"Metzengerstein: A Tale in Imitation of the German" is a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

by American writer and poet

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

, his first to see print. It was first published in the pages of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

's ''Saturday Courier'' magazine, in 1832. The story follows the young Frederick, the last of the Metzengerstein family, who carries on a long-standing feud with the Berlifitzing family. Suspected of causing a fire that kills the Berlifitzing family patriarch, Frederick becomes intrigued with a previously unnoticed and untamed horse. Metzengerstein is punished for his cruelty when his own home catches fire and the horse carries him into the flame. Part of a Latin

hexameter Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek and Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of syllables). It w ...

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

serves as the story's epigraph: ''Pestis eram vivus—moriens tua mors ero'' ("Living I have been your plague, dying I shall be your death"). "Metzengerstein" follows many conventions of

Gothic fiction Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of e ...

and, to some, exaggerates those conventions. Consequently, critics and scholars debate if Poe intended the story to be taken seriously or considered a

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

of Gothic stories. Regardless, many elements introduced in "Metzengerstein" would become common in Poe's future writing. Because the story follows an orphan raised in an aristocratic household, some critics suggest an

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

connection with its author. The story was submitted as Poe's entry to a writing contest at the ''Saturday Courier''. Though it did not win, the newspaper published it in January 1832. It was re-published with Poe's permission only twice during his lifetime; its subtitle was dropped for its final publication. Poe intended to include it in his collection ''Tales of the Folio Club'' or another called ''Phantasy Pieces'', but neither collection was ever produced.

Plot summary

The story, told from an unnamed third-person narrator, takes place in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

at an unspecified date. There is a rivalry between two wealthy families—the Metzengersteins and the Berlifitzings—which is so old that no one knows how far back it dates. The

narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

states that its origin appears to rely on an "ancient" prophecy: "A lofty name shall have a fearful fall when, as the rider over his horse, the mortality of Metzengerstein shall triumph over the immortality of Berlifitzing." Frederick, Baron of Metzengerstein, is orphaned at a young age, inheriting the family fortune at age 18 (though the age changes throughout its many re-publicationsQuinn, Arthur Hobson. ''Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography''. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998: 193. ). Equipped with enormous wealth and power, he begins to exhibit particularly cruel behavior.Sova, Dawn B. ''Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z''. New York City: Checkmark Books, 2001: 155. Four days after he receives his inheritance, the stables of the rival family Berlifitzing catch fire. The neighborhood attributes the act of arson to Frederick. That day, Metzengerstein sits staring intently at an old tapestry depicting "an enormous, and unnaturally colored horse" that belonged to the Berlifitzing clan. Behind the horse its rider has just been killed by "the dagger of a Metzengerstein". Frederick opens the door to leave, and the action causes his shadow to fall exactly on the spot of the murderer in the tapestry. Outside, his men are handling a horse. They tell Frederick that this new horse has been found in his stables with the letters "W.V.B." branded on its forehead. The equerry supposes they stand for William Von Berlifitzing. However, the grooms of the Berlifitzing stable do not recognize the horse. Frederick takes ownership of the horse. He later hears that Wilhelm Berlifitzing died in the fire as he tried to save one of his horses in the burning stable. Frederick and the horse become seemingly inseparable. He rides the animal as if addicted, and he becomes less and less interested in the affairs of his house and of society. He eventually begins to live in seclusion to the extent that others in the neighborhood suspect that he is either mad, sick, or overwhelmingly conceited. One night, Frederick awakes and maniacally mounts the horse to ride into the forest. Some hours later, his castle catches fire. A crowd gathers to watch the flames and see the horse carrying "an unbonneted and disordered rider" who clearly has no control over the animal. The horse leaps into the flames with its rider, thereby killing the last of the Metzengerstein clan. Immediately, the fire dies away. In the calm, the onlookers observe a cloud of smoke settle above the castle in the shape of a horse.

Publication history

Poe originally sent "Metzengerstein" to the ''Saturday Courier'' as his entry to a writing competition along with five other prose works, including " The Duke de l'Omelette" and "A Decided Loss". None of his entries won, though the judges apparently liked "Metzengerstein" enough to print it a few months later in their January 14, 1832 edition.Fisher, Benjamin Franklin. "Poe's 'Metzengerstein': Not a Hoax" in ''On Poe: The Best from "American Literature''. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1993: 145. It was published without Poe's name attached to it but it is acknowledged as the first tale published by Poe. Poe likely was not paid for its initial publication.Quinn, Arthur Hobson. ''Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography''. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998: 192. The subtitle of "A Tale in Imitation of the German" was added when it was republished in the ''

Southern Literary Messenger The ''Southern Literary Messenger'' was a periodical published in Richmond, Virginia, from August 1834 to June 1864, and from 1939 to 1945. Each issue carried a subtitle of "Devoted to Every Department of Literature and the Fine Arts" or some var ...

'' in January 1836, likely to capitalize on the popular interest in German horror. It was removed for its publication as part of the collection ''

Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque ''Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque'' is a collection of previously published short stories by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1840. Publication It was published by the Philadelphia firm Lea & Blanchard and released in two volumes. The pub ...

'' in 1840. "Metzengerstein" was one of 11 tales Poe would have collected as ''Tales of the Folio Club'', a tale collection Poe announced but never actually printed. The "Folio Club" would have been a fictitious literary society based on the

Delphian Club The Delphian Club was an early American literary club active between 1816 and 1825. The focal point of Baltimore's literary community, Delphians like John Neal were prodigious authors and editors. The group of mostly lawyers and doctors gath ...

that the author called a group of "dunderheads" out to "abolish literature". At each monthly meeting, a member would present a story. In the case of "Metzengerstein", the speaker was "Mr. Horrible Dictû, with white eyelashes, who had graduated at Gottingen" according to an early draft. The ''

Baltimore Saturday Visiter The ''Baltimore Saturday Visiter'' was a weekly periodical in Baltimore, Maryland, in the 19th century. It published some of the early work of Baltimore writer Edgar Allan Poe. History It was established in 1832 by Charles Cloud and Lambert Wilm ...

'' ran an advertisement calling for subscribers for the collection at $1 apiece. A week later, however, the newspaper announced that the author had withdrawn the pieces with the expectation they would be printed in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Poe also considered publishing "Metzengerstein" in a collection of stories to be called ''Phantasy Pieces'' as "The Horse-Shade", though the edition was never printed. In its first several publications, "Metzengerstein" included a line about the mother's death by

consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...

. The narrator says: "It is a path I have prayed to follow. I would wish all I love to perish of that gentle disease." When Poe was still a child, his own mother, Eliza Poe, died, presumably of consumption. His wife

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

also had tuberculosis and died in 1847. After her death, Poe altered his personal view of fictional heroines who were sick and idealized sick women while wishing for their death. This more romantic view of death was not uncommon in writing, as in John Keats's "

Ode to a Nightingale "Ode to a Nightingale" is a poem by John Keats written either in the garden of the Spaniards Inn, Hampstead, London or, according to Keats' friend Charles Armitage Brown, under a plum tree in the garden of Keats' house at Wentworth Place, also ...

", which may have inspired Poe.

Analysis

Though not explicitly stated, it is implied that the horse is really Berlifitzing. The first paragraph of the story references

metempsychosis Metempsychosis ( grc-gre, μετεμψύχωσις), in philosophy, is the Reincarnation#Conceptual definitions, transmigration of the soul, especially its reincarnation after death. The term is derived from ancient Greek philosophy, and has be ...

, the belief that the soul of a person is transferred to another living being upon death. Other evidence is the tapestry, the lack of a history or recognition in the horse and, certainly, the prophecy referencing the immortality of the Berlifitzings. The story can be read as an allegory, a warning that a human soul can be overtaken by the evil it has created. Such evil may be interpreted as having been created by a person's hatred and pride. Poe imitates many traditional "Germanic" elements in this tale. The most obvious example is the gloomy old castle, typical of

. The story also includes typical Gothic themes, which scholar Dawn Sova refers to as "hints at secret obsessions and sins, foreboding prophecies, family rivalry". These Gothic conventions had been a staple of popular fiction in Europe and the United States for several decades by the time Poe utilized them. Considering the subtitle, "A Tale in Imitation of the German", critics and scholars disagree if Poe may have, in fact, intended the story as a satire or burlesque of the genre, purposely exaggerating the elements of the Gothic to be humorous. Other evidence is that all of the other three stories Poe published in 1832 ("The Duc de l'Omelette", "A Tale of Jerusalem", and "Bon-Bon") are comic tales written, as Poe said, "''intended'' for half banter, half satire".Meyers, Jeffrey. ''Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy''. New York: Cooper Square Press, 1992: 64. The story also uses irony as a form of humor: Despite the family's prophecy that "the mortality of Metzengerstein shall triumph over the immortality of Berlifitzing", the opposite occurs. The suggestion that "Metzengerstein" is purposefully written as a satire has been disputed, especially because of Poe's revisions throughout its many republications where he removed some of the more exaggerated material. The German or, more generally, European overtones give the story a medieval setting, though the time and place of the plot is left indistinct.Hutchisson, James M. ''Poe''. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2005: 38. The atmosphere of the story combines both realistic and supernatural worlds while depicting pathological emotional states, likely influenced by the works of

Ludwig Tieck Johann Ludwig Tieck (; ; 31 May 177328 April 1853) was a German poet, fiction writer, translator, and critic. He was one of the founding fathers of the Romantic movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Early life Tieck was born in B ...

and E. T. A. Hoffmann. It has been called a precursor to "

The Fall of the House of Usher "The Fall of the House of Usher" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1839 in ''Burton's Gentleman's Magazine'', then included in the collection ''Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque'' in 1840. The short story ...

" and other later works. Among the elements Poe first uses in "Metzengerstein" which will become typical in his later works are the decaying and gloomy building with oddly shaped rooms, the remote, secluded property, vivid colors, and underground vaults as well as themes of vengeance and the overwhelming power of evil. Future works will also depict characters of extreme wealth; besides Metzengerstein, other examples are Roderick Usher, the narrator in "

Ligeia "Ligeia" () is an early short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1838. The story follows an unnamed narrator and his wife Ligeia, a beautiful and intelligent raven-haired woman. She falls ill, composes "The Conqueror Wor ...

" and Legrand's restored fortune in "

The Gold-Bug "The Gold-Bug" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe published in 1843. The plot follows William Legrand, who was bitten by a gold-colored bug. His servant Jupiter fears that Legrand is going insane and goes to Legrand's friend, an ...

". Poe also uses teeth as a symbol for the first time in "Metzengerstein". The horse's teeth are described as "sepulchral and disgusting". Poe would later use teeth as a sign of mortality, as in lips writhing about the teeth of the mesmerized man in "

The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" is a short story by the American author Edgar Allan Poe about a mesmerist who puts a man in a suspended hypnotic state at the moment of death. An example of a tale of suspense and horror, it is also to a c ...

", the sound of grating teeth in "

Hop-Frog "Hop-Frog" (originally "Hop-Frog; Or, the Eight Chained Ourang-Outangs") is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1849. The title character, a person with dwarfism taken from his homeland, becomes the jester of a kin ...

", and the obsession over teeth in "

Berenice Berenice ( grc, Βερενίκη, ''Bereníkē'') is the Ancient Macedonian form of the Attic Greek name ''Pherenikē'', which means "bearer of victory" . Berenika, priestess of Demeter in Lete ca. 350 BC, is the oldest epigraphical evidence. ...

". Death by fire would later be reused in Poe's story "

" as another punishment. Though Poe was emulating popular horror fiction of the time, "Metzengerstein" shows what made Poe's horror tales stand out: rather than focusing on blood and gore, he explored the minds of the characters to better understand them. The story has some autobiographical overtones as well, with the castle representing Moldavia, the Richmond home of Poe's foster-father John Allan.Silverman, Kenneth. ''Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance.'' New York City: Harper Perennial, 1991: 88. The Count, in this reading, would represent John Allan, and Poe the young Metzengerstein. Both Poe and Metzengerstein are orphaned at a young age. Poe may have found writing the story therapeutic; in it, he destroys "John Allan", though he is also destroyed in return. In focusing on the final fire scene, Poe may have been recalling the fatal Richmond Theatre fire of December 1811 which occurred three weeks after his mother, the actress

Eliza Poe Eliza Poe ( Elizabeth Arnold; formerly Hopkins; 1787 – December 8, 1811) was an English actress and the mother of the American author Edgar Allan Poe. Life and career Elizabeth Arnold was born to Henry and Elizabeth Arnold in London in th ...

, had died.

Critical response

The German nature of "Metzengerstein" and other stories in the collection ''Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque'' was mentioned in a review by Joseph C. Neal in the ''Pennsylvanian'' on December 6, 1839: "These grotesque and arabesque delineations are full of variety, now irresistibly quaint and droll, and again marked with all the deep and painful interest of the German school".

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

was an admirer of Poe and once wrote, "My own personal debt to Poe is a heavy one". "Metzengerstein" was an inspiration to his story " The Phantom 'Rickshaw", where the main character is punished by the horse of someone he has murdered.

Adaptations

"Metzengerstein" was adapted into one component of '' Histoires extraordinaires'' in 1968, by

Roger Vadim Roger Vadim Plemiannikov (; 26 January 1928 – 11 February 2000) was a French screenwriter, film director and producer, as well as an author, artist and occasional actor. His best-known works are visually lavish films with erotic qualities, su ...

. The segment stars Jane Fonda and Peter Fonda.

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

n composer Joan Balan wrote a musical score for piano in 1934 based on the story called ''Das Feuerpferd''.Sova, Dawn B. ''Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z''. New York City: Checkmark Books, 2001: 19.

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

singer Lord Vampyr, famous for his work with

Theatres des Vampires Theatres des Vampires is an Italian gothic metal band, mostly noted for the predominant theme of vampirism within their lyrics. The band's early material was credited as melodic black metal or symphonic black metal, but the group completely aba ...

, has a song named "Metzengerstein" in his 2010 album ''

Horror Masterpiece ''Horror Masterpiece'' is the third studio album by Italian extreme metal vocalist Lord Vampyr, released on 25 March 2010. Beginning with this album, Lord Vampyr abandoned the symphonic black metal style of his previous two releases, shifting to ...

''. The song's lyrics heavily allude to the tale.

References

External links

Full text of first printing, from the ''Philadelphia Saturday Courier'', 1832

a
Edgar Allan Poe Society

* {{good article 1832 short stories Short stories by Edgar Allan Poe Works originally published in American magazines Short stories set in castles Short stories adapted into films