The Conqueror Worm is a poem by Edgar Allan Poe , first published in 1843 in Graham's Magazine , and two years later included in a revised version of Ligeia . The heroine of the same name, who wrote this poem, while on her deathbed, asks the narrator to read it. The main theme of the work is the futility of human aspirations and the inevitability of a tragic ending, death.
| Winning Worm | |
|---|---|
| The conqueror worm | |
 Illustration for the 1900 edition | |
| Genre | poem |
| Author | Edgar Allan Poe |
| Original language | English |
| Date of first publication | 1843 |
| Publishing house | Graham's magazine |
Story
In the retelling, a translation by V. Bryusov was used .
The audience of “trembling angels” is watching the theatrical performance of mime actors “like God”, which is controlled by “someone faceless”, who is behind the stage. Memes begin to chase the Shadow ( English Phantom ), unsuccessfully chasing it in a circle. Then a "bloody image" crawls onto the stage, a worm, and devours mimes. In the final scene, the black curtain falls, the angels shout that the name of this tragedy is “man”, and “the worm is her hero”.
Analysis
The poem Winning Worm consists of five stanzas, each of which corresponds to one act of tragedy . The most important content of the work are images and metaphors. The Universe is represented in the form of a theater, the limp actors-mimes in it are people, and the orchestra performing “music of the planets” is the heavenly army . The victorious worm, which is the protagonist of the tragedy, personifies death. The angels watching the show are the only supernatural power that can help, but they are powerless observers of the triumph of death on stage. In the words of V. Zakharov, “The“ cosmic metaphor ”brightly, convexly and in the most concise form reveals the poet’s favorite thought about the futility of human aspirations” [1] .
Despite the fact that Poe referred to an ancient tradition linking death and worms, perhaps the idea of the work was suggested to him by the poet Spencer Wallis Cone. His poem The Proud Ladye, which was critically reviewed in one of Graham's Magazine editions, contained the lines “Let him meet the conqueror worm / With his good sword by his side” [2] . It is also likely that Poe wrote The Victorious Worm amid heavy mental anguish associated with his wife's long-term serious illness, which had no chance of recovery.
Role in Ligeya
The poem plays an important symbolic role in the 1838 story Ligeya . The main character of the same name, who wrote it before death, asks the narrator, her husband, to read it. Ligeya cannot believe in the validity of his own judgments about human existence and quotes Joseph Glenville's words, which became an epigraph to the story: "Neither the angels nor death betray themselves completely, except through the weakness of their weak will." The feeling of despair and futility of efforts in the poem is opposed to the internal struggle of Ligeya with the inevitability of death, which, having found the will in itself, resurrected in the body of another woman.
Publications
Winning Worm was first published as an independent poem in Graham's Magazine in 1843 [3] . Soon after, it was included in the collection of poetry by Edgar Allan Poe in the 25th edition of the Saturday Museum in the section “Poets and Poetry of Philadelphia" [4] . In 1845, Edgar Allan Poe included The Winning Worm in his poetry collection Raven and Other Poems [3] , and then in a revised version of the story Ligeia published in New York World [5] . In 1847, Ligeia, with the poem included in it, was reprinted in the September issue of The Broadway Journal , which Poe edited [6] . This was not the first time for Poe to put his poetry in a story. Previously, this happened with the poems "Colosseum" and "Alone in Paradise" [7] .
Adaptations
In 1935, a composer from Baltimore, Franz Borshine, wrote a three-piece work for a female choir and orchestra based on The Winning Worm [8] . The poem was also put to music by Lou Reed for his concept album, The Raven , inspired by the work of Edgar Allan Poe, and a year later his song based on the Darkwave Winner was presented by the darkwave musical project Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows . In addition to musicians, the creator of the comic strip was repeatedly inspired by the poem.
In 1990, the music of Alexander Dronov was superimposed on the translation of the poem Victory Worm, and the resulting composition of his group Valkyrie , taking off on the democassette Valkyrie takes off , was called Worms (the second name is “Performance”). Later, in 1993, the song was replayed and re-recorded by another vocalist in English , when they released Valkyria, they received another name “ Gala Drama ”. It was remastered along with all the works from the record and the cassette demo of three songs on the Mystical Mass album ( Russian The Secret Mass ).
Notes
- ↑ Zakharov, V. Lyric Edgar Poe // Poe, E. Lyrics. - L .: "Fiction", 1976. - S. 14. - 128 p.
- ↑ Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. - Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998 .-- P. 391. - ISBN 0-8018-5730-9 .
- ↑ 1 2 Sova, Dawn B. Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z. - New York: Checkmark Books, 2001 .-- P. 56. - ISBN 0-8160-4161-X .
- ↑ Thomas, Dwight & David K. Jackson. The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe, 1809–1849. - Boston: GK Hall & Co, 1987 .-- P. 398. - ISBN 0-8161-8734-7 .
- ↑ Thomas, Dwight & David K. Jackson. The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe, 1809–1849. - Boston: GK Hall & Co, 1987 .-- P. 502. - ISBN 0-8161-8734-7 .
- ↑ Sova, Dawn B. Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z. - New York: Checkmark Books, 2001 .-- P. 134. - ISBN 0-8160-4161-X .
- ↑ Peeples, Scott. Edgar Allan Poe Revisited. - New York: Twayne Publishers, 1998 .-- P. 31. - ISBN 0-8057-4572-6 .
- ↑ Sova, Dawn B. Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z. - New York: Checkmark Books, 2001 .-- P. 32. - ISBN 0-8160-4161-X .