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Elements of the Gothic Novel

Robert Harris
Version Date: October 11, 2008

The gothic novel was invented almost single-handedly by Horace Walpole, whose The Castle of Otranto (1764)
contains essentially all the elements that constitute the genre. Walpole's novel was imitated not only in the
eighteenth century and not only in the novel form, but it has influenced writing, poetry, and even film making up to
the present day.

Gothic elements include the following:

1. Setting in a castle. The action takes place in and around an old castle, sometimes seemingly abandoned,
sometimes occupied. The castle often contains secret passages, trap doors, secret rooms, dark or hidden staircases,
and possibly ruined sections. The castle may be near or connected to caves, which lend their own haunting flavor
with their branchings, claustrophobia, and mystery. (Translated into modern filmmaking, the setting might be in an
old house or mansion--or even a new house--where unusual camera angles, sustained close ups during movement,
and darkness or shadows create the same sense of claustrophobia and entrapment.)

2. An atmosphere of mystery and suspense. The work is pervaded by a threatening feeling, a fear enhanced by the
unknown. Often the plot itself is built around a mystery, such as unknown parentage, a disappearance, or some other
inexplicable event. Elements 3, 4, and 5 below contribute to this atmosphere. (Again, in modern filmmaking, the
inexplicable events are often murders.)

3. An ancient prophecy is connected with the castle or its inhabitants (either former or present). The prophecy is
usually obscure, partial, or confusing. "What could it mean?" In more watered down modern examples, this may
amount to merely a legend: "It's said that the ghost of old man Krebs still wanders these halls."

4. Omens, portents, visions. A character may have a disturbing dream vision, or some phenomenon may be seen as
a portent of coming events. For example, if the statue of the lord of the manor falls over, it may portend his death.
In modern fiction, a character might see something (a shadowy figure stabbing another shadowy figure) and think
that it was a dream. This might be thought of as an "imitation vision."

5. Supernatural or otherwise inexplicable events. Dramatic, amazing events occur, such as ghosts or giants
walking, or inanimate objects (such as a suit of armor or painting) coming to life. In some works, the events are
ultimately given a natural explanation, while in others the events are truly supernatural.

6. High, even overwrought emotion. The narration may be highly sentimental, and the characters are often
overcome by anger, sorrow, surprise, and especially, terror. Characters suffer from raw nerves and a feeling of
impending doom. Crying and emotional speeches are frequent. Breathlessness and panic are common. In the filmed
gothic, screaming is common.

7. Women in distress. As an appeal to the pathos and sympathy of the reader, the female characters often face
events that leave them fainting, terrified, screaming, and/or sobbing. A lonely, pensive, and oppressed heroine is
often the central figure of the novel, so her sufferings are even more pronounced and the focus of attention. The
women suffer all the more because they are often abandoned, left alone (either on purpose or by accident), and have
no protector at times.

8. Women threatened by a powerful, impulsive, tyrannical male. One or more male characters has the power, as
king, lord of the manor, father, or guardian, to demand that one or more of the female characters do something
intolerable. The woman may be commanded to marry someone she does not love (it may even be the powerful male
himself), or commit a crime.

9. The metonymy of gloom and horror. Metonymy is a subtype of metaphor, in which something (like rain) is
used to stand for something else (like sorrow). For example, the film industry likes to use metonymy as a quick

shorthand, so we often notice that it is raining in funeral scenes. Note that the following metonymies for "doom and
gloom" all suggest some element of mystery, danger, or the supernatural.

wind, especially howling rain, especially blowing
doors grating on rusty hinges sighs, moans, howls, eerie sounds
footsteps approaching clanking chains
lights in abandoned rooms gusts of wind blowing out lights
characters trapped in a room doors suddenly slamming shut
ruins of buildings baying of distant dogs (or wolves?)
thunder and lightning crazed laughter

10. The vocabulary of the gothic. The constant use of the appropriate vocabulary set creates the atmosphere of
the gothic. Here as an example are some of the words (in several categories) that help make up the
vocabulary of the gothic in The Castle of Otranto:

Mystery diabolical, enchantment, ghost, goblins, haunted, infernal, magic, magician,
miracle, necromancer, omens, ominous, portent, preternatural, prodigy,
prophecy, secret, sorcerer, spectre, spirits, strangeness, talisman, vision

Fear, Terror, or afflicted, affliction, agony, anguish, apprehensions, apprehensive,
Sorrow commiseration, concern, despair, dismal, dismay, dread, dreaded, dreading,
fearing, frantic, fright, frightened, grief, hopeless, horrid, horror,
lamentable, melancholy, miserable, mournfully, panic, sadly, scared,
shrieks, sorrow, sympathy, tears, terrible, terrified, terror, unhappy,
wretched

Surprise alarm, amazement, astonished, astonishment, shocking, staring, surprise,
surprised, thunderstruck, wonder

Haste anxious, breathless, flight, frantic, hastened, hastily, impatience, impatient,
impatiently, impetuosity, precipitately, running, sudden, suddenly

Anger anger, angrily, choler, enraged, furious, fury, incense, incensed, provoked,
rage, raving, resentment, temper, wrath, wrathful, wrathfully

Largeness enormous, gigantic, giant, large, tremendous, vast

Elements of Romance

In addition to the standard gothic machinery above, many gothic novels contain elements of romance as well.
Elements of romance include these:

1. Powerful love. Heart stirring, often sudden, emotions create a life or death commitment. Many times this love is
the first the character has felt with this overwhelming power.

2. Uncertainty of reciprocation. What is the beloved thinking? Is the lover's love returned or not?

3. Unreturned love. Someone loves in vain (at least temporarily). Later, the love may be returned.

4. Tension between true love and father's control, disapproval, or choice. Most often, the father of the woman
disapproves of the man she loves.

5. Lovers parted. Some obstacle arises and separates the lovers, geographically or in some other way. One of the
lovers is banished, arrested, forced to flee, locked in a dungeon, or sometimes, disappears without explanation. Or,
an explanation may be given (by the person opposing the lovers' being together) that later turns out to be false.

6. Illicit love or lust threatens the virtuous one. The young woman becomes a target of some evil man's desires
and schemes.

7. Rival lovers or multiple suitors. One of the lovers (or even both) can have more than one person vying for
affection.

TRADUÇÃO

Elementos do romance gótico

Robert Harris
Versão Data: 11 de outubro de 2008

O romance gótico foi inventado quase sozinho, por Horace Walpole, cujo O Castelo de Otranto (1764), contém
essencialmente todos os elementos que constituem o gênero. o romance de Walpole foi imitado não só no século
XVIII e não apenas na forma de romance, mas ela tem influenciado a escrita, a poesia, e mesmo produção
cinematográfica até os dias atuais.

elementos góticos são os seguintes:

1. Aposta em um castelo. A ação acontece em torno de um velho castelo, às vezes aparentemente abandonado, às
vezes ocupada. O castelo freqüentemente contém passagens secretas, alçapões, salas secretas, escuras ou escondido
escadas, e possivelmente arruinado seções. O castelo pode ser próximo ou ligado às cavernas, que emprestam seu
sabor próprio assombro com suas ramificações, claustrofobia e mistério. (Traduzido para o cinema moderno, a
definição poderia estar em uma velha casa ou mansão - ou mesmo uma nova casa - onde os ângulos de câmera
incomuns, sustentado closes durante o movimento, e as trevas ou as sombras criar a mesma sensação de
claustrofobia e aprisionamento.)

2. Uma atmosfera de mistério e suspense. A obra é permeada por um sentimento de ameaça, o medo reforçada
pelo desconhecido. Muitas vezes o enredo é construído em torno de um mistério, como a paternidade desconhecida,
um desaparecimento, ou algum outro evento inexplicável. Elements 3, 4 e 5 abaixo contribuem para essa atmosfera.
(Mais uma vez, no cinema moderno, os eventos são muitas vezes inexplicáveis assassinatos.)

3. Uma antiga profecia está relacionada com o castelo ou de seus habitantes (ou antigos ou actuais). A profecia é
geralmente obscuras, parcial ou confuso. "O que isso significa?" Em mais aguado exemplos modernos, este pode
atingir apenas uma lenda: "Diz-se que o fantasma do velho homem ainda vagueia Krebs estas salas."

4. Presságios, sinais, visões. Um personagem pode ter uma visão de sonho perturbador, ou algum fenômeno pode
ser visto como um sinal de próximos eventos. Por exemplo, se a estátua do senhor da casa cai, pode predizer sua
morte. Na ficção moderna, um personagem pode ver algo (uma figura sombria esfaquear outra figura sombria) e
acho que era um sonho. Isso pode ser pensado como uma visão "imitação".

5. Sobrenaturais ou inexplicáveis eventos em contrário. dramática, eventos surpreendentes ocorrem, como
fantasmas ou gigantes andando, ou objetos inanimados (como uma armadura ou pintura), voltando à vida. Em
algumas obras, os eventos são em última análise, dada uma explicação natural, enquanto outros eventos são
verdadeiramente sobrenatural.

6. Elevado, mesmo a emoção exagerada. A narração pode ser muito sentimental, e os personagens são muitas
vezes superado pela raiva, tristeza, surpresa, e, sobretudo, o terror. Personagens sofrem de nervos-primas e uma
sensação de morte iminente. Chorando e discursos emocionais são freqüentes. Falta de ar e pânico são comuns. No
gótico filmado, gritando é comum.

7. Mulheres em perigo. Como um recurso para o pathos e simpatia do leitor, as personagens femininas são
frequentemente confrontadas com os eventos que os deixam desmaio, apavorado, gritando, e / ou aos soluços. A,
pensativo, e oprimidos heroína só é muitas vezes a figura central do romance, assim seus sofrimentos são ainda
mais acentuadas eo foco de atenção. As mulheres sofrem ainda mais porque muitas vezes são abandonados,
deixados sozinhos (de propósito ou por acidente), e não tem protetor às vezes.

8. Mulheres ameaçadas por um poderoso e tirânico, homens impulsivos. Um ou mais personagens masculinos
tem o poder, como rei, senhor da casa, do pai ou tutor, para exigir que um ou mais dos personagens femininos fazer
algo intolerável. A mulher pode ser comandado a se casar com alguém que não ama (pode até ser o homem forte
mesmo), ou cometer um crime.

9. A metonímia de tristeza e horror. metonímia é um subtipo de metáfora, em que algo (como a chuva) é usado
para representar algo (como dor). Por exemplo, a indústria do cinema gosta de usar a metonímia como um atalho
rápido, então nós muitas vezes perceber que está chovendo em cenas de funeral. Observe que o metonímias seguinte
para "a desgraça e melancolia" tudo sugere algum elemento de mistério, perigo ou o sobrenatural.

vento, especialmente uivando chuva, especialmente de sopro
portas de grade de dobradiças enferrujadas suspiros, gemidos, gritos, sons eerie
passos se aproximando cadeias clanking
luzes em lugares abandonados rajadas de vento que sopra as luzes
personagens presos em um quarto de repente as portas se fechando
ruínas de edifícios latido dos cães distantes (ou lobos?)
trovão e relâmpago riso enlouquecido

10. O vocabulário do estilo gótico. O constante uso do vocabulário adequado conjunto cria uma atmosfera de
estilo gótico. Aqui, como um exemplo, são algumas das palavras (em várias categorias) que ajudam a
compor o vocabulário do gótico em O Castelo de Otranto:

Mistério diabólica, ghost encantamento, duendes, assombrado, infernal, mágica,
mágico, milagre, necromante, presságios nefastos, portento, preternatural,
prodígio, profecia, segredo, feiticeiro, fantasma, espíritos, estranho,
talismã, a visão

Medo, terror, ou afligido, aflição, agonia, angústia, apreensão, apreensivo, comiseração,
de tristeza preocupação, desespero, desânimo, tristeza, medo, temido, temendo, com
medo, desesperados, susto, medo, tristeza, esperança, horrível, horror,
lamentável, triste, miserável, melancolicamente, pânico, tristeza, medo,
gritos, tristeza, simpatia, lágrimas, terríveis, apavorados, terror, infeliz,
miserável

Surpresa alarme, surpresa, espanto, surpresa, choque, olhando, surpresa, surpresa,
estupefato, maravilha

Pressa ansiosos, ofegantes, vôo, frenético, apressado, pressa, impaciência,
impaciente, impaciente, fogosidade, precipitadamente, correndo, súbita, de
repente

Raiva raiva, raiva, cólera, raiva, fúria, fúria, incenso, furioso, provocou, raiva,
furioso, o ressentimento, o temperamento, a ira, irado, com raiva

Grandeza enorme, gigante, gigante, grande, enorme, enorme

Elementos de Romance

Além das máquinas gothic padrão acima, muitos romances góticos conter elementos de romance também.
Elementos de romance incluem os seguintes:

1. poderoso amor. Heart agitação, muitas vezes súbita, emoções criam um compromisso de vida ou de morte.
Muitas vezes esse amor é o personagem do primeiro sentiu com esse poder esmagador.

2. A incerteza da reciprocidade. Qual é o pensamento amado? É amante do amor retornou ou não?

3. Unreturned amor. Alguém ama em vão (pelo menos temporariamente). Mais tarde, o amor pode ser devolvido.

4. A tensão entre o amor verdadeiro e de controle pai , a desaprovação, ou escolha. Na maioria das vezes, o pai
da mulher desaprova o homem que ela ama.

5. Amantes separados. algum obstáculo se levanta e separa os amantes, geográfica ou de alguma outra forma. Um
dos amantes é banido, preso, forçado a fugir, preso em uma masmorra, ou às vezes, desaparece sem explicação. Ou
então, uma explicação pode ser dada (por oposição a pessoa dos amantes estarem juntos), que mais tarde acaba por
ser falso.

6. Ilícito amor ou luxúria ameaça a um virtuoso. A moça se torna alvo de maus desejos do homem e alguns
regimes.

7. Rival amantes ou vários pretendentes. Um dos amantes (ou mesmo ambas) pode ter mais de uma pessoa que
vying para a afeição.

Chapter 5

IT WAS on a dreary night of November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. With an anxiety that almost
amounted to agony, collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless
thing that lay at my feet. It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my
candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the
creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs.

How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and
care I had endeavoured to form? His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful.
Beautiful! -- Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of
a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid
contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun white sockets in which they were
set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.

The different accidents of life are not so changeable as the feelings of human nature. I had worked hard for nearly
two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body. For this I had deprived myself of rest and
health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the
dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. Unable to endure the aspect of the being I had
created, I rushed out of the room, continued a long time traversing my bed chamber, unable to compose my mind to
sleep. At length lassitude succeeded to the tumult I had before endured; and I threw myself on the bed in my
clothes, endeavouring to seek a few moments of forgetfulness. But it was in vain: I slept, indeed, but I was disturbed
by the wildest dreams. I thought I saw Elizabeth, in the bloom of health, walking in the streets of Ingolstadt.
Delighted and surprised, I embraced her; but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue
of death; her features appeared to change, and I thought that I held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms; a
shroud enveloped her form, and I saw the grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel. I started from my sleep
with horror; a cold dew covered my forehead, my teeth chattered, and every limb became convulsed: when, by the
dim and yellow light of the moon, as it forced its way through the window shutters, I beheld the wretch -- the
miserable monster whom I had created. He held up the curtain of the bed and his eyes, if eyes they may be called,
were fixed on me. His jaws opened, and he muttered some inarticulate sounds, while a grin wrinkled his cheeks. He
might have spoken, but I did not hear; one hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped, and

rushed down stairs. I took refuge in the courtyard belonging to the house which I inhabited; where I remained
during the rest of the night, walking up and down in the greatest agitation, listening attentively, catching and fearing
each sound as if it were to announce the approach of the demoniacal corpse to which I had so miserably given life.

Oh! no mortal could support the horror of that countenance. A mummy again endued with animation could not be
so hideous as that wretch. I had gazed on him while unfinished he was ugly then; but when those muscles and joints
were rendered capable of motion, it became a thing such as even Dante could not have conceived.

I passed the night wretchedly. Sometimes my pulse beat so quickly and hardly that I felt the palpitation of every
artery; at others, I nearly sank to the ground through languor and extreme weakness. Mingled with this horror, I felt
the bitterness of disappointment; dreams that had been my food and pleasant rest for so long a space were now
become a hell to me; and the change was so rapid, the overthrow so complete!

Morning, dismal and wet, at length dawned, and discovered to my sleepless and aching eyes the church of
Ingolstadt, white steeple and clock, which indicated the sixth hour. The porter opened the gates of the court, which
had that night been my asylum, and I issued into the streets, pacing them with quick steps, as if I sought to avoid the
wretch whom I feared every turning of the street would present to my view. I did not dare return to the apartment
which I inhabited, but felt impelled to hurry on, although drenched by the rain which poured from a black and
comfortless sky.

I continued walking in this manner for some time, endeavouring, by bodily exercise, to ease the load that weighed
upon my mind. I traversed the streets, without any clear conception of where I was, or what I was doing. My heart
palpitated in the sickness of fear; and I hurried on with irregular steps, not daring to look about me:-

"Like one who, on a lonely road, Doth walk in fear and dread, And, having once turned round, walks on, And turns
no more his head;

Because he knows a frightful fiend Doth close behind him tread." *

Continuing thus, I came at length opposite to the inn at which the various diligences and carriages usually stopped.
Here I paused, I knew not why; but I remained some minutes with my eyes fixed on a coach that was coming
towards me from the other end of the street. As it drew nearer, I observed that it was the Swiss diligence: it stopped
just where I was standing, and, on the door being opened, I perceived Henry Clerval, who, on seeing me, instantly
sprung out. "My dear Frankenstein," exclaimed he, "how glad I am to see you! how fortunate that you should be
here at the very moment of my alighting!"

Nothing could equal my delight on seeing Clerval; his presence brought back to my thoughts my father, Elizabeth,
and all those scenes of home so dear to my recollection. I grasped his hand, and in a moment forgot my horror and
misfortune; I felt suddenly, and for the first time during many months, calm and serene joy. I welcomed my friend,
therefore, in the most cordial manner, and we walked towards my college. Clerval continued talking for some time
about our mutual friends, and his own good fortune in being permitted to come to Ingolstadt. "You may easily
believe," said he, "how great was the difficulty to persuade my father that all necessary knowledge was not
comprised in the noble art of bookkeeping; and, indeed, I believe I left him incredulous to the last, for his constant
answer to my unwearied entreaties was the same as that of the Dutch school-master in the Vicar of Wakefield: -- 'I
have ten thousand florins a year without Greek, I eat heartily without Greek.' But his affection for me at length
overcame his dislike of learning, and he has permitted me to undertake a voyage of discovery to the land of
knowledge."

"It gives me the greatest delight to see you; but tell me how you left my father, brothers, and Elizabeth."

"Very well, and very happy, only a little uneasy that they hear from you so seldom. By the by, I mean to lecture you
a little upon their account myself. -- But, my dear Frankenstein," continued he, stopping short, and gazing full in my
face, "I did not before remark how very ill you appear; so thin and pale; you look as if you had been watching for
several nights."

"You have guessed right; I have lately been so deeply engaged in one occupation that I have not allowed myself
sufficient rest, as you see: but I hope, I sincerely hope, that all these employments are now at an end, and that I am
at length free."

I trembled excessively; I could not endure to think of, and far less to allude to, the occurrences of the preceding
night. I walked with a quick pace, and we soon arrived at my college. I then reflected, and the thought made me
shiver, that the creature whom I had left in my apartment might still be there, alive, and walking about. I dreaded to
behold this monster; but I feared still more that Henry should see him. Entreating him, therefore, to remain a few
minutes at the bottom of the stairs, I darted up towards my own room. My hand was already on the lock of the door
before I recollected myself I then paused; and a cold shivering came over me. I threw the door forcibly open, as
children are accustomed to do when they expect a spectre to stand in waiting for them on the other side; but nothing
appeared. I stepped fearfully in: the apartment was empty; and my bedroom was also freed from its hideous guest. I
could hardly believe that so great a good fortune could have befallen me; but when I became assured that my enemy
had indeed fled, I clapped my hands for joy, and ran down to Clerval.

We ascended into my room, and the servant presently brought breakfast; but I was unable to contain myself It was
not joy only that possessed me; I felt my flesh tingle with excess of sensitiveness, and my pulse beat rapidly. I was
unable to remain for a single instant in the same place; I jumped over the chairs, clapped my hands, and laughed
aloud. Clerval at first attributed my unusual spirits to joy on his arrival; but when he observed me more attentively
he saw a wildness in my eyes for which he could not account; and my loud, unrestrained, heartless laughter
frightened and astonished him.

"My dear Victor," cried he, "what, for God's sake, is the matter? Do not laugh in that manner. How ill you are!
What is the cause of all this?"

"Do not ask me," cried I, putting my hands before my eyes for I thought I saw the dreaded spectre glide into the
room; "he can tell. -- Oh, save me! save me!" I imagined that the monster seized me; I struggled furiously, and fell
down in a fit.

Poor Clerval! what must have been his feelings? A meeting, which he anticipated with such joy, so strangely turned
to bitterness. But I was not the witness of his grief, for I was lifeless, and did not recover my senses for a long, long
time.

This was the commencement of a nervous fever, which confined me for several months. During all that time Henry
was my only nurse. I afterwards learned that, knowing my father's advanced age, and unfitness for so long a
journey, and how wretched my sickness would make Elizabeth, he spared them this grief by concealing the extent
of my disorder. He knew that I could not have a more kind and attentive nurse than himself; and, firm in the hope he
felt of my recovery, he did not doubt that, instead of doing harm, he performed the kindest action that he could
towards them.

But I was in reality very ill; and surely nothing but the unbounded and unremitting attentions of my friend could
have restored me to life. The form of the monster on whom I had bestowed existence was forever before my eyes,
and I raved incessantly concerning him. Doubtless my words surprised Henry: he at first believed them to be the
wanderings of my disturbed imagination; but the pertinacity with which I continually recurred to the same subject,
persuaded him that my disorder indeed owed its origin to some uncommon and terrible event.

By very slow degrees, and with frequent relapses that alarmed and grieved my friend, I recovered. I remember the
first time I became capable of observing outward objects with any kind of pleasure, I perceived that the fallen leaves
had disappeared, and that the young buds were shooting forth from the trees that shaded my window. It was a divine
spring; and the season contributed greatly to my convalescence. I felt also sentiments of joy and affection revive in
my bosom; my gloom disappeared, and in a short time I became as cheerful as before I was attacked by the fatal
passion.

"Dearest Clerval," exclaimed I, "how kind, how very good you are to me. This whole winter, instead of being spent
in study, as you promised yourself, has been consumed in my sick room. How shall I ever repay you? I feel the
greatest remorse for the disappointment of which I have been the occasion; but you will forgive me."

"You will repay me entirely if you do not discompose yourself, but get well as fast as you can; and since you appear
in such good spirits, I may speak to you on one subject, may I not?"

I trembled. One subject! what could it be? Could he allude to an object on whom I dared not even think?

"Compose yourself," said Clerval, who observed my change of colour, "I will not mention it, if it agitates you; but
your father and cousin would be very happy if they received a letter from you in your own handwriting. They hardly
know how ill you have been, and are uneasy at your long silence."

"Is that all, my dear Henry? How could you suppose that my first thoughts would not fly towards those dear, dear
friends whom I love, and who are so deserving of my love."

"If this is your present temper, my friend, you will perhaps be glad to see a letter that has been lying here some days
for you; it is from your cousin, I believe."

* Coleridge's Ancient Mariner

Capítulo 5

IT WAS numa sombria noite de novembro que eu contemplei a realização da minha labuta. Com uma ansiedade
que quase atingiu a agonia, recolheu os instrumentos da vida em torno de mim, que eu poderia infundir uma
centelha de estar na coisa inerte que jazia a meus pés. Já era uma hora da manhã, a chuva tamborilou dismally
contra as vidraças , e minha vela estava quase queimado, quando, pelo vislumbre da extinta-meia luz, eu vi o baço
olho amarelo da criatura aberta, ele respirou rígido, e um movimento convulsivo agitou seus membros.

Como posso descrever minhas emoções a esta catástrofe, ou como delinear o desgraçado que com essa dor infinita e
os cuidados que eu tinha tentado formar? Seus membros eram proporcionais, e eu tinha escolhido seu rosto tão
bonito. Lindo! - Grande Deus! Sua pele amarela mal cobria o trabalho dos músculos e artérias abaixo, seu cabelo
era de um negro lustroso, e fluido; os dentes de uma brancura nacarada, mas estas só luxuriâncias formou um
contraste horrível mais com os olhos lacrimejantes, que parecia quase do mesma cor do branco sockets dun em que
foram estabelecidos, sua tez lábios murchos e reto preto.

Os acidentes de vida diferentes não são tão mutáveis como os sentimentos da natureza humana. Eu tinha trabalhado
duro durante quase dois anos, com a única finalidade de infundir vida em um corpo inanimado. Por isso eu me
privou de descanso e de saúde. Eu tinha desejado com um ardor que ultrapassam largamente a moderação, mas
agora que eu tinha terminado, a beleza do sonho desapareceu, sem fôlego e horror e nojo encheu meu coração.
Incapaz de suportar o aspecto do ser que eu tinha criado, eu corri para fora da sala, continuou muito tempo
percorrendo meu quarto de cama, incapaz de compor minha mente para dormir. Na lassitude comprimento sucedeu
ao tumulto que eu tinha antes sofrido, e eu me joguei na cama com minhas roupas, tentando buscar alguns
momentos de esquecimento. Mas foi em vão: eu dormi, de fato, mas eu estava perturbado pela sonhos. Eu pensei
que eu vi Elizabeth, na flor da saúde, andando nas ruas de Ingolstadt. Encantado e surpreso, eu abracei ela, mas
como eu impressa o primeiro beijo em seus lábios, eles se tornaram lívido com a cor da morte, suas feições
pareciam mudar, e eu pensei que eu tinha o corpo de minha mãe morta nos meus braços; uma mortalha envolto sua
forma, e eu vi o túmulo-vermes nas dobras da flanela. Eu comecei com o meu sono com horror, um orvalho frio
cobriu minha testa, meus dentes batiam, e cada membro se revoltou: quando, pela fraca luz amarela e da lua, como
ele forçou seu caminho através das persianas da janela, vi o miserável - o monstro miserável que eu tinha criado.
Ele levantou a cortina da cama e os olhos, os olhos se eles podem ser chamados, foram fixados em mim. Suas
mandíbulas abertas, e murmurou alguns sons inarticulados, enquanto um sorriso franziu o rosto. Ele poderia ter
falado, mas eu não ouvi, uma mão se estendeu, aparentemente para deter-me, mas escapou e correu para as escadas.
I refugiou-se no pátio pertencente à casa que eu habitava; onde permaneceu durante o resto da noite, andando para
cima e para baixo na maior agitação, ouvindo atentamente, a captura e temendo cada som como se fosse para
anunciar a aproximação de o cadáver demoníaco a que eu tinha dado a vida tão miseravelmente.

Oh! nenhum mortal poderia suportar o horror daquele rosto. A múmia mais dotado de animação pode não ser tão
hediondo como aquele desgraçado. Eu tinha olhado para ele enquanto ele estava inacabado feio depois, mas quando
os músculos e articulações foram rendidos capaz de movimento, tornou-se uma coisa como Dante mesmo não
poderia ter concebido.

Passei a noite desastrosa. Às vezes meu pulso bater tão rapidamente e quase que senti a palpitação de cada artéria,
em outros, eu quase caiu ao chão através de langor e extrema fraqueza. Misturada com este horror, eu sentia o
amargor da decepção, sonhos que tinha sido a minha comida e descanso agradável por muito tempo um espaço que
agora se tornou um inferno para mim, e que a mudança foi tão rápida, a derrubada tão completo!

Bom dia, triste e molhado, longamente amanheceu, e descobri a minha dor e os olhos sem dormir a igreja de
Ingolstadt, campanário branco e relógio, que indicava a hora sexta. O porteiro abriu os portões da quadra, que teve
naquela noite foi o meu asilo, e eu emitidas nas ruas, acompanhando-os com passos rápidos, como se procurou
evitar o desgraçado que eu temia cada virada da rua iria apresentar a minha vista. Eu não ousei voltar ao
apartamento que eu habitava, mas se sentiram impelidos a pressa em diante, embora encharcado pela chuva, que
serviu de consolo e um céu negro.

Eu continuei andando desta forma há algum tempo, procurando, através do exercício corporal, para aliviar a carga
que pesava sobre minha mente. Atravessei a rua, sem qualquer concepção clara de onde eu estava, ou o que eu
estava fazendo. Meu coração palpitava na doença do medo e apressei-me com passos irregulares, sem ousar olhar
para mim: -

"Como alguém que, em uma estrada solitária,
Doth andar no medo e pavor,
E, tendo virou uma vez, andando,
E vira mais a cabeça,
porque ele sabe que um terrível demônio
Doth fechar atrás dele passo. " *

Continuando assim, cheguei finalmente em frente à pousada em que as várias diligências e carruagens geralmente
interrompido. Aqui parei, eu não sabia o porquê, mas eu fiquei alguns minutos com os olhos fixos em um ônibus
que estava vindo em minha direção do outro lado da rua. Como se aproximava, eu observei que era a diligência da
Suíça: ele parou exatamente onde eu estava, e, na porta sendo aberta, percebi Henry Clerval, que, ao ver-me,
imediatamente saltado fora. "Meu caro Frankenstein", exclamou ele, "como estou feliz em ver você! Que sorte você
deveria estar aqui neste momento da minha saia! "

Nada podia ser igual o meu prazer em ver Clerval; sua presença trouxe de volta para meus pensamentos, meu pai,
Elizabeth, e todas aquelas cenas de uma casa tão cara a minha lembrança. Segurei sua mão, e em um momento
esqueci o meu horror e desgraça, eu senti, de repente, e pela primeira vez durante muitos meses, a alegria serena e
calma. Saudei meu amigo, por conseguinte, a maneira mais cordial, e caminhamos para a minha faculdade. Clerval
continuou falando há algum tempo sobre os nossos amigos em comum, e sua boa fortuna de ser autorizado a vir
para Ingolstadt. "Você pode facilmente acreditar", disse ele, "como era grande a dificuldade de convencer o meu pai
que todo o conhecimento necessário, não foi compreendido na nobre arte da contabilidade, e, na verdade, creio que
o deixou incrédulo até o último, por sua resposta constante aos meus apelos incansáveis foi a mesma que a do
holandês mestre-escola, em Vigário de Wakefield: - "Eu tenho dez mil florins por ano, sem grego, eu sinceramente
sem comer grego. Mas o seu carinho por mim no comprimento superou o seu desagrado de aprendizagem, e
permitiu-me realizar uma viagem de descoberta para a terra do conhecimento. "

"Isso me dá o maior prazer em vê-lo, mas me diga como você deixou meu pai, irmãos e Elizabeth."

"Muito bem, muito feliz, só um pouco inquieto que ouvi-lo tão raramente. A propósito, quero dizer a palestra-lhe
um pouco sobre sua conta de mim. - Mas, meu caro Frankenstein", continuou ele, parando curto e, olhando cheio na
minha cara, "eu não fazia antes observação como você parece muito doente, tão magro e pálido, você olha como se
você estivesse assistindo a várias noites."

"Você acertou, eu ultimamente tem sido tão profundamente envolvido em uma ocupação que eu não permiti-me um
descanso suficiente, como você vê, mas eu espero, espero sinceramente, que todos esses empregos estão agora no
fim, e que eu estou em comprimento livre. "

Eu tremia demais, eu não poderia suportar a pensar, e muito menos aludir a, as ocorrências da noite anterior. Eu
andei com um ritmo rápido, e logo chegou a minha faculdade. Eu, então, refletida, eo pensamento me fez tremer,
que a criatura que eu tinha deixado no meu apartamento ainda poderia estar lá, vivo e caminhando. Eu temia a

contemplar esse monstro, mas temia ainda mais que Henry deveria vê-lo. Rogando-lhe, portanto, permanecer alguns
minutos no fundo das escadas, eu corria para cima para o meu próprio quarto. Minha mão já estava na fechadura da
porta antes que eu me lembrava que, em seguida, fez uma pausa, e um frio tremendo veio sobre mim. Eu joguei a
porta aberta à força, como as crianças estão acostumadas a fazer quando eles esperam um espectro para ficar na
espera para eles do outro lado, mas nada apareceu. Entrei com medo de o apartamento estava vazio, e meu quarto
também foi libertado de seus hóspedes hediondo. Eu mal podia acreditar que tão grande boa sorte poderia ter
acontecido comigo, mas quando eu me tornei a certeza de que meu inimigo tinha de fato fugiu, eu batia palmas de
alegria, e correu para Clerval.

Subimos ao meu quarto, e ao servo hoje trouxe café da manhã, mas não pude me conter Não foi só alegria que se
apossou de mim, senti meu corpo formigar com excesso de sensibilidade, e meu pulso bater rapidamente. Eu era
incapaz de permanecer por um único instante no mesmo lugar, eu saltei sobre as cadeiras, batia palmas e ria alto.
Clerval em primeiro lugar atribuído ao meu estado de espírito incomum para a alegria da sua chegada, mas quando
ele me observou mais atentamente, viu uma selvageria em meus olhos para que ele não poderia explicar, eo meu
alto, sem restrições, o riso desalmado assustado e surpreso ele.

"Meu querido Victor", gritou ele, "o que, para o amor de Deus, é o problema? Não ria dessa maneira. Como você
está doente! Qual é a causa de tudo isso?"

"Não me pergunte", gritei, colocando as mãos diante dos meus olhos porque eu pensei que eu vi o fantasma temido
deslizar para o quarto, "ele pode dizer. - Oh, salva-me salva-me!" Imaginei que o monstro se apoderou de mim, eu
lutava furiosamente, e caiu em um ajuste.

Clerval pobres! que deve ter sido os seus sentimentos? A reunião, que ele esperava com tanta alegria, tão
estranhamente virou-se para a amargura. Mas eu não era o testemunho da sua dor, pois estava sem vida, e não
recuperar os sentidos por um longo, longo tempo.

Este foi o início de uma febre nervosa, o que me limita por vários meses. Durante todo esse tempo, Henry foi meu
único enfermeiro. Soube depois que, sabendo da avançada idade, meu pai, e inaptidão para tão longa viagem, e
como minha doença miserável faria Elizabeth, ele poupou esta dor, escondendo a extensão da minha doença. Ele
sabia que eu não poderia ter um mais gentil e atencioso enfermeiro do que ele, e com a firme esperança de que ele
sentiu a minha recuperação, ele não tinha dúvidas de que, em vez de fazer o mal, ele executou a ação mais amável
que podia para eles.

Mas eu estava, na realidade, muito mal, e certamente nada, mas a ilimitada e incessante atenções do meu amigo
teria me restaurado à vida. A forma do monstro em que eu tinha dado a existência quem estava sempre diante dos
meus olhos, e eu delirava incessantemente a respeito dele. Sem dúvida, as minhas palavras surpreendido Henry: na
primeira ele acreditava que fossem as peregrinações da minha imaginação perturbada, mas a pertinácia com que
continuamente retornou para o mesmo assunto, convenceu-o que o meu transtorno de fato devido à sua origem e
algumas terrível evento raro.

Por muito lento graus, e com freqüentes recaídas que alarmou e triste meu amigo, eu me recuperei. Eu me lembro
da primeira vez que eu me tornei capaz de observar objetos exteriores com qualquer tipo de prazer, percebi que as
folhas caídas tinham desaparecido, e que os brotos jovens estavam atirando diante das árvores de sombra que a
minha janela. Foi uma primavera divina, ea estação contribuiu muito para a minha convalescença. Senti também
sentimentos de alegria e carinho revive em meu peito, minha melancolia desapareceu, e em pouco tempo me tornei
tão alegre como antes Eu fui atacado pela paixão fatal.

"Querida Clerval", exclamou I ", como espécie, como muito bom você é para mim. Este inverno inteiro, em vez de
ser gasto em estudo, como você prometeu a si mesmo, tem sido consumido em meu quarto doente. Como é que eu
sempre recompensá-lo ? eu sinto o maior remorso para a decepção dos que eu tenho a oportunidade, mas você vai
me perdoar. "

"Você vai me reembolsar integralmente caso você não se descompor, mas começar bem o mais rápido possível e
desde que você apareça em tão boa, que eu possa falar com você sobre um assunto, que eu não?"

Eu tremia. Um assunto! o que poderia ser? Ele poderia aludir a um objeto em quem eu não ousava sequer pensar?

"Compose yourself", disse Clerval, que observou a minha mudança de cor, "Eu não vou mencioná-lo, se você agita,
mas seu pai e seu primo ficaria muito feliz se eles receberam uma carta de você em sua própria caligrafia. Mal mal
sabem que você tem, e são desconfortáveis em seu longo silêncio. "

"Isso é tudo, meu caro Henry? Como você pode supor que meu primeiro pensamento não voaria para aqueles
queridos, queridos amigos a quem eu amo, e que são tão merecedores de meu amor."

"Se este é o seu temperamento presente, meu amigo, você talvez esteja contente de ver uma carta que foi deitado
aqui alguns dias para você, é a partir do seu primo, que eu acredito."

Ancient Mariner * Coleridge

The Fall of the House of Usher

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DURING the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively
low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country ; and at
length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know
not how it was - but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. I say
insufferable ; for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half-pleasurable, because poetic, sentiment, with which
the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible. I looked upon the scene before
me - upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain - upon the bleak walls - upon the vacant
eye-like windows - upon a few rank sedges - and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees - with an utter
depression of soul which I can compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the after-dream of the reveller
upon opium - the bitter lapse into everyday life - the hideous dropping off of the veil. There was an iciness, a
sinking, a sickening of the heart - an unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could
torture into aught of the sublime. What was it - I paused to think - what was it that so unnerved me in the
contemplation of the House of Usher ? It was a mystery all insoluble ; nor could I grapple with the shadowy fancies
that crowded upon me as I pondered. I was forced to fall back upon the unsatisfactory conclusion, that while,
beyond doubt, there are combinations of very simple natural objects which have the power of thus affecting us, still
the analysis of this power lies among considerations beyond our depth. It was possible, I reflected, that a mere
different arrangement of the particulars of the scene, of the details of the picture, would be sufficient to modify, or
perhaps to annihilate its capacity for sorrowful impression ; and, acting upon this idea, I reined my horse to the
precipitous brink of a black and lurid tarn that lay in unruffled lustre by the dwelling, and gazed down - but with a
shudder even more thrilling than before - upon the remodelled and inverted images of the gray sedge, and the
ghastly tree-stems, and the vacant and eye-like windows.

Nevertheless, in this mansion of gloom I now proposed to myself a sojourn of some weeks. Its proprietor, Roderick
Usher, had been one of my boon companions in boyhood ; but many years had elapsed since our last meeting. A
letter, however, had lately reached me in a distant part of the country - a letter from him - which, in its wildly
importunate nature, had admitted of no other than a personal reply. The MS. gave evidence of nervous agitation.
The writer spoke of acute bodily illness - of a mental disorder which oppressed him - and of an earnest desire to see
me, as his best, and indeed his only personal friend, with a view of attempting, by the cheerfulness of my society,
some alleviation of his malady. It was the manner in which all this, and much more, was said - it was the apparent
heart that went with his request - which allowed me no room for hesitation; and I accordingly obeyed forthwith
what I still considered a very singular summons.

Although, as boys, we had been even intimate associates, yet I really knew little of my friend. His reserve had been
always excessive and habitual. I was aware, however, that his very ancient family had been noted, time out of mind,
for a peculiar sensibility of temperament, displaying itself, through long ages, in many works of exalted art, and
manifested, of late, in repeated deeds of munificent yet unobtrusive charity, as well as in a passionate devotion to
the intricacies, perhaps even more than to the orthodox and easily recognisable beauties, of musical science. I had
learned, too, the very remarkable fact, that the stem of the Usher race, all time-honored as it was, had put forth, at
no period, any enduring branch ; in other words, that the entire family lay in the direct line of descent, and had
always, with very trifling and very temporary variation, so lain. It was this deficiency, I considered, while running
over in thought the perfect keeping of the character of the premises with the accredited character of the people, and

while speculating upon the possible influence which the one, in the long lapse of centuries, might have exercised
upon the other - it was this deficiency, perhaps, of collateral issue, and the consequent undeviating transmission,
from sire to son, of the patrimony with the name, which had, at length, so identified the two as to merge the original
title of the estate in the quaint and equivocal appellation of the "House of Usher" - an appellation which seemed to
include, in the minds of the peasantry who used it, both the family and the family mansion.

I have said that the sole effect of my somewhat childish experiment - that of looking down within the tarn - had
been to deepen the first singular impression. There can be no doubt that the consciousness of the rapid increase of
my superstition - for why should I not so term it ? - served mainly to accelerate the increase itself. Such, I have long
known, is the paradoxical law of all sentiments having terror as a basis. And it might have been for this reason only,
that, when I again uplifted my eyes to the house itself, from its image in the pool, there grew in my mind a strange
fancy - a fancy so ridiculous, indeed, that I but mention it to show the vivid force of the sensations which oppressed
me. I had so worked upon my imagination as really to believe that about the whole mansion and domain there hung
an atmosphere peculiar to themselves and their immediate vicinity - an atmosphere which had no affinity with the
air of heaven, but which had reeked up from the decayed trees, and the gray wall, and the silent tarn - a pestilent and
mystic vapor, dull, sluggish, faintly discernible, and leaden-hued.

Shaking off from my spirit what must have been a dream, I scanned more narrowly the real aspect of the building.
Its principal feature seemed to be that of an excessive antiquity. The discoloration of ages had been great. Minute
fungi overspread the whole exterior, hanging in a fine tangled web-work from the eaves. Yet all this was apart from
any extraordinary dilapidation. No portion of the masonry had fallen ; and there appeared to be a wild inconsistency
between its still perfect adaptation of parts, and the crumbling condition of the individual stones. In this there was
much that reminded me of the specious totality of old wood-work which has rotted for long years in some neglected
vault, with no disturbance from the breath of the external air. Beyond this indication of extensive decay, however,
the fabric gave little token of instability. Perhaps the eye of a scrutinizing observer might have discovered a barely
perceptible fissure, which, extending from the roof of the building in front, made its way down the wall in a zigzag
direction, until it became lost in the sullen waters of the tarn.

Noticing these things, I rode over a short causeway to the house. A servant in waiting took my horse, and I entered
the Gothic archway of the hall. A valet, of stealthy step, thence conducted me, in silence, through many dark and
intricate passages in my progress to the studio of his master. Much that I encountered on the way contributed, I
know not how, to heighten the vague sentiments of which I have already spoken. While the objects around me -
while the carvings of the ceilings, the sombre tapestries of the walls, the ebon blackness of the floors, and the
phantasmagoric armorial trophies which rattled as I strode, were but matters to which, or to such as which, I had
been accustomed from my infancy - while I hesitated not to acknowledge how familiar was all this - I still wondered
to find how unfamiliar were the fancies which ordinary images were stirring up. On one of the staircases, I met the
physician of the family. His countenance, I thought, wore a mingled expression of low cunning and perplexity. He
accosted me with trepidation and passed on. The valet now threw open a door and ushered me into the presence of
his master.

The room in which I found myself was very large and lofty. The windows were long, narrow, and pointed, and at so
vast a distance from the black oaken floor as to be altogether inaccessible from within. Feeble gleams of
encrimsoned light made their way through the trellissed panes, and served to render sufficiently distinct the more
prominent objects around ; the eye, however, struggled in vain to reach the remoter angles of the chamber, or the
recesses of the vaulted and fretted ceiling. Dark draperies hung upon the walls. The general furniture was profuse,
comfortless, antique, and tattered. Many books and musical instruments lay scattered about, but failed to give any
vitality to the scene. I felt that I breathed an atmosphere of sorrow. An air of stern, deep, and irredeemable gloom
hung over and pervaded all.

Upon my entrance, Usher arose from a sofa on which he had been lying at full length, and greeted me with a
vivacious warmth which had much in it, I at first thought, of an overdone cordiality - of the constrained effort of the
ennuyé ; man of the world. A glance, however, at his countenance, convinced me of his perfect sincerity. We sat
down ; and for some moments, while he spoke not, I gazed upon him with a feeling half of pity, half of awe. Surely,
man had never before so terribly altered, in so brief a period, as had Roderick Usher ! It was with difficulty that I
could bring myself to admit the identity of the wan being before me with the companion of my early boyhood. Yet
the character of his face had been at all times remarkable. A cadaverousness of complexion ; an eye large, liquid,
and luminous beyond comparison ; lips somewhat thin and very pallid, but of a surpassingly beautiful curve ; a nose
of a delicate Hebrew model, but with a breadth of nostril unusual in similar formations ; a finely moulded chin,

speaking, in its want of prominence, of a want of moral energy; hair of a more than web-like softness and tenuity ;
these features, with an inordinate expansion above the regions of the temple, made up altogether a countenance not
easily to be forgotten. And now in the mere exaggeration of the prevailing character of these features, and of the
expression they were wont to convey, lay so much of change that I doubted to whom I spoke. The now ghastly
pallor of the skin, and the now miraculous lustre of the eye, above all things startled and even awed me. The silken
hair, too, had been suffered to grow all unheeded, and as, in its wild gossamer texture, it floated rather than fell
about the face, I could not, even with effort, connect its Arabesque expression with any idea of simple humanity.

In the manner of my friend I was at once struck with an incoherence - an inconsistency ; and I soon found this to
arise from a series of feeble and futile struggles to overcome an habitual trepidancy - an excessive nervous
agitation. For something of this nature I had indeed been prepared, no less by his letter, than by reminiscences of
certain boyish traits, and by conclusions deduced from his peculiar physical conformation and temperament. His
action was alternately vivacious and sullen. His voice varied rapidly from a tremulous indecision (when the animal
spirits seemed utterly in abeyance) to that species of energetic concision - that abrupt, weighty, unhurried, and
hollow-sounding enunciation - that leaden, self-balanced and perfectly modulated guttural utterance, which may be
observed in the lost drunkard, or the irreclaimable eater of opium, during the periods of his most intense excitement.

It was thus that he spoke of the object of my visit, of his earnest desire to see me, and of the solace he expected me
to afford him. He entered, at some length, into what he conceived to be the nature of his malady. It was, he said, a
constitutional and a family evil, and one for which he despaired to find a remedy - a mere nervous affection, he
immediately added, which would undoubtedly soon pass off. It displayed itself in a host of unnatural sensations.
Some of these, as he detailed them, interested and bewildered me ; although, perhaps, the terms, and the general
manner of the narration had their weight. He suffered much from a morbid acuteness of the senses ; the most insipid
food was alone endurable; he could wear only garments of certain texture ; the odors of all flowers were
oppressive ; his eyes were tortured by even a faint light ; and there were but peculiar sounds, and these from
stringed instruments, which did not inspire him with horror.

To an anomalous species of terror I found him a bounden slave. "I shall perish," said he, "I must perish in this
deplorable folly. Thus, thus, and not otherwise, shall I be lost. I dread the events of the future, not in themselves, but
in their results. I shudder at the thought of any, even the most trivial, incident, which may operate upon this
intolerable agitation of soul. I have, indeed, no abhorrence of danger, except in its absolute effect - in terror. In this
unnerved - in this pitiable condition - I feel that the period will sooner or later arrive when I must abandon life and
reason together, in some struggle with the grim phantasm, FEAR."

I learned, moreover, at intervals, and through broken and equivocal hints, another singular feature of his mental
condition. He was enchained by certain superstitious impressions in regard to the dwelling which he tenanted, and
whence, for many years, he had never ventured forth - in regard to an influence whose supposititious force was
conveyed in terms too shadowy here to be re-stated - an influence which some peculiarities in the mere form and
substance of his family mansion, had, by dint of 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 a sulphureous 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-tunéd 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.

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'Indaginé, 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 Oegipans, 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 a donjon-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. A striking 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
fantastic yet impressive superstitions.

It was, especially, upon retiring to bed late in the night of the seventh or eighth day after the placing of the lady
Madeline within the donjon, that I experienced the full power of such feelings. Sleep came not near my couch -
while the hours waned and waned away. I struggled to reason off the nervousness which had dominion over me. I
endeavored to believe that much, if not all of what I felt, was due to the bewildering influence of the gloomy

furniture of the room - of the dark and tattered draperies, which, tortured into motion by the breath of a rising
tempest, swayed fitfully to and fro upon the walls, and rustled uneasily about the decorations of the bed. But my
efforts were fruitless. An irrepressible tremor gradually pervaded my frame ; and, at length, there sat upon my very
heart an incubus of utterly causeless alarm. Shaking this off with a gasp and a struggle, I uplifted myself upon the
pillows, and, peering earnestly within the intense darkness of the chamber, harkened - I know not why, except that
an instinctive spirit prompted me - to certain low and indefinite sounds which came, through the pauses of the
storm, at long intervals, I knew not whence. Overpowered by an intense sentiment of horror, unaccountable yet
unendurable, I threw on my clothes with haste (for I felt that I should sleep no more during the night), and
endeavored to arouse myself from the pitiable condition into which I had fallen, by pacing rapidly to and fro
through the apartment.

I had taken but few turns in this manner, when a light step on an adjoining staircase arrested my attention. I
presently recognised it as that of Usher. In an instant afterward he rapped, with a gentle touch, at my door, and
entered, bearing a lamp. His countenance was, as usual, cadaverously wan - but, moreover, there was a species of
mad hilarity in his eyes - an evidently restrained hysteria in his whole demeanor. His air appalled me - but anything
was preferable to the solitude which I had so long endured, and I even welcomed his presence as a relief.

"And you have not seen it ?" he said abruptly, after having stared about him for some moments in silence - "you
have not then seen it ? - but, stay ! you shall." Thus speaking, and having carefully shaded his lamp, he hurried to
one of the casements, and threw it freely open to the storm.

The impetuous fury of the entering gust nearly lifted us from our feet. It was, indeed, a tempestuous yet sternly
beautiful night, and one wildly singular in its terror and its beauty. A whirlwind had apparently collected its force in
our vicinity ; for there were frequent and violent alterations in the direction of the wind ; and the exceeding density
of the clouds (which hung so low as to press upon the turrets of the house) did not prevent our perceiving the life-
like velocity with which they flew careering from all points against each other, without passing away into the
distance. I say that even their exceeding density did not prevent our perceiving this - yet we had no glimpse of the
moon or stars - nor was there any flashing forth of the lightning. But the under surfaces of the huge masses of
agitated vapor, as well as all terrestrial objects immediately around us, were glowing in the unnatural light of a
faintly luminous and distinctly visible gaseous exhalation which hung about and enshrouded the mansion.

"You must not - you shall not behold this !" said I, shudderingly, to Usher, as I led him, with a gentle violence, from
the window to a seat. "These appearances, which bewilder you, are merely electrical phenomena not uncommon - or
it may be that they have their ghastly origin in the rank miasma of the tarn. Let us close this casement ; - the air is
chilling and dangerous to your frame. Here is one of your favorite romances. I will read, and you shall listen ; - and
so we will pass away this terrible night together."

The antique volume which I had taken up was the "Mad Trist" of Sir Launcelot Canning ; but I had called it a
favorite of Usher's more in sad jest than in earnest ; for, in truth, there is little in its uncouth and unimaginative
prolixity which could have had interest for the lofty and spiritual ideality of my friend. It was, however, the only
book immediately at hand ; and I indulged a vague hope that the excitement which now agitated the hypochondriac,
might find relief (for the history of mental disorder is full of similar anomalies) even in the extremeness of the folly
which I should read. Could I have judged, indeed, by the wild overstrained air of vivacity with which he harkened,
or apparently harkened, to the words of the tale, I might well have congratulated myself upon the success of my
design.

I had arrived at that well-known portion of the story where Ethelred, the hero of the Trist, having sought in vain for
peaceable admission into the dwelling of the hermit, proceeds to make good an entrance by force. Here, it will be
remembered, the words of the narrative run thus:

"And Ethelred, who was by nature of a doughty heart, and who was now mighty withal, on account of the
powerfulness of the wine which he had drunken, waited no longer to hold parley with the hermit, who, in sooth, was
of an obstinate and maliceful turn, but, feeling the rain upon his shoulders, and fearing the rising of the tempest,
uplifted his mace outright, and, with blows, made quickly room in the plankings of the door for his gauntleted
hand ; and now pulling therewith sturdily, he so cracked, and ripped, and tore all asunder, that the noise of the dry
and hollow-sounding wood alarummed and reverberated throughout the forest."

At the termination of this sentence I started, and for a moment, paused ; for it appeared to me (although I at once
concluded that my excited fancy had deceived me) - it appeared to me that, from some very remote portion of the
mansion, there came, indistinctly, to my ears, what might have been, in its exact similarity of character, the echo
(but a stifled and dull one certainly) of the very cracking and ripping sound which Sir Launcelot had so particularly
described. It was, beyond doubt, the coincidence alone which had arrested my attention ; for, amid the rattling of the
sashes of the casements, and the ordinary commingled noises of the still increasing storm, the sound, in itself, had
nothing, surely, which should have interested or disturbed me. I continued the story:

"But the good champion Ethelred, now entering within the door, was sore enraged and amazed to perceive no signal
of the maliceful hermit ; but, in the stead thereof, a dragon of a scaly and prodigious demeanor, and of a fiery
tongue, which sate in guard before a palace of gold, with a floor of silver ; and upon the wall there hung a shield of
shining brass with this legend enwritten -

Who entereth herein, a conqueror hath bin ;
Who slayeth the dragon, the shield he shall win;

And Ethelred uplifted his mace, and struck upon the head of the dragon, which fell before him, and gave up his
pesty breath, with a shriek so horrid and harsh, and withal so piercing, that Ethelred had fain to close his ears with
his hands against the dreadful noise of it, the like whereof was never before heard."

Here again I paused abruptly, and now with a feeling of wild amazement - for there could be no doubt whatever
that, in this instance, I did actually hear (although from what direction it proceeded I found it impossible to say) a
low and apparently distant, but harsh, protracted, and most unusual screaming or grating sound - the exact
counterpart of what my fancy had already conjured up for the dragon's unnatural shriek as described by the
romancer.

Oppressed, as I certainly was, upon the occurrence of this second and most extraordinary coincidence, by a
thousand conflicting sensations, in which wonder and extreme terror were predominant, I still retained sufficient
presence of mind to avoid exciting, by any observation, the sensitive nervousness of my companion. I was by no
means certain that he had noticed the sounds in question ; although, assuredly, a strange alteration had, during the
last few minutes, taken place in his demeanor. From a position fronting my own, he had gradually brought round his
chair, so as to sit with his face to the door of the chamber ; and thus I could but partially perceive his features,
although I saw that his lips trembled as if he were murmuring inaudibly. His head had dropped upon his breast - yet
I knew that he was not asleep, from the wide and rigid opening of the eye as I caught a glance of it in profile. The
motion of his body, too, was at variance with this idea - for he rocked from side to side with a gentle yet constant
and uniform sway. Having rapidly taken notice of all this, I resumed the narrative of Sir Launcelot, which thus
proceeded:

"And now, the champion, having escaped from the terrible fury of the dragon, bethinking himself of the brazen
shield, and of the breaking up of the enchantment which was upon it, removed the carcass from out of the way
before him, and approached valorously over the silver pavement of the castle to where the shield was upon the
wall ; which in sooth tarried not for his full coming, but fell down at his feet upon the silver floor, with a mighty
great and terrible ringing sound."

No sooner had these syllables passed my lips, than - as if a shield of brass had indeed, at the moment, fallen heavily
upon a floor of silver - I became aware of a distinct, hollow, metallic, and clangorous, yet apparently muffled
reverberation. Completely unnerved, I leaped to my feet ; but the measured rocking movement of Usher was
undisturbed. I rushed to the chair in which he sat. His eyes were bent fixedly before him, and throughout his whole
countenance there reigned a stony rigidity. But, as I placed my hand upon his shoulder, there came a strong shudder
over his whole person ; a sickly smile quivered about his lips ; and I saw that he spoke in a low, hurried, and
gibbering murmur, as if unconscious of my presence. Bending closely over him, I at length drank in the hideous
import of his words.

"Not hear it ? - yes, I hear it, and have heard it. Long - long - long - many minutes, many hours, many days, have I
heard it - yet I dared not - oh, pity me, miserable wretch that I am ! - I dared not - I dared not speak ! We have put
her living in the tomb ! Said I not that my senses were acute ? I now tell you that I heard her first feeble movements
in the hollow coffin. I heard them - many, many days ago - yet I dared not - I dared not speak ! And now - to-night -

Ethelred - ha ! ha ! - the breaking of the hermit's door, and the death-cry of the dragon, and the clangor of the
shield ! - say, rather, the rending of her coffin, and the grating of the iron hinges of her prison, and her struggles
within the coppered archway of the vault ! Oh whither shall I fly ? Will she not be here anon ? Is she not hurrying to
upbraid me for my haste ? Have I not heard her footstep on the stair ? Do I not distinguish that heavy and horrible
beating of her heart ? Madman !" - here he sprang furiously to his feet, and shrieked out his syllables, as if in the
effort he were giving up his soul - " Madman ! I tell you that she now stands without the door ! "

As if in the superhuman energy of his utterance there had been found the potency of a spell - the huge antique
pannels to which the speaker pointed, threw slowly back, upon the instant, their ponderous and ebony jaws. It was
the work of the rushing gust - but then without those doors there did stand the lofty and enshrouded figure of the
lady Madeline of Usher. There was blood upon her white robes, and the evidence of some bitter struggle upon every
portion of her emaciated frame. For a moment she remained trembling and reeling to and fro upon the threshold -
then, with a low moaning cry, fell heavily inward upon the person of her brother, and in her violent and now final
death-agonies, bore him to the floor a corpse, and a victim to the terrors he had anticipated.

From that chamber, and from that mansion, I fled aghast. The storm was still abroad in all its wrath as I found
myself crossing the old causeway. Suddenly there shot along the path a wild light, and I turned to see whence a
gleam so unusual could have issued ; for the vast house and its shadows were alone behind me. The radiance was
that of the full, setting, and blood-red moon, which now shone vividly through that once barely-discernible fissure,
of which I have before spoken as extending from the roof of the building, in a zigzag direction, to the base. While I
gazed, this fissure rapidly widened - there came a fierce breath of the whirlwind - the entire orb of the satellite burst
at once upon my sight - my brain reeled as I saw the mighty walls rushing asunder - there was a long tumultuous
shouting sound like the voice of a thousand waters - and the deep and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and
silently over the fragments of the "House of Usher ."

Literature Network » Edgar Allan Poe » The Fall of the House of Usher

A Queda da Casa de Usher
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Durante todo o período de um, escuro e silencioso dia chato no Outono do ano, quando as nuvens pendurado
opressivamente baixas no céu, eu estava passando sozinho, a cavalo, através de um aparelho singularmente sombrio
do país, e finalmente encontrado mim, como as sombras da noite se aproximando, à vista da melancólica Casa de
Usher. Eu não sei como foi - mas, com o primeiro vislumbre do edifício, um sentimento de melancolia insuportável
penetrou no meu espírito. Digo insuportável, pois a sensação foi abandonado por qualquer meio que prazeroso,
porque o sentimento poético, com que a mente normalmente recebe ainda o mais severo imagens naturais do deserto
ou terrível. Eu olhava a cena antes de mim - sobre a casa simples, e as características da paisagem simples de
domínio - nas paredes sombrias - sobre os olhos como janelas vagas - em cima de um sedges rank poucos - e sobre
um fundo branco alguns troncos de árvores apodrecidas - com uma depressão absoluta da alma que eu posso
comparar com qualquer sensação terrena, mais propriamente do que o sonho depois do folião sobre o ópio - o lapso
amargo na vida cotidiana - a queda horrível fora do véu. Havia uma frieza, um naufrágio, um adoecimento do
coração - um tédio unredeemed de pensamento que não incitar a imaginação poderia tortura em qualquer coisa de
sublime. Que era - parei para pensar - o que foi que tão nervoso me na contemplação da Casa de Usher? Era um
mistério insolúvel todos, nem eu poderia lidar com as fantasias sombrias que lotou em cima de mim como eu
pensava. Eu fui forçado a cair após a conclusão satisfatória, enquanto que, sem dúvida, há combinações de simples
objetos naturais que têm o poder de assim nos afetar, ainda a análise desse poder está entre considerações além de
nossa profundidade. Era possível, refleti, que um mero arranjo diferente dos pormenores da cena, dos detalhes da
imagem, seria suficiente para modificar, ou talvez para aniquilar a sua capacidade de impressão de tristeza e, agindo
sobre essa idéia, eu rédeas do meu cavalo para a beira de uma vertiginosa e lúgubre tarn preto que estava no brilho
sereno da habitação, e olhou para baixo - mas com um tremor ainda mais emocionante do que antes - sobre o
remodelado e imagens invertidas dos juncos cinza, eo medonho caules de árvores, e os olhos e como o Windows
vago.

No entanto, em uma mansão de melancolia agora proposto para mim uma pausa de algumas semanas. Seu
proprietário, Roderick Usher, fora um dos meus companheiros em benefício da infância, mas muitos anos se
passaram desde a nossa última reunião. A carta, entretanto, teve recentemente alcançou-me em uma parte distante
do país - uma carta dele - que, na sua insistente natureza selvagem, tinha admitido sem que não seja uma resposta

pessoal. A MS. deu provas de agitação nervosa. O escritor falou de doença física aguda - de um transtorno mental
que o oprimia - e de um sincero desejo de me ver, como o seu melhor, e de fato seu único amigo pessoal, com vista
a tentar, pela alegria da minha sociedade, alguns alívio de sua enfermidade. Foi a maneira que tudo isso e muito
mais, foi dito - era evidente que o coração ia com o seu pedido - o que me permitiu não há espaço para hesitação, e
eu, em conformidade obedecido imediatamente o que eu ainda considerada uma citação muito singular.

Embora, como meninos, que tinham sido íntimos companheiros mesmo, mas eu realmente sabia pouco do meu
amigo. Sua reserva foi sempre excessiva e habitual. Eu estava ciente, no entanto, que sua antiga família muito havia
sido observado, a tempo da mente, por uma sensibilidade peculiar de temperamento, exibindo-se, através de longas
eras, em muitas obras de arte exaltada, e manifestou, de tarde, em repetidas ações de ainda discreta caridade
generosa, bem como em uma devoção apaixonada os meandros, talvez até mais do que o e facilmente reconhecível
belezas ortodoxas, da ciência musical. Eu tinha aprendido, também, o fato notável, que o tronco da raça Usher, de
todos os tempos honrado como era, colocou por diante, em qualquer período, qualquer ramo de resistência, em
outras palavras, que a família inteira estava no linha direta de descendência, e sempre, com muito insignificante e
temporário variação muito, assim deitado. Foi essa deficiência, eu considerei, durante a execução do pensamento
sobre a manutenção perfeita do caráter das instalações com o caráter das pessoas credenciadas, e especulando sobre
a possível influência que aquela, no longo dos séculos, pode ter exercida sobre os outros - era essa deficiência,
talvez, de emissão de garantia, ea conseqüente transmissão inabalável, de pai para filho, do patrimônio com o nome,
que tinha, afinal, tão identificou os dois como mesclar o título original da propriedade no singular e equívoca
designação de "Casa de Usher" - uma denominação que parecia incluir, na mente dos camponeses que a usou, tanto
a família como a mansão da família.

Eu disse que o único efeito da minha experiência um tanto pueril - essa de olhar para baixo dentro da Tam - foi
aprofundar a singular primeira impressão. Não pode haver dúvida de que a consciência do rápido aumento da minha
superstição - por que devo não tão longo é? - Serviu principalmente para acelerar o crescimento em si. Essa, tenho
sabido por muito tempo, é a lei paradoxal de todos os sentimentos de terror ter como base. E isso poderia ter sido
por essa razão apenas, que, quando eu novamente erguido os olhos para a casa própria, de sua imagem na piscina,
surgiu em minha mente uma fantasia estranha - uma fantasia tão ridícula, na verdade, que eu, mas mencionar para
mostrar a força viva das sensações que me oprimia. Eu tinha trabalhado assim na minha imaginação como
realmente acreditam que cerca toda a mansão de domínio e pairava uma atmosfera peculiar a si mesmos e na sua
vizinhança imediata - uma atmosfera que não tinha nenhuma afinidade com o ar do céu, mas que tinha cheirava a
partir da decomposição árvores, a parede cinza, e tarn silencioso - um vapor pestilento e místico, monótono, lento,
fracamente visível, e em tons de chumbo.

Livrar-se do meu espírito que deve ter sido um sonho, eu fiz a varredura mais restrita ao aspecto real do edifício.
Sua característica principal parece ser a de uma antigüidade excessiva. A descoloração dos séculos tinha sido
grande. fungos Minute espalhou todo o exterior, pendurado em uma fina teia emaranhada de trabalho a partir do
beiral. Mas tudo isso foi além de qualquer dilapidação extraordinário. Nenhuma parte da alvenaria tinha caído, e
parecia haver uma inconsistência entre selvagens ainda o seu perfeito adaptação das peças, ea condição de ruir das
pedras individual. Neste havia muito que me lembrava da totalidade ilusória de madeira velha de trabalho, que
apodreceu por longos anos em algum cofre negligenciadas, sem perturbação da respiração do ar externo. Além desta
indicação da deterioração extensiva, no entanto, o tecido deu pequeno sinal de instabilidade. Talvez os olhos de um
observador do exame pode ter descoberto uma fissura mal perceptível, que se estende do telhado do prédio em
frente, fez o seu caminho até a parede em uma direção em zigue-zague, até que se perdeu nas águas sombrio do
Tarn.

Percebendo essas coisas, eu andava sobre uma calçada curto para a casa. Um servo de espera tomou o meu cavalo, e
eu entrei no arco gótico do vestíbulo. A lavadeira, de passo furtivo, depois, conduziu-me, em silêncio, por muitas e
intrincadas passagens escuras no meu progresso para o estúdio de seu mestre. Muito do que eu encontrei no
caminho contribuíram, não sei como, para aumentar os sentimentos vagos de que já falei. Enquanto os objetos em
torno de mim - enquanto as esculturas dos forros, as sombrias tapeçarias das paredes, o negrume de ébano dos pisos,
e os fantasmagóricos troféus armorial que sacudiu como eu caminhava, mas eram questões para as quais, ou como o
que, Eu estava acostumado desde a infância - enquanto eu não hesitou em reconhecer como familiar era tudo isso -
eu ainda perguntei para saber como desconhecidos foram as fantasias que as imagens ordinárias alvoroçaram. Em
uma das escadas, me encontrei com o médico da família. Seu rosto, eu pensei, usava uma expressão misturada de
baixa astúcia e de perplexidade. Cumprimentou-me com trepidação e passou. O criado agora abriu uma porta e
conduziu-me à presença de seu mestre.

A sala em que me encontrava era muito grande e sublime. As janelas eram longas, estreitas e pontiagudas, e em tão
grande distância do chão de carvalho negro a ser totalmente inacessível a partir de dentro. brilha fraca de luz
encrimsoned fizeram o seu caminho através das vidraças entrelaçadas, e serviu para tornar suficientemente distintos
os objetos mais proeminentes ao redor; do olho, porém, lutou em vão para alcançar os ângulos mais distantes da
câmara, ou os recessos do abobadado e trastes teto. draperies Dark pendurados nas paredes. O mobiliário era
profusa, sem conforto, antiguidade, e esfarrapado. Muitos livros e instrumentos musicais espalhados por ali, mas
não conseguiu dar nenhuma vitalidade à cena. Senti que respirava uma atmosfera de tristeza. Um ar de profundo e
irremediável melancolia pairava sobre popa e invadiu tudo.

Após a minha entrada, Usher levantou-se de um sofá em que estava deitado ao comprido, e cumprimentou-me com
um calor muito vivaz que tinha nele, eu pensei em primeiro lugar, de uma cordialidade exagerada - do esforço
constrangido do ennuyé; homem do mundo. Um olhar, porém, em seu rosto, me convenceu de sua perfeita
sinceridade. Sentamo-nos, e por alguns instantes, enquanto ele não falou, olhei-o com uma meia sentimento de
piedade, meio de espanto. Certamente, o homem nunca antes tão terrivelmente alteradas, em tão breve período,
como havia Roderick Usher! Foi com dificuldade que eu poderia trazer-me a admitir que a identidade do wan estar
diante de mim com o companheiro da minha infância precoce. No entanto, o caráter de sua face tinham sido em
todos os momentos marcantes. A cadaverousness da tez, um grande olho, líquido e luminoso, além da comparação;
lábios um pouco magro e muito pálido, mas de uma bela curva surpassingly, um nariz de um modelo hebraico
delicado, mas com uma largura de narinas incomum em formações semelhantes, com uma finamente moldado
queixo, falando, na sua falta de proeminência, de falta de energia moral; cabelo de uma mais-como maciez web e
tenuidade; estas características, com uma expansão desordenada das regiões acima do templo, composta por
completo um semblante não é fácil de ser esquecido. E agora, na simples exagero do caráter predominante destas
características, e de expressão que eles costumavam fazer saber, estabelecer tanto de mudança que duvidei de que
eu falava. O medonho agora palidez da pele, e agora o miraculoso brilho dos olhos, acima de tudo, assustado e
ainda me impressionado. O cabelo de seda, também havia sofrido a crescer todos ignorados, e como, na sua textura
muito fina, que flutuava e não caiu sobre o rosto, eu não poderia, mesmo com esforço, ligar sua expressão
Arabesque com qualquer idéia de simples humanidade .

Na forma do meu amigo que eu fui uma vez surpreendido com uma incoerência - uma incoerência, e logo percebi
que isso surgir de uma série de fracos e inúteis esforços para superar uma trepidancy habitual - uma excessiva
agitação nervosa. Para que algo dessa natureza que eu tinha de fato sido preparado, não menos por sua carta, que
por reminiscências de certos traços de menino, e as conclusões deduzidas de sua conformação física e
temperamento peculiar. Sua ação foi alternadamente vivazes e taciturno. Sua voz variava rapidamente de uma
indecisão trêmula (quando o espírito animal pareceu completamente em suspenso) a essa espécie de concisão
energética - essa abrupta, pesada, sem pressa, e com som oco enunciação - que chumbo, auto-equilibrado e
perfeitamente modulada expressão gutural, que pode ser observado na bêbado perdido, ou o irreclaimable comedor
de ópio, durante os períodos de sua intensa excitação mais.

Foi assim que ele falou do objetivo de minha visita, do seu sincero desejo de me ver, e do consolo que ele esperava-
me a dar-lhe. Ele entrou, durante algum tempo, em que ele concebeu a natureza da sua doença. Era, disse ele, um
constitucional e um mal de família, e para a qual ele se desesperou para encontrar uma solução - uma mera afeição
nervoso, acrescentou logo, que, sem dúvida, passar logo. É apresentado-se em uma série de sensações antinatural.
Alguns deles, como ele detalhou-los, interessados e confuso me, embora, talvez, os termos ea maneira geral de que
a narração tinha seu peso. Ele sofreu muito de uma agudeza mórbida dos sentidos, o mais insípido alimento era
apenas suportável, ele poderia usar apenas roupas de textura certa, os cheiros de todas as flores eram opressivos,
seus olhos eram torturados até por uma luz tênue, e houve, mas sons peculiares, e estes a partir de instrumentos de
cordas, que não inspiram com horror.

Para uma espécie anômala de terror eu achei ele um escravizado. "Vou morrer", disse ele, "Eu devo morrer nesta
loucura deplorável. Assim, portanto, e não de outra forma, estarei perdido. Temo os acontecimentos do futuro, não
em si, mas em seus resultados. Estremeço ao pensar em qualquer, mesmo a mais trivial, incidente, que pode operar
sobre essa intolerável agitação da alma. Tenho, na verdade, não aversão ao risco, exceto em sua absoluta efeito - no
terror. Nesta unnerved - neste estado lastimável - Eu sinto que o período mais cedo ou mais tarde, quando chegar,
devo abandonar a vida ea razão juntos, em uma luta com o fantasma sombrio, medo. "

Aprendi, por outro lado, a intervalos, e através de trincas e sugestões equívocas, uma outra característica singular de
sua condição mental. Ele estava acorrentado a certas impressões supersticiosas com relação à habitação que ele
locação, e onde, por muitos anos, nunca tinha aventuraram - em relação a uma influência cuja suposta força era

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