by Edgar Allan Poe

Impia tortorum longos hic turba furores Sanguinis innocui, non satiata, aluit Sospite nunc patria, fracto nunc funeris antro, Mors ubi dira fuit vita salusque patent

[_Quatrain composed gates of market to he erected site Jacobin Club House at Paris ]

sick -- sick unto death long agony; and unbound me, and permitted to sit, that my senses were leaving me The sentence -- the dread sentence of death -- last of distinct accentuation which reached my ears , the sound inquisitorial voices seemed merged in one dreamy indeterminate hum It conveyed to my soul the idea of revolution -- perhaps from its association in fancy burr of mill wheel This only for brief period; for presently I heard no more Yet, for while, ; but with how terrible an exaggeration ! the lips black-robed judges They appeared white -- whiter sheet I trace these words -- and thin even to grotesqueness; thin intensity expression of firmness -- of immoveable resolution -- of stern contempt of human torture decrees of what was Fate, were still issuing from those lips them writhe with deadly locution them fashion the syllables name; and I shuddered because no sound succeeded , too, for of delirious horror, the soft and nearly imperceptible waving sable draperies which enwrapped the walls apartment And then my vision fell seven tall candles table At first they wore the aspect of charity, and seemed white and slender angels save me; but then, all at once, there came most deadly nausea over my spirit, and every fibre in my frame thrill I had touched the wire of galvanic battery, while the angel forms became meaningless spectres, with heads of flame, and that there no help And then there stole into my fancy, like rich musical note, the thought of what sweet rest grave The thought came gently and stealthily, and it seemed long before it attained full appreciation; but just as my spirit came properly and entertain it, the figures judges vanished, magically, from before me; the tall candles sank into nothingness; their flames went out utterly; the blackness of darkness supervened; all sensations appeared swallowed up in mad rushing descent as soul into Hades Then silence, and stillness, night were the universe

I had swooned; but still will not say that all of consciousness was lost What of it there remained attempt to define, or even to describe; yet all was not lost deepest slumber -- no ! In delirium -- no ! In swoon -- no ! In death -- no ! even grave all lost Else no immortality for man Arousing most profound of slumbers, we break the gossamer web of some dream Yet in second afterward, (so frail may that web ) we remember not that dreamed return to life swoon two stages; first, that sense of mental or spiritual; secondly, that sense of physical, existence It seems probable that if, upon reaching the second stage, recall the impressions first, find these impressions eloquent in memories gulf beyond gulf is -- what ? How shall we distinguish its shadows from those tomb ? But impressions of what termed the first stage, , at will, recalled, yet, after long interval, do they not come unbidden, while we marvel whence ? He who has never swooned, he who finds strange palaces and wildly familiar faces in coals that glow; he who beholds floating in mid-air the sad visions many may not view; he who ponders over the perfume of some novel flower -- he whose brain grows bewildered meaning of some musical cadence never before arrested his attention

Amid frequent and thoughtful endeavors to remember; amid earnest struggles to regather some token state of seeming nothingness into which my soul had lapsed, been moments when dreamed of success; been brief, very brief periods when conjured up remembrances which the lucid reason of later epoch assures me had reference only condition of seeming unconsciousness These shadows of memory tell, indistinctly, of tall figures that lifted and bore me in silence down -- down -- still down -- till hideous dizziness oppressed me mere idea interminableness descent They tell also of vague horror at my heart, on account heart's unnatural stillness Then comes sense of sudden motionlessness throughout all things; those who bore me (a ghastly train ! ) had outrun, in their descent, the limits limitless, and paused wearisomeness toil I call to mind flatness and dampness; and then all is madness -- the madness of memory which busies itself among forbidden things

Very suddenly there came back to my soul motion and sound -- the tumultuous motion heart, and, in my ears, the sound beating Then pause all is blank Then again sound, and motion, and touch -- tingling sensation pervading my frame Then the mere consciousness of existence, without thought -- condition which lasted long Then, very suddenly, thought, and shuddering terror, and earnest endeavor to comprehend my true state Then strong desire to lapse into insensibility Then rushing revival of soul and successful effort to move And now full memory trial, judges, sable draperies, sentence, sickness, swoon Then entire forgetfulness of all that followed; of all that later day and much earnestness of endeavor have enabled me vaguely to recall

, I opened my eyes that I lay upon my back, unbound I reached out my hand, and it fell heavily upon something damp and hard There I suffered it to remain for many minutes, while I strove to imagine where and what I longed, yet dared not to employ my vision I dreaded the first glance at objects around me not that I feared to look upon things horrible, but that I grew aghast lest there nothing , with wild desperation at heart, I quickly unclosed my eyes My worst thoughts, then, were confirmed The blackness of eternal night encompassed me I struggled for breath The intensity darkness seemed to oppress and stifle me The atmosphere was intolerably close I still lay quietly, and made effort to exercise my reason I brought to mind the inquisitorial proceedings, and attempted point to deduce my real condition The sentence had passed; and it appeared that very long interval had since elapsed Yet not for moment did I suppose myself actually dead Such supposition, notwithstanding what we read in fiction, is altogether inconsistent with real existence; -- but where and in what state was I ? The condemned to death, , perished usually autos-da-fe, and held very night day trial Had I been remanded to my dungeon, to await the next sacrifice, which take place for many months ? This I at once saw Victims in immediate demand Moreover, my dungeon, as all the condemned cells at Toledo, had stone floors, and light was not altogether excluded

fearful idea now suddenly drove the blood in torrents upon my heart, and for brief period, I once more relapsed into insensibility Upon recovering, I at once started to my feet, trembling convulsively in every fibre I thrust my arms wildly above and around me in all directions nothing; yet dreaded to move step, lest impeded walls of tomb Perspiration burst from every pore, and stood in cold big beads upon my forehead The agony of suspense grew intolerable, and I cautiously moved forward, with my arms extended, and my eyes straining from their sockets, hope of catching some faint ray of light I proceeded for many paces; but still all was blackness and vacancy I breathed more freely It seemed evident that mine was not, , the most hideous of fates

And now, as I still continued to step cautiously onward, there came thronging upon my recollection thousand vague rumors horrors of Toledo dungeons there strange things narrated -- fables I had always deemed them -- but yet strange, and too ghastly to repeat, save in whisper Was I left to perish of starvation subterranean world of darkness; or what fate, perhaps even more fearful, awaited me ? result death, and death of more than customary bitterness, too well the character judges to doubt The mode hour were all that occupied or distracted me

My outstretched hands encountered some solid obstruction wall, seemingly of stone masonry -- very smooth, slimy, and cold I followed it up; stepping with all the careful distrust certain antique narratives had inspired me This process, however, afforded me no means of ascertaining the dimensions dungeon; as make its circuit, and return point whence I set out, without being aware fact; so perfectly uniform seemed the wall I therefore sought the knife which in my pocket, when led inquisitorial chamber; but gone; my clothes exchanged for wrapper of coarse serge I had thought of forcing the blade in some minute crevice masonry, so identify my point of departure The difficulty, nevertheless, was but trivial; although, disorder fancy, it seemed at first insuperable I tore part hem robe and placed the fragment at full length, and at right angles wall In groping my way around the prison, fail to encounter this rag upon completing the circuit So, : but I counted extent dungeon, or upon my own weakness The ground was moist and slippery I staggered onward for , when I stumbled and fell My excessive fatigue induced me to remain prostrate; and sleep soon overtook me as I lay

Upon awaking, and stretching forth an arm, beside me loaf and pitcher with water exhausted to reflect circumstance, but ate and drank with avidity Shortly afterward, I resumed my tour around the prison, and with much toil came at last fragment serge period when I fell I had counted fifty-two paces, and upon resuming my walk, I had counted forty-eight more; -- when I arrived rag There were in all, then, hundred paces; and, admitting two paces yard, I presumed the dungeon fifty yards in circuit I had met, however, with many angles wall, and thus form no guess shape vault; for vault help supposing it

I had little object -- certainly no hope these researches; but vague curiosity prompted me them Quitting the wall, I resolved to cross the area enclosure At first I proceeded with extreme caution, floor, although seemingly of solid material, was treacherous with slime , however, courage, and hesitate to step firmly; endeavoring to cross in as direct line as possible I had advanced some ten or twelve paces manner, remnant torn hem robe became entangled between my legs I stepped , and fell violently on my face