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. Is it just that: the force of nature, what we might following Edmund Burke label the Sublime, the terror and awe of something in the natural world that is bigger and more powerful than man? I no longer hesitated what to do. I did not care, however, to contest the point with him. About two miles nearer the land, arose another of smaller size, hideously craggy and barren, and encompassed at various intervals by a cluster of dark rocks. It may appear strange, but now, when we were in the very jaws of the gulf, I felt more composed than when we were only approaching it. Descent into the Maelstrom and Other Stories by Edgar Allan Poe. As I felt the sickening sweep of the descent, I had instinctively tightened my hold upon the barrel, and closed my eyes. It opens at the top of a mountain, 4 Stars. Scarcely had I secured myself in my new position, when we gave a wild lurch to starboard, and rushed headlong into the abyss. Around in every direction it was still as black as pitch, but nearly overhead there burst out, all at once, a circular rift of clear sky as clear as I ever saw and of a deep bright blue and through it there blazed forth the full moon with a lustre that I never before knew her to wear. The narrator, seeing the power of the whirlpool in the ocean visible from the mountain top, is then told of the man's fishing trip with his two brothers a few years ago in which they encountered the whirlpool. They trace their line The first was, that, as a general rule, the larger the bodies were, the more rapid their descent the second, that, between two masses of equal extent, the one spherical, and the otherof any other shape, the superiority in speed of descent was with the sphere the third, that, between two masses of equal size, the one cylindrical, and the other of any other shape, the cylinder was absorbed the more slowly. Such a hurricane as then blew it is folly to attempt describing. I was now trying to get the better of the stupor that had come over me, and to collect my senses so as to see what was to be done, when I felt somebody grasp my arm. By degrees, the froth and the rainbow disappeared, and the bottom of the gulf seemed slowly to uprise. Do you see any change in the water ?" Start by marking A Descent into the Maelstrom - an Edgar Allan Poe Short Story as Want to Read: Error rating book. A maelstrom is a whirlpool: the word dates from at least the sixteenth century and was formed from Dutch words malen (meaning grind) and stroom (meaning stream). You suppose me a very old man -- but I am not. In less than a minute the storm was upon us in less than two the sky was entirely overcast and what with this and the driving spray, it became suddenly so dark that we could not see each other in the smack. They say too that the whole expression of my countenance had changed. This stream is regulated by the flux and reflux of the sea it being constantly high and low water every six hours. 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." We had now been about ten minutes upon the top of Helseggen, to which we had ascended from the interior of Lofoden, so that we had caught no glimpse of the sea until it had burst upon us from the summit. "You must get over these fancies," said the guide, "for I have brought you here that you might have the best possible view of the scene of that event I mentioned -- and to tell you the whole story with the spot just under your eye." For some moments we were completely deluged, as I say, and all this time I held my breath, and clung to the bolt. With the wind that now drove us on, we were bound for the whirl of the Strm, and nothing could save us! The old man also states that he is broken in body and spirit, but proves that he is not completely broken by the carefree way he sits on the edge of the cliff. If I had not known where we were, and what we had to expect, I should not have recognised the place at all. //]]>, Be the first to ask a question about A Descent into the Maelstrom - an Edgar Allan Poe Short Story. The Literature Network: Online classic literature, poems, and quotes. 2. Never shall I forget the sensations of awe, horror, and admiration with which I gazed about me. The story is told by an Old Norwegian fisherman to a tourist at the top of a very tall mountain. bookstore | The island in the distance, resumed the old man, is called by the Norwegians Vurrgh. 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.. Imusthave been delirious for I even soughtamusementin speculating upon the relative velocities of their several descents toward the foam below. 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." When it is flood, the stream runs up the country between Lofoden and Moskoe with a boisterous rapidity; but the roar of its impetuous ebb to the sea is scarce equalled by the loudest and most dreadfulcataracts; the noise being heard several leagues off, and the vortices or pits are of such an extent and depth, that if a ship comes within its attraction, it is inevitably absorbed and carried down to the bottom, and there beat to pieces against the rocks; and when the water relaxes, the fragments thereof are thrown up again. I am not sure from what point of view the writer in question surveyed it, nor at what time; but it could neither have been from the summit of Helseggen, nor during a storm. 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. I dragged my watch from its fob. The vortex was spinning at incredible speeds. "In the meantime the breeze that had headed us off fell away, and we were dead becalmed, drifting about in every direction. 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. The name Poe brings to mind images of murderers and madmen, premature burials, and mysterious women who return from the dead. It was until today's afternoon that I found out that I do not only own a copy of Poe's most tales, but that I also already have started reading one of his less appreciated not-so-short-stories. I placed myself as desired, and he proceeded. summaries | [ [n]] [ [v]] This fir tree, I found myself at one time saying, will certainly be the next thing that takes the awful plunge and disappears, and then I was disappointed to find that the wreck of a Dutch merchant ship overtook it and went down before. Excellent descriptive writing so much so I could almost taste, smell and hear the sounds of the sea. It likewise happens frequently, that whales come too near the stream, and are overpowered by its violence; and then it is impossible to describe their howlings and bellowings in their fruitless struggles to disengage themselves. I still lived. You can read A Descent into the Maelstrom here before proceeding to our summary and analysis below. You perceive that in crossing the Strmchannel, we always went a long way up above the whirl, even in the calmest weather, and then had to wait and watch carefully for the slack but now we were driving right upon the pool itself, and in such a hurricane as this! In all violent eddies at sea there is good fishing, at proper opportunities, if one has only the courage to attempt it;but among the whole of the Lofoden coastmen, we three were the only ones who made a regular business of going out to the islands, as I tell you. Harry a dval la descente qui mne au lac. The old man recounts his ordeal that in less than a single day changed his hairs from a jetty black to white, weakened his limbs, and t unstrung his nerves. when it is unpleasant or unwanted: The descent of dozens of motorcycles terrified local residents. He describes a whirlpool a mile wide, a descent, and an escape. This book is in near mint condition with a bump on the side of the back cover. I was borne violently into the channel of the Strm, and in a few minutes was hurried down the coast into the 'grounds' of the fishermen. the cask of amontillado. Boats, yachts, and ships have been carried away by not guarding against it before they were within its reach. They say too that the whole expression of my countenance had changed. We had let our sails go by the run before it cleverly took us ;but, at the first puff, both our masts went by the board as if they had been sawed off -- the mainmast taking with it my youngest brother, who had lashed himself to it for safety. It might have been an hour, or thereabout, after my quitting 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. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. 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. He will survive, but only just and with his hair showing how his narrow escape has prematurely aged him. The oldest seaman in Norway never experienced any thing like it. 4. derivation from an ancestor; lineage; extraction. Brilliant story! The Descent 2005 R 1 h 39 m IMDb RATING 7.2 /10 228K YOUR RATING Rate POPULARITY 812 812 Play trailer 2:04 1 Video 99+ Photos Adventure Horror Thriller A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators. There fish can be got at all hours, without much risk, and therefore these places are preferred. 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