Hilda Doolittle scrutinizes allusions that render books as compact walls that can never be deconstructed exclusively. The citation of Hatshepsut is a Historical allusion that amplifies the materiality of books: “Hatshepsut's name is still circled with what they call the cartouche.” The name cannot be obliterated because it is bounded by the ineradicable cartouche. Successive generations will be knowledgeable about Hatshepsut due to the adeptness of the ancient Egyptian inscriptions. Therefore, the authorship of books interconnects, the historical, the forthcoming and the contemporaneous figures.
Hilda Doolittle dissects a Religious allusion as she writes, “in the beginning was the Word.” The line is elicited from the unequivocal, Biblical John 1:1. The religious Allusion implies that the propensity to burn books does not initiate the dissolution of words that could be exploited to transcribe knew books. Words are principally mystical.
The incorporation of Mythological allusion underscores the pre-eminence of books. H.D explicates, “Mercury, Hermes, Thoth invented the script, letters, palette;/the indicated flute or lyre-notes on papyrus or parchment/are magic, indelibly stamped on the atmosphere somewhere.” The triple mythological figures in these lines accentuate the transcendentalism of books. The blazing undertakings cannot impact the content that is “indelibly stamped on the atmosphere.” Therefore, exponents of book burning cannot surmount the imperceptible atmosphere that houses all the books even those that have been blazed.
