Thanks for the quote, Alison. I also had Yeats's poem in mind, but I haven't got it at hand. I think the former verses could apply to Ensor as well (I quote from memory):

An old man is but a paltry thing, A tattered coat upon a stick, Unless he teaches his soul to sing, And louder sing for every tatter in its mortal dress.

Ensor (it might be said) gains some kind of immortality by creating Orac.

N.