The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
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long sufferance, he_said, obtained over his spirit - an effect which the physique of_the gray walls and turrets, and of_the dim tarn into which they all looked down, had, at_length, brought about upon_the morale of_his existence .

he admitted, however, although with hesitation, that much of_the peculiar gloom which thus afflicted him could_be traced to a more natural and far more palpable origin - to_the severe and long- continued illness - indeed to_the evidently approaching dissolution - of a tenderly beloved sister - his sole companion for long years - his last and only relative on earth ." her decease," he_said, with a bitterness which I_can never forget, " would leave him ( him the hopeless and_the frail) the last of_the ancient race of_the Ushers ." while he spoke, the lady Madeline ( for so was she called) passed slowly through a remote portion of_the apartment, and, without having noticed my presence, disappeared .I regarded her with an utter astonishment not unmingled with dread - and yet I_found it impossible to account for such feelings .a sensation of stupor oppressed me, as my eyes followed her retreating steps . when a door, at_length, closed upon her, my glance sought instinctively and eagerly the countenance of_the brother - but he had buried his face in_his hands, and I_could only perceive that a far more than ordinary wanness had overspread the emaciated fingers through which trickled many passionate tears .

the disease of_the lady Madeline had long baffled the skill of her physicians .a settled apathy, a gradual wasting away of_the person, and frequent although transient affections of a partially cataleptical character, were the unusual diagnosis . hitherto she had steadily borne up against the pressure of her malady, and had_not betaken herself finally to bed ; but, on_the closing in of_the evening of_my arrival at_the house, she succumbed ( as her brother told me at night with inexpressible agitation) to_the prostrating power of_the destroyer ; and I learned that_the glimpse I had obtained of her person would thus probably be the last i_should obtain - that_the lady, at_least while living, would_be seen by me no more .

for several_days ensuing, her name was unmentioned by either usher or myself: and during this period i_was busied in earnest endeavors to alleviate the melancholy of_my friend . we painted and read together ; or I listened, as_if in a dream, to_the wild improvisations of_his speaking guitar . and thus, as a closer and still closer intimacy admitted me more unreservedly into_the recesses of_his spirit, the more bitterly did I perceive the futility of all attempt at cheering a mind from_which darkness, as_if an inherent positive quality, poured forth upon all objects of_the moral and physical universe, in one unceasing radiation of gloom .

I_shall ever bear about me a memory of_the many solemn hours I thus spent alone with_the master of_the house of usher . yet i_should fail in any attempt to convey an idea of_the exact character of_the studies, or of_the occupations, in_which he involved me, or led me the way . an excited and highly distempered ideality threw asulphureous lustre over all . his long improvised dirges will ring forever in my ears . among other things, I hold painfully in mind a certain singular perversion and amplification of_the wild air of_the last waltz of Von Weber . from_the paintings over which his elaborate fancy brooded, and which grew, touch by touch, into vaguenesses at which I shuddered the more thrillingly, because I shuddered knowing not why ; - from_these paintings ( vivid as their images now are before me) i_would in vain endeavor to educe more than a small portion which should lie within_the compass of merely written words . by_the utter simplicity, by_the nakedness of_his designs, he arrested and overawed attention . if ever mortal painted an idea, that mortal was Roderick usher . for_me at_least - in_the circumstances then surrounding me - there arose out_of_the pure abstractions which the hypochondriac contrived to throw upon his canvass, an intensity of intolerable awe, no shadow of_which felt I ever yet in_the contemplation of_the certainly glowing yet too concrete reveries of Fuseli .

one_of_the phantasmagoric conceptions of_my friend, partaking not so rigidly of_the spirit of abstraction, may_be shadowed forth, although feebly, in words .a small picture presented the interior of an immensely long and rectangular vault or tunnel, with low walls, smooth, white, and without interruption or device . certain accessory points of_the design served well to convey the idea that_this excavation lay at an exceeding depth below the surface of_the earth . no outlet was observed in any portion of_its vast extent, and no torch, or other artificial source of light was discernible ; yet a flood of intense rays rolled throughout, and bathed the whole in a ghastly and inappropriate splendor .

I_have just spoken of_that morbid condition of_the auditory nerve which rendered all music intolerable to_the sufferer, with_the exception of certain effects of stringed instruments . it_was, perhaps, the narrow limits to_which he thus confined himself upon_the guitar, which gave birth, in great measure, to_the fantastic character of_his performances . but the fervid facility of_his _impromptus could_not_be so accounted for . they_must_have been, and were, in_the notes, as_well as in_the words of_his wild fantasias ( for he not unfrequently accompanied himself with rhymed verbal improvisations), the result of_that intense mental collectedness and concentration to_which I_have previously alluded as observable only in_particular moments of_the highest artificial excitement . the words of one_of_these rhapsodies I_have easily remembered . i_was, perhaps, the more forcibly impressed with it, as he_gave it, because, in_the under or mystic current of_its meaning, I fancied that I perceived, and for_the first time, a full consciousness on_the_part of usher, of_the tottering of_his lofty reason upon her throne . the verses, which were entitled " the haunted palace," ran very nearly, if_not accurately, thus:

I . in_the greenest of_our valleys, by good angels tenanted, once a fair and stately palace - radiant palace - reared its head . in_the monarch thought's dominion - it stood there ! never seraph spread a pinion over fabric half so fair .II .Banners yellow, glorious, golden, on its roof did float and flow; ( this - all this - was in_the olden time long_ago) and every gentle air that dallied, in_that sweet day, along the ramparts plumed and pallid, a winged odor went away .III .Wanderers in_that happy valley through two luminous windows saw Spirits moving musically to a lute's well-tund law, round about a throne, where sitting (Porphyrogene ! ) in state his glory well befitting, the ruler of_the realm was seen .IV . and all with pearl and ruby glowing was_the fair palace door, through which came flowing, flowing, flowing, and sparkling evermore, a troop of Echoes whose sweet duty was but to sing, in voices of surpassing beauty, the wit and wisdom of_their king .V . but evil things, in robes of sorrow, assailed the monarch's high estate ; (Ah, let_us mourn, for never morrow shall dawn upon him, desolate ! ) and, round about his home, the glory that blushed and bloomed is but a dim- remembered story of_the old time entombed . VI . and travellers now within that valley, through_the red-litten windows, see vast forms that move fantastically to a discordant melody ; while, like a rapid ghastly river, through_the pale door, a hideous throng rush out forever, and laugh - but smile no more .

I well remember that suggestions arising from_this ballad, led us into a train of thought wherein there became manifest an opinion of usher's which I mention not so_much on account of_its novelty, ( for other men * have thought thus,) as on account of_the pertinacity with_which he maintained it . this opinion, in its general form, was_that of_the sentience of all vegetable things . but, in_his disordered fancy, the idea had assumed a more daring character, and trespassed, under certain conditions, upon_the kingdom of inorganization .I lack words to express the full extent, or the earnest abandon of_his persuasion . the belief, however, was connected ( as I_have previously hinted) with_the gray stones of_the home of_his forefathers . the conditions of_the sentience had_been here, he imagined, fulfilled in_the method of collocation of_these stones - in_the order of_their arrangement, as_well as in_that of_the many fungi which overspread them, and of_the decayed trees which stood around - above all, in_the long undisturbed endurance of_this arrangement, and in its reduplication in_the still waters of_the tarn . its evidence - the evidence of_the sentience - was to_be seen, he_said, ( and I here started as he spoke,) in_the gradual yet certain condensation of an atmosphere of_their own about_the waters and_the walls . the result was discoverable, he added, in_that silent, yet importunate and terrible influence which for centuries had moulded the destinies of_his family, and which made him what I now saw him - what he_was . such opinions need no comment, and_I_will make none .

* Watson, Dr . Percival, Spallanzani, and especially the bishop of Landaff .- see " chemical Essays," vol v .

our books - the books which, for years, had formed no small portion of_the mental existence of_the invalid - were, as might_be supposed, in strict keeping with_this character of phantasm . we pored together over such works as_the Ververt et chartreuse of Gresset ; the Belphegor of Machiavelli ; the heaven and Hell of Swedenborg ; the subterranean voyage of Nicholas Klimm by Holberg ; the Chiromancy of Robert Flud, of Jean D'Indagin, and of De la Chambre ; the journey into_the blue distance of Tieck ; and_the city of_the sun of Campanella . one favorite volume was a small octavo edition of_the Directorium Inquisitorium_, by_the Dominican Eymeric de Gironne; and there were passages in Pomponius Mela, about_the old African Satyrs and gipans, over which usher would sit dreaming for hours . his chief delight, however, was found in_the perusal of an exceedingly rare and curious book in quarto Gothic - the manual of a forgotten church - the Vigiliae Mortuorum secundum Chorum Ecclesiae Maguntinae .

I_could_not help thinking of_the wild ritual of_this work, and of_its probable influence upon_the hypochondriac, when, one evening, having informed me abruptly that_the lady Madeline was no more, he stated his intention of preserving her corpse for a fortnight, (previously to its final interment,) in one_of_the numerous vaults within_the main walls of_the building . the worldly reason, however, assigned for_this singular proceeding, was one which I_did_not feel at liberty to dispute . the brother had_been led to_his resolution ( so he_told me) by consideration of_the unusual character of_the malady of_the deceased, of certain obtrusive and eager inquiries on_the_part of her medical men, and of_the remote and exposed situation of_the burial- ground of_the family . i_will_not deny that when I called to mind the sinister countenance of_the person whom I met upon_the staircase, on_the day of_my arrival at_the house, I had no desire to oppose what I regarded as at best but a harmless, and by no means an unnatural, precaution .

at_the request of usher, I personally aided him in_the arrangements for_the temporary entombment . the body having been encoffined, we two alone bore it to its rest . the vault in_which we placed it ( and which had_been so_long unopened that_our torches, half smothered in its oppressive atmosphere, gave_us little opportunity for investigation) was small, damp, and entirely without means of admission for light ; lying, at great depth, immediately beneath that portion of_the building in which_was my own sleeping apartment . it had_been used, apparently, in remote feudal times, for_the worst purposes of adonjon- keep, and, in later days, as a place of deposit for powder, or some other highly combustible substance, as a portion of_its floor, and_the whole interior of a long archway through which we reached it, were carefully sheathed with copper . the door, of massive iron, had_been, also, similarly protected . its immense weight caused an unusually sharp grating sound, as it moved upon its hinges .

Having deposited our mournful burden upon tressels within this region of horror, we partially turned aside the yet unscrewed lid of_the coffin, and looked upon_the face of_the tenant .astriking similitude between_the brother and sister now first arrested my attention ; and usher, divining, perhaps, my thoughts, murmured out some few words from_which I learned that_the deceased and himself had_been twins, and_that sympathies of a scarcely intelligible nature had always existed between_them . our glances, however, rested not long upon_the dead - for we_could_not regard her unawed . the disease which had thus entombed the lady in_the maturity of youth, had left, as usual in all maladies of a strictly cataleptical character, the mockery of a faint blush upon_the bosom and_the face, and_that suspiciously lingering smile upon_the lip which_is so terrible in death . we replaced and screwed down the lid, and, having secured the door of iron, made our way, with toil, into_the scarcely less gloomy apartments of_the upper portion of_the house .

and now, some days of bitter grief having elapsed, an observable change came over the features of_the mental disorder of_my friend . his ordinary manner had vanished . his ordinary occupations were neglected or forgotten . he roamed from chamber to chamber with hurried, unequal, and objectless step . the pallor of_his countenance had assumed, if possible, a more ghastly hue - but the luminousness of_his eye had utterly gone out . the once occasional huskiness of_his tone was heard no more; and a tremulous quaver, as_if of extreme terror, habitually characterized his utterance . there were times, indeed, when i_thought his unceasingly agitated mind was laboring with some oppressive secret, to divulge which he struggled for_the necessary courage . at times, again, i_was obliged to resolve all into_the mere inexplicable vagaries of madness, for I beheld him gazing upon vacancy for long hours, in an attitude of_the profoundest attention, as_if listening to some imaginary sound . it_was no wonder that his condition terrified - that_it infected me . I_felt creeping upon me, by slow yet certain degrees, the wild influences of_his own

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