Sentence No. 127 · 1 August 2026
Every impulse that we strive to strangle broods in the mind and poisons us
Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Oscar Wilde — The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) · Read it at Project Gutenberg
What holds this sentence together
Notice that 'that' introduces a relative clause modifying 'impulse' — so 'that we strive to strangle' must follow the noun it describes. The main verb 'broods' then governs the rest, with 'and' linking a second verb 'poisons' to the same subject.
How it appears in Sentle
On Sentle this sentence arrives in 6 pieces, shuffled, with the lines that lead up to it for context. A young man stands captivated as a stranger spins seductive theories of beauty and youth. Putting it back in the author’s order is the puzzle — and the order is rarely arbitrary, which is what the note above is about.
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