invocation (n.)
[in-vuh-key-shuh n]

1) the act of invoking or calling upon a deity, spirit, etc., for aid, protection, inspiration, or the like

Chapter 10

 "Wandering spirits, if indeed ye wander, and do not rest in your narrow beds, allow me this faint happiness, or take me, as your companion, away from the joys of life."

When Frankenstein says this, he is asking the "spirits" to either let him be a happy for a little while, or just kill him. 

The Scream by Edvard Munch (1893)

←

→