While I gazed, this fissure rapidly widened—there
      came a fierce breath of the whirlwind—the entire orb of the
      satellite burst at once upon my sight—my brain reeled as I saw
      the mighty walls rushing asunder—there was a long tumultuous
      shouting sound like the voice of a thousand waters—and the deep
      and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently over the
      fragments of the “_House of Usher_.”




SILENCE—A FABLE


     “The mountain pinnacles slumber; valleys, crags and caves _are
     silent_.”

      “Listen to me,” said the Demon as he placed his hand upon my
      head. “The region of which I speak is a dreary region in Libya,
      by the borders of the river Zaire. And there is no quiet there,
      nor silence. “The waters of the river have a saffron and sickly hue; and they
      flow not onwards to the sea, but palpitate forever and forever
      beneath the red eye of the sun with a tumultuous and convulsive
      motion. For many miles on either side of the river’s oozy bed is
      a pale desert of gigantic water-lilies. They sigh one unto the
      other in that solitude, and stretch towards the heaven their long
      and ghastly necks, and nod to and fro their everlasting heads. And there is an indistinct murmur which cometh out from among
      them like the rushing of subterrene water. And they sigh one unto
      the other. “But there is a boundary to their realm—the boundary of the dark,
      horrible, lofty forest. There, like the waves about the Hebrides,
      the low underwood is agitated continually. But there is no wind
      throughout the heaven. And the tall primeval trees rock eternally
      hither and thither with a crashing and mighty sound. And from
      their high summits, one by one, drop everlasting dews. And at the
      roots strange poisonous flowers lie writhing in perturbed
      slumber. And overhead, with a rustling and loud noise, the gray
      clouds rush westwardly forever, until they roll, a cataract, over
      the fiery 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, it was rain, but,
      having fallen, it was blood. And I stood in the morass among the
      tall and the rain fell upon my head—and the lilies sighed one
      unto the other in the solemnity of 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 ghastly, 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 I came close unto the shore, that I might
      read the characters upon the stone. But I could not decypher
      them. And I was going back into the morass, when the moon shone
      with a fuller red, and I turned and looked again upon the rock,
      and upon the characters, and the characters were DESOLATION. “And I looked upwards, and there stood a man upon the summit of
      the rock; and I 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 features were the features of a 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 eye wild with care; and, in the
      few furrows upon his cheek I read the fables of sorrow, and
      weariness, 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 desolation. He looked down into the
      low unquiet shrubbery, and up into the tall primeval trees, and
      up higher at the rustling heaven, and into the crimson moon. And
      I 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 dreary river Zaire, and upon the yellow ghastly waters,
      and upon the pale legions of the water-lilies. And the man
      listened to the sighs of the water-lilies, and to the murmur that
      came up from among them. And I lay close within my covert and
      observed the actions of the man. And the man trembled 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 afar
      in among the wilderness of the lilies, and called unto the
      hippopotami which dwelt among the fens in the recesses of the
      morass. And the hippopotami heard my call, and came, with the
      behemoth, unto the foot of the rock, and roared loudly and
      fearfully beneath the moon. And I lay close within my covert and
      observed the actions of the man. And the man trembled in the
      solitude;—but the night waned and he sat upon the rock. “Then I cursed the elements with the curse of tumult; and a
      frightful tempest gathered in the heaven where, before, there had
      been no wind. And the heaven became livid with the violence of
      the tempest—and the rain beat upon the head of the man—and the
      floods of the river came down—and the river was tormented into
      foam—and the water-lilies shrieked within their beds—and the
      forest crumbled before the wind—and the thunder rolled—and the
      lightning fell—and the rock rocked to its foundation. And I lay
      close within my covert and observed the actions of the man. And
      the man trembled in the solitude;—but the night waned and he sat
      upon the rock. “Then I grew angry and cursed, with the curse of silence, the
      river, and the lilies, and the wind, and the forest, and the
      heaven, and the thunder, and the sighs of the water-lilies. And
      they became accursed, and were still. And the moon ceased to
      totter up its pathway to heaven—and the thunder died away—and the
      lightning did not flash—and the clouds hung motionless—and the
      waters sunk to their level and remained—and the trees ceased to
      rock—and the water-lilies sighed no more—and the murmur was heard
      no longer from among them, nor any shadow of sound throughout the
      vast illimitable desert. And I looked upon the characters of the
      rock, and they were changed; and the characters were SILENCE. “And mine eyes fell upon the countenance of the man, and his
      countenance was wan with terror.