During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the
clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback,
through a singularly dreary tract of country, and at length found myself, as the shades of
the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher...I reined my horse to
the precipitous brink of a black and lurid tarn that lay in unruffled luster by the
dwelling...(with) vacant and eye-like windows.
Edgar Allan Poe From "The Fall of the House of Usher."
Diction: dull, dark, soundless, autumn, oppressively, dreary, melancholy
This cluster of diction conveys the connotation of depression, fear, loneliness, and even
death
Imagery: clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, singularly dreary tract of
country, shades of the evening drew on, precipitous brink of a black and lurid
tarn, vacant and eye-like windows
The images all suggest darkness and loneliness. Mostly visual images, these
examples also convey a feeling of oppressive weight as the narrator makes his
way to the house. Images such as "shades of evening" can also be an allusion to
ghosts or death, and the "vacant and eye-like windows" of the house suggest an
eerie presence of supernatural danger.
Details: dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, I had been
passing alone, on horseback, within view of the melancholy House of Usher, I
reined my horse to the precipitous brink of a black and lurid tarn
These details all point to a sense of frightening solitude. Autumn often symbolizes
a time of life in which a person's health declines as he/she slides toward death.
The speaker rides alone in this soundless and dark autumn weather, toward a
sharp drop off that leads to a lurid tarn or lake. The darkness of water suggests a
frightening trip into the subconscious self, and support the bleakness of the
images and diction.
Language: The language is reserved and extremely formal. The formality of the
language gives the passage a degree of solemnity, and reinforces the darkness of
the scene by making the reader take notice of the descriptive language. (We must
slow down to read the formal language.)
Sentence Structure: Compound-complex sentence, periodic sentence, etc; the
long sentence weaves the reader into the darkness which engulfs the narrator; it
is almost as if the narrator is casting a spell on us as we weave our way over the
dreary landscape, and travel the long sentences (or long tracts of land) with him.
Tone: Foreboding and Anticipation (A short explanation of why these tone words
are correct will be appropriate. Please check your tone word list or see the short
lists near the top of the DIDLS tone page in order to improve your tone
vocabulary.