Little Dinners With the Sphinx, and Other Prose Fancies

In Short

This work is a series of interconnected prose fancies—part short story, part memoir, and part philosophical essay. The narrator muses on love, the passage of time, and the "castles in Spain" that haunt the human imagination. Through vignettes of aging poets, childhood woods, and fleeting romantic encounters, the writing explores how we reconcile our youthful, impossible desires with the realities of marriage and duty. It has endured as a quintessential example of turn-of-the-century aestheticism, offering a delicate, melancholic, and deeply personal exploration of the romantic spirit.

The Story

The collection opens at a dinner table where a narrator reconnects with an old flame, the Sphinx. Over wine and light, they discuss the nature of sorrow and the symbolism of opals, acknowledging that their youthful, intense passions have been tempered by time. This theme of maturation repeats throughout the book. We encounter the story of Pagan Wasteneys, a poet who, sensing his approaching death, exerts his final burst of energy to pay off his creditors. He finds a strange, ironic peace in settling his worldly accounts, even as he mourns the loss of his children and the quiet realization that his life has been a series of beautiful, repetitive experiences that require no further chapters.

The narrative shifts to the English countryside at Noctorum, where a scholar named Laleham pursues a legendary blue butterfly—a symbol of the elusive ideal. His quest leads him into the orbit of a young woman named Mariana. As they sit in the starlight, he realizes his butterfly has finally ceased its flight, landing upon a grave. The story connects the search for the unattainable to the quiet acceptance of what remains.

Other sketches explore the tension between duty and desire. We follow a young woman named Margaret, whose vibrant youth is spent in the service of an aging, invalid mother; she finds a paradoxical sanctity in the domestic objects of her mother's confinement, despite the "maddening summons" of life outside. Elsewhere, a character named Sid Norton is sent by his fiancée, Rosamund, on a "pilgrimage" to test his faithfulness by visiting old flames. Sid’s journey is less about physical infidelity and more about the internal psychological shift from a life of aimless flirtation to the genuine, terrifying prospect of commitment.

The collection draws to a close with the narrator reflecting on "dream documents"—the letters of a past love, Miranda. As both are about to marry others, the narrator rejects the idea of a mundane return of these letters. Instead, he imagines burying them in a carved chest beneath an ancient oak tree in a legendary woodland, a final, ceremonial farewell to the romantic ghosts of his youth. The book concludes with the image of him and Eva, a child who represents the persistent, playful innocence of the natural world, reinforcing the idea that while we must eventually walk through the "green gate" of responsibility, the echoes of our dreams remain.

How It Unfolds

The Starlit Reunion The narrator and the Sphinx dine together, using the metaphor of precious stones to analyze the evolution of their own romantic history. They conclude that while youth values novelty, maturity learns to treasure the "beautiful sorrows" of the past.

The Poet’s Final Ledger A dying poet, Wasteneys, experiences a surge of vitality as he manages to clear all his debts. He views his own impending death not with fear, but as the final, necessary experience of a well-lived, romantic life.

The Butterfly’s Grave Laleham visits the Noctorum estate, where his lifelong pursuit of a rare, symbolic butterfly leads him to a shared moment of profound connection with Mariana. The butterfly’s flight ends on a grave, marking the transition from active pursuit to reflective memory.

The Burden of Domesticity The focus shifts to Margaret, a young woman whose beauty is tethered to the sickroom of her mother. The narrative examines how mundane, repetitive tasks can become imbued with a sacred, melancholic love.

The Pilgrimage of Fidelity Sid Norton is forced by his partner, Rosamund, to face his past attachments to prove his worthiness for their future. This ordeal acts as a crucible that transforms his habit of shallow flirting into a deeper understanding of loyalty.

The Final Burial The narrator prepares to relinquish the letters of his past love, Miranda, as he enters a new phase of life. He chooses to bury these memories in a symbolic forest, honoring the past before moving forward.

The People

The Narrator acts as a sensitive, observant guide who moves between a world of books and the physical beauty of the woods. He is a man who recognizes his own aging—the "snowdrifts" of hair—and seeks to distill his experiences into art. The Sphinx serves as his intellectual equal; she is sophisticated, fashionable, and capable of profound, wistful insights about the nature of love. Pagan Wasteneys is the romantic archetype of the "bad grey poet," a man who lives for the grand gesture and finds his final triumph in a mundane act of integrity. Margaret represents the tragic sacrifice of youth; she is a woman of "victorious vitality" who chooses the path of the caregiver, sanctifying her confinement through her devotion. Finally, Sid Norton and Rosamund represent the modern conflict of the era: the struggle to reconcile a restless, flirtatious nature with the desire for a stable, singular commitment.

In Its Own Voice

"Sorrows! If you said pleasures, you would be nearer the mark. It is pleasure, not sorrow, that makes the butterfly’s wings turn grey."

The Sphinx challenges the narrator’s habit of romanticizing his own aging process during their dinner.

"The diamond is the sun of precious stones, the opal is the moon."

The Sphinx differentiates between the common, social nature of diamonds and the romantic, occult, and moody nature of opals.

"Yes! they are like the butterflies of the imagination--frail but indestructible."

Laleham reflects on the endurance of myths and stories in the face of a rough, uncaring world.

What It's Really About

The book is an investigation into the "romance of the real"—the idea that life, while lacking the epic proportions of fairy tales, is nonetheless filled with moments of profound significance if one possesses the imagination to see them. It argues that the "castles in Spain" we build are not failures of reality, but essential components of the human spirit. It asks how we can remain faithful to our younger selves while accepting the inevitable losses and commitments that adulthood demands. It is a defense of the sentimental, suggesting that the "sorrows" of a life are not things to be discarded, but are the very pearls of one's character, giving texture and meaning to an otherwise fleeting existence.

Why Read It Today

This book is a quiet, contemplative companion for anyone who appreciates the art of the essay and the slow, deliberate pace of early 20th-century prose. Readers who find comfort in the works of writers like Keats or the aesthetic sensibilities of the fin-de-siècle period will feel at home here. The writing is intentionally ornamental, filled with rich imagery of moonlight, woods, and precious stones, which may feel somewhat precious to those who prefer modern, minimalist narratives. However, the themes of balancing one's inner, dream-filled life with the external, often restrictive demands of society remain strikingly relevant.

You should approach this as you would a collection of short poems—it is not a book to be rushed, but one to be dipped into when you want to look at the world through a lens of gentle, slightly melancholic beauty. While the period-specific attitudes toward women and the occasional "heroic" posturing of the male narrators reflect the societal norms of 1907, the underlying human vulnerability is universal. It stays with you not because of its plot, but because of its ability to make the mundane feel magical, turning a simple dinner or a walk in the woods into a profound meditation on existence.