"The Tell-Tale Heart"
By Edgar Allan Poe

Transcription, correction, editorial commentary, and markup by by Students and Staff of Marymount University, Hawa Sheikh-Adam, Austin Benson.
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Sources

Boston : J. R. Lowell and R. Carter, 1843Text for this digital edition drawn from The University of Virginia's etext center and checked against the first edition text using The Internet Archive. Page images are drawn from The Internet Archive's facsimile copy off The Pioneer: A Literary and Critical Magazine.

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Citation

Edgar Allan Poe. "The Tell-Tale Heart". The Pioneer, J. R. Lowell and R. Carter, 1843 , Volume I pp 29-31 . Literature in Context: An Open Anthology. http://anthology.lib.virginia.edu/work/Poe/poe-tell-tale. Accessed: 2024-05-03T02:07:27.647Z

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29 THE TELL-TALE HEART.

BY EDGAR A. POE
Art is long and Time is fleeting, And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still, like muffled drums, are beating Funeral marches to the grave. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

TRUE! — nervous — very, very dreadfully nervous I had been, and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses — not destroyed — not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearkenhearken and observe how healthily — how calmly I can tell you the whole story.

It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but, once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! — yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture — a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so, by degrees — very gradually — I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.

Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded — with what caution — with what foresight — with what dissimulationdissimulation I went to work! I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him. And every night, about midnight, I turned the latch of his door and opened it — oh so gently! And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern, all closed, closed, that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head. Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly — very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old man's sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha! — would a madman have been so wise as this? And then, when my head was well in the room, I undid the lantern cautiously — oh, so cautiously — cautiously (for the hinges creaked) — I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye. And this I did for seven long nights — every night just at midnight — but I found the eye always closed; and so it

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Footnotes

hearken_To hear with attention, give ear to; to listen to; to have regard to, heed; to understand, learn by hearing. Source: Oxford English Dictionary.
dissimulation_The action of dissimulating or dissembling; concealment of what really is, under a feigned semblance of something different; feigning, hypocrisy. Source: Oxford English Dictionary..
evil_eye_ The Evil Eye is a ubiquitious cultural phenomenon referring to a glance "believed to have the ability to cause injury or death to those on whom it falls."
profound_ Having great insight into or knowledge of something. Source: Oxford English Dictionary.
sagacity_Acuteness of mental discernment; aptitude for investigation or discovery; keenness and soundness of judgement in the estimation of persons and conditions, and in the adaptation of means to ends; penetration, shrewdness. Source: Oxford English Dictionary.
mortal_ Of pain, grief, fear, or the like: such as might cause death; deadly in its effects. Source: Oxford English Dictionary.
supposition_ An assumption (without reference to its truth or falsehood) used as a basis of argument, or for the purpose of tracing the consequences; a premise from which a conclusion is drawn. Source: Oxford English Dictionary.
vex_To trouble, afflict, or harass (a person, etc.) by aggression, encroachment, or other interference with peace and quiet; to cause damage, detriment, or difficulty to. Source: Oxford English Dictionary.
pulsation_The beating or throbbing of the pulse; rhythmical expansion and contraction of the heart, an artery, etc. Source: Oxford English Dictionary.
suavity_Gracious; sweet; agreeable. Source: Oxford English Dictionary.
audacity_ Boldness, daring, intrepidity; confidence. Source: Oxford English Dictionary.
fluently_ With easy and ready flow of words. Source: Oxford English Dictionary.
vehemently_ In a manner expressive of strong feeling, perturbation, or excitement; with strong or forceful language. Source: Oxford English Dictionary.
gesticulation_The action or process of gesticulating; to make lively or energetic motions with the limbs or body; esp. as an accompaniment or in lieu of speech. Source: Oxford English Dictionary.
dissemble_ To alter or disguise the semblance of (one's character, a feeling, design, or action) so as to conceal, or deceive as to, its real nature; to give a false or feigned semblance to; to cloak or disguise by a feigned appearance. Source: Oxford English Dictionary.