TALES
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (Page 49)
Published first in 1839, and several times reprinted with revisions. Read the comment in the Introduction, page xxvii. Lowell said of this story: "Had its author written nothing else, it would alone have been enough to stamp him as a man of genius, and a master of a classic style."
This tale is one of the best to study as an example of the application of Poe's critical theory of the short story (see Introduction, page xxvi). What is the "effect" sought? Is the main incident of the tale well adapted to produce this effect? Are the parts skillfully related to one another and to the whole? Is the setting suitable to the theme? What is the effect of the first sentence? Pick out a number of rather unusual words which Poe seems particularly to like; observe their effect. The adjectives are especially worth study; in the first sentence try the effect of substituting for "soundless," "quiet," or "silent," or "noiseless."
49. Quotation: "His heart is a suspended lute; as soon as it is touched it resounds." P.J. Béranger (1780-1857), a popular French lyric poet.
50. 12. black and lurid tarn: see note to line 8 of "Ulalume," page 189. Tarn is one of several words Poe particularly liked.
58. 10. low cunning. See if the reason for this encounter appears later.
58 31. ennuyé: a French word meaning "wearied," "bored."
54. 5-24. The description of Usher is in the main a remarkably good portrait of Poe himself.
55. 20-30. Observe the extreme to which Poe goes in this study of terror; it is the fear of fear that oppresses Usher.
56. 2. too shadowy here to be re-stated. Note the effect of making this weird suggestion instead of a clear statement.
57. 26. Von Weber (1786-1826), a famous German composer.
58. 5. Henry Fuseli, or Fuesli (1742-1825), as he was known in England, was born in Zurich, Switzerland, and named Johann Heinrich Fuessli. He was a professor in the Royal Academy and painted a series of highly imaginative pictures illustrating Shakespeare and Milton.
59. The Haunted Palace. For notes see page 192.
60. 30-31. Richard Watson (1737-1816), Bishop of Llandaff, was for a time professor of chemistry at Cambridge University and wrote popular essays on that subject. James Gates Percival (1795-1856) was an American poet, musician, linguist, surgeon, and scientist; it is possible the reference is to Thomas Percival (1740-1804), an English physician. Lazzaro Spallanzani (1729-1799) was an Italian naturalist, distinguished in experimental physiology.
61. 22-31. All of these titles have been traced, except the last, which Poe either invented, or, in quoting, altered. Some of the works named he apparently had not read, since their character is not suited to his purpose. Jean Baptiste Louis Gresset (1709-1777) was a French poet and playwright; the two works mentioned are poems,—the first, a tale of an escaped parrot who stopped at a convent and shocked the nuns by his profanity. Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) was a famous Italian historian and statesman, who wrote a celebrated treatise called "The Prince"; "Belphegor" is a satire on marriage. Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) was an eminent Swedish theologian and religious mystic. Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754) was a great Danish poet and novelist; the work mentioned is one of his best known poems and has been translated into the principal languages of Europe. Flud, Robert Fludd (1574-1637), was an English physician, inventor, and mystic philosopher. Jean D'Indaginé (flourished in the first half of the sixteenth century) was a priest of Steinheim, Germany, who wrote on palmistry and similar subjects. Marin Cureau de la Chambre (1594-1675), physician to Louis XIV, who was an adept in physiognomy, and wrote a work on "The Art of Judging Men." Ludwig Tieck (1773-1853) was a German romantic novelist. Tommaso Campanella (1568-1639) was an Italian monk and philosopher, who suffered persecution by the Inquisition. Eymeric, Nicolas Eymericus (1320-1399), was a native of Gerona, Spain, who entered the Dominican order and rose to the rank of chaplain to the Pope and Grand Inquisitor; his famous "Directorium Inquisitorum" is an elaborate account of the Inquisition. Pomponius Mela was a Latin writer of the first century A.D., who wrote a famous work on geography "De Situ Orbis" (Concerning the Plan of the Earth).
61. 31. Satyrs and Ægipans: in classic mythology the satyrs and minor deities of wood and field, with the body of a man and the feet, hair, and horns of a goat; Ægipans is practically equivalent to, and is also an epithet of Pan, the satyr-like rural god.
61. 33-34. curious book in quarto Gothic: printed in the black-faced letters of mediæval times.
61. 35. The Latin title, which has not been found, means "Vigils for the Dead according to the Choir of the Church of Mayence."
66. 1-2. The "Mad Trist" of Sir Launcelot Canning has not been found; undoubtedly the title was coined and the quotations invented to fit the text, as they do perfectly.
69. 24-25. It was the work of the rushing gust. Note the fine effect of the momentary suspense, the instant's disappointment carried by this clause.