The story so far…
by Larry Fyffe
Exclusive to ‘Untold” –
Gothic poet Edgar Allan Poe is noted for his influence on the French Symbolists. And, at least by me, also for his fondness for the metonymy* of the word ‘door’:
As in the lyrics below:
Some tomb from out whose sounding door She never shall force an echo more (The Sleeper)
And again in:
I reached my home - my home no more ... I passed from out its mossy door (Tamerlane)
And again in:
Whose shadows fall before Thy lowly cottage door (To Isadore)
And again in:
From the open cottage door .... And the dying sycamore (The Village Street)
And…
By the lowly cottage door .... Broken-hearted evermore (The Village Street)
And again in:
Was the fair palace door ... And sparkling evermore (The Haunted Place)
And:
Through the pale door .... And laugh - but smile no more (The Haunted Door)
And again in:
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore ... As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door (The Raven)
And:
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before ... 'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door" (The Raven)
And:
Sir, said I, or madam, truly your forgiveness I implore ... And so faintly you come tapping, tapping at my chamber door (The Raven)
And:
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door Perched, and sat, and nothing more (The Raven)
And:
Though its answer little meaning - little relevancy bore ... Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door (The Raven)
And:
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door ... What this grim, ungainly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore (The Raven)
And:
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore' (The Raven)
Singer/songwriter/musician Bob Dylan shows Poe’s influence to the core:
Blowing like she's never blowed before ... Blowing like she's at my chamber door (Bob Dylan: Duquesne Whistle)
In the transmutation teachings of the ancient alchemists, the Raven represents the human mind’s initial passing through the doors of perception to encounter the inner soul.
*Editor’s note: This word in Larry’s script caught me out, and I had to look it up. In case it is a noun you are not familiar with here’s the Merriam-Webster definition: “a figure of speech consisting of the use of the name of one thing for that of another of which it is an attribute or with which it is associated (such as “crown” in “lands belonging to the crown”).” Other examples would be “turf” for horse racing, and “suit” for person working in businesses which still adopt formal procedures, such as banking. Now at least I know. Everyone else I am sure was already fully familiar.