This chapter's epigraph comes from a famous poem by the English poet Henry David Thoreau. In this poem, Thoreau laments the futility of life. He bemoans the fact that the world is full of "night souls" who are unable to "stand a single blow" . In other words, they can only "swallow" , or shoot arrows , at the world around them . He also laments that the "princess of night" is unable to shoot arrows because she is too powerful to do so. The poem ends with a soliloquy by Thoreau in which he laments his own lack of power. He admits that he is a "burden to others" and that he has no business in the world. He asks if it is really okay for him to join the guild of night-