If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and, if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger.
This is the height of Catherine’s longing—existence itself measured by a single person. The hyperbole is honest to her experience: without him, the world loses meaning. The sentence balances two imagined worlds to show what truly anchors her. It foreshadows how separation will feel like a tearing of self. The language is big because the feeling is big; understatement would be false here. Many readers recognize the fear beneath the passion: losing your anchor can make everything feel strange.