…the giddiest grew pale…


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Federico Castillon
Masque of the Red Death, 1968
1975.39.07
It was in this apartment, also, that there stood against the western wall, a gigantic clock of ebony. Its pendulum swung to and fro with a dull, heavy, monotonous clang; and when the minute-hand made the circuit of the face, and the hour was to be stricken, there came from the brazen lungs of the clock a sound which was clear and loud and deep and exceedingly musical, but of so peculiar a note and emphasis that, at each lapse of an hour, the musicians of the orchestra were constrained to pause, momentarily, in their performance, to hearken to the sound; and there was a brief disconcert of the whole gay company; and, while the chimes of the clock yet rang, it was observed that the giddiest grew pale, and that the more aged and sedate passed their hands over their brows as if in confused reverie or meditation. But when the echoes had fully ceased, a light laughter at once pervaded the assembly; the musicians looked at each other and smiled as if at their own nervousness and folly, and made whispering vows, each to the other, that the next chiming of the clock should produce in them no similar emotion; and then, after the lapse of sixty minutes, (which embrace three thousand and six hundred seconds of the Time that flies,) there came yet another chiming of the clock, and then were the same disconcert and tremulousness and meditation as before.

Upcoming Big Read Events:

March 23rd – The Mystery of Orchids

Paris Public Library (IL), 6:30 p.m. (CST)
Edgar Allan Poe wrote stories filled with mystery, terror and wonder. No plant fills gardeners with more terror than orchids. Dick Wells of Hilltop Orchids will guide us through the mysteries of these wonderful flowers.

March 24th – Tree-Stump Tombstones

Vigo County Public Library, 12:10pm-12:50 p.m.
Professor Emerita Harriet McNeal will discuss a particular type of tombstone that looks like a tree and is found in cemeteries across the U.S.

March 26th – Poe Film Festival

Community Theater, 1431 S. 25, 1:00-4:00 p.m.
Masque of the Red Death will be shown at 1:00 p.m. followed by a discussion of Poe’s work and films by Sharon Russell. Fall of the House of Usher will be shown at 3:00 p.m. Both films feature Vincent Price.