04 - Conqueror Worm by Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe, a pivotal figure in American literature, was not just an accomplished writer, editor, and literary critic; he was also a master of the macabre and the mysterious. Renowned for his haunting poetry and chilling short stories, Poe is celebrated as a key voice of Romanticism in the United States. He pioneered the detective fiction genre and made significant contributions to the early development of science fiction. Join us as we delve into the eerie and captivating world of Poes imagination. - Summary by Wikipedia

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Conqueror Worm by Edgar Allan Poe read for LibriVox
by Dan Grazinski. Lo to Sagalanite, Within the lonesome latter years,
an angel throng, bewinged, be dight in veils and drowned

(00:22):
in tears. Sit in a theater to see a play
of hopes and fears, while the orchestra breathes fitfully the
music of the spheres. Mimes in the form of God
on high, mutter and mumble low, and hither and thither

(00:46):
fly mere puppets, They who come and go at bidding,
vast formless things that shift the scenery to and fro,
flapping from out their condor wings invisible woe that motley drama. Oh,

(01:07):
be sure it shall not be forgot, with its phantom
chaste forevermore by a crowd that sees it not through
a circle that ever returneth into the self same spot.
And much of madness, and more of sin and horror

(01:29):
the soul of the plot. But see amid the mimic route,
a crawling shape intrude, a blood red thing that writhes
from out the scenic solitude. It writhes, it writhes with
mortal pangs. The mimes become its food and Seraph's sob

(01:54):
at vermin fangs in human gore imbued out. Out are
the lights out, all and over each quivering form the
curtain a funeral pall comes down with the rush of
a storm, while the angels all pallid and wan uprising unveiling.

(02:21):
Affirm that the play is the tragedy man, and its
hero the conqueror Worm. End of poem. This recording is
in the public domain.