Part 30 (1/2)

fn The lines are from ”Das Veilchen,” by German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832); Poe knew the work in translation.

fo In mosaic designs (French).

fp Cafe Tortoni, a renowned nineteenth-century Parisian restaurant.

fq Choice or refined (French).

fr Ignorance of proof (Latin); means the fallacy of an argument that proves a point by using irrelevant support.

fs Poe's quotation from Greek orator Demosthenes (384?-322 B.C.), as given in Samuel Butler's poem Hudibras Hudibras (1663-1678), is imperfect. (1663-1678), is imperfect. Epsilon, phi, Epsilon, phi, and and tau tau are letters of the Greek alphabet. are letters of the Greek alphabet.

ft The quotation is from Comus Comus (1634), a masque by John Milton. (1634), a masque by John Milton.

fu Poetic name of Edinburgh, Scotland; home of the publis.h.i.+ng company William Blackwood & Sons.

fv Psyche Zen.o.bia's misunderstanding of the t.i.tle of the Chinese novel mentioned on p. 145.

fw Her garbling of the names and functions of the Muses mentioned on p. 145.

fx Her garbling of the name and circ.u.mstances related to the flower mentioned on p. 145.

fy Her garbling of the expression ”Aussi tendre que Zaire,” given on p. 146.

fz Her garbling of expressions given on p. 147.

ga Her muddled allusion to a phrase from book 10 of John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost Paradise Lost (1667): ”whatever thing / The Scythe of Time mows down.” (1667): ”whatever thing / The Scythe of Time mows down.”

gb Possibly modeled after a character in the comedy The Poor Gentleman The Poor Gentleman (1802), by English writer George Colman the Younger. (1802), by English writer George Colman the Younger.

gc Her garbling of lines given on p. 146.

gd This quotation and the two that follow are her garblings of pa.s.sages on pp. 146 and 147.

ge Or ennui; bored, or indifferent.

gf A popular misconception in Poe's day was that a waltz or, according to some, a dirge written by a friend of German composer K. M. von Weber (1786-1826), was Weber's own.

gg Henry Fuseli (1741-1825), Swiss painter who lived in London; his paintings were often considered weird and terrifying.

gh Allusion to Usher's quickness in creating musical improvisations that reflect his own emotional disorder.

gi Watson, Dr. Percival, Spallanzani, and especially the Bishop of Landaff.-See ”Chemical Essays,” vol. v (Poe's note). The names cited refer to eighteenth-century authors of books suggesting links between animal and vegetable life. Richard Wat son, who synthesized information by Percival and Spallanzani, became the bishop of Llandaff, in Wales.

gj Lack of constraint (French); refers to Roderick's unrestrained, obsessive belief that vegetable life resembles animal/human life.

gk The ”Mad Trist” is Poe's invention; its situation mirrors the disorder in the physical and mental ”house” of Usher, which may reflect the twins' and narrator's conditions. The narrator's idea that such a tale could have scant appeal to Roderick may const.i.tute mordant humor on Poe's part.

gl The motto is not from English poet William Chamberlayne's verse romance Pharonnida (1659), though Poe may have imperfectly recalled lines from that author's Love's Victory Love's Victory (1658). (1658).

gm That is, Roman emperor Elagabalus (or Heliogabalus; A.D. 204-222), remembered for s.e.xual depravity and religious fanaticism, and, by some, for supposed cruelty.

gn Severe regulations and punishments for violations; named for Draco, a lawgiver of ancient Greece who prescribed the punishment of death for nearly all offences.

go Pressing to death (French; literally, ”strong, lasting penalty”); an old penalty for abstaining from pleading ”not guilty” or ”guilty” to a capital charge.

gp a.s.sistant teacher.

gq Five-year span.

gr Inscriptions (French); in this case on medals used in the ancient African state north of Tunis.

gs The quotation, from French author Voltaire's poem ”Le Mondain” (”The Worldly”; 1736), translates as, ”Oh, what good times, that age of iron!”

gt Poe was born on January 19, 1809, but sometimes gave his birth year as 1811 or 1813.

gu Achilles' heel refers to one's sole area of vulnerability. The term derives from Achilles, the hero in Greek mythology who was invulnerable except for his ankle, which his mother held while she dipped him in the River Styx; he was killed by an arrow that pierced that ankle. refers to one's sole area of vulnerability. The term derives from Achilles, the hero in Greek mythology who was invulnerable except for his ankle, which his mother held while she dipped him in the River Styx; he was killed by an arrow that pierced that ankle.

gv Patronymic refers to one's last name, while refers to one's last name, while praenomen praenomen refers to the first name; William Wilson dislikes what he considers his commonplace name. refers to the first name; William Wilson dislikes what he considers his commonplace name.

gw Fine woolen fabric.

gx Invented by Italian physicist Luigi Galvani (1737-1798); applying its electricity to a muscle caused a contraction from the shock. Poe alluded to or included this device in several writings-for example, ”The Pit and the Pendulum.”

gy See note 2 of Tales. Tales.

gz Upstart (French).

ha Greek orator Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes (c. A.D. 101-177) inherited his father's fabulous wealth, attained by a chance discovery of buried treasure in his garden.

hb Card game.

hc ”Rounded”-that is, marked-cards (French).

hd Straight, narrow-bladed sword.

he No Rue Morgue (French for ”Mortuary Street”) exists in Paris.

hf From Hydriotaphia: Urne-Buriall Hydriotaphia: Urne-Buriall (1658), by the English physician. (1658), by the English physician.

hg English author Edmond Hoyle (1672-1769), wrote books of rules for card games; ”according to Hoyle” has become a colloquialism for following the rules.

hh His name in English would be Caesar Augustus Dupin; English p.r.o.nunciation would render his surname a colloquial version of ”duping,” which Dupin's abilities bear out, providing another example of Poe's wordplay.

hi Once-fas.h.i.+onable residential area for the wealthy, on the south bank of the River Seine.

hj That is, a soul composed of two parts, in this case of the creative and the a.n.a.lytical.

hk Seventeenth-century palace in Paris that by Poe's time had declined into an area of low-cla.s.s pastimes.

hl Theater in Paris that offered light entertainment.