The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe www.world-english.

org
The red death had long devastated the country. No estilence had ever been so
fatal! or so hideous. "lood was its Avatar and its seal--the #adness and the
horror of blood. There were shar ains! and sudden di$$iness! and then rofuse
bleeding at the ores! with dissolution. The scarlet stains uon the body and
esecially uon the face of the victi#! were the est ban which shut hi# out fro#
the aid and fro# the sy#athy of his fellow-#en. And the whole sei$ure!
rogress! and ter#ination of the disease! were incidents of half an hour.
"ut Prince Prosero was hay and dauntless and sagacious. %hen his do#inions
were half deoulated! he su##oned to his resence a thousand hale and light-
hearted friends fro# a#ong the &nights and da#es of his court! and with these
retired to the dee seclusion of one of his crenellated abbeys. This was an
e'tensive and #agnificent structure! the creation of the rince(s own eccentric yet
august taste. A strong and lofty wall girdled it in. This wall had gates of iron. The
courtiers! having entered! brought furnaces and #assy ha##ers and welded the
bolts.
They resolved to leave #eans neither of ingress nor egress to the sudden
i#ulses of desair or of fren$y fro# within. The abbey was a#ly rovisioned.
%ith such recautions the courtiers #ight bid defiance to contagion. The e'ternal
world could ta&e care of itself. )n the #eanti#e it was folly to grieve or to thin&.
The rince had rovided all the aliances of leasure. There were buffoons!
there were i#rovisatori! there were ballet-dancers! there were #usicians! there
was "eauty! there was wine. All these and security were within. %ithout was the
*Red Death.*
)t was toward the close of the fifth or si'th #onth of his seclusion that the Prince
Prosero entertained his thousand friends at a #as&ed ball of the #ost unusual
#agnificence.
)t was a volutuous scene! that #asquerade. "ut first let #e tell of the roo#s in
which it was held. There were seven--an i#erial suite! )n #any alaces!
however! such suites for# a long and straight vista! while the folding doors slide
bac& nearly to the walls on either hand! so that the view of the whole e'tant is
scarcely i#eded. +ere the case was very different, as #ight have been e'ected
fro# the du&e(s love of the *bi$arre.* The aart#ents were so irregularly disosed
that the vision e#braced but little #ore than one at a ti#e. There was a shar
turn at the right and left! in the #iddle of each wall! a tall and narrow -othic
window loo&ed out uon a closed corridor of which ursued the windings of the
suite. These windows were of stained glass whose color varied in accordance with
the revailing hue of the decorations of the cha#ber into which it oened. That at
the eastern e'tre#ity was hung! for e'a#le! in blue--and vividly blue were its
windows. The second cha#ber was urle in its orna#ents and taestries! and
here the anes were urle. The third was green throughout! and so were the
case#ents. The fourth was furnished and lighted with orange--the fifth with
white--the si'th with violet. The seventh aart#ent was closely shrouded in blac&
velvet taestries that hung all over the ceiling and down the walls! falling in
heavy folds uon a caret of the sa#e #aterial and hue. "ut in this cha#ber
only! the color of the windows failed to corresond with the decorations. The
anes were scarlet--a dee blood color. Now in no one of any of the seven
aart#ents was there any la# or candelabru#! a#id the rofusion of golden
orna#ents that lay scattered to and fro and deended fro# the roof. There was
no light of any &ind e#anating fro# la# or candle within the suite of cha#bers.
"ut in the corridors that followed the suite! there stood! oosite each window! a
heavy triod! bearing a bra$ier of fire! that ro.ected its rays through the tinted
glass and so glaringly lit the roo#. And thus were roduced a #ultitude of gaudy
and fantastic aearances. "ut in the western or bac& cha#ber the effect of the
fire-light that strea#ed uon the dar& hangings through the blood-tinted anes
was ghastly in the e'tre#e! and roduced so wild a loo& uon the countenances
of those who entered! that there were few of the co#any bold enough to set
foot within its recincts at all. )t was within this aart#ent! also! that there stood
against the western wall! a gigantic cloc& of ebony. )t endulu# swung to and fro
with a dull! heavy! #onotonous clang, and when the #inute-hand #ade the
circuit of the face! and the hour was to be stric&en! there ca#e fro# the bra$en
lungs of the cloc& a sound which was clear and loud and dee and e'ceedingly
#usical! but of so eculiar a note and e#hasis that! at each lase of an hour!
the #usicians of the orchestra were constrained to ause! #o#entarily! in their
erfor#ance! to hear&en to the sound, and thus the walt$ers erforce ceased
their evolutions, and there was a brief disconcert of the whole gay co#any, and
while the chi#es of the cloc& yet rang. it was observed that the giddiest grew
ale! and the #ore aged and sedate assed their hands over their brows as if in
confused revery or #editation. "ut when the echoes had fully ceased! a light
laughter at once ervaded the asse#bly, the #usicians loo&ed at each other and
s#iled as if at their own nervousness and folly! and #ade whisering vows! each
to the other! that the ne't chi#ing of the cloc& should roduce in the# no si#ilar
e#otion, and then! after the lase of si'ty #inutes /which e#brace three
thousand and si' hundred seconds of Ti#e that flies0! there ca#e yet another
chi#ing of the cloc&! and then were the sa#e disconcert and tre#ulousness and
#editation as before. "ut! in site of these things! it was a gay and #agnificent
revel. The tastes of the du&e were eculiar. +e had a fine eye for color and
effects. +e disregarded the *decora* of #ere fashion. +is lans were bold and
fiery! and his concetions glowed with barbaric lustre. There are so#e who would
have thought hi# #ad. +is followers felt that he was not. )t was necessary to
hear and see and touch hi# to be 1sure1 he was not.
+e had directed! in great art! the #ovable e#bellish#ents of the seven
cha#bers! uon occasion of this great fete, and it was his own guiding taste
which had given character to the #asqueraders. "e sure they were grotesque.
There were #uch glare and glitter and iquancy and hantas#--#uch of what
has been seen in *+ernani.* There were arabesque figures with unsuited li#bs
and aoint#ents. There were delirious fancies such as the #ad#an fashions.
There were #uch of the beautiful! #uch of the wanton! #uch of the bi$arre!
so#ething of the terrible! and not a little of that which #ight have e'cited
disgust. To and fro in the seven cha#bers stal&ed! in fact! a #ultitude of drea#s.
And these the drea#s--writhed in and about! ta&ing hue fro# the roo#s! and
causing the wild #usic of the orchestra to see# as the echo of their stes. And!
anon! there stri&es the ebony cloc& which stands in the hall of the velvet. And
then! for a #o#ent! all is still! and all is silent save the voice of the cloc&. The
drea#s are stiff-fro$en as they stand. "ut the echoes of the chi#e die away--they
have endured but an instant--and a light half-subdued laughter floats after the#
as they deart. And now the #usic swells! and the drea#s live! and writhe to and
fro #ore #errily than ever! ta&ing hue fro# the #any-tinted windows through
which strea# the rays of the triods. "ut to the cha#ber which lies #ost
westwardly of the seven there are now none of the #as&ers who venture! for the
night is waning away, and there flows a ruddier light through the blood-colored
anes, and the blac&ness of the sable draery aalls, and to hi# whose foot
falls on the sable caret! there co#es fro# the near cloc& of ebony a #uffled eal
#ore sole#nly e#hatic than any which reaches 1their1 ears who indulge in the
#ore re#ote gaieties of the other aart#ents.
"ut these other aart#ents were densely crowded! and in the# beat feverishly
the heart of life. And the revel went whirlingly on! until at length there
co##enced the sounding of #idnight uon the cloc&. And then the #usic ceased!
as ) have told, and the evolutions of the walt$ers were quieted, and there was an
uneasy cessation of all things as before. "ut now there were twelve stro&es to be
sounded by the bell of the cloc&, and thus it haened! erhas that #ore of
thought cret! with #ore of ti#e into the #editations of the thoughtful a#ong
those who revelled. And thus too! it haened! that before the last echoes of the
last chi#e had utterly sun& into silence! there were #any individuals in the crowd
who had found leisure to beco#e aware of the resence of a #as&ed figure which
had arrested the attention of no single individual before. And the ru#or of this
new resence having sread itself whiseringly around! there arose at length
fro# the whole co#any a bu$$! or #ur#ur! of horror! and of disgust.
)n an asse#bly of hantas#s such as ) have ainted! it #ay well be suosed
that no ordinary aearance could have e'cited such sensation. )n truth the
#asquerade license of the night was nearly unli#ited, but the figure in question
had out-+eroded +erod! and gone beyond the bounds of even the rince(s
indefinite decoru#. There are chords in the hearts of the #ost rec&less which
cannot be touched without e#otion. Even with the utterly lost! to who# life and
death are equally .ests! there are #atters of which no .est can be #ade. The
whole co#any! indeed! see#ed now deely to feel that in the costu#e and
bearing of the stranger neither wit nor roriety e'isted. The figure was tall and
gaunt! and shrouded fro# head to foot in the habili#ents of the grave. The #as&
which concealed the visage was #ade so nearly to rese#ble the countenance of a
stiffened corse that the closest scrutiny #ust have difficulty in detecting the
cheat. And yet all this #ight have been endured! if not aroved! by the #ad
revellers around. "ut the #u##er had gone so far as to assu#e the tye of the
Red Death. +is vesture was dabbled in 1blood1--and his broad brow! with all the
features of his face! was besrin&led with the scarlet horror.
%hen the eyes of Prince Prosero fell on this sectral i#age /which! with a slow
and sole#n #ove#ent! as if #ore fully to sustain its role! stal&ed to and fro
a#ong the walt$ers0 he was seen to be convulsed! in the first #o#ent with a
strong shudder either of terror or distaste, but in the ne't! his brow reddened
with rage.
*%ho dares*--he de#anded hoarsely of the courtiers who stood near hi#--*who
dares insult us with this blashe#ous #oc&ery2 3ei$e hi# and un#as& hi#--that
we #ay &now who# we have to hang! at sunrise! fro# the battle#ents4*
)t was in the eastern or blue cha#ber in which stood Prince Prosero as he
uttered these words. They rang throughout the seven roo#s loudly and clearly!
for the rince was a bold and robust #an! and the #usic had beco#e hushed at
the waving of his hand.
)t was in the blue roo# where stood the rince! with a grou of ale courtiers by
his side. At first! as he so&e! there was a slight rushing #ove#ent of this grou
in the direction of the intruder! who! at the #o#ent was also near at hand! and
now! with deliberate and stately ste! #ade closer aroach to the sea&er. "ut
fro# a certain na#eless awe with which the #ad assu#tions of the #u##er
had insired the whole arty! there were found none who ut forth a hand to
sei$e hi#, so that! uni#eded! he assed within a yard of the rince(s erson,
and while the vast asse#bly! as with one i#ulse! shran& fro# the centers of the
roo#s to the walls! he #ade his way uninterrutedly! but with the sa#e sole#n
and #easured ste which had distinguished hi# fro# the first! through the blue
cha#ber to the urle--to the urle to the green--through the green to the
orange--through this again to the white--and even thence to the violet! ere a
decided #ove#ent had been #ade to arrest hi#. )t was then! however! that the
Prince Prosero! #addened with rage and the sha#e of his own #o#entary
cowardice! rushed hurriedly through the si' cha#bers! while none followed hi#
on account of a deadly terror that had sei$ed uon all. +e bore aloft a drawn
dagger! and had aroached! in raid i#etuosity! to within three or four feet of
the retreating figure! when the latter! having attained the e'tre#ity of the velvet
aart#ent! turned suddenly and confronted his ursuer. There was a shar cry--
and the dagger droed glea#ing uon the sable caret! uon which #ost
instantly afterward! fell rostrate in death the Prince Prosero. Then su##oning
the wild courage of desair! a throng of the revellers at once threw the#selves
into the blac& aart#ent! and sei$ing the #u##er whose tall figure stood erect
and #otionless within the shadow of the ebony cloc&! gased in unutterable
horror at finding the grave cere#ents and corse-li&e #as&! which they handled
with so violent a rudeness! untenanted by any tangible for#.
And now was ac&nowledged the resence of the red death. +e had co#e li&e a
thief in the night. And one by one droed the revellers in the blood-bedewed
halls of their revel! and died each in the desairing osture of his fall. And the life
of the ebony cloc& went out with that of the last of the gay. And the fla#es of the
triods e'ired. And dar&ness and decay and the red death held illi#itable
do#inion over all.
wwww.world-english.org