Question

https://vocaroo.com/i/s1P6IG9msOZS
What feeling is conjured when you hear this:
~The Conqueror Worm~
Edgar Allan Poe

Answer 1

Lo! ’t is a gala night
Within the lonesome latter years!
An angel throng, bewinged, bedight
In veils, and drowned in tears,
Sit in a theatre, 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 fly—
Mere puppets they, who come and go
At bidding of vast formless things
That shift the scenery to and fro,
Flapping from out their Condor wings
Invisible Wo!

That motley drama—oh, be sure
It shall not be forgot!
With its Phantom chased for evermore
By a crowd that seize it not,
Through a circle that ever returneth in
To the self-same spot,
And much of Madness, and more of Sin,
And Horror the soul of the plot.

But see, amid the mimic rout,
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 seraphs sob 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, affirm
That the play is the tragedy, “Man,”
And its hero, the Conqueror Worm.

Answer 2

xd

Answer 3

I mean it's obvious but this seems inspired by God, Angels, the Devil, and Man.

Answer 4

My first impression of it was literally the inevitability of death and how at any moment we could be encased in its grasp. The final stanza strengthenes that impression

Answer 5

Strengthened*

Answer 6

Never thought of death as a hero.

Answer 7

We can't all be incorruptibles, therefore, the Conqueror Worm

Answer 8

"...Out—out are the lights—out all!
And, over each quivering form,
The curtain, a funeral pall..."

Answer 9

It's humbling to be reminded what a mere mortal I am lol

Answer 10

Mhm. You can certainly interpret this a myriad of ways.

Answer 11

Though I can't say I've ever felt humbled by a poem.

Answer 12

What's your takeaway from it, though? Lol

Answer 13

That evil exists, even born out of the good, and it preys on man.

Answer 14

A charming thought, to be desired by an abstract entity that birthed malevolence and mothered sin.

Answer 15

Oh, yes, flattering.
I think Poe was simply expressing his belief that the lives we leas are tragic:
>>> That the play is the tragedy, “Man,” <<<
And that we'd be better off dead:
>>> And its hero, the Conqueror Worm. <<<

Answer 16

What a troll ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Answer 17

Yeah I mean, I have read his stuff before. He has that sort of view of life, and he likely died from suicide. Perhaps my mind prefers this construction. Albeit, I disregard wholly with his premise.

Answer 18

Tragedy is unavoidable, at best, manageable. Why care?

Answer 19

Not even a teeny, miniscule part of you believes that some of it rings with truths?

Answer 20

I mean, depends on how you look at it.... Poe is saying we embody tragedies ourselves... as the play is named "Man"

Answer 21

An intrinsic degraded view of humanity. A deficient mindset. I think we embody the tragedy of the Original Sin. But the potential and capacity to define ourselves is what makes us human.

Answer 22

Of course there are elements of truth, yet it serves his view of life - and I can let them serve mine.

Answer 23

you guys are boring me with cringe

Answer 24

The power of perspective.

Answer 25

If you are bored, find the nearest government building and Jinping an idiot.

Answer 26

call*

Answer 27

your chances of living would be better if you jumped off of the roof of that building

Answer 28

I'll sing this poem at your funeral.

Answer 29

The Tragedy of Bob

Answer 30

speaking singing, I'll make a lyric post

Answer 31

I need to write something too. Haven't done so in ages.

Answer 32

In the above excerpt Douglass is using what form of figurative language?

simile
onomatopoeia
alliteration
personification

Answer 33

What is the figurative language used in the above excerpt and what comparison does it best create?

“it [getting my distance] was an initial step when”; it was the beginning
“I stumbled onto making pictures”; discovered pictures accidentally
“I stumbled onto making pictures with a camera”; a camera was found
“it [getting my distance] was an initial step when . . . I stumbled”; making pictures was a mistake