hey knew me no more than they would have known a
traveler from the spirit-land. My hair, which had been raven-black the
day before, was as white as you see it now. They say, too, that the
whole expression of my countenance had changed. I told them my
story--they did not believe it. I now tell it to _you_, and I can
scarcely expect you to put more faith in it than did the merry fishermen
of Lofoden."

_A Descent into the Maelstrom_ is a remarkable example of forcible
description as well as of artistic skill in the setting.

I. The first third of the story is an introduction to the main
tale. The story itself might seem to be sufficiently exciting, but
it would have much less power if it began where the old man
commences to tell the tale. Notice what Poe throws into his
introduction:

1. He represents the tale as told to himself by an old man with
white hair, weakened limbs and unstrung nerves that tremble at the
least exertion. The old man claims to be frightened at a shadow,
yet he is able to throw himself down to rest with the weightier
portion of his body hanging over a precipice and held back from the
slippery edge of the cliff of black shining rock, some sixteen
hundred feet high, merely by the power of his elbows thrust into
the earth. The position is so perilous that the hearer throws
himself at full length upon the ground, clinging to the shrubs
around him and scarcely daring to glance upward at the sky. Besides
the precarious position in which the men are placed, fierce winds
that seem to shake the very foundations of the mountain cause
thrills of terror to the onlooker.

2. The guide points out the scene of his terrible experience.

3. The author describes the sea, the islands and the location of
the whirlpool.

4. Then follows a description of the water in the conflicting
channels.

5. Suddenly the circular whirlpool appears, and from the awful
height the observers are able to look down into the mouth of the
terrific funnel.

6. More description follows, showing what happens to objects caught
within the fierce grasp of the revolving waters.

7. Reference is made to ancient accounts of the whirlpool.

8. He makes some effort to explain the causes which would produce
such fearful currents so furiously in action, but finds himself