They Know
The gates of Hell are always standing wide open. The lost are perfectly free to leave whenever they like, but to do so would mean admitting that the gates were open, that is to say that there was another life outside. This they are afraid to admit, not because they get any pleasure from their present existence, but simply because the life outside would be different, and if they admitted its existence they would have to lead it. They know all this. They know that they could leave and they know why they don’t. Their knowledge is the flame of Hell.
W.H. Auden, The Prolific and the Devourer
Mmmm... Tasting notes of caramel, black liquorice, and The Great Divorce here.
Auden always sounds like he’s writing right now, never in “the past.”