Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (111 page)

Curtained litters carried on poles.

Covered with decorative hangings.

Decorated with ribbons.

Probably the hanuman, or langur, monkey.

Minarets
are slender towers with projecting balconies;
oriels
are large bay windows secured by brackets.

The translation from Novalis (pseudonym of Friedrich Leopold von Hardenberg, 1772-1801) comes from Sarah T. Austin’s
Fragments from German Prose Writers
(1841), which Poe reviewed in
Graham’s Magazine
(December 1841).

Open pavilion.

Or kris; heavy dagger or short sword with a wavy blade.

First governor-general of British India (1732-1818), whose methods became suspect; he was tried and impeached (1787) but was ultimately acquitted.

On the Ganges River; among the most holy cities in India.

Rajah of Benares who in 1781 led a revolt against Hastings’s increasing tax demands.

Indian soldiers employed by the British.

Or Bengali; native or inhabitant of Bengal.

Large, potentially dangerous rush of blood to the head.

These venomous leeches
(vermicular
means resembling a worm or its motions) are Poe’s invention; leeches, bloodsucking water worms, were once used by physicians to bleed patients.

See note on p. 143.

Reference to the Bible, Ecclesiastes 12:6: “Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken” (KJV).

Derived by arguing from cause to effect.

Poe probably derived this account from a story in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania,
Democrat
on December 5,1845.

Poe’s source was “The Lady Buried Alive,” in the Philadelphia Casket (September 1827).

Medical practice of boring a hole into the skull.

Firm affirmation.

Caused by deprivation of oxygen to the blood.

See note on p. 188.

Condition Condition of suspended animation and loss of voluntary motion. Madeline Usher’s symptoms in “The Fall of the House of Usher” are cataleptic, and other Poe characters manifest similar symptoms.

Inclined to fantasize about graves or mausoleums (“charnel houses”).

Incorrect quotation from Shakespeare’s
Richard II
(act 3, scene 2): “Let’s talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs.”

The idea of death
(sepulchre
means “tomb”) hovers, black-winged, over him.

Glowing.

Variant of “fantasies.”

Conscious; here referring to the dawning of his awakening, or sensory day, when suspended animation is departing.

That is, Death.

Catamount, or mountain lion.

Group joined for a common purpose.

Nothing is more detested by wisdom than too much cunning (Latin); no source has been found for this phrase in the writings of Roman rhetorician Seneca (c. 55 B.C. - c. A.D. 39).

Third floor, No. 33 Dunôt Street, Faubourg St. Germain (French).

Reference to two previous detective tales (or, as Poe called them, ratiocinative tales), “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “The Mystery of Marie Rogêt.” The latter story, not included in the present volume, is often considered one of Poe’s lesser works.

Chief commissioner.

Woman’s dressing room, bedroom, or private sitting room (French).

Fully informed (French).

Natives or inhabitants of Naples. Condescension exists here; the Frenchman considers himself naturally superior to these foreigners.

Here,
hotel
refers to a large house, perhaps a mansion.

Robbers who prey upon pedestrians.

That is, a magnifying glass.

Dust particles created by a boring tool (gimlet).

Dr. John Abernethy ( 1764-1831 ), a prestigious British surgeon. Again Poe either had a memory lapse or he wished to test his readers; the circumstances actually pertain to another surgeon, Sir Isaac Pennington (1745-1817), which were recounted in a jest book,
Nuts to Crack
(1835), by Richard Gooch, which Poe reviewed in the
Southern Literary Messenger
(December 1835).

Writing desk.

Procrustes, son of Poseidon in Greek mythology, was a robber who forced victims to lie on his bed, stretching or cutting off their legs to make them fit; Theseus killed him by using his own villainous tactics.

Properly determined.

Unusual (French).

Above all else; preeminent (French).

It’s a safe bet... that every widely accepted idea, every accepted convention, is stupid, because it suits the masses (French).

The Latin words translate, respectively, as “seeking votes (for office)”; “religious observances,” or maybe “superstitions (beliefs)”; and “respectable or honorable men (perhaps those of one’s own political party).”

Mathematicians. Both this term and the Latin just preceding attest to Poe’s wish to impress his readers with his learnedness and sophistication; he may also have been testing their own awareness of language.

English scholar Jacob Bryant (1715-1804), author of
A New System; or, An Analysis of Antient Mythology,
Poe goes on to quote from the 1807 edition, published in London. Poe often drew upon Bryant in his writings.

Intriguer, one who plots against another’s welfare. These characteristics are reinforced later when Dupin remarks that the Minister “is a desperate man, and a man of nerve,” and a
“monstrum horrendum”
(Latin for “horrible monster”).

Force of inertia (Latin). This is another example (in the Prefect’s thinking) of not integrating imagination with rationalization. In other words, the Prefect would never suppose that the letter might be in plain sight instead of concealed in some obscure hideaway.

Boredom; the Minister in this respect joins ranks with characters like Roderick Usher (“The Fall of the House of Usher”) or old Mentoni (“The Assignation”), whose boredom signals ill fortune for them.

Receptacle for formal calling cards.

The Latin, slightly misquoted, comes from the
Aeneid,
an epic poem by Roman writer Virgil (70-19 B.C.): “the descent into Avernus [that is, Hell] is easy” (6.126); Avernus was a smoldering Italian volcano.

No such remark has been traced to Angelica Catalani (1780-1849), renowned Italian opera singer and teacher.

Horrible monster (Latin); Poe gives the phrase a psychological twist.

Castle, palace, or mansion. The opening paragraphs of this tale bear significant similarities to the opening of “The Fall of the House of Usher.”

That is, theories of mental derangement.

Mischance, accident. The “thoughtlessness” mentioned by Maillard foreshadows subsequent events in the tale in which the visitor’s unawareness leaves him unprepared for the final contretemps, which results in his bodily and emotional tarring and feathering.

Family or household members (French).

Reduced to absurdity (Latin).

Literally, “moon madness,” from folk beliefs that phases of the moon were linked with human behavior, and that lunatics tended to frenzied behavior during a full moon. Poe draws upon such beliefs elsewhere—for example, in “The Sleeper”; an eerie moon also illuminates the closing of “The Fall of the House of Usher,” a tale in which crazed states become paramount.

Discredited; viewed with contempt.

The veal is coated with crumbs, then braised and grilled;
velouté
sauce is a white sauce flavored with parsley and white stock (from chicken or veal);
Clos
de
Vougeôt
is a high-quality red Burgundy wine.

Dining room (French).

Poe meant the French phrase to read “old court”;
ville
(French for “town”) is a misprint for
vieille
(“old”).

Fine needlepoint or bobbin laces with floral designs.

Natives of one of the southern provinces in France.

Sons of Anak, a giant mentioned in the Bible, Numbers 13:33, therefore having voracious appetites.

Showing no astonishment (Latin)—that is, sophisticated.

Metal alloy resembling pewter.

Probably a reference to Charles-Paul de Kock ( 1793-1871 ), French writer of lurid novels.

Reference to Marquis Pierre-Simon de Laplace (1749-1827), French mathematician and astronomer; his interest in the moon perhaps aligns him with the lunacy previously mentioned.

My friend (French); perhaps an ironic response.

“A horrible deformed huge monster, deprived of light” (Latin); quotation from Virgil’s epic poem the
Aeneid.

Morsel (French).

Rabbit prepared like cat
(chat is
French for “cat”); this combination paves the way for the essentially comic names and comedy involved in the bracketing of disparate names that follows.

Pumpkin pie made of shoes
(soulier
is French for “shoe”).

Rogue, rascal, scoundrel (French).

A
boullard
is a ball and a
teetotum
is a spinning top; the pairing is understandable.

That is, undressing and thus approaching the nudity of the famous statue of Venus.

Trifle (French).

That is, yells given in conjunction or harmony.

My God! (French).

Haughtiness (French).

Greek tyrant (c.570-554 B.C.) of Sicily, who tortured victims by placing them within a brass bull statue, then building a fire beneath it; the victims’ cries simulated a bull’s roaring.

Tricked; this paragraph epitomizes what will befall the hapless narrator.

Pell-mell; confusedly (French).

Cape in South Africa; baboons are not native there.

Conclusion (French); but the word itself frequently is associated with stage drama, and in context it is fitting for the closing of this event staged by “actors.” Thus another connection with “The Masque of the Red Death” may be discerned; in that tale the characters “act” in stage surroundings.

The title is from the Bible, 2 Samuel 12:7 (KJV).

Oedipus solved the riddle of the Sphinx (see note 18 to
Tales).

Reference to the Bible, Romans 8:6: “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (KJV). The miracle alters the outlook of those who were inclined toward pleasures of the flesh.

In a body, as one (French).

Well-dressed actors whose roles are insignificant.

Possibly a quote from
Barnaby Rudge
( 1841 ), by English novelist Charles Dickens.

High-quality red wine.

God rot (damn) me.

Fever characterized by chills and shivering.

Inhabitants of a borough or town.

That is, he was “lynx-eyed,” or sharp-sighted.

Vest.

The italicized French phrases mean, respectively, “mischances” and “inaccurate or inappropriate words.”

Latin phrase commonly used in English, meaning “to whose advantage?” Poe accurately explains the term.

After death (Latin); the phrase has long been commonly used in English.

Small supper (French).

Short for
nemine contradicente
(Latin); without opposition, unanimously.

Working, contriving.

Early method of hypnotism (see note on p. 340).