Descent into the Maelstrom and Other Stories by Edgar Allan Poe. Perhaps it is significant, in this connection, that the man who tells the narrator his story had his black hair turned white by the shock of his experiences. My hair which had been raven-black the day before, was as white as you see it now. The "little cliff," upon whose edge he had so carelessly thrown himself down to rest that the weightier portion of his body hung over it, while he was only kept from falling by the tenure of his elbow on its extreme and slippery edge -- this "little cliff" arose, a sheer unobstructed precipice of black shining rock, some fifteen or sixteen hundred feet from the world of crags beneath us. In fact, we made it a matter of desperate speculation the risk of life standing instead of labor, and courage answering for capital. They trace their line [ [n]] [ [v]] These streaks, at length, spreading out to a great distance, and entering into combination, took unto themselves thegyratory motion of the subsided vortices, and seemed to form the germ of another more vast. But moment after moment elapsed. In the year 1645, early in the morning of Sexagesima Sunday, it raged with such noise and impetuosity that the very stones of the houses on the coast fell to the ground.. As I felt the sickening sweep of the descent, I had instinctively tightened my hold upon the barrel, and closed my eyes. We cannot be held responsible for delays if you do not use this reference. A bear once, attempting to swim from Lofoden to Moskoe, was caught by the stream and borne down, while he roared terribly, so as to be heard on shore. When I could stand it no longer I raised myself upon my knees, still keeping hold with my hands, and thus got my head clear. But these intervals of tranquility are only at the turn of the ebb and flood, and in calm weather, and last but a quarter of an hour, its violence gradually returning. If I had not known where we were, and what we had to expect, I should not have recognised the place at all. Our first slide into the abyss itself, from the belt of foam above, had carried us a great distance down the slope; but our farther descent was by no means proportionate. As the old man spoke, I became aware of a loud and gradually increasing sound, like the moaning of a vast herd of buffaloes upon an American prairie; and at the same moment I perceived that what seamen term thechoppingcharacter of the ocean beneath us, was rapidly changing into a current which set to the eastward. The seas Now raise yourself up a little higher -- hold on to the grass if you feel giddy -- so -- and look out, beyond the belt of vapor beneath us, into the sea." A Descent into the Maelstrm is one of his least known and most underrated tales, and I probably wouldn't have read it if I weren't such a big fan of his works. "We set out with a fresh wind on our starboard quarter, and for some time spanked along at a great rate, never dreaming of danger, for indeed we saw not the slightest reason to apprehend it. We put the boat on the wind, but could make no headway at all for the eddies, and I was upon the point of proposing to return to the anchorage, when, looking astern, we saw the whole horizon covered with a singular copper-colored cloud that rose with the most amazing velocity. It was not going. The horrific tale is laid out by an old man who reveals that he only appears old - "You suppose me a very old man," he says, "but I am not. That a mile to the northward is Ambaaren. It was my first experience with the writer Edgar Allan Poe, I woke up this morning eager to do nothing but to celebrate the birthday of a man who loved with a love that was more than love. Although, at the time, so strong a gale was blowing landward that a brig in the remote offing lay to under a double-reefed trysail, and constantly plunged her whole hull out of sight, still there washere nothing like a regular swell, but only a short, quick, angry cross dashing of water in every direction as well in the teeth of the wind as otherwise. We were behind the time of the slack, and the whirl of the Strm was in full fury! Do you see any change in the water?. Our progress downward, at each revolution, was slow, but very perceptible. By this time the first fury of the tempest had spent itself, or perhaps we did not feel it so much, as we scudded before it, but at all events the seas, which at first had been kept down by the wind, and lay flat and frothing, now got up into absolute mountains. The island in the distance, resumed the old man, is called by the Norwegians Vurrgh. It might have been an hour, or thereabout, after myquitting the smack, when, having descended to a vast distance beneath me, it made three or four wild gyrations in rapid succession, and, bearing my loved brother with it, plunged headlong, at once and forever, into the chaos of foam below. In 1841, "Graham's Magazine" was the first to publish "Maelstrom." How my elder brother escaped destruction I cannot say, for I never had an opportunity of ascertaining. A Descent Into the Maelstrom book. His experience and brush with death, however, made his black hair turn white in the course of one day. Inspired by the Moskstraumen, tidal eddies and whirlpools in northern Norway which are real, the story is couched as a story within a story, a tale told at the summit of a mountain climb. descent n (physical) descente nf : From the airport, Catherine watched the plane's descent onto the runway. by BookSurge Classics. And how they unfortunately didn't. Click here for more information My brother was at the stern, holding on to a small empty water-cask which had been securely lashed under the coop of the counter, and was the only thing on deck that had not been swept overboardwhen the gale first took us. Yonder are Islesen, Hotholm, Keildhelm, Suarven, and Buckholm. It was not going. However, I didn't But A Descent into the Maelstrom is different, because the trouble which descends upon the white-haired man is outside of his control: he is a victim of natures forces at their wildest and International delivery varies by country, please see the Wordery store help page for details. I knew it could make no difference whether either of us held on at all; so I let him have the bolt, and went astern to the cask. contact, home | stories | poetry | timeline | gallery | site map | contact, Copyright 2005-2023 Design215 Inc., All Rights Reserved. The attempts to account for the phenomenon -- some of which, I remember, seemed to me sufficiently plausible in perusal -- now wore a very different and unsatisfactory aspect. Inspired by the Moskstraumen, it is couched as a story within a story, a tale told at the summit of a mountain climb in Lofoten, Norway. It was the hour of the slack but the sea still heaved in mountainous waves from the effects of the hurricane. Descent into the Maelstrom by Mike Hoornstra 9781365899249 (Paperback, 2020) Delivery UK delivery is usually within 10 to 12 working days. DESCENTE website uses cookies to give you a better service. See also Trivia | Goofs | Crazy Credits | Alternate Versions | Connections | Soundtracks Did You Know? that being said, whereas the narrator of "ms. found in a bottle" overcomes his fear of death by realizing that death can be worth the price of increased knowledge, the main character of "a II) (abridged reprint, presumably from Tales) A Descent into the Maelstrm We were behind the time of the slack, and the whirl of the Strm was in full fury! Since my escape, I have had several conversations on this subject with an old school-master of the district ;and it was from him that I learned the use of the words 'cylinder' and 'sphere.' The sailor of A Descent is similar to both these characters, and so, before his descent, he seems [column 2:] unaware that as the storys epigraphical quotation from These would have been of great assistance at such times, in using the sweeps, as well as afterward in fishing -- but, somehow, although we ran the risk ourselves, we had not the heart to let the young ones get into the danger -- for, after all is said and done, it was a horrible danger, and that is the truth. All this time I had never let go of the ring-bolt. But moment after moment elapsed. This stream is regulated by the flux and reflux of the sea it being constantly high and low water every six hours. This hope arose partly from memory, and partly from present observation. Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn Learn more. The sky was clear, the winds had gone down, and the full moon was setting radiantly in the west, when I found myself on the surface of the ocean, in full view of the shores of Lofoden, and above the spot where the pool of the Moskoe-strmhad been. Each moment added to its speed to its headlong impetuosity. It was just seven, by my watch, when we weighed and started for home, so as to make the worst of the Strm at slack water, which we knew would be at eight. Do you hear anything ? This opinion, idle in itself, was the one to which, as I gazed, my imagination most readily assented ;and, mentioning it to the guide, I was rather surprised to hear him say that, although it was the view almost universally entertained of the subject by the Norwegians, it nevertheless was not his own. The idea generally received is that this, as well as three smaller vortices among the Ferroe islands, have no other cause than the collision of waves rising and falling, at flux and reflux, against a ridge of rocks and shelves, which confines the water so that it precipitates itself like a cataract; and thus the higher the flood rises, the deeper must the fall be, and the natural result of all is a whirlpool or vortex, the prodigious suction of which is sufficiently known by lesser experiments. These are the words of the Encyclopdia Britannica. This there was no great difficulty in doing ;for the smack flew round steadily enough, and upon an even keel -- only swaying to and fro, with the immense sweeps and swelters of the whirl. I'm reading in order so, what the heck! This stressed me out, scared me. Inspired by the Moskstraumen, tidal eddies and whirlpools in northern Norway which are real, the story is couched as a story within a story, a tale told at the summit of a mountain climb. "I no longer hesitated what to do. I shook from head to foot as if I had had the most violent fit of the ague. They say too that the whole expression of my countenance had changed. A panorama more deplorably desolate no human imagination can conceive. The Descent is a 2005 British horror film written and directed by Neil Marshall. stories | But A Descent into the Maelstrom is different, because the trouble which descends upon the white-haired man is outside of his control: he is a victim of natures forces at their wildest and most uncontrollable, with his brush with death being the result of natural phenomena rather than some retributive power punishing him for some past crime. Upon this occasion we should have been driven out to sea in spite of everything, (for the whirlpools threw us round and round so violently, that, at length, we fouled our anchor and dragged it) if it had not been that we drifted into one of the innumerable cross currents -- here to-day and gone to-morrow -- which drove us under the lee of Flimen, where, by good luck, we brought up. The description is absolutely brilliant. I dragged my watch from its fob. Wed love your help. The lids clenched themselves together as if in a spasm. It was the hour of the slack -- but the sea still heaved in mountainous waves from the effects of the hurricane. It was impossible to reach him; the emergency admitted of no delay; and so, with a bitter struggle, I resigned him to his fate, fastened myself to the cask by means of the lashings which secured it to the counter, and precipitated myself with it into the sea, without another moments hesitation. It opens at the top of a mountain, 4 Stars. It is now within a few days of three years since what I am going to tell you occurred. Enter your email address to subscribe to this site and receive notifications of new posts by email. We kept the smack in a cove about five miles higher up the coast than this; and it was our practice, in fine weather, to take advantage of the fifteen minutes slack to push across the main channel of the Moskoe-strm, far above the pool, and then drop down upon anchorage somewhere near Otterholm, or Sandflesen, where the eddies are not so violent as elsewhere. In this direction I was able to obtain an unobstructed view, from the manner in which the smack hung on the inclined surface of the pool. Confession time, science fiction is not my thing, instead the unpredictability of real life continues to fascinate in both fiction and non. All at once we were taken aback by a breeze from over Helseggen. A boat picked me up exhausted from fatigue and (now that the danger was removed) speechless from the memory of its horror. Upon this occasion we should have been driven out to sea in spite of everything, (for the whirlpools threw us round and round so violently, that, at length, we fouled our anchor and dragged it) if it had not been that we drifted into one of the innumerable cross currents here to-day and gone to-morrow which drove us under the lee of Flimen, where, by good luck, we brought up. A Descent into the Maelstrom. "It was not a new terror that thus affected me, but the dawn of a more exciting hope. Joseph Glanville. This there was no great difficulty in doing; for the smack flew round steadily enough, and upon an even keel only swaying to and fro, with the immense sweeps and swelters of the whirl. By using DESCENTE website, you agree to our use of cookies. The gyrations of the whirl grew, gradually, less and less violent. How often we made the circuit of the belt it is impossible to say. Quotes submission guide. The story Poe weaves out It was mere instinct that prompted me to do this -- which was undoubtedly the very best thing I could have done -- for I was too much flurried to think. summaries | Scarcely had I secured myself in my new position, when we gave a wild lurch to starboard, and rushed headlong into the abyss. The storm comes {var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; The choice spots over here among the rocks, however, not only yield the finest variety, but in far greater abundance ;so that we often got in a single day, what the more timid of the craft could not scrape together in a week. I now began towatch, with a strange interest, the numerous things that floated in our company. "At first I was too much confused to observe anything accurately. He will survive, but only just and with his hair showing how his narrow escape has prematurely aged him. 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