Book of Whispers

"We are both deaf and blind, and surrounded by mysteries we don't recognize."
—Geof Huth

"There are many more enigmas in the shadow of a man who walks in the sun than in all the religions of the past, present, and future."—Giorgio de Chirico, Hebdomeros (and other writings)

(via our co-blog at Anima Tarot)

Imagine a game of "What's My Line," in which either a cherub or an imp whispers into a blindfolded panelist's ear.

Are the whispered words pictured on the right of an angelic or a diabolical nature?

Answer: Diabolical. "While thus forsaken by all human help, all human pity, a tempting demon whispered that it would be better for her to return to her former way of life." —Anna Jameson, Legends of the Monastic Orders, 1852, p. 329. (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)

Imagine a game of "What's My Line," in which either a cherub or an imp whispers into a blindfolded panelist's ear.

Are the whispered words pictured on the right of an angelic or a diabolical nature?

Answer: Diabolical. "'Move on to a more elevated existence,' the demon whispered." —Bob Blackman, The Commission, 2004, p. 130. (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)

Imagine a game of "What's My Line," in which either a cherub or an imp whispers into a blindfolded panelist's ear.

Are the whispered words pictured on the right of an angelic or a diabolical nature?

Answer: Diabolical. "A mocking demon whispered in her reluctant ear: 'How happy you might be now, if things were only changed a little!'” —M. V. D., "The Story of Margaret,” Frank Leslie's Sunday Magazine, Vol. X, 1881, p. 263. (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)

Imagine a game of "What's My Line," in which either a cherub or an imp whispers into a blindfolded panelist's ear.

Are the whispered words pictured on the right of an angelic or a diabolical nature?

Answer: Diabolical. "But this demon whispered, 'Trust me,' and her soul longed to obey." —Lucy Blue, The Devil’s Knight, 2006, p. 260. (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)

Imagine a game of "What's My Line," in which either a cherub or an imp whispers into a blindfolded panelist's ear.

Are the whispered words pictured on the right of an angelic or a diabolical nature?

Answer: Diabolical. "I do not know what demon whispered to me, 'Take this book home with you.'” —Friedrich Nietzsche, qtd. in R. J. Hollingdale, Nietzsche, 1973, p. 51. (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)

Imagine a game of "What's My Line," in which either a cherub or an imp whispers into a blindfolded panelist's ear.

Are the whispered words pictured on the right of an angelic or a diabolical nature?

Answer: Diabolical. "Riches, luxury, power can be yours—soft beds and dainty foods. You can be great in the greatness that the world can see, famous with the fame your own ears will hear. Work for the world, and the world will pay you promptly; the wages the gods give are long delayed." —Jerome K. Jerome, Diary of a Pilgrimage, 2001, p. 194. (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)

Imagine a game of "What's My Line," in which either a cherub or an imp whispers into a blindfolded panelist's ear.

Are the whispered words pictured on the right of an angelic or a diabolical nature?

Answer: Angelic. "And the angel whispered thus . . . 'Arise, and be with us.'” —Samuel Kennedy Cowan, "My Choice,” The Murmur of the Shells, 1879, p. 45. (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)

Imagine a game of "What's My Line," in which either a cherub or an imp whispers into a blindfolded panelist's ear.

Are the whispered words pictured on the right of an angelic or a diabolical nature?

Answer: Diabolical. "You’re beginning to see, aren’t you? the demon whispered in her mind." —Scott Ciencin, The Vampire Odyssey, 1992, p. 318. (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)

Imagine a game of "What's My Line," in which either a cherub or an imp whispers into a blindfolded panelist's ear.

Are the whispered words pictured on the right of an angelic or a diabolical nature?

Answer: Angelic. "An angel whispered in his young ear, 'Never mind the newspapers.'” —Ralph Waldo Emerson, Journals of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1911, p. 508. (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)

Imagine a game of "What's My Line," in which either a cherub or an imp whispers into a blindfolded panelist's ear.

Are the whispered words pictured on the right of an angelic or a diabolical nature?

Answer: Angelic. "Turn—yet turn and live!" —Andrew Cleaves, "Chapters on Churchyards," in The Living Age, Vol. VII, Dec. 1845, p. 362. (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)

Imagine a game of "What's My Line," in which either a cherub or an imp whispers into a blindfolded panelist's ear.

Are the whispered words pictured on the right of an angelic or a diabolical nature?

Answer: Diabolical. "Some Demon whispered, 'Visto! have a taste.'" —Alexander Pope, "Epistle IV," The Works of Alexander Pope Vol. III, 1881, p. 173. (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)

---

Gordon writes:

Imagine a game of "What's My Line," in which either a cherub or an imp whispers into a blindfolded panelist's ear.

Are the whispered words pictured on the right of an angelic or a diabolical nature?

Answer: Angelic. "An angel whispered in her ear, 'Stretch out thy hand.'" —Emanuel Geibel, "As It Often Happens,” The Ridpath Library of Universal Literature by John Clark Ridpath, 1898. (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)

Imagine a game of "What's My Line," in which either a cherub or an imp whispers into a blindfolded panelist's ear.

Are the whispered words pictured on the right of an angelic or a diabolical nature?

Answer: Diabolic. "And then my familiar demon whispered: 'Why not? Think of the fun.'" —Patience Croswell, "The Confessions of a Vicarious Person,” The Bookman, Vol. XVI, 1903, p. 72. (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)

Imagine a game of "What's My Line," in which either a cherub or an imp whispers into a blindfolded panelist's ear.

Are the whispered words pictured on the right of an angelic or a diabolical nature?

Answer: Angelic. "Her Angel whispered to her, 'The Master has need of thee.'" —"Flowers for a Child’s Grave," The Irish Monthly, Eighth Yearly Volume, 1880, p. 552. (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)

Imagine a game of "What's My Line," in which either a cherub or an imp whispers into a blindfolded panelist's ear.

Are the whispered words pictured on the right of an angelic or a diabolical nature?

Answer: Angelic. "Some good angel whispered to me, 'Go, and look in the glass.'" —Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone, 1874, p. 335. (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)

Imagine a game of "What's My Line," in which either a cherub or an imp whispers into a blindfolded panelist's ear.

Are the whispered words pictured on the right of an angelic or a diabolical nature?

Answer: Diabolical. "This demon whispered now in her ear: 'Listen, and you may learn things that you long to know!' —Robert Smythe Hichens, Flames, 1897, p. 292. (The answer is in black text on the black background. Highlight it to view.)

Prof. Oddfellow listens to a standing stone's whispers.  (Longtime Abecedarians may recognize this location.)