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CHAPTER V
HOFFMANN'S Magnetiseur AND POE'S Tale of the Ragged Mountains
Poe and Hoffmann, both ever alert for the novel and the fantastic, were powerfully attracted by the doctrines of Mesmer and the theories of hypnotism. The absolute novelty of the discovery and the fact that its principles were but half understood, lent to the subject an additional charm of interest. The disciples of the new theories tantalized themselves with promises of the discovery of many of the deep secrets of nature which have always allured and baffled the brain of man. Both authors busied themselves very earnestly with the study of the subject, and both turned to good account in their stories the results of their investigations. Among Poe's best known stories are perhaps Mesmeric Revelations and The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar, both of which represent a flight of fancy into the realm of the unknown, motivated by the fiction of a conversation with a person hypnotized just previous to death.
The doctrine of hypnotism plays more or less of a role in all of Hoffmann's stories. On almost every page of his works one finds such expressions as, “das höhere geistige Prinzip,” “eine fremdliche feindliche Kraft,” “innige geistige Verbindung,” and a dozen other similar phrases, all savoring of the mystery of the influence of mind upon mind. In two of his stories, Der unheimliche Gast and Der Magnetiseur, Hoffmann has based plot and incident upon the hypnotic relationship existing between his characters. The general features of both these stories agree, as Hoffmann himself points out.(1)
Aside from the large role which hypnotism plays in Poe's and Hoffmann's stories, they have also in common a large interest if not positive belief, in the doctrine of metempsychosis. [page 50:] Both authors have used this singular belief in their stories. Ingram remarks(2) with reference to the story Berenice:
Among the peculiarities of the early draft of this work — some of which disappeared in later versions — it will be noted by his readers, is the first development of Poe's assumed belief in metempsychosis, a doctrine that, in subsequent writings, he recurred to again and again, and which it is scarcely assuming too much to say at times he evidently partially believed in.
This doctrine forms the basic idea of the stories Ligeia, Morella, and Eleanora, and plays more or less of a part in several other tales.
Hoffmann's collection of stories which he calls the Serapionsbrüder (from which Poe got his idea of the Folio Club) takes its title from the story of the hermit monk Serapion, whose insanity consists in the belief that he is the martyred monk Serapion, whose death had occurred four hundred years previous to the time in which the story is told. Hoffmann, with a characteristic mixture of realism and mystery, makes his monk insane, but makes the wisdom of his insanity superior to that of the sanity of his fellows, who try to convince Serapion that he is suffering from monomania or a fixed idea. In the end, Hoffmann leaves his reader with the idea that the monk is sane and the rest of the world too ignorant to understand him. The new club is dedicated to this monk Serapion, the members style themselves the “Serapionsbrüder,” and “das echt-Serapionische” is the standard of excellence set up for their productions.
There is nothing singular in the fact that both authors should have evinced strong interest in hypnotism and in the doctrine of metempsychosis, nor does the fact that they both used these motives in their stories necessarily imply an influence of the one upon the other. But when we find both of these motives united in one story, and worked out with almost [page 51:] exact similarity of motivation and even detail, and when we consider the novelty of the idea, it is safe to assume that the two authors did not accidentally hit upon the same singular combination of singular motives, without the one having received a suggestion from the otherr [[other.]] In Poe's Tale of the Ragged Mountains, and in Hoffmann's Magnetiseur we find a union of the doctrines of hypnotism and metempsychosis, and both interwoven with almost exact correspondence in the work of both authors. The similarity manifests itself not only in general outlines, but is evident even in unimportant details, so as to form a consecutive thread of resemblance. It is worth noting also in this connection that the tale Morella, in which Poe expresses his interest in “those mystical writings which are usually considered the mere dross of German literature,” is also the story in which his fancy for the doctrine of metempsychosis is most unmistakably expressed. Throughout the story, Poe has in mind, evidently, his German reading. Besides these “mystical writings” of German literature, we Near in the same story of the “pantheism of Fichte,” and “the doctrine of Identity as urged by Schelling.” In thus writing on the subject Poe admits, more or less, a German source for his interest in the subject. But it is in the Tale of the Ragged Mountains that he has drawn most closely on Hoffmann, from the latter's Magnetiseur.
Hoffmann's tale suffers somewhat from lack of unity. There are three distinct elements in the story, all of which are somewhat loosely joined together by the participation of the same persons in all three of the incidents. We are first introduced to a family group, the members of which are gathered around a cheerful fire on a stormy autumn evening, and engaged in a lively discussion of the nature of dreams. This serves as an introduction to a story which the Baron, the head of the family, is induced to relate. The story in question has to do with a dream or experience of his youth. He proceeds to describe one of his instructors, an officer of colossal stature, gaunt, lean, and with a “burning glance.” Hoffmann builds up an atmosphere of mystery around this Danish [page 52:] major by the description of his person, various personal attributes, and finally by the hypnotic influence which he exerted on his pupils.
Im höchsten Grad jähzornig, konnte ihn ein Wort, ein Blkk, in Wuth setzen. Er bestrafte die Zöglinge mit ausgedachter Grausamkeit, und doch hing alles an ihm auf eine ganz unbegreifliche Weise.(3)
The Baron tells also of the influence of the Major on him, and comes at last to the climax of the story, in which he sees in a dream the Major enter his room, and hears the words,
Armes Menschenkind, erkenne deinen Meister und Herrn . ... Ich bin dein Gott, der dein Innerstes durchschaut, und alles, was du darin jemals verbor-gen hast oder verbergen willst, liegt hell und klar vor mir.
The Baron awakes out of his dream as the Major plunges a dagger into the dreamer's brain. Terrified, the Baron throws open his window and sees the Major disappearing through the garden into the open country beyond. The mystery of the situation is enhanced by the fact that all doors and exits are locked and there is no natural way to explain the Major's presence in the garden. Other inmates of the house being aroused, they break into the Major's room and find him lying dead in his blood.
The Baron ends his story thus, a general discussion is again resumed, and we hear next a second dream-story from the Baron's son, Ottmar. The latter has his story from his friend Alban, who is a convert to hypnotism, or, as Hoffmann terms it, magnetism. The relation of characters is somewhat confusing. Ottmar relates the story as he has heard it from his friend Alban, and the story deals in its turn with another friend of Alban's, Theobald, who is not otherwise concerned in the action, and a stranger to the group in which the tales are being related. Theobald is described as follows:
Seine ganze Musse — und daher sein Leben wollte er dazu verwenden. soviel als moglich in die geheimnisvollsten [page 53:] Tiefen der psychischen Einwirkungen zu drin-gen, und fortwahrend seinen Geist fester und fester darauf fixierend, sich rein erhaltend von allem dem Widerstrebenden ein würdiger Lehrling der Natur zu werden.(4)
In Theobald's absence at the university, his fiancée comes under the influence of a stranger, an Italian officer, and becomes so enamored of the latter that she forgets her first lover. The story hinges about the theory of dreams. The girl is so beset by tormenting dreams of her Italian lover, who is absent on a campaign, that she falls into insanity. Theobald, returning home finds her in this condition. He applies his principles of hypnotism, and effects a cure. He proceeds in such a manner that the influence of his mind upon that of the girl is made to supersede the influence of the Italian. Gradually, Theobald supplants the Italian lover in her dreams, and she is restored.
Auguste empfing ihn (Theobald) mit der hochsten Auf wallung der innigsten Liebe. Bald nachher gestand sie unter vielen Thranen, wie sie sich gegen ihn vergangen; wie es einem Fremden auf eine seltsame Weise gelungen, sie von ihm abwendig zu machen, so dass sie, wie von einer fremden Gewalt befangen, ganz aus ihrem eigenen Wesen herausge-raten sei, aber Theobalds wohlthatige Erscheinung in lebhaften Traümen, habe die feindlichen Geister, die sie bestrickt, verjagt; ja, sie müsse gestehen, dass sie jetzt nicht einmal des Fremden aüssere Gestalt sich ins Gedachtnis zurückrufen könne, und nur Theobald lebe in ihrem Innern.(5)
This is the end of the second episode. The third element forms the real centre of the tale. As Ottmar finishes his narrative his sister Maria, who has been present during the narration of both tales, falls in a faint, and Ottmar's friend, [page 54:] Alban, the “Magnetiseur,” is called to attend her. The latter has been so attracted by Maria that he determines, although she is already betrothed, to bring her under the power of his will by means of hypnotic influence. Maria falls into a hypnotic trance, and Alban is called to attend her. He effects a cure, but in so doing succeeds in impressing his will and thought with such power upon her that she exists wholly within the sway of his will. Maria writes to her friend:
Nur in diesem mit Ihm und in Ihm sein kann ich wahr-haftig leben, und es müsste, ware es ihm maglich, sich mir geistig ganz zu entziehn, mein Selbst, in toter Ode erstarreni ja, indem ich dieses schreibe, fühle ich nur zu sehr, dass nur Er es ist, der mir den Ausdruck gibt, mein Sein in ihm wenigstens anzudeuten.(6)
On her wedding day Maria falls dead at the altar, Alban flees, the bridegroom is killed in a duel with Ottmar, the old Baron dies of grief, and the story ends in general misery.
At several points in the story the Baron expresses his distrust of Alban. and finds a singular resemblance between him and the Danish-Major of his story. On the eve of Maria's wedding, the old Baron, meeting Alban in the corridor, mistakes him for the Major in the flesh. The reader is left with the suggestion that the Danish Major of the first part of the story, and Alban, the “Magnetiseur,” are one and the same person, although the Major is long since dead, and described as an old man in the Baron's youth, while Alban is of the same age as the Major's son. It is thus that Hoffmann uses the theory of metempsychosis.
Poe's tale has the same elements, — hypnotism, the metempsychosis theory, and the dreams and visions. As frequently in Poe's tales, there is no love episode. We learn first of a singular relationship existing between the two characters of the story, Bedloe, an invalid, and his physician, Dr. Templeton. The latter is a disciple of Mesmer, and uses [page 55:] the mesmeric method in the treatment of his patient. Poe briefly explains the relationship existing between Bedloe and Templeton, and what follows, the real story, is an account of a dream or vision of Bedloe on a solitary walk in the mountains of Virginia, Growing tired, he seats himself under a tree for rest. He is oppressed by the closeness of the atmosphere. He observes suddenly that the tree under which he is sitting is a palm, the surrounding mist rolls away, and a panorama of the orient is unfolded to his view.
I found myself at the foot of a high mountain, and looking down into a vast plain, through which wound a majestic river. On the margin of this river stood an Eastern-looking city, such as we read of in the Arabian Tales, but of a character even more singular than any there described . ... The streets seemed innumerable, and crossed each other irregularly in all directions, but were rather long winding alleys than streets, and absolutely swarmed with inhabitants. On every hand was a wilderness of balconies, of verandas, of minarets, of shrines, and fantastically carved oriels. Bazaars abounded, and in these were displayed rich wares in infinite variety and profusion — silks, muslins, the most dazzling cutlery, the most magnifücent jewels and gems. etc.(7)
Bedloe arises and descends into the city. There everything is tumult and confusion. Strife is raging between two factions of the populace. Bedloe joins the weaker party, is with his confreres overcome and compelled to seek refuge in a kiosk. From there he observes “a vast crowd, in furious agitation, surrounding and assaulting a gay palace that overhung the river. Presently from an upper window of this palace, there descended an effeminate-looking person, by means of a string made of the turbans of his attendants. A boat was at hand, in which he escaped to the opposite bank of the river.”(8) In a sally from the kiosk he is struck by an [page 56:] arrow. “I reeled and fell. An instantaneous and dreadful sickness seized me. I struggled — I gasped — I died.” When Bedloe comes to his original self again he is again in the mountains, and proceeding on his way home, after his walk. The narrative of the dream ends thus: “And not now, even for an instant, can I compel my understanding to regard it as a dream.”
At the conclusion of Bedloe's narrative, Dr. Templeton, Poe's “magnetiseur,” who is present, produces a water-color portrait which is an exact likeness of Bedloe's features. The explanation is as follows:
You will perceive the date of this picture — it is here, scarcely visible, in this corner — 1780. In this year was the portrait taken. It is the likeness of a dead friend — a Mr. Oldeb — to whom I became much attached at Calcutta, during the administration of Warren Hastings. I was then only twenty years old. When I first saw you, Mr. Bedloe, at Saratoga, it was the miraculous similarity which existed between yourself and the painting which induced me to accost you, to seek your friendship, and to bring about those arrangements which resulted in my becoming your constant companion. In accomplishing this point, I was urged partly, and perhaps principally, by a regretful memory of the deceased, but also, in part, by an uneasy and not altogether horrorless curiosity respecting yourself.
In your detail of the vision which presented itself to you amid the hills, you have described, with the minutest accuracy, the Indian city of Benares upon the Holy River. The riots, the combats, the massacre, were the actual events of the insurrection of Cheyte Sing, which took place in 1780, when Hastings was put in imminent peril of his life. The man escaping by the string of turbans was Cheyte Sing himself. The party in the kiosk were sepoys and British officers headed by Hastings. Of this party I was one, and did all I could to [page 57:] prevent the rash and fatal sally of the officer who fell, in the crowded alley, by the poisoned arrow of a Bengalee. That officer was my dearest friend. It was Oldeb. You will perceive by these manuscripts (here the speaker produced a note book in which several pages appeared to have been freshly written) that at the very period in which you fancied these things amid the hills, I was engaged in detailing them upon paper here at home.(9)
The tale ends with the death of Bedloe. The author's attention is attracted to it by the announcement in the paper of the death of a Mr. Bedlo. By a typographical error the name has been written without the e. The reader's attention is called to the fact that Bedlo is Oldeb reversed. Thus we have the same suggestion, — Bedloe is the reincarnation of Oldeb, — the doctrine of metempsychosis.
Both author's have made use of hypnotism, metempsychosis, and the phenomena of dreams. In both stories these singular motives are united. Poe and Hoffmann have built up their tales around the same general framework.
The three parts of Hoffmann's story already outlined portray a group of people all more or less subject to the will of the “magnetiseur,” or hypnotist. In each case the centre of interest is a man of commanding will, who exerts a mesmeric influence over certain other persons of the tale. It is first the Danish major of the Baron's tale, who establishes this relationship between himself and his pupils.
So hiess es von ihm, er Winne das Feuer besprechen, und Krankheiten durch das Auflegen der Hande, ja durch den blossen Blick heilen, und ich erinnere mich, dass er einmal Leute, die durchaus von ihm auf diese Art geheilt sein wollten, mit Stockschlagen verjagte. ... . Erfüllte mich nun mein Beisammensein mit ihm auch mit einem gewissen Wohlbehagen, so war es doch wieder eine gewisse Angst, das Gefühl eines [page 58:] unwiderstehlichen Zwanges, das mich auf eine unna-thrliche Art spannte, ja das mich innerlich erbeben machte. War ich lange bei ihm gewesen, ja hatte er mich besonders freundlich behandelt und mir, wie er denn zu tun pfiegte, mit starr auf mich geheftetetn Buick meine Hand in der seinigen festhaltend, allerlei Seltsames erzahlt, so konnte mich jene ganz eigne wunderbare Stimmung biz zur hochsten Erschopfung treiben.(10)
In Ottmar's narrative, the same principle plays the chief role.
Der wieder erweckte thierische Magnetismus sprach seine gauze Seele an, (Theobald) und indem er unter Albans Leitung eifrig alles, was je darüber geschrie-ben, studirte, und selbst auf Erfahrungen ausging, wandte er sich bald, jedes physische Medium, als der tiefen Idee rein psychisch wirkender Naturkrafte zuwider, verwerfend, zu dem sogenannten barbareüs-chen Magnetismus, oder der alteren Schule der Spirit-ualisten, u. s. w.(11)
Theobald undertakes the cure of his fiancée by means of magnetism and the control of her dreams. The real crux of the story is the hypnotic relationship which exists between Alban and Maria. As the latter falls into a trance, Alban is called to attend her, and uses the magnetic treatment in her cure. Maria describes her recovery in a letter to her friend:
Nun muss ich dir aber etwas Besonderes sagen — nämlich, was mein Genesen betrifft, das habe ich einem herrlichen Mann zu danken, den Ottmar schon früher ins Haus gebracht, und der in der Residenz, unter all den grossen und geschickten Ärzten der einzige sein soil, der das Geheimnis besitzt, eine solche sonderbare Krankheit, wie die meinige, schnell und sicher zu heilen [page 59:] . ... So wie Alban überhaupt in seiner Bildung, in seinem ganzen Betragen, eine gewisse Würde, ich mochte sagen, etwas Gebietendes hat, das ihn fiber seine Umgebung- erhebt, so war es mir gleich, als er seinen ernsten durchdringenden Blick auf mich rich-tete; ich musste alles unbedingt thun, was er gebieten würde, und als ob er meine Genesung nur recht lebhaft wollen dürfe, um mich ganz herzustellen.(12)
We have also Alban's standpoint, in a letter to a friend.
Maria fiel bald darauf in einen fantastichen Zustand, den Ottmar natürlicherweise für eine neue Krankheit halten musste, und ich kam wieder als Arzt ins Haus, wie ich es vorausgesehen. Maria erkannte in mir den, der ihr schon oft in der Glorie der beherrschenden Macht als ihr Meister im Traum erschienen, und alles, was sie nur dunkel geahnet, sah sie nun hell und klar mit ihres Geistes Augen. Nur meines Blickes, meines festen Willens bedurfte es, sie in den sogenannten somnam-bulen Zustand zu versetzen, der nichts anders war, als das ganzliche Hinaustreten aus sich selbst und das Leben in der hoheren Sphare des Meisters. Es war mein Geist, der sie dann willig aufnahm und ihr die Schwingen gab, dem Kerker, mit dem sie die Menschen überbaut hatten, zu entschweben.
Thus the theme of the whole story is the mastery of one mind over another by means of hypnotism. The hypnotist proceeds gradually. He wins at first an influence, more or less powerful, over his subject. This is gradually increased till at length the subject is wholly subservient to the master's will. A glance, or even the mere concentration of the hypnotist's will is sufficient to put the subject into the hypnotic state, which is described as “das gänzliche Hinaustreten aus sich selbst und das Leben in der höheren Sphäre des Meisters.” Hoffmann's hypnotist always controls the dreams of his subjects while in the hypnotic state. The Baron's [page 60:] dream of the dagger in his brain is suggested to him by his hypnotic master, the Danish Major. There is always the idea of the mastership of the “Magnetiseur,” and the helplessness of the subject, connected in each case by the dream phenomena. The Major's words in the Baron's dream are typical of this: “Armes Menschenkind, erkenne deinen Meister und Herrn.”
Theobald cures his fiancée's insanity by his hypnotic mastery of her dream:
Er setzte sich daneben (by the side of her bed), und den Geist mit der ganzen Kraft des Willens auf sie fixie-rend, schaute er sic mit festem Blick an. Nachdem er dies einige Mal wiederholt, schien der Eindruck ihrer Traume schwacher zu werden, denn der Ton, mit dem sie sonst den Namen des Offiziers gewaltsam hervor-schrie, hatte nicht mehr das die gauze Seele Durch-dringende, und tiefe Seufzer machten der gepressten Brust Luft. Nun legte Theobald auf ihre Hand die seinige, und nannte leise, ganz leise, seinen Namen. Bald zeigte sich die Wirkung . ... Bis jetzt war Auguste, am Page still und in sich gekehrt gewesen, aber an dem Morgen nach jener Nacht aüsserte sie ganz unerwartet der Mutter, wie sie seit einiger Zeit lebhaft von Theobald traüme, und warum er denn nicht kame, ja nicht einmal schriebe.(13)
Alban's mastery over Maria is achieved in the same way. In the letter of Maria, already quoted, the following passage occurs:
Das Besondere ist aber, dass in meinen Traümen und Erscheinungen immer ein schoner ernster Mann im Spiele war, der, unerachtet seiner Jugend, mir wahrhafte Ehrfurcht einflösste, und der bald auf diese, bald auf jene Weise, aber immer in langen Talaren gekleidet, mit einer diamanten Krone auf dem Haupte, mir wie der romantische König in der marchenhaften Geisterwelt erschien und allen bösen Zauber löste ... [page 61:] Ach, liebe Adelgunde, wie erschrack ich nun, als ich auf den ersten Blick in Alban jenen romantischen Konig aus meinen Traumen erkannte.(14)
These are exactly the relationships which exist in Poe's story between Bedloe and his physician, Templeton; the latter, like Alban, a disciple of Mesmer.
Dr. Templeton had been a traveler in his younger days, and at Paris had become a convert in great measure to the doctrines of Mesmer. It was altogether by means of magnetic remedies that he had succeeded in alleviating the acute pains of his patient; and this success had very naturally inspired the latter with a certain degree of confidence in the opinions from which the remedies had been educed. The Doctor, however, like all enthusiasts, had struggled hard to make a thorough convert of his pupil, and finally so far gained his point as to induce the sufferer to submit to numerous experiments. By a frequent repetition of these, a result had arisen, which of late days has been so common as to attract little or no attention, but which, at the period of which I write, had been very rarely known in America. I mean to say, that between Doctor Templeton and Bedloe there had grown up, little by little, a very distinct and strongly marked rapport or magnetic relation. I am not prepared to assert, however, that this rapport extended beyond the limits of the sleep-producing power; but this power itself had attained great intensity.(15)
This corresponds exactly with the situation between Alban and Maria. The former's supremacy over the latter is gained gradually, until at length “nur meines Blickes, meinesfesten Willens bedurfte es sie in den ogenannten somnambulen Zustand zu versetzen.”
This is also Templeton's experience with Bedloe. [page 62:]
At the first attempt to induce the magnetic somnolency, the mesmerist entirely failed. In the fifth or sixth, he succeeded very partially, and after long continued efforts. Only at the twelfth was the triumph complete. After this, the will of the patient succumbed rapidly to that of the physician, so that, when I first became acquainted with the two, sleep was brought almost instantaneously by the mere volition of the operator, even when the invalid was unaware of his presence.(16)
Hoffmann's “Magnetiseur,” as has already been shown, always controls the dreams of his subjects. The whole of Poe's story is the narrative of a dream which the hypnotist suggests to his patient. When Bedloe finishes the narrative of his vision, Templeton, the hypnotist, comes forward with this explanation:
“You will perceive by these manuscripts,” (here the speaker produced a note-book in which several pages appeared to have been freshly written) “that at the very period in which you fancied these things amid the hills, I was engaged in detailing them upon paper here at home.”(17)
In other words, the explanation is that Belloe is in the hypnotic trance, that his mind is under the control of the hypnotist, and that the dream is the result of suggestion from the latter, — exactly the status of affairs which exists in Hoffmann's story between the Danish Major and his pupils, Theobald and his fiancee, and Maria and Alban.
In addition to this use of hypnotism, the two stories have in common a similar treatment of metempsychosis, a form of the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, — the idea that an individual after death may be reincarnated and lead a second existence, and that there may be even a thread of connection between these two periods of existence. Poe and Hoffmann [page 63:] both further accentuate the idea, and add to the mysterious by creating between their individuals of the first and second existence, a physical and psychic resemblance. Such is the relationship which exists between Hoffmann's Major and Alban, the “Magnetiseur,” and also between Poe's Oldeb and Bedloe.
Hoffmann's description of the Major's person is as follows:
Seine Riesengrosse wurde noch auffallender durch die Hagerkeit seines Korpers, der nur aus Muskeln und Nerven zu bestehen schien; er mochte in jüngern Jah-ren ein schoner Mann gewesen sein; denn noch jetzt warfen seine grossen schwarzen Augen einen brennen-den Blick, den man kaum ertragen konnte; ein tiefer Funfziger hatte er die Kraft und die Gewandtheit eines Jünglings.(18)
Poe, in describing Bedloe, is evidently painting from this model:
But in no regard was he (Bedloe) more singular than in his personal appearance. He was singularly tall and thin. He stooped much His eyes were abnormally large and round like those of a cat. The pupils, too, upon any accession or diminution of light, underwent contraction or dilation, just such as is observed in the feline tribe. In moments of excitement, the orbs grew bright to a degree almost inconceivable, etc.
Bedloe is the officer Oldeb in the second existence, Alban is the Danish officer also in the second existence.
Hoffmann, ever loath to quit absolutely the field of the natural, suggests rather than states explicitly this state of affairs. Early in Hoffmann's story the Baron expresses his distrust of Alban, the “Magnetiseur.”
Als Ottmar ihn vor mehreren Monaten als seinen innigsten Freund zu uns brachte, war es mir, els habe ich ihn irgend einmal schon gesehen; seine Feinheit, [page 64:] sein gewandtes Betragen gefielen nur, aber im ganzen war mir seine Gegenwart nicht wohlthuend.(19)
In the same conversation we have the first suggestion also of the identity of the Major and Alban.
Aber Bickert! merk 1 wohl auf — Die sonderbarste Ers-cheinung dünkt mir, dass seitdem Alban hier ist, ich öfter als je an meinen dänischen Major, von dem ich vorhin erzahlt babe, denken mnss. Jetzt, aber jetzt, als er so hohnisch, so wahrhaft diabolisch lachelte, und mich mit seinen grossen pechschwarzen Augen anstarrte, da stand der Major ganz vor mir — die Aehn-lichkeit ist auffallend.
At the end of the story the general catastrophe is related by Bickert, the Baron's old friend, and the only survivor of the original group of characters. We hear of the following occurrence in the night preceding the day set for Maria's wedding:
Sonderbares Ereignis! — Als ich meinen Freund (der Baron) mit dem ich in die Nacht hinein manches vom Herzen gesprochen, aber den Korridor in sein Zimmer begleitete, rauschte eine hagere Figur im weissen Schlafrock mit dem Licht in der Hand vorüber — Der Baron schrie auf! “Der Major! Franz! der Major!” Es war unbestritten Alban, und nur eie Beleuchtung von unten herauf mochte sein Gesicht, welches alt und hasslich schien, verzerren.(20)
Then follows the direct suggestion that Alban and the Major are one and the same person.
Sollte der feindliche Damon, der sich dem Baron schon in früher Jugend verkündete, nun wie ein fiber ihn waltendes boses Prinzip wieder sichtbarlich, und das Gute entzweiend ins Leben treten? Doch weg mit den finstern Ahnungen! Überzeuge dich, Franz, dass das hassliche traumerische Zeug oft das Ereignis des verdorbenen Magens ist. [page 65:]
Hoffmann thus mystifies his readers by suggesting the identity of the Major and Alban and then scouts the idea as the result of a disordered stomach.
Poe goes a step further, and leaves his reader to infer that he believes in the identity of the officer Oldeb with Bedloe. Like Hoffmann, with his Danish Major, he makes an atmosphere of mystery around Bedloe by the peculiarity of the latter's person. Bedloe seems young and yet there were moments “when one might have easily believed him to be a hundred.” His eyes seemed “to emit luminous rays, not of a reflected, but of an intrinsic lustre, as does a candle or the sun; yet their ordinary condition was so totally vapid, filmy, and dull, as to convey the idea of the eyes of a long interred corpse.’(21) These touches carry with them the suggestion of death in connection with Bedloe. Again, in Bedloe's description of his dream, when he comes to the point where he is struck by an arrow, and in his dream sees himself die, the author interrupts him by the question,
“You will hardly persist now” said I, smiling, “that the whole of your adventure was not a dream. You are not prepared to maintain that you are dead?”
When I said these words, I of course expected some lively sally from Bedloe in reply; but to my astonishment, he hesitated, trembled, became fearfully pallid, and remained silent. I looked towards Templeton. He sat erect and rigid in his chair — his teeth chattered, and his eyes were starting from their sockets.
At the conclusion of Bedloe's narrative of his dream, Templeton (Poe's hypnotist) explains the vision as an actual occurrence in the city of Benares in India, produces a portrait which is the exact reproduction of Bedloe's features, and explains that it is a likeness of his dead friend Oldeb, who played exactly the part in the insurrection which Bedloe plays in the dream. The story ends with this suggestion from the author, who, shortly afterwards, reads in a local newspaper of Bedlo's death. [page 66:]
“Then,” said I, mutteringly, as I turned upon my heel, “then indeed has it come to pass that one truth is stranger than any fiction, for Bedlo, without the e, what is it but Oldeb conversed? And this man tells me it is a typographical error.”
Bedloe's dream is the result of hypnotic suggestion from Templeton, the dream itself is identified with an actual occurrence, and Bedloe himself is identified with Oldeb, an officer long since dead.
Parallel motives in Hoffmann's story are Alban's control of Maria by hypnotic suggestion, especially in her dreams, and the identity of the Danish Major and Alban.
The phenomena of dreams and sleep, especially of magnetic sleep, interested both authors keenly. Elsewhere in Poe's works there are numerous passages relative to this subject which echo opinions and experiences of the German author. For example, the dream of Bedloe, as he relates it, contains certain elements, the suggestions for which Poe undoubtedly drew from a dream of Medardus in “Die Elixiere des Teufels.” It will be recalled that Bedloe in a vision saw himself killed, and viewed with the eyes of his soul his lifeless body. Let us compare Madardus's dream with that of Bedloe. The incident in question occurs at that point in the story where the monk is recovering from his illness in a monastery near Rome.
Der Arzt versprach meine baldige Herstellung, und in der That empfand ich nur in den Augenblicken jenes Delirierens, das dem Einschlafen vorherzugehen pflegt, fieberhafte Analle, die mit kalten Schauern und flie-gender Hitze wechselten. Gerade in diesen Augen-blicken war es, als ich, ganz erfüllt von dem Bilde meines Martyriums, mich selbst, wie es schon oft geschehen, durch einen Dolchstich in der Brust ermor-dert schaute ... Statt des Blutes quoll ein ekel-hafter farbloser Saft aus der weit aufklaffenden Wunde und eine Stimme sprach: Ist das Blut vom Martyrer vergossen? Ich war es, der dies gesprochen, als ich [page 67:] mich aber von meinem toten Selbst getrennt fühlte, merkte ich wohl, dass ich der wesenlose Gedanke meines Ichs sei, und bald erkannte ich mich als das im Aether schwimmende Rot. Ich schwang mich auf zu den leuchtenden Bergspitzen ... So wie ich tiefer und tiefer niederfiel, erblickte ich die Leiche mit weft auf-klaffender Wunde in der Brust, aus der jenes unreine Wasser in Stromen floss. Mein Hauch sollte das Wasser umwandeln in Blut, doch geschah es nicht, die Leiche richtete sich auf und starrte mich an mit hohlen grass-lichen Augen und heulte wie der Nordwind in tiefer Kluft . ... Die Leiche sank nieder; alle Blumen auf der Flur neigten verwelkt ihre Haupter, Menschen, bleichen Gespenstern ahnlich, warfen sich zur Erde und ein tausendstimmiger trostloser Jammer stieg in die Lfifte ... Starker und starker wie des Meeres brausende Welle, schwoll die Klage! der Gedanke wollte zerstauben in dem gewaltigen Ton des trostlosen Jammers, da wurde ich wie durch einen elektrischen Schlag emporgerissen aus dem Traum.(22)
Bedloe's dream has all the same features and even literal correspondences of phrase. He is describing the ‘peculiar arrows of the enemy:
One of them struck me upon the right temple. I reeled and fell. An instantaneous and dreadful sickness seized me. I struggled! I gasped! I died. For many minutes my sole sentiment, my sole feeling, was that of darkness and nonentity, with the consciousness of death. At length, there seemed to pass a violent and sudden shock through my soul, as if of electricity. With it came the sense of elasticity and of light. This latter I felt — not saw. In an instant I seemed to rise from the ground. But I had no bodily, no visible, audible or palpable presence. ... Beneath me lay my corpse, with the arrow in the temple, the whole head [page 68:] greatly swollen and disfigured. But all these things I felt — not saw. ... Volition I had none, but appeared to be impelled into motion, and flitted buoyantly out of the city, retracing the circuitous path by which
I had entered it. When I had attained that point of the ravine in the mountains at which I had encountered the hyena, I again experienced a shock as of a galvanic battery; the sense of weight, of volition, of substance returned. I became my original self, and bent my steps eagerly homeward.(23)
Both dreamers see themselves killed, the one by a dagger, the other by an arrow. Separation of the soul and body follows. The soul is then dissolved into the ether, after which the body with its gaping wounds is plainly visible. Finally, a reunion of the body and soul takes place; in Hoffmann's story “durch einen elektrischen Schlag,” in Poe's narrative by a “shock as of a galvanic battery.” Poe has thus adopted Medardus's dream without change of incident, and alniost without change of language.
Other passages in Poe's works which have to do with dreams and their attendant phenomena reveal the unmistakable influence of Hoffmann. Medardus's dream, quoted above, occurs in “den Augenblicken jenes Delirierens, das dem Ein-schlafen vorherzugehen pflegt.” The same expression occurs in Kreisleriana.(24)
Nicht sowohl im Traume, als im Zustande des Delirie-rens, der demEinschlafen, vorhergeht, vorzüglich wenn ich viel Musik gehört habe, finde ich eine Uebereinkunft der Farben, Töne and Düfte.
In Poe's Colloquy of Monos and Una,(25) there occurs a passage which embodies the same experience. The passage in Poe occurs where the hero of the story, Monos, is describing the sensations of death.
The senses were unusually active, although eccentrically [page 69:] so — assuming often each other's functions at random. The taste and smell were inextricably confounded, and became one sentiment, abnormal and intense.
Again in Poe's Marginalia we find a description of a condition preceding sleep which corresponds to Hoffmann's “Augenblicken, die dem Einschlafen vorherzugehen pflegen.” Poe remarks that the common experience that certain thoughts are beyond the compass of words is based on a fallacy:
For my own part, I have never had a thought which I could not set down in words. ... There is, however, a class of fancies, of exquisite delicacy, which are not thoughts, and to which as yet I have found it absolutely impossible to adapt language. I use the word fancies at random, and merely because I must use some word; but the idea commonly attached to the term is not even remotely applicable to the shadows of shadows in question. They seem to me rather psychic than intellectual. They arise in the soul (alas, how rarely!) only at its epochs of most intense tranquility, when the bodily and mental health are in perfection — and at those mere points of time when the confines of the waking world blend with those of the world of dreams. I am aware of these ‘fancies’ only when I am upon the very brink of sleep, with the consciousness that I am so.(26)
Poe's “fancies” which he experiences “on the very brink of sleep,” are evidently the same as Hoffmann's “Träume im Zustand des Delierierens, der dem Einschlafen vorherzugehen pflegt.”
Both authors also give expression to the idea that it is in dreams that men are permitted to catch fleeting glimpses of another world. That dreams are, in a way, a partial revelalation [[revelation]] of those secrets of the universe which tantalize and baffle the powers of the intellect.
Hoffmann's Magnetiseur opens with the proverb “Träume sind Schäume.” In the long discussion of the subject of [page 70:] dreams, the following will suffice to show the gist of the opinions others expressed:
Sieh die tausend kleinen Blaschen, die perlend im Glase aufsteigen und oben im Schaume sprudeln, das sind die Geister, die sich ungeduldig von der irdischen Fessel loslosen; und so lebt und webt im Schaum das höhere geistige Prinzip, das frei von dem Drange des Materi-ellen frisch die Fittiche regend, in dem fernen uns alien verheissenen himmlischen Reiche sich zu dem verwandten hoheren Geistigen freudig gesellt, and alle wundervollen Erscheinungen in ihrer tiefsten Bedeu-tung wie das Bekannteste aufnimmt und erkennt. Es mag daher auch der Traum von dem Schaum, in welchem unsere Lebensgeister, wenn der Schlaf unser extensives Leben befangt, froh and frei aufsprudeln, erzeugt werden und ein höheres extensives Leben beginnen, in dem wir a lle Erscheinungen der uns fernen Geisterwelt nicht nur ahnen, sondern wirklich erken-nen, ja in dem wir fiber Raum und Zeit schweben.
In the same passage in Poe's Marginalia,(27) quoted above, the description of the “fancies” or dreams is quite in accord with the passage just quoted from Hoffmann.
These “fancies” have in them a pleasurable ecstasy, as far beyond the most pleasurable of the world of wakefulness, or of dreams, as the heaven of the Northman's theology is beyond its hell. I regard the visions, even as they arise, with an awe which, in some measure, moderates or tranquilizes the ecstasy — I so regard them, through a conviction (which seems a portion of the ecstasy itself) that this ecstasy, in itself, is of a character supernal to the human nature — is a glimpse of the spirit's outer world.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 49:]
1. Grisebach, Vol. I, page 131.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 51 :]
2. Page 101.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 53 :]
3. Grisebach, Vol. I, page 143.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 54 :]
4. Grisebach; Vol. I, page 154.
5. Grsiebach; Vol. I, page 157
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 55 :]
6. Grisebach, Vol. I, page 164.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 56 :]
7. Harrison, Vol. V, page 169.
8. Harrison, Vol. V, page 172.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 57 :]
9. Harrison, Vol. V, page 174.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 58 :]
10. Grisebach, Vol. I, page 143.
11. Grisebach, Vol. I, 153.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 59 :]
12. Grisebach, Vol. I, page 163.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 60 :]
13. Grisebach, Vol. I, page 157.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 61 :]
14. Grisebach, Vol. I, page 163.
15. Harrison, Vol. V, page 164.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 62:]
16. Harrison, Vol. V, page 165.
17. Harrison, Vol. V, page 165.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 63 :]
18. Grisebach, Vol. I, page 141.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 64 :]
19. Grisebach, Vol. I, page 160.
20. Grisebach, Vol. I, page 176.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 65 :]
21. Harrison, vol. V, page 164.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 67 :]
22. Grisebach, Vol. II, p. 250.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 68 :]
23. Harrison; Vol. V, page 172 and following.
24. Grisebach; Vol. I, page 46.
25. Harrison; Vol. IV, page 206.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 69 :]
26. Harrison; Vol. XVI, page 88.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 70 :]
27. Harrison; Vol. XVI, page 89.
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Notes:
None.
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[S:0 - PCETA, 1908] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Bookshelf - The Influence of E. T. A. Hoffman on the Tales of Edgar Allan Poe (Jacobs)