[page 238:]

KING PEST

This is certainly one of the least valuable of Poe's stories and has received scant praise from the critics. (It horrified Robert Louis Stevenson. Reviewing for The Academy, January 2, 1875, the first two volumes of Poe's Works, edited by J. H. Ingram, 1874, he showed he was not aware of the factual basis for the most unpleasant incident and, because of Ingram's ordering of the tales, apparently thought “King Pest” was one of Poe's later works.) Yet Poe labored over the tale, as his meticulous revisions indicate; and if it cannot be called a success, it is of some interest as a forerunner of “The Masque of the Red Death.” It resembles “Berenice” in the use of repulsive subject matter.

The story has three major sources that can now be identified, and one that has not yet been found. The first is the incident of a masked ball in Paris, to which a man came in the character of the Cholera, as N. P. Willis had reported in the New-York Mirror of June 21, 1832. This is quoted in my introduction to “The Masque of the Red Death.” A second parallel is the party given by the Duke of Johannisberger in the first chapter of the sixth book of Benjamin Disraeli's Vivian Grey.* There some of the guests have exaggerated features, and an unwelcome visitor is forced to drink bumpers of liquor.

Thirdly there is a grim story, almost surely a principal source of Poe's tale, told in the London Naval Chronicle,† April 1811:

A fourth source is suggested by Poe's footnote, added in Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque but not used thereafter, in which he seems to refer to some description of the Black Death in the fourteenth century.‡ His story has little kinship with Daniel Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year, which concerns the year 1665-66.

The story has no appropriate narrator in the Folio Club, but is earlier than “Morella” according to a letter of the author, December 1, 1835, to Judge Beverley Tucker. “King Pest” probably was written in Baltimore in 1834.

About twelve o’clock, one{a} night in the month of October{b} and during the chivalrous reign of the third Edward,(1) two seamen belonging to the crew of the “Free and Easy,” a trading schooner plying between Sluys and the {cc}Thames, and then{cc} at anchor in that river, were much astonished to find themselves seated in the tap-room{d} of an ale-house in the parish of St. Andrews, London — which ale-house bore for sign the portraiture of a “Jolly Tar.”

The room,{e} although ill-contrived, smoke-blackened, low-pitched, and in every other respect agreeing, with the general character of such places at the period — was, nevertheless, in the opinion of the grotesque groups scattered here and there within it, sufficiently well adapted to{f} its purpose.

Of these groups our two seamen formed, I think, the most interesting, if not the most conspicuous.

The one who appeared to be the elder, and whom his companion addressed by the characteristic appellation of “Legs,” was{g} at the same time much the taller of the two. He might have measured six feet and a half,{h} and an habitual stoop in the shoulders seemed to have been the necessary consequence of an altitude so enormous. — Superfluities in height were, however, more than accounted for by deficiencies in other respects. He was exceedingly{i} thin; and might, as his associates asserted, have answered, when drunk,{j} for a pennant at the mast-head, or, when sober,{k} have served for a jibboom. But these jests, and others of a similar nature, had evidently [page 241:] produced, at no time, any effect upon the cachinnatory{l} muscles of the tar. With high cheek-bones, a large hawk-nose, retreating chin, fallen under-jaw, and huge protruding white eyes, the expression of his countenance, although tinged with a species of dogged indifference to matters and things in general, was not the less utterly solemn and serious beyond all attempts at imitation or description.

The younger seaman was, in all outward appearance, the converse{m} of his companion. His stature could not have exceeded four feet. A pair of stumpy bow-legs supported his squat, unwieldly figure, while his unusually short and thick arms, with no ordinary fists at their extremities, swung off dangling from his sides like the fins of a sea-turtle. Small eyes, of no particular color, twinkled far back in his head. His nose remained buried in the mass of flesh which enveloped his round, full, and purple face; and his thick upper-lip rested upon the still thicker one beneath with an air of complacent self-satisfaction, much heightened by the owner's habit of licking them at intervals. He evidently regarded his tall shipmate with a feeling half-wondrous, half-quizzical; and stared up occasionally in his face as the red setting sun stares up at the crags of Ben Nevis.(2)

Various and eventful, however, had been the peregrinations of the worthy couple in and about the different tap-houses of the neighborhood during the earlier hours of the night. Funds even the most ample, are not always everlasting: and it was with empty pockets our friends had ventured upon the present hostelrie.{n}

At the precise period, then, when this history properly commences, Legs, and his fellow, Hugh Tarpaulin, sat, each with both elbows resting upon the large oaken table in the middle of the floor, and with a hand upon either cheek. They were eyeing, from behind a huge flagon of unpaid-for “hunmring-stuff,” the portentous words, “No Chalk,” which to their indignation and astonishment were scored over the doorway by means of that very{o} mineral whose presence they purported to deny.(3) Not that the gift of decyphering [page 242:] written characters — a gift among the commonalty of that day considered little less cabalistical than the art of inditing — could, in strict justice, have been laid to the charge of either disciple of the sea; but there was, to say the truth, a certain twist in the formation of the letters — an indescribable lee-lurch about the whole — which foreboded, in the opinion of both seamen, a long run of dirty weather; and determined them at once, in the allegorical{p} words of Legs himself, to “pump ship, clew up all sail, and scud before the wind.”

Having accordingly {qq}disposed of{qq} what remained of the ale, and looped up the points of their short doublets, they finally made a bolt for the street. Although Tarpaulin rolled twice into the fire-place, mistaking it for the door, yet their escape was at length happily effected — and half after twelve o’clock found our heroes ripe for mischief, and running for life down a dark alley in the direction of St. Andrew's Stair,(4) hotly pursued by the{r} landlady of the “Jolly Tar.”

At the epoch of this eventful tale, and periodically,{s} for many years before and after, all England, but more especially the metropolis, resounded with the fearful cry of “Plague!”{t} The city was in a great{u} measure depopulated — and in those horrible regions, in the vicinity of the Thames, where amid the dark, narrow, and filthy lanes and alleys, the Demon of Disease was supposed to have had his nativity, {vv}Awe, Terror, and Superstition{vv} were alone to be found stalking abroad.

By authority of the king such districts were placed under ban, and all persons forbidden, under pain of death, to intrude upon their dismal solitude. Yet neither the mandate of the monarch, nor the huge barriers erected at the entrances of the streets, nor the prospect of that loathsome death which, with almost absolute certainty, overwhelmed the wretch whom no peril could deter from the adventure, prevented the unfurnished and untenanted dwellings from being stripped, by the hand of nightly rapine, of [page 243:] every article, such as iron, brass, or lead-work, which could in any manner be turned to a profitable account.

Above all, it was usually found, upon the annual winter opening of the barriers, that locks, bolts, and secret cellars, had proved but slender protection to those rich stores of wines and liquors which, in consideration of the risk and trouble of removal, many of the numerous dealers having shops in the neighborhood had consented to trust, during the period of exile, to so insufficient a security.

But there were very few of the terror-stricken people who attributed these doings to the agency of human hands. Pest-spirits, plague-goblins, and fever-demons, were the popular imps of mischief; and tales so blood-chilling were hourly told, that the whole mass of forbidden buildings was,{w} at length, enveloped in terror as in a shroud, and the plunderer himself was often scared away by the horrors his own depredations had created; leaving the entire vast circuit of prohibited district to gloom, silence, pestilence, and death.

It was by one of the{x} terrific barriers already mentioned, and which indicated the region beyond to be under the Pest-ban, that, in scrambling down an alley, Legs and the worthy Hugh Tarpaulin found their progress suddenly impeded.{y} To return was out of the question, and no time was to be lost, as their pursuers were close upon their heels. With thorough-bred seamen to clamber up the roughly fashioned plank-work was a trifle; and, maddened with the twofold excitement of exercise and liquor, they leaped {zz}unhesitatingly down within{zz} the enclosure, and holding on their drunken course with shouts and yellings, were soon bewildered in its noisome and intricate recesses.

Had they not, indeed,{a} been intoxicated beyond {bb}moral sense,{bb} their reeling footsteps must have been palsied by the horrors of their situation. The air was{c} cold and misty. The paving-stones, loosened from their beds, lay in wild disorder amid the tall, rank grass, which sprang up{d} around the feet and ankles. Fallen{e} houses [page 244:] choked up the streets. The most fetid and poisonous smells everywhere prevailed; — and by the{f} aid of that ghastly{g} light which, even at midnight, never fails to emanate from a vapory and{h} pestilential atmosphere, might be discerned lying in the by-paths and alleys, or rotting in the windowless habitations, the carcass of many a nocturnal plunderer arrested by the hand of the plague in the very perpetration of his robbery.(5)

But it lay not in the power of images, or sensations, or impediments such as{i} these, to stay the course of men who, naturally brave, and at that time especially, brimful of courage and of “humming-stuff!” would have reeled, as straight as their condition might have permitted, undauntedly into the very jaws of{j} Death. Onward — still onward stalked the grim{k} Legs, making the desolate solemnity echo and re-echo with yells like the terrific{l} war-whoop of the Indian: and onward, still onward rolled the dumpy Tarpaulin, hanging on to the doublet of his more active companion, and far surpassing the latter's most strenuous exertions in the way of vocal music, by bull-roarings in basso,{m} — from the profundity of his stentorian(6) lungs.

They had now evidently reached the strong hold of the pestilence. Their way at every step or plunge grew more noisome and more horrible — the paths more narrow and more intricate. Huge stones and beams falling momently{n} from the decaying roofs above them, gave evidence, by their sullen and heavy descent, of the vast height of the surrounding {oo}houses; and{oo} while actual exertion became necessary to force a passage through frequent heaps of {pp}rubbish, it was by no means seldom that the hand fell upon a skeleton or rested upon a more fleshly{q} corpse.{pp}

Suddenly, as the seamen stumbled against the entrance of a tall{r} and ghastly-looking building, a yell more than usually shrill from [page 245:] the throat of the excited Legs, was replied to from within, in a rapid succession of wild, laughter-like, and fiendish shrieks. Nothing daunted at sounds which, of such a nature, at such a time, and in such a place, might have curdled the very blood in hearts less irrevocably{s} on fire, the drunken couple {tt}rushed headlong against the door, burst it open,{tt} and staggered into the midst of things(7) with a volley of curses.{u}

The room within which they found themselves proved to be the shop of an undertaker; but an open trap-door, in a corner of the floor near the entrance, looked down upon a long range of wine-cellars, {vv}whose depths{vv} the occasional sound{w} of bursting bottles proclaimed to be well stored with their appropriate contents. In the middle of the room stood a table — in the centre of which again arose a huge tub of what appeared to be punch. Bottles of various wines and cordials, together with{x} jugs, pitchers, and flagons of every shape and quality, were scattered profusely upon the board. Around it, upon coffin-tressels, was seated a company of six. This{y} company I will endeavor to delineate one by one.

Fronting the entrance, and elevated a little above his companions, sat a personage who appeared to be the president of the table. His stature was gaunt and tall, and Legs was confounded to behold in him a figure more emaciated than himself. His face was {zz}as yellow as{zz} saffron — but no feature{a} excepting one alone, was sufficiently marked to merit a particular description. This one consisted in a forehead so unusually and hideously lofty, as to have the appearance of a bonnet or crown of flesh superadded{b} upon the natural head. His mouth was puckered and dimpled into an{c} expression of ghastly affability, and his eyes, as indeed the eyes of all at table, were glazed over with the fumes of intoxication. [page 246:] This gentleman was clothed from head to foot in a richly-embroidered black silk-velvet pall,(8) wrapped negligently around his form after the fashion of a Spanish cloak. His head was stuck full of{d} sable hearse-plumes, which he nodded to and fro with a jaunty and knowing air; and, in his right hand, he held a huge human thigh-bone, with which he appeared to have been just knocking down(9) some member of the company for a song.

Opposite him, and with her back to the door, was a lady of no whit the less extraordinary character. Although quite as tall as the {ee}person just{ee} described, she had no right to complain of his unnatural emaciation. She was evidently in the last stage of a dropsy;(10) and her figure resembled nearly that of{f} the huge puncheon of October beer which stood, with the head driven in, close by her side, in a corner of the chamber. Her face was exceedingly round, red, and full; and the same peculiarity, or rather want of peculiarity, attached itself to her countenance, which I before mentioned in the case of the president — that is to say, only one feature of her face was sufficiently distinguished to need a separate characterization: indeed the acute Tarpaulin immediately observed that the same remark might have applied to each individual person of the party; every one of whom seemed to possess a monopoly of some particular portion of physiognomy. With the lady in question this portion proved to be the mouth. Commencing at the right ear, it swept with a terrific chasm to the left — the short pendants which she wore in either auricle continually bobbing into the aperture. She made, however, every exertion to keep her mouth{g} closed and look{h} dignified, in a dress consisting of a newly starched and ironed shroud coming up close under her chin, with a crimpled{i} ruffle of cambric muslin.

At her right hand sat a diminutive young lady whom she appeared to patronise. This delicate little creature, in the trembling of her wasted fingers, in the livid hue of her lips, and in the slight hectic spot which tinged her otherwise leaden complexion, gave [page 247:] evident indications of a galloping consumption. An air of extreme haut ton, however, pervaded her whole appearance; she wore in a graceful and dégagé{j} manner, a large and beautiful winding-sheet of the finest India lawn; her hair hung in ringlets over her neck; a soft smile played about her mouth; but her nose, extremely long, thin, sinuous, flexible and pimpled, hung down far below her under lip, and in spite of the delicate manner in which she now and then moved it to one side or the other with her tongue, gave {kk}to her countenance a somewhat equivocal expression.{kk}

Over against her, and upon the left of the dropsical lady, was seated a little puffy, wheezing, and gouty old man, whose cheeks reposed{l} upon the shoulders of their owner, like two huge bladders of Oporto wine.(11) With his arms folded, and with one bandaged leg {mm}deposited upon{mm} the table, he seemed to think himself entitled to some consideration. He evidently prided himself much upon every inch of his personal appearance, but took more especial delight in calling attention to his gaudy-colored surtout.{n} This, to say the truth, must have cost him{o} no little money, and was made to fit him exceedingly well — being fashioned from one of the curiously embroidered silken covers appertaining to those glorious escutcheons which, in England and elsewhere, are customarily hung up, in some conspicuous place, upon the dwellings of departed aristocracy.

Next to him, and at the right hand of the president, was a gentleman in long white hose and cotton drawers. His frame shook, in a ridiculous{p} manner, with a fit of what Tarpaulin called “the horrors.” His jaws, which had been newly shaved, were tightly tied up by a bandage of muslin; and his arms being fastened in a similar way at the wrists, prevented him from helping himself too freely to the liquors upon the table; a precaution rendered necessary, in the opinion of Legs, by the peculiarly sottish and wine-bibbing cast of his visage. A pair of prodigious ears, nevertheless, which it was no doubt found impossible to confine, towered away [page 248:] into the atmosphere of the apartment, and were occasionally pricked {qq}up in a spasm, at the sound of the drawing of a cork.{qq}

Fronting him, sixthly and lastly, was situated a singularly stiff-looking personage, who, being afflicted with paralysis, must, to speak seriously, have felt very ill at ease in his unaccommodating habiliments. He was habited, somewhat uniquely, in a new and handsome mahogany coffin. Its{r} top or head-piece{s} pressed upon the skull of the wearer, and extended over it in the fashion of a hood, giving to the entire face an air of indescribable interest. Arm-holes had been cut in the sides, for the sake not {tt}more of elegance than of{tt} convenience; but{u} the dress, nevertheless, prevented its proprietor from sitting as erect as his associates; and as he lay reclining against his tressel, at an angle of forty-five degrees, a pair of huge goggle eyes rolled up their awful{v} whites towards the ceiling in absolute amazement at their own enormity.

Before each of the party lay a portion of a skull, which was used as a drinking cup.(12) Overhead was suspended a{w} human skeleton, by means of a rope tied round one of the legs and fastened to a ring in the ceiling. The other limb confined by no such fetter, stuck off from the body at right angles, causing the whole loose and rattling frame to dangle and twirl about{x} at the caprice of every occasional puff of wind which found its way into the apartment.{y} In the cranium of this hideous thing lay a quantity of ignited charcoal{z} which threw a fitful but vivid light over the entire scene;(13) while coffins, and other wares appertaining to the shop of an undertaker, were piled high up around the room, and against the windows, preventing any{a} ray from escaping into the street.

At{b} sight of this extraordinary assembly, and of their still more extraordinary paraphernalia, our two seamen did not conduct [page 249:] themselves with that{c} degree of decorum which might have been expected. Legs, leaning{d} against the wall near which he happened to be standing, dropped his lower jaw still lower than usual, and spread open his eyes to their fullest extent: while Hugh Tarpaulin, stooping down so as to bring his nose upon a level with the table, and spreading out a palm upon either knee, burst into a long, loud, and obstreperous{e} roar of very ill-timed and immoderate laughter.

Without, however, taking offence at behavior so excessively rude, the tall president smiled very graciously upon the intruders — nodded to them in a dignified manner with his head of sable plumes — and, arising, took each by an arm, and led him to a seat which some others of the company had placed in the meantime for his accommodation. Legs to all this offered not the slightest resistance, but sat down as he was directed; while the gallant Hugh, removing his coffin tressel from its station near the head of the table, to the vicinity of the little consumptive lady in the winding sheet, plumped down by her side in high glee, and pouring out a skull of red wine, quaffed it{f} to their better acquaintance. But at this presumption the stiff gentleman in the coffin seemed exceedingly nettled; and serious consequences might have ensued had not the president, rapping upon the table with his truncheon, diverted the attention of all present to the following speech:

“It becomes our duty upon the present happy occasion” ————

“Avast there!” interrupted Legs, looking very serious, “avast there a bit, I say, and tell us who the devil ye all are, and what business ye have here, rigged off like the foul fiends, and swilling the snug blue ruin(14) stowed away for the winter by my honest shipmate, Will Wimble(15) the undertaker!”

{gg}At this unpardonable piece of ill-breeding, all{gg} the original company half started to their feet, and uttered the same rapid succession of wild fiendish shrieks which had before caught the attention of the seamen. The president, however, was the first to recover his composure, and at length, turning to Legs with great dignity, recommenced: [page 250:]

“Most willingly will we gratify any reasonable curiosity on the part of guests so illustrious, unbidden though they be. Know then that in these dominions I am monarch, and here rule with undivided empire under the title of ‘King Pest the First.’

“This apartment, which you no doubt profanely suppose to be the shop of Will Wimble the undertaker — a man whom we know not, and whose plebeian appellation has never before this night thwarted our royal ears — this apartment, I say, is the Dais-Chamber of our Palace, devoted to the {hh}councils of our{hh} kingdom, and to other sacred and lofty{h′} purposes.

“The noble lady who sits opposite is Queen Pest,{i} our Serene Consort. The other exalted personages whom you behold are all of our family, and wear the insignia of the blood royal under the respective titles of ‘His Grace the Arch Duke Pest-Iferous’ — ’His Grace the Duke Pest-Ilential’ — ’His Grace the Duke Tem-Pest’ — and ‘Her Serene Highness the Arch Duchess Ana-Pest.’(16)

“As regards,” continued he, “your demand of the business upon which we sit here in council, we might be pardoned for replying that it concerns, and concerns alone, our own private and regal interest, and is in no manner important to any other than ourself. But in consideration of those rights to which as guests and strangers you may feel yourselves entitled, we will furthermore explain that we are here this night, prepared by deep research and accurate investigation, to examine, analyze, and thoroughly determine the indefinable spirit — the incomprehensible qualities and nature{j} (17) — of those inestimable treasures of the palate, the wines, ales, and liqueurs of this goodly metropolis: by so doing to advance not more our own designs than the true welfare of that unearthly sovereign whose reign is over us all, whose dominions are unlimited, and whose name is ‘Death.’ ”

“Whose name is Davy Jones!”(18) ejaculated Tarpaulin, helping the lady by his side to a skull of liqueur, and pouring out a second for himself.

“Profane varlet!” said the president, now turning his attention to the worthy Hugh, “profane and execrable wretch! — we have [page 251:] said, that in consideration of those rights which, even in thy{k} filthy person, we feel no inclination to violate, we have condescended to make reply to thy{l} rude and unseasonable inquiries. We,{m} nevertheless, for your unliallowed intrusion upon our councils, believe it our duty to mulct thee{n} and thy{o} companion in each gallon of Black Strap(19) — having imbibed{p} which to the prosperity of our kingdom — at a single draught — and upon your bended knees — ye{q} shall be forthwith free either to proceed upon your way, or remain and be admitted to the privileges of our table, according to your respective and individual pleasures.”

“It would be a matter of utter unpossibility,”{r} replied Legs, whom the assumptions and dignity of King Pest the First had evidently inspired with some feelings of respect,{s} and who arose and steadied{t} himself by the table as he spoke — “it would, please your majesty, be a matter of utter unpossibility{u} to stow away in my hold even one-fourth part{v} of that same liquor which your majesty has just mentioned. To say nothing of the stuffs placed on board in the forenoon by way of ballast, and not to mention the various ales and liqueurs shipped this evening at various{w} seaports, I {xx}have, at present, a full cargo{xx} of ‘humming stuff’ taken in and duly paid for at the sign of the ‘Jolly Tar.’ You will, therefore, please your majesty, be so good as to{y} take the will for the deed — for by no manner of means either can I or will I swallow another drop — least of all a drop of that villanous{y′} bilge-water that answers to the hail of ‘Black Strap.’ ”

“Belay that!” interrupted Tarpaulin, astonished not more at the length of his companion's speech than at the nature of his refusal — “Belay that, you lubber! — and I say, Legs, none of your palaver! My hull is still light, although I confess you yourself seem to be a little top-heavy; and as for the matter of your share of the [page 252:] cargo, why rather than raise a squall I would find stowage-room for it myself, but” ——

“This proceeding,” interposed the president, “is by no means in accordance with the terms of the mulct or sentence, which is in its nature Median,(20) and not to be altered or recalled. The conditions we have imposed must be fulfilled to the letter, and that without a moment's hesitation — in failure of which fulfilment we decree that you do here be tied neck and heels together, and duly drowned as rebels in yon hogshead of October beer!”(21)

“A sentence! — a sentence! — a righteous and just sentence!(22) — a glorious decree! — a most worthy and upright, and holy condemnation!” shouted the Pest family altogether. The king elevated his forehead into innumerable wrinkles; the gouty little old man puffed like a pair of bellows; the lady of the winding sheet waved her nose to and fro; the gentleman in the cotton drawers pricked up his ears; she of the shroud gasped like a dying fish; and he of the coffin looked stiff and rolled up his eyes.

“Ugh! ugh! ugh!” chuckled Tarpaulin, without heeding the general excitation, “ugh! ugh! ugh! — ugh! ugh! ugh! ugh! — ugh! ugh! ugh!{z} — I was saying,” said he, “I was saying when Mr. King Pest poked in his marlin-spike,{a} that as for the matter of two or three gallons more or less of{b} Black Strap, it was a trifle to a tight sea-boat like myself not overstowed — but when it comes to drinking the health of the Devil (whom God assoilzie) and going down upon my marrow bones to his ill-favored majesty there, whom I know, as well as I know myself to be a sinner, to be nobody in the whole world, but Tim Hurlygurly(23) the stage-player!{c} — why it's{d} quite another guess sort of a thing, and utterly and altogether past my comprehension.”

He was not allowed to finish this speech in tranquillity. At the name of Tim Hurlygurly the whole assembly{e} leaped from their seats.

“Treason!” shouted his Majesty{f} King Pest the First. [page 253:]

“Treason!” said the little man with the gout.

“Treason!” screamed the Arch Duchess Ana-Pest.

“Treason!”muttered the gentleman with his jaws tied tip.

“Treason!” growled he of the coffin.

“Treason! treason!” shrieked her majesty of the mouth; and, seizing by the hinder part of his breeches the unfortunate Tarpaulin, who had just commenced pouring out for himself a skull of liqueur, she lifted him high{g} into the air, and {hh}let him fall{hh} without ceremony into the huge open puncheon of his beloved ale. Bobbing up and down, for a few seconds, like an apple in a bowl of toddy, he, at length,{i} finally disappeared amid the whirlpool of foam which, in the already effervescent liquor, his struggles easily succeeded in creating.

Not tamely, however, did the tall seaman behold the discomfiture of his companion. Jostling King Pest through the open trap, the valiant Legs slammed the door down upon him with an oath, and strode towards the centre of the room. Here tearing down the{j} skeleton which swung over the table, he laid it about him with so much energy and good will, that, as the last glimpses of light died away within the apartment, he succeeded in knocking out the brains of the little gentleman with the gout. Rushing then with all his force against the fatal hogshead full of October ale and Hugh Tarpaulin, he rolled it over and over in an instant. Out burst a deluge of liquor so fierce — so impetuous — so overwhelming — that the room was flooded from wall to wall — the loaded table was overturned — the tressels were thrown upon their backs — the tub of punch into the fire-place — and the ladies into hysterics. {kk}Piles of death-furniture floundered about.{kk} Jugs, pitchers, and carboys mingled promiscuously in the mêlée,{l} and{m} wicker flagons encountered desperately with bottles of {nn}junk.(24) The{nn} man with the horrors was drowned upon the spot — the little stiff gentleman [page 254:] floated{o} off in his coffin — and the victorious Legs, seizing by the waist the fat lady in the shroud, {pp}rushed out with her{pp} into the street, {qq}and made a bee-line for the “Free and Easy,”{qq} followed under easy sail by the redoubtable{r} Hugh Tarpaulin, who, having sneezed three or four times, panted and puffed after him with the Arch Duchess Ana-Pest.

VARIANTS

[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 240:]

Title:  King Pest the First. A Tale containing an Allegory — By — (A, B); King Pest (D)

a  one sultry (A, B, C, D)

b  August, (A, B, C, D)

cc ... cc  Thames. It was (D)

d  tap-room illegibly changed in D

e  room, it is needless to say, (A, B, C, D)

f  for (A, B, C, D)

g  was also much the most ill-favored, and (A, B, C, D) except that most is changed to more in D

h  and a half, / nine inches, (A, B, C, D)

i  exceedingly, wofully, awfully (A, B, C, D)

j  sober, (A, B, C, D)

k  stiff with liquor, (A, B, C, D)

[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 241:]

l  leaden (A, B, C, D)

m  antipodes (A, B, C); changed first to converse and then to reverse [?] (D)

n  This appears as hostelr <ie> in D

o  very identical (A) changed in B

[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 242:]

p  pithy (A, B, C, D)

qq ... qq  drank up (A, B, C) changed in D

r  the landlord and (A, B, C, D)

s  periodically, canceled (D)

t  “Pest! Pest! Pest!” (A, B); “Pest!” (C) changed in D

u  Canceled (B)

vv ... vv  awe, terror, and superstition (A, B, C) capitalized in D

[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 243:]

w  were, (D)

x  these (A, B, C, D)

y  stopped. [?] (D)

zz ... zz  down (D)

a  indeed, canceled (D)

bb ... bb  all sense of human feelings, (A, B, C, D)

c  was damp, (A, B, C, D)

d  up hideously (A, B, C, D)

e  Rubbish of fallen (A, B, C, D)

[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 244:]

f  the occasional (A, B, C, D)

g  ghastly and uncertain (A, B, C, D)

h  vapory and canceled (D)

i  such as / like (A, B, C, D)

j  of the Arch-angel (A, B, C, D)

k  gigantic (A, B, C, D)

l  Canceled (D)

m  basso, coming forth [?] (D)

n  momentarily (A, B)

oo ... oo  buildings, (A, B, C); houses, (D)

pp ... pp  putrid human corpses. (A, B, C, D; a footnote which appears in no other texts: The description here given, of the condition of the banned districts, at the period spoken of, is positively not exaggerated. (C, D)

q  fleshey (E); fleshy (F) misprints

r  gigantic (A, B, C, D)

[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 245:]

s  irrecoverably (A, B, C, D)

tt ... tt  burst open the pannels of the door, (A, B, C, D)

u  After this: It is not to be supposed, however, that the scene which here presented itself to the eyes of the gallant Legs and worthy Tarpaulin, produced at first sight any other effect upon their illuminated faculties than an overwhelming sensation of stupid astonishment. (A, B, C, D); the last two words are changed to surprise (D)

vv ... vv  from the depths of which (D)

w  sounds (A, B, C, D)

x  with grotesque (A, B, C, D)

y  six. This / six — this (A, B, C) changed in D

zz ... zz  yellower than the yellowest (A, B, C) changed in D

a  feature of his visage, (A, B, C, D)

b  superseded (A, B, C, D)

c  a singular (A, B, C, D)

[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 246:]

d  full of / all full of tall (A, B, C, D)

ee ... ee  person who has just been (A, B, C, D)

f  that of / in outline the shapeless proportions of (A, B, C); in outline (D)

g  jaws (A, B, C, D)

h  looked (C, D)

i  crimped (A, B, C, D)

[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 247:]

j  degagé (A, B, C, D, E, F)

kk ... kk  an expression rather doubtful to her countenance. (A, B, C, D)

l  hung down (A, B, C, D)

mm ... mm  cocked up against (A, B, C, D)

n  surcoat. (A, B, C, D)

o  cost him / cost (A, B, C, D)

p  ludicrous (A, B, C, D)

[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 248:]

qq ... qq  up, or depressed, as the sounds of bursting bottles increased, or died away, in the cellars underneath. (A, B, C, D)

r  The (A, B, C, D)

s  head-piece of the coffin (A, B, C) changed in D

tt ... tt  for elegance but for (D)

u  Canceled (D)

v  Canceled (D)

w  an enormous (A, B, C, D)

x  about in a singular manner, (A, B, C, D)

y  aparment. (E) misprint

z  ignited and glowing (A, B, C, D)

a  any straggling (A, B, C, D)

b  It has been before hinted that at (A, B, C, D)

[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 249:]

c  that proper (A, B, C, D)

d  having leant himself back (A, B, C, D)

e  obstrepons (E) misprint

f  quaffed it / drank it off (A, B, C, D)

gg ... gg  All [?] (D)

[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 250:]

hh ... hh  Canceled (D)

h’  lofy (F) misprint

i  Pest, and (A, B, C) changed in D

j  nare (A, B, C, D, E)

[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 251:]

k  your (D)

l  your (A, B, C, D)

m  We (E, F) comma added from A, B, C, D

n  you (A, B, C, D)

o  your (A, B, C, D)

p  drank (A, B)

q  you (A, B, C, D)

r  impossibility” — (A, B)

s  respcct, (E) misprint

t  studied (A, B)

u  impossibility (A, B)

v  Omitted (A, B, C, D)

w  different (A, B, C, D, E)

xx ... xx  am, at present, full up to the throat (A, B, C, D)

y  Omitted (A, B, C, D)

y’  villainous (A, B)

[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 252:]

z  One ugh! omitted (A, B)

a  marling-spike, (A, B, C, D)

b  Omitted (A, B, C, D)

c  stage-player! / organ-grinder (A, B)

d  its (A, B, C, E, F) misprint, corrected in D and followed here

e  Junto (A, B)

f  Serenity (A, B)

[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 253:]

g  high up (A, B, C, D)

hh ... hh  dropped him (A, B, C, D)

i  last, (D)

j  the huge (A, B, C, D)

kk ... kk  Omitted (A, B, C, D)

l  melée, (A, B, C, D, E, F)

m  while (D)

nn ... nn  junk. Piles of death-furniture floundered about. Sculls floated en masse — hearse-plumes nodded to escutcheons — the (A, B, C, D)

[The following variants appear at the bottom of page 254:]

o  sailed (A, B, C, D)

pp ... pp  scudded out (A, B, C, D)

qq ... qq  Omitted (A, B, C, D)

r  redoubted (A, B)

[page 254, continued:]

NOTES

Subtitle:  The allegory referred to in the subtitle has been usually ignored, but see note 16 below.

Motto:  The motto is from Gorboduc, lines 606-607. This play by Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, was given before Queen Elizabeth I, on January 13, 1561. Its subtitle is “Ferrex and Porrex” and it has been much discussed as “the earliest English tragedy in blank verse.” First printed in 1565, it was often reprinted, for example in Dodsley's Old Plays, 1744, 1780, and later.

1.  Edward III reigned 1327-1377; the Black Death ravaged England several times during his reign.

2.  Ben Nevis, 4406 feet high, in the county of Inverness, is the highest mountain in Great Britain, and is visited by countless tourists.

3.  “Humming-stuff” is strong drink; “no chalk” means no credit.

4.  St. Andrew's Stair probably refers to the approach to St. Andrew's Church, Holborn, not far from 18 Basinghall Street where John Allan had his English place of business.

5.  Compare “The Man of the Crowd”: “The paving stones lay at random, displaced from their beds by the rankly growing grass. Horrible filth festered in the dammed-up gutters. The whole atmosphere teemed with desolation.”

6.  In PHANTASY-PIECES, Poe capitalized Stentorian, to show the connection with Stentor, the loud-voiced Greek herald of the Iliad, but the change was not adopted in the later editions.

7.  “Into the midst of things” is “in medias res” of Horace, Ars Poetica, line 148; a commonplace.

8.  Compare “A Paean,” line 14, “costly broidered pall.”

9.  Knocking down is not literal; the bone is used as a gavel.

10.  “A dropsy” is an obsolete term for an unquenchable thirst, as well as the name of a disease. Poe is capable of the pun.

11.  Oporto wine is usually called port. [page 255:]

12.  The Norsemen drank mead from the skulls of brave enemies. Byron had a cup made from the skull of a monk found on his estate. He mentions it in letters of 1809 collected by Moore, and in “Lines Inscribed upon a Cup Formed from a Skull.”

13.  The skeleton suspended from the ceiling with its cranium full of ignited charcoal is not the most macabre of Poe's hanging lamps. See “Hop-Frog.”

14.  Blue ruin is cheap gin. Keats used the term in verses on Charles Armitage Brown enclosed in a letter to George and Georgiana Keats dated April 16 or 17, 1819.

15.  Will Wimble, in Addison and Steele's Spectator, number 108, is a younger son of a nobleman, and a member of Sir Roger De Coverley's Club; being unable to go into trade, he fritters away his time.

16.  In the allegory, as worked out by my student, Lynne Chaleff, the six Pests are types of people who are “pests” in the figurative sense of the word. All are “dead” since they are types of deadly futility. (1) King Pest himself, with his high forehead and affable expression, is the man of intellect who does nothing with it, and knows only the vanity of wisdom; his Spanish cloak typifies his pride. (2) Queen Pest, into whose huge mouth her earrings keep dropping, is the great talker, who repeats only what she has heard, and pretends not to wish to gossip. (3) Arch Duchess Ana-Pest is the bad poet who pokes her nose into everything, but is incapable of living a life of her own. (4) Arch Duke Tem-Pest is cheeky, is proud of his bandages and a tabard of noble arms, a man of rank and clothes, himself deserving of nothing. (5) Duke Pest-Iferous is a sot who tries not to indulge, but is betrayed by his ears when a cork pops. (6) Duke Pest-Ilential, with large eyes, sees all, but is wholly sheltered, and recoils from the world.

17.  The word “nare” used in the earlier texts, as Ruth Leigh Hudson points out, appears in Disraeli's Vivian Grey. See also the motto for “The Folio Club,” and the note on the word in “Diddling.”

18.  Davy Jones is a seaman's name for “the fiend who presides over all the evil spirits of the deep.” (OED quotes this definition from Smollett's Peregrine Pickle, 1751.)

19.  Black Strap is inferior thick port.

20.  For the “law of the Medes and the Persians which altereth not” see Esther I:19, Daniel 6:8, and other passages in the Bible.

21.  There is a tradition that the Duke of Clarence, brother of Richard III, was drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine. See Shakespeare, Richard III, I, iv, and V, iii.

22.  Shylock cries out “A sentence” in Merchant of Venice, IV, i, 304.

23.  Hurlygurly (or hurdy-gurdy) is a street organ, or the person who plays one; in the first version of Poe's story, the “king” was an organ-grinder. It is amusing to find a boatswain named Hurliguerly as a character in Jules Verne's Sphinx des Glaces (1895), a sequel to Arthur Gordon Pym.

24.  A junk-bottle is made of thick green or black glass. See OED.

[[Footnotes]]

[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 238:]

*  This was pointed out by Woodberry, in the Stedman-Woodberry edition of Poe's Works, IV (1894-95), 295; and Life (1909), I, 130. For particulars see Ruth Leigh Hudson, “Poe and Disraeli” (AL, January 1937).

†  April 1811, p. 281 — it was inaccurately quoted in Southey's Commonplace Book (1850), IV, 386.

[The following footnote appears at the bottom of page 239:]

‡  [This fourth source, divined but not found, by Mr. Mabbott, may have been “The Great Plague in the Fourteenth Century,” in Fraser's Magazine for May 1832, published during the cholera epidemic of that year. The article is a striking description of the devastation wrought by the disease as it passed through Europe and spread over England. Details of its horrors are quoted from “an excellent old writer,” identified in a footnote as “Joshua Barnes, B. D. Cantab.,” author of The History of that Most Victorious Monarch Edward IIId. ... Cambridge, 1688.]