October 15, 2024

Greetings Everyone!

It is the third week of October!

Before ending my series of October postings, it is only fitting to cite Edgar Allan Poe, an autumn person to the roots of his heart and soul. 

In his greatest poem “Ulalume”, Poe describes the October dream-scape that his narrator is journeying through on his way to a mysterious destination.  It is clear that this nightmarish experience is taking place on Halloween night.

The skies they were ashen and sober;

The leaves they were crisped and sere-

The leaves they were withering and sere:

It was night, in the lonesome October

Of my most immemorial year:

It was hard by the dim lake of Auber,

In the misty mid region of Weir:-

It was down by the dark tarn of Auber,

In the ghoul-haunted woodland  of Weir.

The narrator encounters weird visions, including the “specter” of a planet—a  ghost planet!—and ends up standing before the tomb of his beloved, the Lady Ulalume.

The narrator has been tricked by the woodland ghouls into a confrontation with Death.   And this is the ultimate Halloween trick or treat!

JLS