“ Such, I have long known, is the paradoxical law of all sentiments having terror as a basis. ”
Edgar Allan Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher (1839). copy citation
| Author | Edgar Allan Poe |
|---|---|
| Source | The Fall of the House of Usher |
| Topic | feelings terror |
| Date | 1839 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | https://www.gutenberg.org/files/932/932-h/932-h.htm |
Context
“I have said that the sole effect of my somewhat childish experiment—that of looking down within the tarn—had been to deepen the first singular impression. There can be no doubt that the consciousness of the rapid increase of my superstition—for why should I not so term it?—served mainly to accelerate the increase itself. Such, I have long known, is the paradoxical law of all sentiments having terror as a basis. And it might have been for this reason only, that, when I again uplifted my eyes to the house itself, from its image in the pool, there grew in my mind a strange fancy—a fancy so ridiculous, indeed, that I but mention it to show the vivid force of the sensations which oppressed me.”
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