In the ‘Ray Bradbury Theater’ series there’s an episode about two dueling authors: an established bestseller writer and his young challenger. The young guy accuses his older colleague that he has written so many books, all of which were excellent. ‘What’s wrong with you?’, he asks in despair.
Here goes the answer of the older writer:
— Genes, chromosomes, I was born a pomegranate. Full of seeds.
And here is the monologue of the young challenger:
— Yes. And that is the final reason why I hate you. I was born a poor beast with no seeds. I have labored 18 hours a day, 7 days a week for 7 years to be, to become, to achieve. And became unachieved. Nothing. My heart was high, but my chemistry pathetically absent My heart was high, but my chemistry pathetically absent. There can’t be no room for me in a Universe inhabited by you.

Please help me with these three questions:
1) What does the expression ‘heart is high’ mean?
2) What does the writer mean by ‘absent chemistry’ here?
3) How do you understand the whole sentence?

Thanks a lot.

Hi sovtransavto, and welcome. Here is my interpretation of these phrases. (Other people may interpret them differently).

"My heart was high" - I think this can mean two things.

1. It could mean "my spirits were high", "I was feeling good", "I was in a positive mood". Or:

2.It could mean "my heart rate was high","my heart was beating fast", "I was energised and ready to act".


"My chemistry was absent" means there was something missing in him. When something works well, we sometimes say it was because of good chemistry. Successful double acts (like Laurel & Hardy) are sometimes said to have "good chmeistry". It's about having the right blend of elements all working together in the right way and creating magic.

So "absent chemistry" means something was missing, some things were not combining well.

I hope this helps!

From Story, "The Wonderful Death of Dudley Stone."

Quotes you refer to are heard as part II of video begins:
Intro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxUFfxrUh-I

PtII
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...MdkI&feature=related

To me it sounds as if the person felt emotions or impressions, which most people do, but this person felt them intensely enough to wish to be an artist. This person also had the drive and willpower to work very hard to be an artist. What this person lacked was the skill or talent to create an artistic expression of his own emotions or impressions. Very sad.

It is like a tripod missing a leg. Some people lack the emotion, some the ambition, and some the talent. Some people have them but are in the wrong field. In any artistic endeavor, it takes all three to produce effective art.