Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-03
WORLD FAMOUS STORIES
THE ISLAND OF THE FAY
BY EDGAR ALLAN POE.

rEdsar Allan Poe. 1sos-l84s. was an
American poet and story writer: smth9r on
Fail of the House 81 os nnefdd pIS ete III
1T was during one of my lonely jour
nevings amid a far-distant region OF
mountain locked within mountaint and
sad rivers and melancholy tarns Writn-
ing or sleeping within all, that Il
CHANGED upon a certain rivulet ana Is
land. I came upon them suddenly In
the leafv June and threw myself upon
the turf beneath the branches OF an
unknown. odorous shrub, that mlgnC
doze as I contemplated the scene
felt that thus only should 1 look upon
it. such was the character OF phantaSm
which it wore.
the sun was about sinking, arose the
verdant walls of the forest. the Ettle
river. which turned sharply in its course,
and was thus Immediately lost TO Slght,
seemed TO have no exit from It's prison.
but to be absorbed by the deep green
foliage of the trees to the east; while
in the opposite quarter $50 1t appeared
to me as lay at length and glanced
upward) there poured down noiseleSSly
and continuously into the valley a rlch
golden and crimson waterfall from the
sunset fountains of the sky.
About midway in the short vista which
d. my dreamy vision took in, one SmaH
= circular island, profouseiy Verdureo, re-
posed upon the bosom of the stream.
= NV position enabled me to include IN
n single view both the eastern and west
, ern ends of the islet. and / observed a
! singularly marked difference IN ther
aspects The latter was all one radiant
harem Of garden beauties. 1t gloWed
and bushed beneath the eye OF me
slant sunlight. and fairly laughed WIN
flowers. The grass was short. Sprlngy,
sweet scented and asphodel inter-
spersed The trees we're 1.-the. mirthful..
erect. bright, slender and graceful OF
eastern figure and foliage, with bark
smooth, glossy and parti-colored. inere
seened a deep sense OF life ana JOY
about all, and although no airs oleW
from out the heavens, yet everything
6had motion through the gentle sweep
ings to and fro of innumerable butter-
flies, that might have been mistaken
for. tulips with wings.
The other or eastern end OF the isle
was whelmed in the blacklist shade. A
kornber. vet beautiful and peaceiul
gloom here pervaded all things Inc
trees were dark in color and mourniul
In form and attitude-wreathlng them,
selves into sad, solemn and spectral
shapes that conveyed ideas OF mortar
wore the deep tint of the cypress and
the heads of it's blades hung droopingly,
and hither and thither among 1t were
many small. unsightly hillocks, low and
narrow. and not very long, that had the
aspect Of graves, but were not, although
over and all about them the rue ana
the rosemary clambered.
The shade of the trees fell heavily
upon the water and seemed to bury
itself therein, impregnating the depths
of the clement with darkness. fancled
that each shadow as the sun descended
lower and lower, separated itself sullen-
~ from the trunk that gave 1t olrtn,
and thus became absorbed by the
stream, while other shadows issued mo-
n1ently from the trees taking the place
of their predecessors thus entombed.
This idea having once seized upon my
fancy, greatly excited 1t, and lost my
self forthwith in reverie.
eff ever island were enchanted" said
I to myself, this is it. This is the
haunt of the few gentle fays who re-
main from the wreck of the race. Are
these green tombs theirs? or 40 they
WELD I'D their sweet lives as mankind
WELD up their own?r In dying, do they
not rather waste away mournfully,
rendering unto God little by little their
existence. as these trees render up
shadow after shadow, exhausting their
substance unto dissolution? Wnat the
wasting tree is to the water that i'm
bibes its shade, growing thus blacker
by what 1t preys upon, may not the lie
of the fay be to the death which en-
CULTS it?" $50.
AS thus unused, with half shut eyes;
while the sun sank rapidly to rest, ana
= eddying currents careered round and
, round the island, bearing upon their
bosom large, dazzling white flakes OF the
bark of the sycamore, flakes which. IN
their multiform positions upon the wa
ter. a Quick imagination might nave
converted into anything 1t pleased,
while / thus unused. it appeared to me
that the form of one of those very lays
about whom had been bordering mace
its way slowly into the darkness from
out the light at the Western end OF the
island. -
She stood erect in singularly fragile
canoe, and urged it with the mere phan-
tom of an oar. While within the tnfiu-
cnce of the iingering sunbeams, her at
titude seemed Indicative of joy, but sor-
row deformed 1t as she passed within
the shade. Slowly she glided along, and
at length rounded the islet and re-en-
tered the region of light.
1.-The revolution which has just been
made by the fay" continued nNsingly;
80 the cycle of the brief year OF her