Evening star., 1928-02-07


He is best known popularity for his poem
The The Raven and sn.h stores as 'nfhes
bng." The Fail Of the fIouss of Usher.
The Masque OF the Red Dea,h.' etc,
Listen to me-" said the Demon. an
he placed his hand upon my head 1.-The
region OF which I speak Is a dreary
region In Libya, Africa--by the borders
OF the River Zaire. And there Is no
quiet there. nor silence.
THE waters OF the river have
saffron and sickly hue, and they flow
not onward TO the sea. but palpitate
forever and forever beneath the red
eye OF the sun with a tumultuous and
,onvulsive motion. For many miles on
either side OF the rivers oozy bed Is a
pale desert Of gigantic water lilies. They
sigh one unto the other In that solitude,
and stretch toward the heaven their
long and ghastly necks, and nod TO and
fro their everlasting heads. And there
Is an indistinct murmur, which cometn
out from among them like the rushing
Of subterrancan water. And they sigh
one unto the other.
But there Is boundary 10 their
realm-the boundary OF the dark. i1or-
rible, lofty forest. There, like the
waves about the Hebrides. the low un-
derwood Is agitated continually. But
there Is no wind throughout the heav-
en-. And the tall primeval trees rock
eternally hither and thither. with a
crashing and mighty sound. And from
their high SUBMITS, one by one, drop
everlasting dews. And at the roots
strange poisonous fowers'lie writhlng in
1erturbed slumber. And overhead,
with rustling and loud noise, the gray
clouds rush Westwardly forever, until
they roll, a cataract, over the flery wall
OF the horizon. But there Is no wind
throughout the heaven. And by the
shores of the River Zaire there Is
neither quiet nor silence.
"It was night, and the rain fell; and,
falling, 1t was rain. but having fallen.
1t was blood. And stood In the morass
among the tall lilies, and the rain fell
upon my head-and the lilies sighed
their desolation.
And, all at once, the moon arose
through the thin ghastly mist, and was
crimson in color. And mine eyes fell
upon a huge gray rock which stood by
the shore of the river, and was lighted
by the light OF the moon. And the
rock was gray, and CHASTITY. and tall
and the rock was gray. Upon its front
were characters engraven In the stone:
and I walked through the moraSs OF
water lilies until came close unto the
shore. that I might read the characters
upon the stone.
But I could not decipher them. And
was going back into the moraSs. when
the moon shone with fuller red, and
I turned and looked again at the rock
and upon the characters-and the char
acters said Desolation.
~ &nr
stood a man upon the summit OF the
rock and hid myself among the water
lilies that I might discover the actions
Of the man. And the man was tall and
stately in form. and was wrapped up
from his shoulders to his feet in the
toga OF old Rome. And the outlines OF
his figure were indistinct-but his fea-
lures were the features OF deity; for
the mantle OF the night. and OF the
mist. and OF the moon, and OF the dew,
had left uncovered the features OF his
face And his brow was lofty with
thought, and his eyes wild with care,
and in the few furrows upon his cheek
/ read the fables OF sorrow. and wea-i-
ness. and disgust with mankind. and a
longing after solitude.
And the man sat upon the rock and
leaned his head upon his hand. and
looked out upon the deso!aion. He
looked down into the low, unquiet
meyai trees, and UP higher at the rus
ting heaven. and into the crimson
moon. And lay close within shelter
OF the lilies and observed the actions
Of the man. And the man trembled In
the solitude-but the night waned and
he sat upon the rock.
And the man turned his attention
from the heaven and looked out upon
the pale legions of the water lilies. And
the man listened 10 the s!ghs of the
water lilies and to the murmur that
came UP from among them. And lay
close within my covert and discovered
the actions OF the man. And The man
tremblcd In the solitude-but the night
waned and he sat upon the rock.
Then I went down into the recesSes
of the morass and waded far in among
the wilderness OF the lilies and called
unto the hippopotami which dwelt
among the ferns In the receSses OF the
morasS And the hippopotami heard
my call and came, with the behenloih.
unto the foot OF the rock. and roared
loudly and iearfully beneath the moon
And l lay close within my covert and
observed the actions OF the man. And
the man tremblcd III the SoiituGe-~bui
the night waned and he sat upon the
rock
Then I cursed the elements with
the curse OF tumul;; and u frightful
tempest gathered III the heaven,
where before there had been no wind
And the heaven became liyid with the
violence of the tempeSt~and the rain
beat upon the head OF the mainland
the floods Of the river came dowN-~~anl
the river was tormented into foam
aud the water lilies shreked within
heir heds-~and the forest crumbled be-