The Fall of the House of Usher

And then I had a vision
Ah Edgar, ah, Edgar, my dear friend Edgar
It's been a long time, Roderick
I've ridden many miles
It's been a dull and soundless day for autumn
The leaves have lost their autumn glow
And the clouds seem oppressive with their drifting finery
I know, my friend

Though I own so much of this land I find, the country insufferable
I deal only in half pleasures
Speaking of half pleasures
Would you care for a tincture of opium?
Nothing would please me more than to smoke with an old friend

I've experienced the hideous dropping of the veil
The bitter lapse into common life
Unredeemed dreariness of thought
I have an iciness, a sickening of the heart

It's true you don't look well, Roderick
But I am your friend, no matter the occasion or position of the stars
I'm glad you wrote me, but I must admit to concern
I cannot contain my heart

Edgar, I look to you for solace
For relief from myself
What I have is constitutional
A family evil, a nervous affection that must surely pass
But I do have this morbid acuteness of senses

I can eat only the most insipid food
Clothes only of the lightest texture
The odor of flowers I find oppressive
My eyes cannot bear even the faintest light (ah, ah, ah, ah)
Did you hear that?
I hear, I am listening, go on

I shall perish
I will perish in this deplorable folly
I dread the future not the events, the results
The most trivial event causes the greatest agitation of the soul
I do not fear danger except in its absolute effect, terror
I find I must inevitably abandon life and reason together in my struggles with the demon fear

Perhaps you'll think me superstitious
But the physique of this place
It hovers about me like a great body
Some diseased outer shell
Some decaying finite skin encasing my morale
You mentioned your sister was ill
My beloved sister, my sole companion
Has had a long continuing illness, whose inevitable conclusion seems forsworn

This will leave me the last of the ancient race of Ushers
She looks so much like you
I love her in a nameless way
More than I love myself
Her demise will leave me hopelessly confined to memories
And realities of a future so barren as to be stultifying
Oh, what of physicians?
Ah, they are baffled

Until today she refused bed rest
Wanting to be present in your honor
But finally she succumbed to the prostrating power of the destroyer
You will probably see her no more
Sound and music take us to the twin curves of experience
Like brother and sister intertwined, they relieve themselves of bodily contact
And dance in a pagan revelry
I have soiled myself with my designs

I am ashamed of my brain
The enemy is me, and the executioner terror
Music is a reflection of our inner self
Unfiltered agony touches the wayward string
The wayward brain confuses itself with the self-perceived future
And turns inward with loathing and terror
Either by design or thought, we are doomed to know our own end
I've written a lyric
May I hear it?

It is called, the haunted palace
In the greenest of our valleys by good angels tenanted, once a fair and stately palace
Snow-white palace, reared its head
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 along the rampart plumed and pallid
A winged odor went away
All wanderers in that happy valley, through two luminous windows saw spirits moving musically

The sovereign of the realm serene
A troop of echoes whose sweet duty was but to sing in voices of surpassing beauty
The wit and wisdom of their king
But evil things in robes of sorrow
Assailed the monarch's high estate, and round about his home the glory, is but a dim-remembered story
Vast forms that move fantastically to a discordant melody
While, like a ghastly river, a hideous throng rush out forever, and laugh
But smile no more, nevermore
It's cold in here

I tell you minerals are sentient things
The gradual yet certain condensation of an atmosphere
Of their own about the waters and the walls proves this
Thus the silent yet importunate and terrible influence, which for centuries has molded my family
And now me
Excuse me

She is gone, out, sad light
Roderick has no life

I shall preserve her corpse for a fortnight
But Roderick
I shall place it in a vault facing the lake
I do not wish to answer to the medical men
Nor place her in the exposed burial plot of my family
We shall inter her at the proper date
When I am more fully of a right mind
Her malady was unusual

Please do not question me on this
I cannot question you
Then help me now
Ah, one would think you twins
We are, we have always been sympathetic to each other
Have you seen this?
It is her
It is a whirlwind

You should not, you must not behold this
Roderick, these appearances which bewilder you are mere electrical phenomena not uncommon
Or perhaps they have their rank origins in the marshy gases of the lake
Please, let's close this casement and I will read and you will listen
And together we will pass this terrible night together
What's that?
What is that?
Don't you hear that?

Not hear it, yes, I hear it and have heard it many minutes have I heard it
Oh, pity me miserable wretch
I dared not
Oh, no
I dared not speak
We have put her living in the tomb
I have heard feeble movements in the coffin

I thought I heard
I dared not speak
Oh, God
I have heard footsteps
Do you not hear them?
Attention
Do I not distinguish that heavy and horrible beating of her heart?

Madman
Madman
I tell you she now stands without the door
Ah, ah, ah, ahh, ah, ah, ah, ah