| Conqueror Worm | |
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 Illustration for "The Conqueror Worm", by W. Heath Robinson, 1900 | |
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Real Name |
Conqueror Worm |
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First Appearance |
The Conqueror Worm (1843) |
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Original Publisher |
Graham's Magazine |
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Created by |
Edgar Allan Poe |
Origin[]
"The Conqueror Worm" is a poem by Edgar Allan Poe about human mortality and the inevitability of death. It was first published separately in Graham's Magazine in 1843, but quickly became associated with Poe's short story "Ligeia" after Poe added the poem to a revised publication of the story in 1845. In the revised story, the poem is composed by the eponymous Ligeia, and taught to the narrator in the fits of her death throes.
In the poem, an audience of weeping angels watches a play performed by "mimes, in the form of God on high", and controlled by vast formless shapes looming behind the scenes. The mimes chase a "Phantom" which they can never capture, running around in circles. Finally, a monstrous "crawling shape" emerges, and eats the mimes. The final curtain comes down, "a funeral pall", signaling an end to the "tragedy, 'Man'", whose only hero is "The Conqueror Worm".
The poem plays an important symbolic role as part of its inclusion in the short story "Ligeia." The poem is written by Ligeia as she is dying, though it is actually recited by the narrator, her husband.
Because it emphasizes the finality of death, it calls to question Ligeia's resurrection in the story. Also, the inclusion of the bitter poem may have been meant to be ironic or a parody of the convention at the time, both in literature and in life. In the mid-19th century it was common to emphasize the sacredness of death and the beauty of dying (examples include Charles Dickens's Little Johnny character in Our Mutual Friend and the death of Helen Burns in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre). Instead, Ligeia speaks of fear personified in the "blood-red thing."
The Poem[]
Lo! 'tis a gala night Within the lonesome latter years! An angel throng, bewinged, bedight In veils, and drowned in tears, Sit in a theatre, to see A play of hopes and fears, While the orchestra breathes fitfully The music of the spheres.
Mimes, in the form of God on high, Mutter and mumble low, And hither and thither fly— Mere puppets they, who come and go At bidding of vast formless things That shift the scenery to and fro, Flapping from out their Condor wings Invisible Wo!
That motley drama—oh, be sure It shall not be forgot! With its Phantom chased for evermore, By a crowd that seize it not, Through a circle that ever returneth in To the self-same spot, And much of Madness, and more of Sin, And Horror the soul of the plot.
But see, amid the mimic rout A crawling shape intrude! A blood-red thing that writhes from out The scenic solitude! It writhes!—it writhes!—with mortal pangs The mimes become its food, And the angels sob at vermin fangs In human gore imbued.
Out—out are the lights—out all! And, over each quivering form, The curtain, a funeral pall, Comes down with the rush of a storm, And the angels, all pallid and wan, Uprising, unveiling, affirm That the play is the tragedy, "Man," And its hero the Conqueror Worm.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of the Conqueror Worm from before January 1, 1930 are public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- The Conqueror Worm in Graham's Magazine (Jan 1843)
- The Poets & Poetry of Philadelphia: Edgar Allan Poe in Saturday Museum (Feb 1843)
- The Raven and Other Poems (1845)
- The Conqueror Worm in New York World (Feb 1845)
- The Conqueror Worm" in The Broadway Journal (Sept 1845)
Public Domain Comic Appearances[]
- Worlds of Fear #5: In the 10 page comic titled The Conqueror Worm, Dr. Rypton steals a fresh body from a grave and is haunted and attacked by ghostly earthworms - for he has deprived them of their dinner.
- Scream #5: The Conqueror Worm and the Haunted Palace was a 2 page adaptation of some of the poems by Edgar Allan Poe.
Notes[]
- Vol. 5 of the Hellboy comic book mini-series by Mike Mignola titled Hellboy: Conqueror Worm was based on the poem.
- Dark Horse Comics also released Edgar Allan Poe Conqueror Worm, a one-shot comic by Richard Corben in November 2012.