- description
- # The Chimney's Deterioration and Aesthetic Appreciation
## Overview
This is a segment from the short story [I and My Chimney](arke:01KG8AJ72QDX8N8STJ3550X2NW) by Herman Melville, focusing on the narrator's reflections on the chimney's decay and his appreciation for the picturesque. The segment spans lines 200-214 of the source file [i_and_my_chimney.txt](arke:01KG89J1H4TA19251AXAPE3ZWC). It was extracted on January 30, 2026.
## Context
The segment is part of a larger narrative contained within the file [i_and_my_chimney.txt](arke:01KG89J1H4TA19251AXAPE3ZWC), a plain text file included in the [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW) collection. It follows the segment [The Chimney's Widened Summit and Independent Basis](arke:01KG8AJK37E2A6VCCK9PG63WXJ) and precedes the segment [Introduction of Wife and Conflict](arke:01KG8AJK3778BFQXRZR0G8E6J4), continuing the story's progression.
## Contents
In this segment, the narrator describes the deterioration of his chimney after a "surgical operation" exposed previously covered parts to the elements. He notes that the chimney began to fail, displaying "blotchy symptoms akin to those in measles." Passersby mocked the chimney, comparing it to a melting "wax nose." The narrator, however, remained unconcerned, drawing a parallel between his decaying chimney and the admired ruins of Kenilworth. He argues that decay is the ultimate artist of the picturesque, even better than ivy, and suggests that his chimney would be at home in "ivied old England."
- description_generated_at
- 2026-01-30T20:47:58.988Z
- description_model
- gemini-2.5-flash-lite
- description_title
- The Chimney's Deterioration and Aesthetic Appreciation
- end_line
- 214
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T20:47:36.358Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 200
- text
- All feeling hearts will sympathize with me in what I am now about to
add. The surgical operation, above referred to, necessarily brought
into the open air a part of the chimney previously under cover, and
intended to remain so, and, therefore, not built of what are called
weather-bricks. In consequence, the chimney, though of a vigorous
constitution, suffered not a little, from so naked an exposure; and,
unable to acclimate itself, ere long began to fail—showing blotchy
symptoms akin to those in measles. Whereupon travelers, passing my way,
would wag their heads, laughing; “See that wax nose—how it melts off!”
But what cared I? The same travelers would travel across the sea to
view Kenilworth peeling away, and for a very good reason: that of all
artists of the picturesque, decay wears the palm—I would say, the ivy.
In fact, I’ve often thought that the proper place for my old chimney is
ivied old England.
- title
- The Chimney's Deterioration and Aesthetic Appreciation