 DVD  DVD  DVD  DVD  DVD  DVD By Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) A Study Guide . Notes and Annotation by Michael J. Cummings..© 2006 Type of Work and Date of Publication ......."The Haunted Palace" is a poem, a ballad. It was published in American Museum in April 1839. In September of the same year, it was published in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine as part of "The Fall of the House of Usher," one of Poe's most famous short stories. In the story, mentally unstable Roderick Usher sings the ballad while playing a guitar. .......Once, there was a majestic palace from which a great king ruled his dominion with reason and common sense. So good and beautiful was this place that angels abided there. On occasion, the palace halls resounded with wondrous voices singing the praises of the monarch. "But evil things, in robes of sorrow, / Assailed the monarch's high estate." These evil things may have been in the form of immorality, disease, or any other destructive force that corrupts, subverts, or sickens a human being." Now the palace is haunted with Vast forms, that move fantasticallyTo a discordant melody, While, like a ghastly rapid river, Through the pale door A hideous throng rush out forever And laugh – but smile no more.The Palace: Metaphor for an Ill-Fated Man .......The palace and the king represent a man who falls to mental and physical ruin after an unspecified evil possesses him. The lines that metaphorically present the palace as a human are as follows:
.......The ill-fated king, identified in Line 22 as Porphyrogene, could refer to any or all of the following:
 Theme .......How evil (whether in the form of immorality, disease, or any other destructive force) can corrupt, subvert, or sicken a human being. .......Following are examples of figures of speech in "The Haunted Palace":
Alliteration: Banners yellow, glorious, golden, / On its roof did float and flow, Atmosphere and Word ChoicePersonification: A troop of Echoes, whose sweet duty / Was but to sing Simile: While, like a ghastly rapid river, / Through the pale door / A hideous throng rush out forever Metaphor: And all with pearl and ruby glowing / Was the fair palace door (pearl: teeth, ruby: lips, door: mouth) .......The atmosphere of "The Haunted Palace" is at first idyllic, dreamlike, angelic. Then it becomes nightmarish. To create the idyllic atmosphere, Poe uses uses words and phrases such as greenest of our valleys, fair and stately, seraph, glorious, golden, gentle, sweet, and luminous. To create the nightmarish atmosphere, he uses words and phrases such as evil, robes of sorrow, mourn, desolate, dim-remembered, entombed, discordant, ghastly, and hideous. .......Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston. After being orphaned at age two, he was taken into the home of a childless couple–John Allan, a successful businessman in Richmond, Va., and his wife. Allan was believed to be Poe’s godfather. At age six, Poe went to England with the Allans and was enrolled
in schools there. After he returned with the Allans to the U.S. in 1820, he studied at private schools, then attended the University of Virginia and the U.S. Military Academy, but did not complete studies at either school. After beginning his literary career as a poet and prose writer, he married his young cousin, Virginia Clemm. He worked for several magazines and joined the staff of the New
York Mirror newspaper in 1844. All the while, he was battling a drinking problem. By Edgar Allan Poe Written and Published in 1839 1 Stanza 1 Notes tenanted: Inhabited 2 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 wingèd odor went away...........................16 Stanza 2 Notes Banners . . . golden: hair 3 Wanderers in that happy valley, Through two luminous windows, saw Spirits moving musically, To a lute's well-tunèd law, Round about a throne where, sitting (Porphyrogene!) In state his glory well-befitting, The ruler of the realm was seen..................24 Stanza 3 Notes two luminous windows: eyes 4 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.................32 Stanza 4 Notes pearl and ruby: teeth and lips 5 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...........................40 Stanza 5 Notes evil things: evil in the form of immorality, disease, or any other destructive force corrupts, subverts, or sickens a human being. 6 And travellers now, within that valley, Through the red-litten windows see Vast forms, that move fantastically To a discordant melody, While, like a ghastly rapid river, Through the pale door A hideous throng rush out forever And laugh – but smile no more...................48 Stanza 6 Notes red-litten windows: Red eyes, bloodshot eyes; palace windows emitting a red light. Litten is an archaic word for lighted or lit.
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