The entire story is filled with symbols such as these. Through them Hawthorne enforces the idea that as appealing as human perfection may be, it is just out of reach


 * The uncertainty and mystery of the tone combine with other literary elements to help prove a lesson of Human perfection.

Hawthorne believed in determinism (predestination) so this could be why the four people didn't change once they got a second chance. //.// The theme which is created from this is : although humans may greatly believe in and desire complete perfection, it is an impossibility and any quest for it is futile. This goes along with the idea that Hawthorne is not a Transcendentalist.

**__Topics:__**


 * Moral allegories
 * The sinful man
 * Hypocrisy- four people mocking heidegger because he's old?
 * The Dark side of Human Nature
 * Religion in Nature
 * The psychological impact in sexual relations- widow wycherly and her effect on the three men.

**__Passage 1:__**

That very singular man, old Dr. Heidegger, once invited four venerable [respected] friends to meet him in his study. There were three white-bearded gentlemen, Mr. Medbourne [GREED], Colonel Killigrew [LUST] , and Mr. Gascoigne [ABUSE OF POWER] , and a withered gentlewoman, whose name was the Widow Wycherly [VAINITY]. They were all melancholy old creatures, who had been unfortunate in life, and whose greatest misfortune it was that they were not long ago in their graves. Mr. Medbourne, in the vigor of his age, had been a prosperous merchant, but had lost his all by a frantic speculation, and was now little better than a mendicant. Colonel Killigrew had wasted his best years, and his health and substance, in the pursuit of sinful pleasures, which had given birth to a brood of pains, such as the gout, and divers other torments of soul and body. Mr. Gascoigne was a ruined politician, a man of evil fame, or at least had been so till time had buried him from the knowledge of the present generation, and made him obscure instead of infamous. As for the Widow Wycherly, tradition tells us that she was a great beauty in her day; but, for a long while past, she had lived in deep seclusion, on account of certain scandalous stories which had prejudiced the gentry of the town against her. It is a circumstance worth mentioning that each of these three old gentlemen, Mr. Medbourne, Colonel Killigrew, and Mr. Gascoigne, were early lovers of the Widow Wycherly, and had once been on the point of cutting each other's throats for her sake. (Forshadowing to the fighting over her later when their youth is restored) And, before proceeding further, I will merely hint that Dr. Heidegger and all his foul guests were sometimes thought to be a little beside themselves,--as is not unfrequently the case with old people, when worried either by present troubles or woful recollections. (REVEALS CHARACTERS) "My dear old friends," said Dr. Heidegger, motioning them to be seated, "I am desirous of your assist ance in one of those little experiments with which I amuse myself here in my study."(REVEALS PLOT)

**__Passage 2:__**

"Come, come, gentlemen!--come, Madam Wycherly," exclaimed the doctor, "I really must protest against this riot." They stood still and shivered; for it seemed as if gray Time //(gray-- dim, dull color of age. Time is capitalized like Father Time)// were calling them back from their sunny youth //(personification of Time)//, far down into the chill and darksome vale of years. They looked at old Dr. Heidegger, who sat in his carved arm-chair, holding the rose of half a century, which he had rescued from among the fragments of the shattered vase. At the motion of his hand, the four rioters resumed their seats; the more readily, because their violent exertions had wearied them, youthful though they were. ( //Suggests that the youthfulness was illusion// ?) "My poor Sylvia's rose!" ejaculated Dr. Heidegger, holding it in the light of the sunset clouds; "it appears to be fading again." And so it was. Even while the party were looking at it, the flower continued to shrivel up, till it became as dry and fragile as when the doctor had first thrown it into the vase. He shook off the few drops of moisture which clung to its petals. "I love it as well thus as in its dewy freshness," ( //Beauty does not just come with freshness or youth// ) observed he, pressing the withered rose to his withered lips ( //Rose and man are alike// ). While he spoke, the butterfly ( //Artist of the Beautiful maybe?// ) fluttered down from the doctor's snowy head, and fell upon the floor. His guests shivered again. A strange chillness, whether of the body or spirit they could not tell, was creeping gradually over them all. ( //Gray Time// ?) They gazed at one another, and fancied that each fleeting moment snatched away a charm, and left a deepening furrow where none had been before. Was it an illusion? ( //Big question in the story// ) Had the changes of a lifetime been crowded into so brief a space, and were they now four aged people, sitting with their old friend, Dr. Heidegger? "Are we grown old again, so soon?" cried they, dolefully. In truth they had. The Water of Youth possessed merely a virtue more transient than that of wine ( //More on illusion than reality// ). The delirium ( //suggests the transformation was not physical but psychological)// which it created had effervesced away. Yes! they were old again. With a shuddering impulse, that showed her a woman still, the widow clasped her skinny hands before her face, and wished that the coffin lid were over it, since it could be no longer beautiful. "Yes, friends, ye are old again," said Dr. Heidegger, "and lo! the Water of Youth is all lavished on the ground. Well--I bemoan it not; for if the fountain gushed at my very doorstep, I would not stoop to bathe my lips in it--no, though its delirium were for years instead of moments. Such is the lesson ye have taught me!" But the doctor's four friends had taught no such lesson to themselves. They resolved forthwith to make a pilgrimage to Florida, and quaff at morning, noon, and night, from the Fountain of Youth. ( //Humans cannot achieve perfection that they desire; if given another chance they make the same mistakes and do not learn from them// ).

**__Questions:__**

**1. Plot.**

**Summarize the plot of the short story in two or three sentences.**

Dr. Heidegger is conducting an experiement and invites four people to his house who, in their youth, had the things people prize and were successful, but all wasted their youth on something. But as the four drink the elixir of youth provided for them, it is shown that even knowing what they know in old age, they revert back to their wasteful ways. Through this experiement, Dr. Heidegger concludes that people can not achieve perfection and that mistakes are made, not because we don't know any better, but simply because we are young.

**2. Character.**

**List the characters in the story with a short description of each. Be sure to include the particular traits of human nature each represents. Is the character a unique character or can he or she be classified as a “type character”? Include their relationship to each other: Do any of the characters serve as a foil for another. What is the basic conflict between the characters?** All represent something people find successful and also flaws in each that brought about their downfall.
 * Dr. Heidegger - Protagonist old scientist who found the fountain of youth in FL; Wise and knowing; does not fall victim to the weaknesses and flaws of the other characters.
 * Widow Wycherly- represents beauty and VANITY
 * Colonel Killigrew- represents wasted health and LUST
 * Mr. Medbourne- represents fortune and GREED; Proposed to the widow when they were younger
 * Mr. Gascoigne- represents power and ABUSE OF POWER/OBSCURITY

**3. Setting.**

**What is the setting? Is the setting typical of the author or a deviation from the usual. Move beyond the city and country and examine other aspects – for example, the garden in “Rappaccini’s Daughter” or Dr. Heidegger’s study.**

The setting is in Dr. Heidegger's study,"a dim, old-fashioned chamber, festooned with cobwebs, and besprinkled with antique dust". This shows how his laboratory is "rich in gothic properties" and makes the atmosphere of the study dark and mysterious.The setting is filled with mysterious things; a mirror, a black folio, a bronze bust of Hippocrates,and a closet with its door ajar. All of these objects are sort of supernatural: the mirror "was fabled that the spirits of all the doctor's deceased patients dwelt within its verge, and would stare him in the face whenever he looked thitherward"; it is said that Heidegger "was accustomed to hold consultations in all difficult cases of his practice" with the bust; and there was supposedly a skeleton in the closet. The whole setting i s filled with obscurity.

**4. The Narrator.**

**Who is the narrator of the story? Read the details below to enhance your understanding of the importance of the narrator.**


 * A narration requires a narrator, someone (or more than one) who tells the story. This person or persons will see things from a certain perspective, or //point of view//, in terms of their relation to the events and in terms of their attitude(s) towards the events and characters. A narrator may be external, outside the story, telling it with an ostensibly objective and omniscient voice; or a narrator may be a character (or characters) within the story, telling the story in the first person (either central characters or observer characters, bit players looking in on the scene). First-person characters may be //reliable// , telling the truth, seeing things right, or they may be //unreliable// , lacking in perspective or self-knowledge. If a narration by an omniscient external narrator carries us into the thoughts of a character in the story, that character is known as a //reflector character// : such a character does not know he or she is a character, is unaware of the narration or the narrator. An omniscient, external narrator may achieve the narrative by telling or by showing, and she may keep the reader in a relation of //suspense// to the story (we know no more than the characters) or in a relation of //irony// (we know things the characters are unaware of). In any case, who it is who tells the story, from what perspective, with what sense of distance or closeness, with what possibilities of knowledge, and with what interest, are key issues in the making of meaning in narrative. For a fuller discussion, see my page Narrative point of view: some considerations. **

The narrator is 3rd person omniscient. Hawthorne uses point of view to create a mysterious air of uncertainty which makes the stories allegorical meaning visible. In some cases the story’s narrator questions the reality of the events. “Was it a delusion?” he asks following the magical transformation. This showshwo the narrator himself may not kwnow if the transformation is real or not.

**5. Figurative language.**

**Examine the descriptions of the characters. Extract some direct quotations that illustrate the figurative language that describes the characters.**


 * As in poetry, there will be figurative language; as in drama, this language tends to be used to characterize the sensibility and understanding of characters as well as to establish thematic and tonal continuities and significance. **

"They were all melancholy old creatures, who had been unfortunate in life, and whose greatest misfortune it was that they were not long ago in their graves" (1) **Mr. Gascoigne** - "[Mr. Gascoigne]...rattled forth full-throated sentences about patriotism, national glory, and the people's right; now he muttered some perilous stuff or other, in a sly and doubtful whisper, so cautiously that even his own conscience could scarcely catch the secret; and now, again he spoke in measured accents, and a deeply deferential tone, as if a royal ear were listening to his well-turned periods." (6) **Colonel Killigrew** - "Colonel Killigrew all this time had been trolling forth a jolly bottle-song, and ringing his glass in symphony with the chorus, while his eyes wandered toward the buxom figure of the Widow Wycherly." (6) **Mr. Medbourne** - "Mr. Medbourne was involved in a calculation of dollars and cents, with which was strangely intermingled a project for supplying the East Indies wit ice, by harnessing a team of whales to the polar icebergs." (6) **Widow Wycherly** - "...she stood before the mirror coutesying and simpering to her own image, and greeting it as the friend whom she loved better than all the world beside. She thrust her face close to the glass, to see whether some long-remembered wrinkle or crow's-foot had indeed vanished. She examined whether the snow had so entirely melted from her hair, that the venerable capcould be safely thrown aside." (6) **Dr. Heidegger** - "Before you drink, my respectable old friends," he said "it would be well that, with the experience of a lifetime to direct you, you should draw up a few general rules for your guidance, in passing a second time through the perils of youth. Think what a shame it would be, if, with your peculiar advantages, you should not become patterns of virtue and wisdom to all the young people of the age." (4) **The Four Friends** - "The most singular effect of their gayety was an impulse to mock the infirmity and decreptitude of which they had so lately been the vicitms. They laughes loudly at their old-fashioned attire, the wide-skirted coats and flapped wastecoats of the young men, and the ancient cap and gown of the blooming girl." (7) ^^^ "But they were young: their burning passions proved them so. Imflamed to madness by the coquetry of the girl-widow, who neither granted nor quite withheld her favors, the thre rivals began to interchange threatening glances." (7) **All Five of Them** - "Yes, friends, ye are old again...and lo! the Water of Youth is all lavished on the ground. Well, I bemoan it not; for if the fountain gushed at my very doorstep, I would not stoop to bathe my lips in it; no, though its delirium were for years instead of moments. Such is the lesson ye have taught me!" (8) **6. Representation of reality.**

**Is the short story a realistic representation of the world or is it a psychological, moral or spiritual representation that uses symbols, characters or other devices to illustrate the theme?**

It definitely has a psychological twist, with a moral overall, but reality is the biggest question. Heidegger gives them the elixir because he knows that it can physically change them, which, in their reality, is true. But because of Heidegger's enthusiam towards the powers of the drink, there is a possibility of the entire thing to be in the four friend's heads. We do not know what exactly what Heidegger sees, so the possibility of the friends actually becoming younger can be in their minds because that is what they want to see. They were told that it would make them younger and that they could change their wasted past to create a better future for themselves. This possibility can have such a great effect on their wants that their mind can play tricks on them. The fact that they were asked to not make the same mistakes twice because they were given such a rare second chance helps to build the moral of the story. If one is given a second chance to correct what they have done and help the people around them, then he or she should not waste the opprotunity again like they did the first time around. <- - Savvy, mate.

**7** **. World-view.**

**What statement about the world is the work of fiction making? What values are represented in a positive or negative light?**


 * As narrative represents experience in some way it must be read, for its structure of values, for its understanding of the world, or world-view, and for its ideological assumptions, what is assumed to be natural and proper. Every story makes claims, often implicitly, about the nature of the world as the narrator and his or her cultural traditions understand it to be. **

The Fountain of Youth is the main topic of this short story, which is a symbol known across the world. It is believed that Juan Ponce de Leon discovered the Fountain of Youth in St. Augustine, Florida in the 16th century. There is no proof of the Fountain existing, but from generations of history being passed down, believers in the magical elixir claimed it was in a beautiful, flourishing garden with flowers and other plants never died. In most cultures, playing God is not an attractive way of life. If the Fountain of Youth was real, it would be defying God and the natural plan for everyone, so it was usually the extremist and highly devout explorers across the world looking for it because they were obsessed with the power it could hold.

Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" (1837) Hawthorne's works belong to romanticism
 * Bryan Robinson Fact Sheet **

**Intorduction** //Plot:// Dr. Heidegger is found in his laboratory with four old freinds. He claims he has water from the fountain of youth, and asks his friends if they are willing to sample the potion and go back in time to experience their youth again.

//Characters://
 * Dr. Heidegger: a scientist
 * Mr. Melbourne: a white bearded gentlemen who fell upon greed. He was a prosperous merchant, but lost everything after a frantic speculation.
 * Colonel Killigrew: Also a white bearded gentlemen, wasted his best years and his health and substances in the pursiut of sinful pleasures, which had been given birth to a brood of pains.
 * Mr. Gascoigne: was a ruined politician, a man of evil fame, or atleast had been so, till time had buried him from knowledge of the present generation and made him obscure instead of infamous.
 * Widow Wicherly: was a great beauty in her day, but for a long past, she had lived in a deep seclusion, on account of certain scandalous stories, which had prejudiced the gentry of the town against her.
 * The three gentlemen described above were early lovers of Widow Wicherly and were once on the point of cutting each other's throats for her sake.

//Setting:// This story takes place in Dr. Heidegger's study. The importance of the setting is made clear throughout the story. Each different prop that Heidegger has in his in his study is discussed in gory detail. The atmosphere that is created by the discription of the study is very eerie and creepy, which reflects directly with the Dr.'s personality. "It was a dim, old-fashioned chamber, festooned with cobwebs, and besprinkled with antique dust..." (38-70)

//Narrator:// The narrator is a person from the outside tellign the story. However the narator still has connection to the story, show by the need to relate back to himself occasionally through the story. The narrator consistantly questions the accuracy of his own telling of the narrative, due to this we can not assume whether anything the narrator says is truth or fiction.

//Representation of Reality:// Moral of the story: dont make the same mistakes twice. If you are given the chance to go back and change they way something occured would you learn from your past mistakes or repeat them.

**First Passage**

As for the Widow Wycherly, she stood before the mirror courtesying and simpering to her own image, and greeting it as the friend whom she loved better than all the world beside. She thrust her face close to the glass, to see whether some long-remembered wrinkle or crow's foot had indeed vanished. She examined whether the snow had so entirely melted from her hair that the venerable cap could be safely thrown aside. At last, turning briskly away, she came with a sort of dancing step to the table. "My dear old doctor," cried she, "pray favor me with another glass!" "Certainly, my dear madam, certainly!" replied the complaisant doctor; "see! I have already filled the glasses

This passage states that the Widow greeted her reflection like an old friend, long ago Widow Wycherly was a beautiful lady and after she drank the potion she transformed back in to the young beauty she once was. It had been so long since she had been beautiful that the reuniting was similar to that of an old friend.

Elevate diction: Venerable cap- worthy of respect. She wondered if her hair looked good enough to remove her venerable cap.

Word choice: Widow Wycherly is so happy with the results of the drink that she turns “briskly” away from the mirror, develops a “dancing step,” and asks for another drink.

There, in fact, stood the four glasses, brimful of this wonderful water, the delicate spray of which, as it effervesced from the surface, resembled the tremulous glitter of diamonds. It was now so nearly sunset that the chamber had grown duskier than ever; but a mild and moonlike splendor gleamed from within the vase, and rested alike on the four guests and on the doctor's venerable figure. He sat in a high-backed, elaborately-carved, oaken arm-chair, with a gray dignity of aspect that might have well befitted that very Father Time, whose power had never been disputed, save by this fortunate company. Even while quaffing the third draught of the Fountain of Youth, they were almost awed by the expression of his mysterious visage. This is the portion of the stroy where the reader and the characters are first introduced to the four glasses,

But, the next moment, the exhilarating gush of young life shot through their veins. They were now in the happy prime of youth. Age, with its miserable train of cares and sorrows and diseases, was remembered only as the trouble of a dream, from which they had joyously awoke. The fresh gloss of the soul, so early lost, and without which the world's successive scenes had been but a gallery of faded pictures, again threw its enchantment over all their prospects. They felt like new-created beings in a new-created universe. "We are young! We are young!" they cried exultingly. The story now takes a dramatic shift as the speaker states: “But, the next moment, the exhilarating gush of young life shot through their veins.” This is the first transition into the Fountain of Youth experience that is occurring for the adults. The speaker illustrates the water of the Fountain of Youth to be taking over the characters bodies quickly as they are instantly transformed into the young and carless people they once were. The speaker then begins to describe age: “Age, with its miserable train of cares and sorrows and diseases, was remembered only as the trouble of a dream, from which they had joyously awoke.” This quote that the speaker includes, describes the bliss of being young and not having a care in the world, while comparing the older and more serious years of life to be miserable and filled with sorrows and diseases. The speaker also refers to the reality of the adults lives to be a dream, a bad dream that they just awoke from. The experience of the Fountain of Youth is so mesmerizing and captivating to these adults; it’s as if they are in a wonderland and would rather live this life of being young over being old. The next few lines shows the more poetic side of the speaker as the line states: “The fresh gloss of the soul, so early lost, and without which the world's successive scenes had been but a gallery of faded pictures, again threw its enchantment over all their prospects.” The speaker is trying to illustrate that youth is new but quickly fades away as it is the time when we make our memories and capture our thoughts of the world. The speaker then describes these four guests to experience this wave of youth once again, as if they have never lived through that moment before, by stating: “They felt like new-created beings in a new-created universe.” This statement included repetition as the speaker repeats the words new-created. The emphasis is on the fact that these people felt unfamiliar to their surroundings like new beings in a new worl d. The story then involves a happy cry tone that would almost be shouting: “We are young!” “We are young!” Repetition is used again for the elaboration on the fact that the feeling of youth is exciting, experimental, fresh, and pristine.

Youth, like the extremity of age, had effaced the strongly-marked characteristics of middle life, and mutually assimilated them all. They were a group of merry youngsters, almost maddened with the exuberant frolicsomeness of their years. The most singular effect of their gayety was an impulse to mock the infirmity and decrepitude of which they had so lately been the victims. They laughed loudly at their old-fashioned attire, the wide-skirted coats and flapped waistcoats of the young men, and the ancient cap and gown of the blooming girl. One limped across the floor like a gouty grandfather; one set a pair of spectacles astride of his nose, and pretended to pore over the black-letter pages of the book of magic; a third seated himself in an arm-chair, and strove to imitate the venerable dignity of Dr. Heidegger. Then all shouted mirthfully, and leaped about the room. The Widow Wycherly--if so fresh a damsel could be called a widow--tripped up to the doctor's chair, with a mischievous merriment in her rosy face.

The passage begins with the narrator talking about the different characters. In the first sentence he shows that they are brought together by the idea that they can feel younger by drinking the water. The main idea of the passage is the irony that happens when the characters drink the elixir. They drink the liquid to feel younger, but in the process they make fun of their current beings. This passage specifically deals with the way that the characters act after they drink the elixir. They have childish exuberance as they poke fun at each other, including Dr. Heidegger. For the time being at least, Heidegger’s potion seemed to work even though the others did not learn their lesson to learn from their mistakes. Literary Devices: ·Alliteration mischievous merriment Widow Whcherly ·Elevated Diction “Almost maddened with the exuberant frolicsomeness.” “An impulse to mock the infirmity and decrepitude of which they had so lately been the victims.” ·Irony The characters all make fun of the “old fashioned attire” that they are wearing, unknowing that this is what they wear in their present state ·Childish Characteristics “With a mischievous merriment in her rosy face.” ·Simile “One limped across the floor like a gouty grandfather…” ·List “One limped across the floor like a gouty grandfather; one set a pair of spectacles astride of his nose, and pretended to pore over the black-letter pages of the book of magic; a third seated himself in an arm-chair, and strove to imitate the venerable dignity of Dr. Heidegger.”

**Second Passage**

"Come, come, gentlemen!--come, Madam Wycherly," exclaimed the doctor, "I really must protest against this riot." They stood still and shivered; for it seemed as if gray Time were calling them back from their sunny youth, far down into the chill and darksome vale of years. They looked at old Dr. Heidegger, who sat in his carved arm-chair, holding the rose of half a century, which he had rescued from among the fragments of the shattered vase. At the motion of his hand, the four rioters resumed their seats; the more readily, because their violent exertions had wearied them, youthful though they were.

This next passage begins with alliteration as the doctor in the story states: “come, come, gentlemen!--come.” The doctor does this because he is expressing the huriedness of which he wants Madam Wycherly’s attention. There is also an exclamation point at the end of gentlemen, which tells us his feeling of great enthusiasm. Moving on, the speaker then describes the characters to be standing still, shivering. The speaker describes this moment by using an allusion to the Father of Time, who is pulling these characters out of the days of their youth, and bringing them back to reality, which the speaker describes as “a chill and darksome vale of years.” Furthermore, an interesting aspect occurs, when the speakers states: “At the motion of his hand, the four rioters resumed their seat.” At this stage, the characters are back to their adult selves, yet they abide by the doctors commands like obedient dogs.

"My poor Sylvia's rose!" ejaculated Dr. Heidegger, holding it in the light of the sunset clouds; "it appears to be fading again."And so it was. Even while the party were looking at it, the flower continued to shrivel up, till it became as dry and fragile as when the doctor had first thrown it into the vase. He shook off the few drops of moisture which clung to its petals. "I love it as well thus as in its dewy freshness," observed he, pressing the withered rose to his withered lips. While he spoke, the butterfly fluttered down from the doctor's snowy head, and fell upon the floor.

In this passage the rose that Dr. Heidegger brought back to life begins to fade. It shrivels back to its original form but the Dr. still loves it all the same. As he speaks about the withered rose, the butterfly also withers back to its original state, death.

Word Choice "as the sun set, the Dr. held the rose it to its remaining light. I see a comparison to the sun setting drawing a close to the day and the rose shriveling up, bringing an end to its life."

Ejaculated- explain something suddenly

Personification: The moisture “clung” to its petals (not wanting to die)

Repetition: The word withered is repeated during this passage and refers to the rose dying, it can also be used to describe the four old people. Before the experiment they were four withered individuals. The butterfly was also in a withered state.

His guests shivered again. A strange chillness, whether of the body or spirit they could not tell, was creeping gradually over them all. They gazed at one another, and fancied that each fleeting moment snatched away a charm, and left a deepening furrow where none had been before. Was it an illusion? Had the changes of a lifetime been crowded into so brief a space, and were they now four aged people, sitting with their old friend, Dr. Heidegger? "Are we grown old again, so soon?" cried they, dolefully. In truth they had. The Water of Youth possessed merely a virtue more transient than that of wine. The delirium which it created had effervesced away. Yes! they were old again. With a shuddering impulse, that showed her a woman still, the widow clasped her skinny hands before her face, and wished that the coffin lid were over it, since it could be no longer beautiful.

"Yes, friends, ye are old again," said Dr. Heidegger, "and lo! the Water of Youth is all lavished on the ground. Well--I bemoan it not; for if the fountain gushed at my very doorstep, I would not stoop to bathe my lips in it--no, though its delirium were for years instead of moments. Such is the lesson ye have taught me!" But the doctor's four friends had taught no such lesson to themselves. They resolved forthwith to make a pilgrimage to Florida, and quaff at morning, noon, and night, from the Fountain of Youth.

This passage starts with Dr. Heidegger conveying the disappointing news to his friends. He must tell them that their spurt of youth is now over and they are forced to come back into the real world. He also seems to be upset at the fact that the Water is all over the ground, but does not let these feelings hinder his decision making. He still refuses to drink the Water because he sees what happens to the others. He tries to use his knowledge to convince the others not to go all the way to Florida. The others do not take heed of his advice and are still set on making the trek down to the Fountain of Youth. //Literary Devices:// Transition: “Well—I bemoan it not” Dashes: “I would not stoop to bathe my lips in it—no…” This shows Heidegger’s conviction on not drinking the Water. It shows his dignity and he will not make the same mistake as the others. Use of Time: “quaff at morning, noon, and night…” By showing the different times of day, the point is much clearer. He wants it to make it known that he does not condone their behavior, so he uses strong diction when describing the events of the past season.