Thomas de Quincey

Thomas de Quincey (15 augustus 1785 - 8 december 1859)De Engelse schrijver, essayist en journalist Thomas De Quincey werd geboren op 15 augustus 1785 in Manchester. De Quincey maakte deel uit van de literaire stroming in het begin van de 19de eeuw waartoe ook Wordsworth en Coleridge hoorden, de Romantici. Met Coleridge had De Quincey twee belangrijke zaken gemeen: de opiumverslaving en de grote interesse in dromen. Deze interesse paste ook bij de Romantische fascinatie met verschillende bewustzijnstoestanden, met extatische belevingen en met doorvoelde persoonlijke ervaringen. Zijn bekendste boek heette dan ook Confessions of an English Opium-Eater.
Uit: Confessions of an English Opium Eater"It is so long since I first took opium, that if it had been a trifling incident in my life, I might have forgotten its date: but cardinal events are not to be forgotten; and from circumstances connected with it, I remember that it must be referred to the autumn of 1804. During that season I was in London, having come thither for the first time since my entrance at college.And my introduction to opium arose in the following way. From an early age I had been accustomed to wash my head in cold water at least once a day: being suddenly seized with toothache, I attributed it to some relaxation caused by an accidental intermission of that practice; jumped out of bed; plunged my head into a basin of cold water; and with hair thus wetted went to sleep.
The next morning, as I need hardly say, I awoke with excruciating rheumatic pains of the head and face, from which I had hardly any respite for about twenty days. On the twenty-first day, I think it was, and on a Sunday, that I went out into the streets; rather to run away, if possible, from my torments, than with any distinct purpose. By accident I met a college acquaintance who recommended opium. Opium!"








