THE HAUNTED

PALACEINTRODUCTION
In A Nutshell
Edgar Allan Poe has always been famous for his dark imagination, and for his
crazy gift with words. We see both of those things in a big way in "The
Haunted Palace." We also see Poe's fascination with madness, and the
terrible things that can happen to a human mind. See, in this poem, Poe spins
out an elaborate metaphor, comparing a beautiful palace to a human head.
That's right: a human head. At first the palace/head is beautiful and stable,
then gradually it becomes demented and disorganized. That's a theme that
shows up in a lot of Poe's work, from poems like "The Raven" to stories of
terror like "The Black Cat," "The Cask of Amontillado," and "The Tell-Tale
Heart."
In fact, "The Haunted Palace" has so much in common with some of Poe's
spooky stories that he ended up including it in one of them. He first published
the poem by itself in April 1839 in a magazine called American Museum. Then
in September of 1839 he included it in his famous tale "The Fall of the House
of Usher." In that story, "The Haunted Palace" is turned into a song that the
main character, Roderick Usher, sings to the narrator. "The Fall of the House
of Usher" is also all about madness and illness and the collapse of buildings
and people, so we'd say the poem and the story fit together like a creepy hand
in an old spooky glove.

WHY SHOULD I CARE?

Sometimes, we Shmoopers just have to geek out a little. We love poets and
poems of all kinds, but Edgar Allan Poe well, let's just say he's got a special
place in our nerdy poetry hearts. He's just so spooky and gruesome and

haunting and weird. And at the same time, sometimes almost in the same line,
he can be uplifting and beautiful. So why is this particular poemworth your
time? Well, we think Poe does an especially brilliant job of blending the
beautiful and the horrible in "The Haunted Palace." He relaxes us, makes us
feel comfortable, and then suddenly pulls the rug out from under us.
This poem is like a delicious-looking, hot-out-of-the-oven pie, filled with rats.
(Okay, that was disgusting; we apologize.)
Look at it this way. Life is always going to be a blend of the sweet and the
sour, the light and the dark. When it's good, it's awesome, but when it's bad, it
usually really, really stinks. We want poets and poems who can cover the
whole range, who can handle the light and the dark equally well. If that's what
you want too, Poe's your guy. Who else could take you all the way from the
most gorgeous images"Banners yellow, glorious, golden" (9)to the most
horrifying depths of despair: "A hideous throng rush out forever" (47). You
know that friend of yours who learned the guitar but only knows a few chords?
Well, Poe is using his entire instrument, pushing it to its limits, taking us as
high and as low as language will go.

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THE HAUNTED
PALACE:TEXT OF THE POEM

The Haunted Palace

In the greenest of our valleys
By good angels tenanted,

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Once a fair and stately palace

Radiant palacereared its head.
In the monarch Thought's dominion
It stood there!
Never seraph spread a pinion
Over fabric half so fair!
Banners yellow, glorious, golden,
On its roof did float and flow,
(Thisall thiswas in the olden
Time long ago,)
And every gentle air that dallied,
In that sweet day,
Along the ramparts plumed and pallid,
A winged odor went away.
Wanderers in that happy valley,
Through two luminous windows, saw
Spirits moving musically,
To a lute's well-tuned law,
Round about a throne where, sitting
(Porphyrogene!)
In state his glory well-befitting,
The ruler of the realm was seen.
And all with pearl and ruby glowing
Was the fair palace door,
Through which came flowing, flowing, flowing,
And sparkling evermore,
A troop of Echoes, whose sweet duty
Was but to sing,
In voices of surpassing beauty,
The wit and wisdom of their king.
But evil things, in robes of sorrow,
Assailed the monarch's high estate.
(Ah, let us mourn!for never morrow
Shall dawn upon him desolate!)
And round about his home the glory
That blushed and bloomed,
Is but a dim-remembered story
Of the old time entombed.

And travellers, now, within that valley,

Through the red-litten windows see
Vast forms, that move fantastically
To a discordant melody,
While, like a ghastly rapid river,
Through the pale door
A hideous throng rush out forever
And laughbut smile no more.

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THE HAUNTED PALACE

SUMMARY

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This poem opens with a description of a beautiful palace that used to stand in
a green valley. The speaker tells us all about the beautiful yellow banners that
used to fly from the roof of the place. Heck, it even smelled good! Apparently
travelers passing through the valley used to be able to see through the
windows of the palace. Inside they could see "spirits" dancing to lute music
around the throne of the king. (You know, that seems about rightif we had a
palace, there'd definitely be a whole lot of dancing and lute playing going on.)
There were also big pretty palace doors, and more spirits came flooding out of
those doors, singing beautifully about how great the king was.

Sad to say, it didn't last. The palace was attacked by "evil things" that wrecked
the palace. Now its beauty is just a dim memory. When travelers pass by, they
see scary shapes moving in weird ways to unpleasant music. And now the
spirits coming out of the front door are a "hideous throng." Apparently these
spirits laugh without smiling, which we think tells you everything you need to
know about how creepy the palace has become.

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STANZA 1 SUMMARY

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Get out the microscope, because were going through this

poem line-by-line.

Lines 1-2
In the greenest of our valleys
By good angels tenanted,

This poem starts out on a pretty pleasant and relaxed note.

Thespeaker is describing a valley, and not just any valley, but the
greenest one we have. Who doesn't love a nice green valley?

Apparently this valley is inhabited ("tenanted") by good angels. That

also seems like a pretty positive thing, right? (It sure beats the heck out
of bad angels.)
One of the first things to notice, as far as poetic technique goes, is
the enjambment in these lines. That just means that the first line isn't a
complete sentence, but instead it spills over into the second line. Poe
uses this trick a lot in this poem, so check out "Form and Meter" for
more on that.

Lines 3-4
Once a fair and stately palace
Radiant palacereared its head.

"Once" is such a little word, but it does a lot here. It lets us know that
we're in the past in this part of the poem, and that what the speaker is
describing might not even exist anymore.
This awesome valley used to have a beautiful ("fair") and grand
("stately") palace in it. This seemed almost like it was glowing, it was so
lovely (that's what the speaker means by "radiant"). The speaker
also personifies the palace by comparing it to a living thing that "reared
[lifted up] its head" in the valley. We wonder what's up with that move.
Let's read on

Line 5-6
In the monarch Thought's dominion
It stood there!

This palace used to stand in the kingdom ("the dominion") of the ruler
("the monarch") named Fred. No wait, the ruler's name was Thought.
(And you thought your name was bad.) So who is "Thought?" Well,
maybe it's a personification of the idea of Thought. Our thoughts run our
bodies and control our actions, so in a way, you could make

an analogy between thought and a king. Let's hang on a sec, though,

and we bet we'll learn more about what "Thought" is doing in this poem.
Poe pulls another trick in line six, where he suddenly throws in a really
short phrase. This breaks up the rhythm of the poem, which so far has
been written in something called "trochaic tetrameter." How's that? It
just means a line with four pairs of syllables ("tetra-" means four), with
the accent on the first syllable. A trochee, see, is a two-syllable paring in
which the first syllable gets the stress and the second is unstressed. (If
you say "beetle" out loud, you'll hear a real, live trocheeDAdum.) Line
5 is a great example of trochees in action. Line 6, in contrast, has just
three words, with a pretty even stress on each syllable. For more on
stress and syllables, check out"Form and Meter."
For now, just note that this sudden break in the meter forces us to pay
attention to this line, along with the exclamation point, really focuses us
on the haunted palace.

Lines 7-8
Never seraph spread a pinion
Over fabric half so fair!

The poem's speaker keeps coming up with compliments for the palace.
Now he says that no seraph (that's a particularly special kind of angel)
ever spread its wing ("pinion") over anything half so great as this palace
(he refers to the palace as a "fabric," which is an old-fashioned word for
a building). We call this kind of poetic exaggeration (twice as good as
anything any angel has ever seen, man!) hyperbole.
As you can see from this line, Poe loves his fancy words, and he'd
never pick a boring term like "angel" when he could use something as
classy as "seraph" instead.

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STANZA 2 SUMMARY

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Get out the microscope, because were going through this

poem line-by-line.

Lines 9-10
Banners yellow, glorious, golden,
On its roof did float and flow,

This grand palace had beautiful banners on its roof. Again, our speaker
gets kind of carried away with the magic and the excitement of it all. He
piles on descriptive terms, embellishing the basic information to give us
a richer sense of just how great it was to look at this palace.
Another way he conveys the beauty and glory of the palace is
through alliteration. The banners are "glorious, golden" and they "float
and flow." Poe loved the sonic effects that you can achieve with words,
and this poem is no exception. Check out "Sound Check"for more on his
technique.

Lines 11-12
(Thisall thiswas in the olden
Time long ago,)

The speaker really wants us to know that this is how the palaceused to
look. Here he busts into the middle of his description to remind us of
that fact. Actually, these lines break into the poem and interrupt it in a
bunch of ways.
First, there's the punctuation. The parentheses and the dashes are both
ways of setting aside this information, of separating it from the language
around it. The dashes indicate a pause in the middle of the linein
fancy poetry terminology we call that a caesura.
Line 12 also breaks up the rhythm of the poem, just like line 6 did in the
first stanza. Suddenly we stumble over these three short, little words.
All these techniques help to put the happy palace in a kind of frame, and
maybe to prepare us for what's coming later. Check out more on that
in "Form and Meter."

Lines 13-14
And every gentle air that dallied,
In that sweet day,

We get more description here of the happy palace, and the breezes
("air") that blew around it. Notice how thick these lines are with positive
words like "gentle" and "sweet" and relaxing words like "dallied" (that
just means to move lazily)?
Ahgood times, everybody.

Lines 15-16
Along the ramparts plumed and pallid,
A winged odor went away.

The "ramparts" of a palace or a castle are the walls that surround and
protect the building (like in the Star Spangled Banner: "O'er the
ramparts we watched"). These ramparts are pale ("pallid") and have
some kind of decoration on them that looks like feathers ("plumed"
that might be a reference to the banners we heard about in line 9).

Oh, and be sure to notice the alliteration in "plumed and pallid."

When the breezes pass along these walls, they come away smelling
sweet (a "winged odor"). It's like a scratch-and-sniff palace.

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STANZA 3 SUMMARY

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Get out the microscope, because were going through

this poem line-by-line.

Lines 17-18
Wanderers in that happy valley,
Through two luminous windows, saw

These lines start a new stanza, and a new description of the lovely
palace. The speaker tells us that, when "wanderers" (notice the
emphasis on aimless relaxation) passed through the "happy valley,"
they could see through two "luminous" (that just means full of light)
windows in the palace.
We don't know what they could see, because Poe is saving that for the
next line. Breaking up the meaning of a sentence over several poetic

lines is called enjambment, and in a case like this it helps to pull us

along through the poem. (Go hit up "Form and Meter" for more on that
technique.)
Why just two windows? Well, we can't quite tell what that's about yet,
but let's just keep an eye on these odd details.

Lines 19-20
Spirits moving musically,
To a lute's well-tuned law,

The wanderers see "spirits" through the window, "moving musically"

(alliteration alert!) around the palace.
The music they are moving to comes from a lute, which is an oldfashioned stringed instrument, a little like a guitar. The "law" of the lute
is its rhythm, which regulates the way the spirits move. The basic idea
here is that everything is in harmony. This palace is in good shape,
inside and out.

Lines 21-22
Round about a throne where, sitting
(Porphyrogene!)

The spirits are moving around a throne, where someone is sitting. We

don't know who exactly, yet, but Poe gives us a (kind of dorky) little hint
with that single, weird-looking word in line 22.
In case you're wondering why you've never seen this word before, it's
because Poe made it up.
What does it mean? Glad you asked! It's derived from another $500
SAT vocabulary word, "porphyrogenite," which literally means "born to
(or in) the purple." Hmmm that's probably not much help, is it? Well,
purple was a color associated with royalty in ancient Constantinople,
and so someone born to the purple was a member of the royal family.

So, when all is said and done "Porphyrogene" means something like
"royal" or "born a king." It seems safe to assume that it's the king sitting
on that throne that the spirits are dancing around.

Lines 23-24
In state his glory well-befitting,
The ruler of the realm was seen.

It turns out that it is the king, the "ruler of the realm" sitting on that
throne. He sits in "state," which in this case means opulent or
magnificent surroundings, the kind of beautiful that would be suitable
"well-befitting" for a king.
Just who is this ruler? Well, we learned in line 5 that the ruler of this
kingdom is "Thought." What does that mean, though?
Well, it's part of the riddle at the heart of this poem. Let's see if we can
decode it

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STANZA 4 SUMMARY

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Get out the microscope, because were going through this

poem line-by-line.

Lines 25-26
And all with pearl and ruby glowing
Was the fair palace door,

This is starting to seem a little fishy. Why do we care what the door is
made out of? Well, it turns out that the whole opening of this poem is a
kind of riddle, and these lines make up one more clue.
Let's review the evidence, shall we? What has two windows and a door
of ruby and pearl, golden tufts on top, and is ruled over by Thought?
Give up? It's a human head! Ruby and pearl symbolize lips and teeth,
yellow/golden banners stand in for hair, and those two luminous
windows are, you guessed it, the eyes.
What we have here is the metaphorical image of a happy, healthy
beautiful human head.

Lines 27-28
Through which came flowing, flowing, flowing,
And sparkling evermore,

Out of the door (or the mouth) of this palace-head comes something,
flowing and sparkling. Notice how Poe uses the sounds of the words
here to recreate the things he's talking about. The sound of the words
"flowing, flowing, flowing" sounds almost like water or wind flowing
along. (Check out "Sound Check" for more on the sounds at work here.)

Lines 29-30
A troop of Echoes, whose sweet duty
Was but to sing,

The speaker tells us that what came flowing out of the palace door was
a "troop of Echoes." Apparently their job was just to sing. We think
these "Echoes" are connected with the "spirits" we first met in line 19,
more quasi-magical inhabitants of the lovely palace. (In ancient Greek
myth, Echo was a nymph, who could only repeat the words of others.)
Remember, though, that this is meant to be an image of a human head,
too. So this "troop of Echoes" also represents the human voice. In this
part of the poem, that voice that comes out of the head is still
harmonious, sweet, and nice to listen to.

Lines 31-32
In voices of surpassing beauty,
The wit and wisdom of their king.

The song these Echoes are singing is about how great their king is.
They celebrate his "wit and wisdom" (another great
Poe alliterationmoment).
Again, Poe's working on a kind of symbolic representation of a human
being here, so we can think of the Echoes as the human voice, which
helps us to see what good shape the witty and wise brain is. The
"windows" of the eyes, the "door" of the mouththose are all ways that
we can know what's going on in someone's head, whether things are
okay, or if there's some kind of problem.

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STANZA 5 SUMMARY

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Get out the microscope, because were going through this

poem line-by-line.

Lines 33-34
But evil things, in robes of sorrow,
Assailed the monarch's high estate.

Okay gang, maybe you saw this coming, but here's the big switch in this
poem. Everything about the palace/head was going just great for a
while. Now things turn bad.
At the beginning of this stanza "evil things" come out of nowhere,
wearing "robes of sorrow." Those sad robes are a classic Poe image.
They're a little hard to visualize, but we sort of feel what they must be
like.
(We imagine these "evil things" looking a little like the Dementors
inHarry Potter.)
The evil things attack ("assail") the glory and the harmony of the king's
life ("the monarch's high estate").

Lines 35-36
(Ah, let us mourn!for never morrow
Shall dawn upon him desolate!)

Here's another one of the speaker's little moments where he sets a

thought apart with parentheses, and steps out of the flow of the poem a
bit. Suddenly, he's inviting us to feel sad "mourn" along with him for the
miserable, abandoned ("desolate") king.

We had been talking about the distant past, but suddenly we're in the
here-and-now.
The speaker imagines that the king will never see another new day
("never morrow / Shall dawn upon him"). The idea that this poor king will
never see another sunrise is meant to symbolize the unhappiness of the
king's current state.
We've gone from happy and harmonious to sad and lousy real quickly
here, haven't we? Bad times indeed.

Lines 37-38
And round about his home the glory
That blushed and bloomed,

For just a moment here, we're back in the old, happy world we started
out inyay. The "glory" of the palace flickers back into view, helped out
by the vivid alliteration "blushed and bloomed."
That line makes the old palace sound like a fresh new rose. But by now
of course we know the bloom can't last. In reality, it's gone forever.

Lines 39-40
Is but a dim-remembered story
Of the old time entombed.

After that brief little break, we come crashing down into the dark and
sad world of the present day. The beauty of the palace is just an old
story now, from a time in the past that is so lost and gone, it's like a
dead body shut up in a grave "entombed."
We think one of the most important things to check out here is the shift
in the imagery and the word choice in this stanza.
Before, everything was "sweet" and "gentle" and lively. Now things are
"dim" and "old" and generally a huge bummer.

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STANZA 6 SUMMARY

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Get out the microscope, because were going through this

poem line-by-line.

Lines 41-42
And travellers, now, within that valley,
Through the red-litten windows see

Buckle in for this last stanza, because things are only getting worse.
Remember the description of the "wanderers" looking though the palace
window and seeing dancing and hearing harmonious lute music (1724)? Well, this stanza is like the nightmare mirror image of that happy
little scene.
Now the wanderers are "travellers" (which sounds way less happy and
relaxed to us). And now the windows they look up to are filled with red
light ("red-litten").
Remembering that this is an allegory for the human body and mind. The
windows represent the eyes, so this redness probably isn't a real good
sign. Red eyes have pretty sinister connotations, connected to
madness, evil, and sickness (and, yeah, not getting enough sleep
which can also feel evil).

Lines 43-44
Vast forms, that move fantastically
To a discordant melody,

Before, the people looking through the windows saw "spirits moving
musically." Now they see "Vast forms, that move fantastically." Maybe
that doesn't sound so bad, but when we put it in context, it's more bad
news for the palace-head. In this case, "fantastically" doesn't mean what
we usually think of today (like great or terrific). It means "unreal," like
something out of a fantasy.
That's not a bad thing in itself, but when we combine it with the line
below about a "discordant" (inharmonious, out of tune) melody, we
know that those vast shapes must mean trouble. Remember that, in the
earlier version of this image, the music was referred to as a "well-tuned
law." Everything is out of whack in this new version of the palace.

Lines 45-46
While, like a ghastly rapid river,
Through the pale door

Things are still flowing out of the door-mouth, just like in the good old
days, but now they aren't "sparkling" (28) at all. The flow has become a
"ghastly rapid river." Before the door was "fair" (26) and now it's "pale."
Poe doesn't have to tweak the words that much in order to completely
change the feeling of the scene. Before the door and the things coming
out of it were delightful; now everything is just plain awful. Darn it all.

Lines 47-48
A hideous throng rush out forever
And laughbut smile no more.

The "troop of Echoes" (29) have turned into a "hideous throng." That fits
in well with the general turn for the worse that things have taken.
Keeping up with the palace-head analogy, the singing that used to come
from the mouth has turned into a hideous mess. The palace-head has
been taken over by some disorder, some madness or sickness.
The whole poem ends on a really chilling note. Now the spirits coming
out of the head laugh and laugh, but never smile. That's such a
powerful image of insanity: endless laughter with no joy in it.
Poe really twists the knife by adding a little pause (in poetry terms that's
called a caesura) just before the all-important last four words. If we were
still in the past, in the days of the beautiful palace, laughing might be a
good thing. You might even feel a little glimmer of hope and joy right
before the poem squashes it in the final phrase. It's bad times for the
haunted castle, and it always will be.

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THE VALLEY

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Symbol Analysis
The poem opens in a green valley, and that image is really crucial for
establishing the mood at the beginning. We tend to have such cheerful, happy

associations with green valleys that it's hard to imagine anything bad
happening thereand for a while, at least, nothing does. Finally, though, the
happy story of the valley gets quite a bit darker, setting up a stark contrast that
makes the impact of the poem's conclusion all the more forceful.

Line 1: Here's the happy first appearance of the valley. It's actually the
first real image we get in the poem, and it's a pretty pleasant one. It also
seems to us that calling it the "greenest" valley is maybe a little bit of a
poetic exaggeration (also known as hyperbole). How would you even
know which of "our valleys" was greenest? Measure with a color ruler?
Line 17: Here the speaker just comes out and calls this a "happy valley."
Now it's even clearer that the image of the valley is here to make us feel
good, to reinforce our positive feelings about the way the palace used to
be. Be sure to notice the enjambment, too (that's the way this sentence
is cut off by the end of the line). Poe uses that particular technique like it
was going out of style.
Line 41: Ugh. Suddenly this valley's not such a happy place. It's not
clear if the valley itself has changed, but its main featurethe palace
sure isn't what it used to be. We also think it's significant that people
going through the valley used to be called "wanderers" (17) but now
they are "travelers," which sounds a lot less relaxed to us.

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THE VALLEY

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Symbol Analysis
The poem opens in a green valley, and that image is really crucial for
establishing the mood at the beginning. We tend to have such cheerful, happy
associations with green valleys that it's hard to imagine anything bad
happening thereand for a while, at least, nothing does. Finally, though, the
happy story of the valley gets quite a bit darker, setting up a stark contrast that
makes the impact of the poem's conclusion all the more forceful.

Line 1: Here's the happy first appearance of the valley. It's actually the
first real image we get in the poem, and it's a pretty pleasant one. It also
seems to us that calling it the "greenest" valley is maybe a little bit of a
poetic exaggeration (also known as hyperbole). How would you even
know which of "our valleys" was greenest? Measure with a color ruler?
Line 17: Here the speaker just comes out and calls this a "happy valley."
Now it's even clearer that the image of the valley is here to make us feel
good, to reinforce our positive feelings about the way the palace used to
be. Be sure to notice the enjambment, too (that's the way this sentence
is cut off by the end of the line). Poe uses that particular technique like it
was going out of style.
Line 41: Ugh. Suddenly this valley's not such a happy place. It's not
clear if the valley itself has changed, but its main featurethe palace
sure isn't what it used to be. We also think it's significant that people
going through the valley used to be called "wanderers" (17) but now
they are "travelers," which sounds a lot less relaxed to us.

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THE PALACE

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Symbol Analysis
This is definitely the big hitter in this poem. It's the main image, the one the
speaker describes in the most detail. It's also a complex and kind of
mysterious extended metaphor. Poe uses the image of the
palace tosymbolize a human head, and then he parallels the changes in the
palacewith the collapse of human reason. There's a lot going on here, we
know, but we'll break it down for you. Never fear (or, you know, fear just a
littlethis is Poe, after all).

Line 3: The words that describe the palace here help to set up one of
the key images in the poem. When the speaker calls the palace "fair"
(that means beautiful) and "stately" (that means elegant, fit for a king),
we get a pretty good idea of the kind of building we're supposed to
imagine. These words set a mood, too, helping us to relax at the
beginning of the poem.
Lines 9-10: In these lines, the speaker describes the yellow banners
that are flying on top of the castle. We may not quite have put things
together yet, but these banners symbolize blond hair flowing on the top
of a human head. Be sure to check out the assonance and
thealliteration (hey, a two-for-one deal) in the words "glorious" and
"golden."
Lines 33-34: Now, all of a sudden, the palace is under attack. Some
kind of "evil things" have "assailed" the king's "high estate" (that could

mean either his royal presence, his stature, or the actual palace he's
living in). Again, these "evil things" are symbols for whatever terrible
thing is happening to the person that the palacerepresents. Maybe they
symbolize insanity, or sickness, or death. Whatever they might be,
they're bad news bears for the palace and the person it stands in for.

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THE KING

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Symbol Analysis
The king shows up in a surprising number of places here, but he's always a
little bit of a mystery, too. We never hear about what he looks like, or anything
like that, but he's at the center of the palace and the poem. Is he just
a symbol or metaphor? Is there an actual ruler to go along with the palace? Is
it a little bit of both? We think it's meant to be a little bitambiguous, but the
ways that the speaker talks about the king are definitely worth a look.

Line 5: This is the first time that the speaker mentions the king who
goes along with this palace. He also gives him a name: "Thought." This
strategy, where you make an abstract idea like "Thought" or "Justice"
into a character in a poem, is called allegory. Actually, come to think of

it, you could say that this entire poem is an allegory for human life and
eventual death.
Line 24: Now we meet the king again, and we learn that the king is
sitting in the middle of his palace, on a throne, with spirits dancing
around him. Celebrate good times. If we follow the big metaphor that
runs through this poem, then "Thought" is sitting in the middle of the
symbolic human head, right where he belongs. Ooh, and check out
the alliteration too here, with "the ruler of the realm."
Line 34: Now the king (here the speaker calls him "the monarch") is
under attack. He's not sitting stable and happy in the middle of singing
spirits like he was when we met him last. Nopeparty's over. He's
being "assailed" by "evil things." The image we are finally left with is of
the poor king alone and abandoned, completely "desolate" (36).

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THE WINDOWS

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Symbol Analysis
Poe uses the windows in the palace to symbolize two human eyes. He
imagines people looking through those eyes to see what's happening inside
the palace-head. Ever heard the old expression "The eyes are the window to

the soul"? Well, that's the idea here. At first, everything looks fine, the mind
inside the symbolic head is in good shape. At the end, though, those same
windows show a much weirder and scarier picture.

Line 18: Here the windows are in pretty good shape, and they show us
a happy scene. Well, actually, in this line, we don't quite find out what
they show us, because of the enjambment that cuts off the line. We just
find out that the travelers in the valley saw what? It's like a mini
cliffhanger, and it reminds us why enjambment is useful for creating
suspense for readers.
Line 42: Now these windows (which, remember, are symbols for human
eyes) look pretty different than they did before. Before they were shiny
and happy, but now they are lit up with red light. Thatimage sounds
almost demonic to us, like something you'd expect to see in a horror
movie. The palace and the head that it represents are both in serious
trouble. Yipes.

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THE SPIRITS

Symbol Analysis

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The supernatural is everywhere in this poem. From the title to the last line,
we're in a world of spirits. In a way, they're as close as this poem gets to
having actual characters. They laugh and sing and dance. At the same time,
there's something a little unreal about them too, like a lot of things in this
poem. We catch little glimpses of them, but never really get to know them.

Line 19: Here's where we first meet the "spirits" who live inside the
palace. They're the ones who're doing the haunting. In this part of the
poem, though, that doesn't sound like such a bad thing. These spirits
are more like "Casper the Friendly" Ghost than Poltergeist.
Line 29: The "Troop of Echoes" that comes out of the door of the palace
are symbols of human speech. In this early part of the poem they are
singing beautifully, so we know that things must be okay inside the
palace. Poe's allusion to the Greek nymph Echo is clever too, since her
story was all about speech. It's a pretty tragic story, too, so maybe this
is a way for Poe to sneak in a little bit offoreshadowing.
Line 33: All of a sudden, the spirits in this poem turn evil. Before, they
were just happy dancers. Now they turn into awful little gremlins who
attack the king. We get the sense that the "evil things" that are
mentioned in this line are meant to represent insanity, or some kind of
disease that attacks the human mind.
Line 43: Remember the beautiful dancing spirits we met in line 19?
Well, now they've morphed into something way more sinister. Now all
we can see through the window are "vast forms that move fantastically."
Trust us, in this case fantastic definitely doesn't mean "great." Poe is
describing an image right out of a nightmare, the kind of weird huge
spirits that you'd see in a terrible dream. Nothing makes sense now that
the palace has been attacked, and even the spirits who live inside have
become strange and awful.

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THE DOOR

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Symbol Analysis
The door of the palace represents the mouth of a human head. Spirits,
whosymbolize human speech, come streaming steadily out of the door. Just
like the windows, the door is one of the ways that we can get a sense of what
is happening inside the palace-head. It gives us a way into the secrets of the
human mind, which is finally what this poem is all about.

Lines 25- 26: This is where the whole "palace as symbol for human
head" thing really clicked in for us for the first time. When we read about
the "door" with pearls (just like teeth) and rubies (just like lips) in it, it
started to dawn on us. Maybe you're a little quicker on the draw than us,
but this was the image that helped us to unlock the riddle at the heart of
this poem.
Line 46: Now the door-mouth, which used to be beautifully bedazzled
with gemstones, has turned "pale." That's yet another sign that all is not
well in the world of the palace-head and that some kind of sickness
(mental or physical) has started to take over.

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ANALYSIS: FORM AND METER

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Irregular Trochaic Tetrameter, Regular Rhyme, and A

Few Twists
The first thing to notice about the form of this poem is the way it's split up into
sections (stanzas). There are six stanzas in this poem, and each one has
eight lines. That basic, regular structure gives the poem a kind of anchor,
even though all kinds of crazy things happen in "The Haunted Palace." The
breaks between the stanzas also help Poe to mark a major shift in the poem.
The first four stanzas are about the happy past, while the last two are about
the miserable present. That epic shift is neatly marked by the break between
the fourth and fifth stanzas.
The meter of this poem is also carefully laid out, but it doesn't follow its own
rules as carefully as the stanzas do. (Remember, this poem is partly about
how order breaks down, and how madness can creep in and wreck even the
most solid-seeming structures.) The basic meter of the poem is called
"trochaic tetrameter." That means that each line has four pairs of syllables,
with the emphasis on the first syllable of the pair (a trochee is a two-syllable
pairing where the first syllable is stressed and the second isn't). For example,
the word "golden" (9) is a troche: "golden." You hear it? DAdum. So, a regular
line of trochaic tetrameter would have four of these sounds: DAdum, DAdum,
DAdum, DAdum. Line 9 is actually a great example of that:

Banners yellow, glorious, golden,

See how that works? Well, that's the basic pattern, but Poe strategically
breaks it from time to time. The next three lines (10-12) are a good example:
On its roof did float and flow, (trochaic tetrameter)
(Thisall thiswas in the olden (trochaic tetrameter)
Time long ago,) (????)
The first two lines (10 and 11) are pretty solidly trochaic tetrameter. The last
one, line 12, is much less regular. It's a deliberate break in the rhythm, and it
helps to set us up for all the craziness and disorder that's going to come in this
poem.
Poe pulls off the same effect with the rhyme scheme, too. Again, there's a
general pattern here, but Poe isn't afraid to mess with it when he feels like it.
Let's take the second stanza as an example. We'll put the rhyming words in
bold, and note their end rhyme sounds using capital letters:
Banners yellow, glorious, golden, A
On its roof did float and flow, B
(Thisall thiswas in the olden A
Time long ago,) B
And every gentle air that dallied, C
In that sweet day, D
Along the ramparts plumed and pallid, C?
A winged odor went away. D
See how that works? Each stanza is made up of pairs of alternating rhymed
lines. If we were to write out the pattern it would look like this: ABABCDCD.
Sometimes, though, Poe switches it up a little, like on the two lines marked C
in the example up above. "Dallied" and "pallid" don't rhyme, but they're pretty
close. We call that near rhyme or slant rhyme. It's an effective technique that
subtly reminds us that not all is symmetry and beauty in this poem. Things
are, in fact, a little askew.

Finally, and speaking of things being askew, did you notice how few lines
actually end before they break off into the next line below? That techniques is
known as enjambment. While each stanza comes to a full stop, the lines
beforehand are frequently enjambed, creating suspense and pulling the
reader along with an insistent force that almost makes it seem that we're out
of control. Where's this poem heading? As readers, we're not quite sure, but
we're forced to keep the pace as the happy story of the palace-head begins to
unravel.

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ANALYSIS: SETTING

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Where It All Goes Down

On the surface, at least, the setting of this poem is something we know a ton
about. In a sense, this whole poem is about describing the setting. We start
out by learning that this poem takes place in a green valley (the greenest, in
fact). There's a beautiful palace in that valley, with yellow banners flying from
its roof. On top of that it has sweet-smelling walls, two shining windows, and a
door made of rubies and pearls. The feeling we get from this setting (at least
at the beginning) is one of beauty, peace, and relaxation.

Of course, that doesn't last. In the last third of the poem (the final twostanzas),
the poem shifts. We're in the same place, in one way, but in another way we
really aren't. Suddenly the palace becomes a sad, grim, "pale" place, with red
windows and hideous creatures boiling out of it.
Importantly, through the poem's use of allegory, the setting here is allimportant. It's not just a palace we're talking about here, it's a human head.
And really, we're not just talking about a human head that sits in a jar in some
creepy scientist's laboratory (which he'd probably pronounce "lah-bore-ahtore-ee"). It's more like a person's psychology, their inner mental state. So,
when we're seeing how the settingone nice and peacefulis getting
overrun by evil gremlins, we're really looking at the onslaught of madness in
the human mind.

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ANALYSIS: SOUND CHECK

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At the beginning of this poem, the sound of the lines rolls along, steady
andrhythmic. We think there's something really comforting about the stable,
calm sound of the opening stanza. It's like being inside a cozy cabin on the
beach, and listening to waves crash outside. It's a little bit grand and exciting,
but totally safe, too. Take these lines for example:

Banners yellow, glorious, golden,

On its roof did float and flow, (9-10)
Not only is the meter really calm and regular, but also there's an open, relaxed
sound to the words. Notice the repetition of the vowel sound (in fancy poetry
terms we call that assonance). In word after word, you get that open O sound:
"yellow," "glorious," "golden." We just "float and flow" along in these opening
sections, letting the words carry us along.
Then, of course, everything changes. Suddenly things go bad, and the palace
is taken over. The words get a little choppier (like the word "discordant," which
both means and sounds "out of tune). Things seem to speed up, and now the
"ghastly rapid river" (a phrase that features some short A assonance in
"ghastly" and "rapid") hurries us to our doom. The rhythm isn't so different, but
the sound and the meaning of the words are completely new. Consider the
short, clipped vowel sounds in "the red-litten windows," for example (42). It's
as if we were hearing the poem in a new way. Instead of being safe inside,
away from the waves, now we're out on the stormy sea, in a boat that's about
to sink (and it's full of snakes, and it's on fire oh sorry, we got carried away
theremust be all this Poe).

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ANALYSIS: WHAT'S UP WITH

THE TITLE?

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On the most basic level, this title, "The Haunted Palace" lets you know what
the central focus of the poem is, the main image it deals with. Although, we
think it's important that the palace doesn't start out being haunted. So, the title
is doing a little bit of foreshadowing. In a way, a title like this one subtly
prepares you for what's going to come at the end of the poem. Think of it like
a teaser trailer for a new movie. When you go to watch that movie, you have
an idea of what's coming, a few images from when things really get going.
Even if there are no giant robots at the beginning of a Transformersmovie, for
example, you know they'll show up eventually.
In this case, you go into this poem with the spooky mental image of a haunted
palace already set in your mind. Even if the haunting doesn't happen until
pretty far into the poem (line 33) you know it's on its way, because you read
the title. Even when you're reading about cheerful, peaceful times, you know
they can't last. Bummer.

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ANALYSIS: CALLING CARD

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Spooky Effects and the Death of Beauty

If folks are familiar with Poe, they probably know him as one of the first
American masters of horror. His spooky poem "The Raven" is a classic, and
his tales of death and terror like "The Black Cat," "The Cask of
Amontillado,"and "The Tell-Tale Heart" are still sending chills down readers'
spines. One thing all of these works share (and that's definitely in full effect in
"The Haunted Palace") is an atmosphere of dread and doom. Poe carefully
tunes his language, right down to the sound of individual words, to make us
feel the strangeness and the spookiness of his world, and the danger that
lurks around every corner.
Another way to know that you're dealing with a work by Poe is his fascination
with the death of beauty. In many of Poe's poems and stories ("The Haunted
Palace" included), the reader watches as a person or a thing that used to be
beautiful and healthy decays and fades away into death and destruction. In a
lot of cases, that dying or dead thing is a beautiful young woman (check
out "Ulalume" and "The Fall of the House of Usher"for examples of that). In
this case, the thing that's dying away is a palace, although, in a mysterious
and symbolic way, it's a person, too. So, to recap: if you see creepy effects,
unusual sounding words that make you shiver, and the slow, inevitable decay
of beauty, chances are you're dealing with the oh-so-spooky work of Edgar
Allan Poe.

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ANALYSIS: TOUGH-O-METER

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(4) Base Camp

Poe loves to throw in tricky words here and there, so that might give you a
little trouble at the beginning. Never fear, though, Shmoop is here to give you
a little boost. With that help, this should be an easy climb, or rather a pleasant
stroll through a super-green valley that eventually crumbles into hysteria
and decay. Good times.

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ANALYSIS: TRIVIA

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Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge

Before beginning his writing career, Poe went to the military academy at West
Point (although he was expelled after eight months). (Source.)
Seraphs (7) have plenty of pinions. In Jewish, Christian, and Islamic sources
they are angels with two or even three sets of wings. (Source.)
Poe's parents were travelling actors, who died before he was three. That's
terrible for a little kid, but we can see how he got started writing dramatic
horror stories. (Source.)

The largest palace in the world was built for the Sultan of Brunei. It has 1800
rooms and a 110-car garage. That's just way too much vacuuming for us.
(Source.)

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ANALYSIS: STEAMINESS
RATING

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Exactly how steamy is this poem?

G
"The Haunted Palace" is clean as a whistle. Actually, there aren't even any
recognizable people in this poem, so not much danger of sexytimes.

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ANALYSIS: ALLUSIONS

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When poets refer to other great works, people, and

events, its usually not accidental. Put on your supersleuth hat and figure out why.

Literary and Philosophical References:

Echo (29): In ancient mythology, Echo was a mountain nymph. In one

famous version of the story, told by the Roman poet Ovid, she was
punished by the goddess Hera, who took away her power of speech.
She was left with only the ability to repeat the words of others. This fits
in well in the context of the poem, where the "troop of Echoes" that
flows out of the castle represents the speech of the palace's king,
Thought. It's not their own thoughts and ideas that matter, but the
thoughts and words of the king.

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THE HAUNTED PALACE THEME

OF HAPPINESS

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When "The Haunted Palace" starts out, everything is awesome. The valley is
green, the air is "sweet" and "gentle" (and it even smells good). There's just a
sort of joyful feeling everywhere, and the imagery of the poem reinforces that
feeling constantly. The adjectives, for example, are consistently positive. The
different parts of the palace are referred to as "radiant" (4), "glorious" (9),
"sparkling" (28). The beauty of everything in the first four stanzas of the poem
is designed to lift your spirits and make you smile. Of course, it won't last
but we'll get to that. For now: don't worry; be happy.

Questions About Happiness

1. Why does this poem spend so much time talking about happy stuff
before it gets to the "haunted palace" from the title?
2. Does the beginning of this poem make you happy? Did that feeling go
away at the end? Why or why not?
3. Is happiness the main mood at the beginning of the poem? What else
might you call it? Relaxed? Peaceful? Something else? Why?
4. Is this a poem about feelings? Is it about happiness and sadness, or
more about sanity and madness? What's the difference between those
two ideas? How might the speaker answer that question?

Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devils advocate.
The speaker of "The Haunted Palace" spends most of his time talking about
happiness so that the feeling of the loss of that happiness at the end will be
even more intense and profound. Those two thumbs way up come crashing
down all the more dramatically.

Happiness um, shmappiness. While the poem talks about happiness at the
beginning, that feeling is just a metaphor for sanity, which is the real focus of
the opening stanzas.

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THE HAUNTED PALACE THEME

OF SADNESS

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About two-thirds of the way through "The Haunted Palace" (at the beginning
of the fifth stanza), things take a nasty turn. Everything that was bright and
cheerful and uplifting suddenly turns dark and miserable and depressing.
Something has happened to the palace, and for the rest of thepoem we get a
kind of dark mirror image of the happy place we started out with. The
descriptive language has changed. Now all of a sudden the palace and the
things that come out of it are "desolate" (36), "ghastly" (45), and "hideous"
(47). Bad times all around.

Questions About Sadness

1. Why is the switch so complete in this poem? What's the effect on the
reader (that's you!) of having everything seem so happy, and then
suddenly become so sad?
2. Do you feel more sad or horrified at the end of this poem? Or do you get
another feeling entirely? What creates that feeling?
3. Can we learn something about sadness from this poem? Does it seem
like there's a lesson here, or is sadness just something that happens to
the palace and the king?
4. Does the image of laughing without smiling (48) creep you out too? Is
that feeling related to sadness? If so, how? If not, why not?

Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devils advocate.
The "Haunted Palace" mingles images of sadness and horror in the last two
stanzas (like worst peanut butter cup ever) as a way of making the reader feel
the terrible consequences of insanity.
There is no explanation for why the palace is attacked by "evil things."
Essentially, the poem presents sadness as a random and meaningless
consequence of bad luck, not as something that we can learn to avoid. Feel
better, now?

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THE HAUNTED PALACE THEME

OF MEMORY AND THE PAST

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The majority of "The Haunted Palace" (four out of six stanzas) is about the
way that the palace used to be. So in a way, this poem is more about the past,
about the palace that people remember, than the way things are in the
present. In this case, memory is kind of bittersweet, toothe way it often is.
According to our speaker, the past was a golden age, much better than the
darkness and grim misery that followed. If only he had some kind of time
machine

Questions About Memory and The Past

1. Why does the happy part of this poem take place "long ago"? How does
the change in time tie in with the change in mood from happy to sad?
2. If the images of the palace are a metaphor for a human head, could the
change in time be metaphor for the changes of a human life?
3. In the last two stanzas, the speaker connects the past with death, like
when he talks about "old time entombed" (40). Does that make sense to
you? Does the past die as it fades into memory?
4. Is the past comforting in this poem? Do all those sweet memories
lighten the mood at all, or does it finally not matter how happy and
beautiful things used to be? Why do you think so?

Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devils advocate.
Memory is no comfort at all in "The Haunted Palace." The joy and beauty of
the palace is gone forever, and those happy memories just add to the feeling
of loss and torment. Sheeshcan't anything cheer us up?

Even though the poem ends on a sour note, it's dominated by happy images
and sweet memories. The supposedly dead and vanished past is brought
back to life by the speaker's descriptions. So, he's got that going for him.

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THE HAUNTED PALACE THEME

OF THE SUPERNATURAL

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For starters, keep in mind that this poem is called "The Haunted Palace." So
there's a spooky, ghost-like atmosphere around this work from the very start.
As we continue, we meet more and more of the spirits who used to live in the
palace, and the ones who live there now. In one sense, this is just a way for
Poe to talk about the human brain and what can go wrong with it. On the other
hand, no one loves a good ghost story more than Poe, so this fits right in with
his general vibe. It's a bootiful fit. Get it? Anyone? is this thing on?

Questions About The Supernatural

1. Are the many kinds of spiritual creatures in this poem (angels, spirits,
Echoes, etc.) really different, or are they just different names for the
same idea? Why do you think so?

2. Is this a ghost story? Why or why not?

3. There are plenty of spirits in this poem, but is there anything that seems
to you like spirituality or religion? Is there any hint of some kind of
supernatural plan or order? If so, what? If not, why not?
4. Do you believe in haunted houses? Do you think the speaker of this
poem does? Or is he really talking about something else? If so, what?

Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devils advocate.
While "The Haunted Palace" is full of angels and spirits, there is no order or
plan in the supernatural world of this poemchaos and chance reign
supreme. It's every king named Thought for himself.
Back away from the Ouija board, Shmoopers. The spirit world in this poem is
purely a metaphor for human life and the human mind. The speaker shows no
interest in fully describing or organizing the spiritual beings that inhabit the
poem.

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THE HAUNTED PALACE THEME

OF MADNESS

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On the surface, "The Haunted Palace" is a poem about a palace, and the
terrible things that happen to it as time goes by. Below the surface though, the
features of this palace match up with the features of a human head. As we get
toward the end, we realize that this poem is an allegory for a man's descent
into madness. The palace-head goes from being cheerful, orderly, and in-tune
to being grim, disordered, and pretty much just totally out-of-whack.

Questions About Madness

1. How does the feeling of the poem change in the last two stanzas? What
do you think is the most important aspect of that change?
2. Does the whole palace-as-head allegory work for you? Do you feel the
effect of the descent into madness and disorder at the end? Why or why
not?
3. What's the most disturbing image in the final two stanzas and why?
4. Do you agree that madness is the problem with the palace-head? Are
there other possibilities? If so, what are they?

Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devils advocate.
The cryptic hints of madness that we get in the final stanzas are all the scarier
for not being out in the open. As the poem descends into insanity, we're never
quite sure where we're headed or why. It's like we're on the road to
Madnessville and our GPS just broke.
The image of figures laughing without smiling in the final line (kind of like what
we do at family reunions) delivers the final blow, pulling all the previous
images of happiness into the vortex of madness that takes over the poem.

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THE HAUNTED
PALACEHAPPINESS QUOTES
See more famous quotes from poetry

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How we cite our quotes: (Line)

Quote #1

By good angels tenanted, (2)

This line kicks off the generally happy vibe at the start of thispoem. Any place
where good angels would live has to be a happy spot, right? It also fits with
the supernatural themes of this poemthere are spirits everywhere in and
around this palace. At the same time, we never actually hear anything
else about those angels, so it could be that this description is metaphorical.
Happiness
Quote #2

And every gentle air that dallied,

In that sweet day, (13-14)
This line makes us think of the most beautiful summer day. Think of the best
day you've ever had at the beach, when it was warm, but not hot, when it was

breezy but not windyjust like that. The speaker's emphasis on the "gentle
air" and the "sweet day" really helps to bring that idea home.
Happiness
Quote #3

Wanderers in that happy valley, (17)

Now the speaker just comes out and straight-up tells us that this valley is a
happy place. He even reinforces that feeling by calling the people who are
heading through the valley "wanderers." They're not in a rush. They aren't
going straight from point A to point B as fast as possible. They're wandering,
just like happy people would.
Happiness

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How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4

And sparkling evermore, (28)

At a certain point, before everything falls apart, we almost get into My Little
Pony territory here. Everything is so happy and sparkly and gem-encrusted
and shiny that it almost makes our teeth hurt. It's almost as if the poem's
description gets wound up to the point where something has to give. And it
definitely does
Happiness

Quote #5

In voices of surpassing beauty,

The wit and wisdom of their king. (31-32)
The spirits of the palace are so happy that they sing constantly (and sound
great, of courseno off-key singing here). They sing to celebrate how wise
and smart their king is. If we follow the epic metaphor in this poem, that the
palace is like a human head, then at this point all is well with the symbolic
head. The mind is still sane and happy, so the speech that comes from the
head is evidence of that wise and cheerful mind.
Happiness

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THE HAUNTED
PALACESADNESS QUOTES
See more famous quotes from poetry

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How we cite our quotes: (Line)

Quote #1

But evil things, in robes of sorrow, (33)

Sadness appears suddenly in this poem, and in a really intense way. When
the "evil things" show up, they are literally wearing "sorrow," as if their clothes
were made of sadness. We don't know anything about what they are or where
they came from. In fact, their sudden appearance, out of nowhere, helps to
emphasize how random and unexpected the loss of mental balance can be.
Sadness
Quote #2

(Ah, let us mourn!for never morrow (35)

In this line the speaker pretty much comes out and tells us that it's time to be
sad. It's an invitation to "mourn" but also kind of an order. It's like when a
preacher says "let us pray." He's not making a suggestion; he's telling you
what's going to happen next. So the speaker of the poem is letting us know
that we're shifting gears here, and now is the time for mourning, almost as if
the palace's king was dead.
Sadness
Quote #3

Shall dawn upon him desolate!) (36)

The king, like his palace, is ruined, abandoned and completely filled
with sadness ("desolate"). He's in such bad shape, and the atmosphere is so
sad, that it's almost like he will never see another sunrise. This absence of
any possible future for the monarch is part of the sadness of this section of
the poem.
Sadness

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How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4

Of the old time entombed. (40)

This is another strong death image. We've already been told to "mourn" for
the king, and now we're told that the past ("old time") has been entombed
laid away like a dead body in the ground. The happiness we felt and saw in
the opening stanza is dead and gone, just a distant memory.
Sadness
Quote #5

And laughbut smile no more. (48)

The spirits of the palace still make the sounds that are supposed to go along
with happiness. They still laugh, but all the joy is gone, and the simple,
genuine smile of happiness is long gone. The fact that the poem ends with
this image helps us to see how important the loss of happiness is in "The
Haunted Palace."
Sadness

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THE HAUNTED PALACE

MEMORY AND THE PAST
QUOTES
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Quote #1

Once a fair and stately palace (3)

The "once" that starts this line is the first hint we get about when this poem is
taking place. The first couple of lines give us a really vivid sense of where we
are, but then this line puts some distance between us and those descriptions.
Suddenly we're in fairy tale time, in the land of "Once upon a time." We think
this line actually has a really powerful effect in setting the tone for the poem.
Memory and The Past
Quote #2

(Thisall thiswas in the olden

Time long ago,) (11-12)
The speaker is so focused on the "long ago" aspect of his descriptions that he
breaks into the flow of the poem to remind us that he's talking about the past.

It's almost like he doesn't want us to get too comfortable with the beautiful
images he's laying out in front of us. In a way, this foreshadows the eventual
collapse of beauty and joy that comes at the end of the poem.
Memory and The Past
Quote #3

Is but a dim-remembered story (39)

Now we're in the dark part of the poem. The beauty that we saw before has
vanished. It's just a dim memory, now that the palace has fallen into chaos
and despair. Even though the images of the happy palace are fresh in our
minds, the speaker wants us to know that, in the world of the poem, they're
hazy, almost gone. Memory and the past become almost ghostlike in this line.
Instead of being comforting and uplifting, that happy story of the past is dead
and gone, slowly slipping away. (We know, it's a drag, but it turns out that
Poe's not super-into happy endings.)
Memory and The Past

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Quote #4

Of the old time entombed. (40)

The past isn't just gone; it's dead. In this line it's as if the "old time" has been
symbolically laid away in a tomb, just like a dead body. What once was green
and growing and cheerful is gone foreverjust like death, the fall of the
palace doesn't work backwards. We're stuck in this hideous new world forever

and ever (or at least until we put the book down and go eat a tub of Ben and
Jerry's to make ourselves feel better).
Memory and The Past

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Quote #1

By good angels tenanted, (2)

These angels make a quick cameo at the start of this poem, but they don't
really come back. We often associate angels with some kind of religious
belief. Usually they are a part of some bigger spiritual orderservants of God,
for example. In this case, though, their presence seems kind of vague. They
hang out and lend some of their generally positive vibe to the valley and the
palace, but we don't learn much about them. Mostly, they seem to contribute
to the dream-like beauty of the opening stanzas.

The Supernatural
Quote #2

Spirits moving musically, (19)

These spirits represent the orderly, stable condition of the human body and
mind. In the opening stanzas they move in time to the music, round and round
the throne of the king, Thought. Beyond that, we don't learn
anything about who these spirits are, or what they are doing. It seems to us,
though, that the palace is just as "haunted" here as it is at the end. So it's not
really being filled with spirits that's the problem at the end. It's the kind of
spirits we're talking about that counts.
The Supernatural
Quote #3

A troop of Echoes, whose sweet duty (29)

These cheerful critters flowing out of the palace represent the speech that
comes out of the head while it's still in good shape. The hint that tips us off to
that is the fact that they are named after Echo. She was a Greek nymph who
could not speak for herself, but only "echo" the words of others. So these
particular spirits aren't here to come up with their own ideas, but to take
direction from the head.
The Supernatural

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Quote #4

But evil things, in robes of sorrow, (33)

These nasty things come out of nowhere. They kind of make us think of the
Dementors in Harry Potter, or maybe the Ringwraiths in the Lord of the Rings.
We imagine long, flowing black robes, horrifying ghostly faces, etc. Whatever
they look like, they show up in this poem to let us know that the party is over.
The happy spirits and good angels are permanently gone, and the "evil things"
have taken their place.
The Supernatural
Quote #5

Vast forms, that move fantastically (43)

These "vast forms" are the dark-side mirror image of the spirits we met in line
19. Where those spirits moves "musically," these ones move "fantastically."
There's something disturbing and grotesque about the change. It's just one
more instance of spirits helping to make clear the central metaphor of
madness and decay that runs through this poem.
The Supernatural

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THE HAUNTED PALACE

MADNESS QUOTES

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Quote #1

But evil things, in robes of sorrow,

Assailed the monarch's high estate. (33-34)
This is the first sign of trouble in the poem, the first hint that the happy world of
the palace isn't going to last. Something is attacking the palace-head, but it
isn't quite clear what yet. We're sort of creeped out by how fast this happens.
We were just getting into the rhythm of the happy sections, and suddenly that
all gets swept away.
Madness
Quote #2

Shall dawn upon him desolate!) (36)

This is a great word to describe the madness of the king. Someone who is
"desolate" is miserable, alone. What better way to describe a mind taken over
by madness? That feeling is reinforced by the fact that he's somehow outside
of time nowas the speaker puts it, the poor king will never see another
"morrow."
Madness

Quote #3

Through the red-litten windows see (42)

The windows-eyes that were once "luminous" (18) are now terrifyingly red. It's
not just that they've turned red (this isn't just a case of allergies!), it's that they
are lit with red. They're glowing red from the inside. That's bad news, another
sign of the terrible, tragic disorder that has taken over the palace.
Madness

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Quote #4

And laughbut smile no more. (48)

This is the crushing final image of madness, the proof that everything that was
once beautiful and sane has become ugly and deranged. In a normal world,
and in a normal state of mind, it should be impossible to laugh without smiling.
In the new world ofmadness and evil at the end of this poem, though, laughter
and smiles don't go together. The insane laughter goes on and on, but the
spirits will never smile. It's not just that this is a chilling image; it's that it all
seems so permanent. Joy is gone forever, andmadness is running the show.
Madness

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THE HAUNTED PALACE

QUESTIONS

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Bring on the tough stuff - theres not just one right answer.
1. Do you think sadness and pain can ever be beautiful? Does this poem
make sad things seem beautiful? If so, how?
2. What's the pull of scary stories? Why do we like to hear about things
going terribly wrong? Do you feel excited at all at the end of this poem?
Why or why not?
3. Did you solve the riddle of the palace being like a human head? Would
the poem still be meaningful if you didn't make that connection? Why or
why not? How would the experience of reading it be different?
4. Do you feel like things happen for a reason in this world? Or is
everything just chaos and chance? What does the speaker of this poem
seem to think about that?
5. Can happy memories help us with pain in the present? Does the happy
past seem to be any comfort in the dark and scary present we see in
"The Haunted Palace"?

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