Vocab in the Classics: “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Part II
Welcome to Vocab in the Classics. This is Part II of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Click on any of the linked words for a definition; we’ll discuss at the end!
Upon the eighth night I was more than usually cautious in opening the door. A watch’s minute hand moves more quickly than did mine. Never before that night had I felt the extent of my own powers –of my sagacity. I could scarcely contain my feelings of triumph. To think that there I was, opening the door, little by little, and he not even to dream of my secret deeds or thoughts. I fairly chuckled at the idea; and perhaps he heard me; for he moved on the bed suddenly, as if startled. Now you may think that I drew back –but no. His room was as black as pitch with the thick darkness, (for the shutters were close fastened, through fear of robbers,) and so I knew that he could not see the opening of the door, and I kept pushing it on steadily, steadily.
I had my head in, and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the tin fastening, and the old man sprang up in bed, crying out –“Who’s there?”
I kept quite still and said nothing. For a whole hour I did not move a muscle, and in the meantime I did not hear him lie down. He was still sitting up in the bed listening; –just as I have done, night after night, hearkening to the death watches in the wall.
(“Death watches” are beetles that make creepy tapping sounds in the wall. You don’t need to know that for the GRE).
Presently I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror. It was not a groan of pain or of grief –oh, no! –it was the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overcharged with awe. I knew the sound well. Many a night, just at midnight, when all the world slept, it has welled up from my own bosom, deepening, with its dreadful echo, the terrors that distracted me. I say I knew it well. I knew what the old man felt, and pitied him, although I chuckled at heart. I knew that he had been lying awake ever since the first slight noise, when he had turned in the bed. His fears had been ever since growing upon him. He had been trying to fancy them causeless, but could not. He had been saying to himself –“It is nothing but the wind in the chimney –it is only a mouse crossing the floor,” or “It is merely a cricket which has made a single chirp.” Yes, he had been trying to comfort himself with these suppositions: but he had found all in vain. All in vain; because Death, in approaching him had stalked with his black shadow before him, and enveloped the victim. And it was the mournful influence of the unperceived shadow that caused him to feel –although he neither saw nor heard –to feel the presence of my head within the room.
You’ve probably heard the term “pitch black.” But what exactly is pitch? Turns out it’s “Any of various thick, dark, sticky substances obtained from the distillation residue of coal tar, wood tar, or petroleum and used for waterproofing, roofing, caulking, and paving.” If you’ve ever seen a wet road drying, it’s pretty black (and sticky)!
What exactly is “hearkening”? Sounds fancy. It just means listening, or listening attentively.
Speaking of “fancy,” did you know it could be a verb? “Fancy” can mean to take a liking to (British people use this more than Americans do), or to guess, imagine, or suppose. The tourist looked in wonder at the well-dressed people heading into Cipriani, and fancied that the party inside must be full of celebrities.
“Supposition” would be a good word to use in your GRE essays. A supposition is an assumption, and many suppositions in the GRE Analysis of an Argument essay prompts are unjustified suppositions.
The phrase “in vain” sometimes throws off English language learners. A vain person is conceited, but “in vain” means getting nowhere, fruitless, without success. The vain woman hoped in vain that her looks would get her free drinks at the bar.
Stay tuned for the next installment in the story….