Notes
Editor’s Note: The story was first published in the National Amateur (“July 1919”), although that issue probably did not appear until the spring or summer of 1921. (The story was written in December 1920.) At some later date HPL must have prepared a new T.Ms., as the next appearance—Weird Tales (January 1924)—contains significant revisions. There is a surviving T.Ms., but it is in an unrecognisable typeface and may have been prepared by E. Hoffmann Price for an anthology he was contemplating in the 1930s (see SL 4.112). This T.Ms.—probably derived from the Weird Tales text—is very inaccurate and contains numerous corrections by HPL, although he probably proofread it without consultation of any existing text; it also contains some apparently deliberate revisions by HPL. Because of its inaccuracy, the readings of this T.Ms. probably need to be augmented and corrected by readings from the first two published appearances that appear to embody HPL’s stylistic and spelling preferences. The Arkham House editions followed Price’s T.Ms. The second Weird Tales appearance (March 1937) is not relevant to the tale’s textual history.
Texts: A = National Amateur 41, No. 6 (July 1919): 246–49; B = Weird Tales 3, No. 1 (January 1924): 40–42; C = T.Ms. (JHL); D = The Dunwich Horror and Others (Arkham House, 1963), 121–29. Copy-text: C (with corrections and revisions from A and B).
1. Ptolemais,] Ptolemais A
2. grotesqueness,] grotesqueness A, B, D
3. travelled] traveled B
4. of] om. A, B
5. and more] om. A
6. flourished] flourished, B
7. minds.] minds. ¶ B
8. civilisation,] civilization, A, B, D
9. folk] folks D
10. days;] days, C, D
11. travelling] traveling B
12. data;] data, A, C [corrected by HPL]
13. problematical] uncertain A
14. Arkham;] Arkham, C, D
15. elms] oaks A, B
16. hill.] hill. ¶ B
17. was] is D
18. unfavourably] unfavorably A, B, C, D
19. travellers] travelers B
20. biased] biassed C
21. sure;] sure, C, D
22. explain.] explain. ¶ B
23. rough,] rough A
24. doorstep,] door-step, C, D
25. neighbouring] neighboring B, C, D
26. transom] fanlight A, B
27. neglect.] neglect. ¶ B
28. odour.] odor. B, C, D
29. post-revolutionary] post-Revolutionary A, B
30. been] formed A
31. define;] define, A
32. forgotten.] forgotten. ¶ B
33. about] about, B
34. antediluvian aspect] aspect of antiquity A
35. marvelled] marveled B
36. Lopez] Lopex D
37. disquiet.] disquiet. ¶ B
38. of] to B
39. connexion] connection B, C, D
40. turned] turend A
41. neighbouring] neighboring A, B, C, D
42. eighteenth-century] 18th century A; eighteenth century B, C, D
43. “Magnalia . . . Americana”,] “Magnalia . . . Americana,” B, D
44. overhead.] overhead. ¶ B
45. had] hed A
46. sleep;] sleep, C, D
47. footsteps] footseps A
48. heavy,] heavy A
49. heavy.] heavy. ¶ B
50. panelled] paneled B, C, D
51. such] sush A
52. Old,] Old A
53. proportion.] paoportion. A; proportion. ¶ B
54. long] om. A
55. unkemptness] unkemptness, A, B
56. tell,] tel,l A
57. description.] description. On a beard which might have been patriarchal were unsightly stains, some of them disgustingly suggestive of blood. A
58. instinctive] instructive A
59. enmity;] enmity, A
60. greeted. “Glad] greeted, “glad A, B, C
61. en’] an’ A
62. sence] sense C
63. tuk] took A
64. apologised] apologized B, C, D
65. continued.] continued, “Glad A; continued: ¶ “Glad B
66. young] om. A
67. taown] city A
68. ’im . . . hed] him . . . had A
69. sence—” Here] sence—” here A, C, D; sence—” ¶ Here B
70. humour,] humor, B, C, D
71. Congo”.] Congo.” A, B, D
72. it;] it, A, C, D
73. overmastered] over mastered A
74. one;] one, C, D
75. thet] that D
76. war.”] war.” ¶ B
77. labouring,] laboring, B, C, D
78. continued.] continued: A, B
79. Salem] Plymouth A
80. for] fer B
81. relished] liked A
82. swap.] trade. A
83. leave] let A
84. spectacles—”] spectacles—” ¶ B
85. hed] had C, D
86. Passon] Parson A
87. draownded] drownded A
88. it?”] it?” ¶ B
89. simplicity] simpic-/ity A
90. un] ’un A
91. all!] all. C, D
92. ef] if A
93. here] om. A
94. un.”] ’un.” A
95. un] ’un A
96. shewing] showing B, C, D
97. eh?] eh A
98. ‘Thar’s] ’Thar’s A; ‘That’s C, D
99. tickle!’] tickle! A; tickle.’ C, D
100. no] a B
101. whar] where A
102. his] ’is A
103. side of ] beside A
104. t’other] t’oter B
105. graound] ground A; other C, D [other in C is crossed out, graound written over it]
106. block.” ¶ As] block.” As A
107. hairy,] hairy A
108. became] become A
109. un] ’un A
110. Arter] After A
111. Passon] Parson A
112. ter] ta A
113. it—”] it—” ¶ B
114. bleared,] om. A
115. but] but, A
116. cravin’] cravin’ C, D
117. ter] to A
118. begun] began A
119. same—”] same—” ¶ B
120. produced by . . . by] due to . . . to A, B, C [corrected]
121. produced by] due to A, B, C [corrected]
122. spattering] splattering C [corrected], D
123. shewed] showed B, C, D
124. eyes.] eyes. ¶ B
125. thunderbolts; blasting that] thunderbolts, striking the A, B, C [corrected]
Ex Oblivione
When the last days were upon me, and the ugly trifles of existence began to drive me to madness like the small drops of water that torturers let fall ceaselessly upon one spot of their victim’s body, I loved the irradiate refuge of sleep. In my dreams I found a little of the beauty I had vainly sought in life, and wandered through old gardens and enchanted woods.
Once when the wind was soft and scented I heard the south calling, and sailed endlessly and languorously under strange stars.
Once when the gentle rain fell I glided in a barge down a sunless stream under the earth till I reached another world of purple twilight, iridescent arbours,[1] and undying roses.
And once I walked through a golden valley that led to shadowy groves and ruins, and ended in a mighty wall green with antique vines, and pierced by a little gate of bronze.
Many times I walked through that valley, and longer and longer would I pause in the spectral half-light where the giant trees squirmed and twisted grotesquely, and the grey ground stretched damply from trunk to trunk, sometimes disclosing the mould-stained stones of buried temples. And always the goal of my fancies was the mighty vine-grown wall with the little gate of bronze therein.
After a while, as the days of waking became less and less bearable from their greyness and sameness, I would often drift
in opiate peace through the valley and the shadowy groves, and wonder how I might seize them for my eternal dwelling-place, so that I need no more crawl back to a dull world stript of interest and new colours. And as I looked upon the little gate in the mighty wall, I felt that beyond it lay a dream-country from which, once it was entered, there would be no return.
So each night in sleep I strove to find the hidden latch of the gate in the ivied antique wall, though it was exceedingly well hidden.[2] And I would tell myself that the realm beyond the wall was not more lasting merely, but more lovely and radiant as well.
Then one night in the dream city[3] of Zakarion I found a yellowed papyrus filled with the thoughts of dream-sages who dwelt of old in that city, and who were too wise ever to be born in the waking world. Therein were written many things concerning the world of dream, and among them was lore of a golden valley and a sacred grove with temples, and a high wall pierced by a little bronze gate. When I saw this lore, I knew that it touched on the scenes I had haunted, and I therefore read long in the yellowed papyrus.
Some of the dream-sages wrote gorgeously of the wonders beyond the irrepassable gate, but others told of horror and disappointment. I knew not which to believe, yet longed more and more to cross for ever[4] into the unknown land; for doubt and secrecy are the lure of lures, and no new horror can be more terrible than the daily torture of the commonplace. So when I learned of the drug which would unlock the gate and drive me through, I resolved to take it when next I awaked.
Last night I swallowed the drug and floated dreamily into the golden valley and the shadowy groves; and when I came this time to the antique wall, I saw that the small gate of bronze was ajar. From beyond came a glow that weirdly[5] lit the giant twisted trees and[6] tops of the buried temples, and I drifted on songfully, expectant of the glories of the land from whence I should never return.
But as the gate swung wider and the sorcery of[7] drug and dream pushed me through, I knew that all sights and glories were at an end; for in that new realm was neither land nor sea, but only the white void of unpeopled and illimitable space. So, happier than I had ever dared hoped to be, I dissolved again into that native infinity of crystal oblivion from which the daemon Life had called me for one brief and desolate hour.
Notes
Editor’s Note: In the absence of a manuscript, we are reliant on two texts published in or soon after HPL’s lifetime. The prose-poem was first published in the United Amateur (March 1921), typeset by E. E. Ericson. It was reprinted in the Phantagraph (July 1937). It is unclear whether the editor, Donald A. Wollheim, received a T.Ms. from HPL or worked from the United Amateur appearance; I suspect the former, in which case some readings in the Phantagraph text may reflect HPL’s wishes. The Arkham House text appears to follow the Phantagraph appearance.
Texts: A = United Amateur 20, No. 4 (March 1921): 59–60; B = Phantagraph 6, No. 3 (July 1937): 2–4; C = Beyond the Wall of Sleep (Arkham House, 1943), 8–9. Copy-text: A (with some readings from B).
1. arbours,] arbours A
2. well hidden.] well-hidden. A, B
3. dream city] dream-city C
4. for ever] forever A
5. that weirdly] thet wierdly B
6. and] and the C
7. of] of the B, C
Sweet Ermengarde; or, The Heart of a Country Girl
By Percy Simple
Chapter I.
A Simple Rustic Maid[1]
Ermengarde Stubbs was the beauteous blonde daughter of Hiram Stubbs, a poor but honest farmer-bootlegger of Hogton, Vt. Her name was originally Ethyl Ermengarde, but her father persuaded her to drop the praenomen after the passage of the 18th[2] Amendment, averring that it made him thirsty by reminding him of ethyl[3] alcohol, C2H5OH.[4] His own products contained mostly methyl or wood alcohol, CH3OH. Ermengarde confessed to sixteen[5] summers, and branded as mendacious all reports to the effect that she was thirty.[6] She had large black eyes, a prominent Roman nose, light hair which was never dark at the roots except when the local drug store was short on supplies, and a beautiful but inexpensive complexion. She was about 5ft 5.33…in [7] tall, weighed 115.47 lbs.[8] on her father’s copy scales—also off them—and was adjudged most lovely by all the village swains who admired her father’s farm and liked his liquid crops.
Ermengarde’s hand was sought in matrimony by two ardent lovers. ’Squire Hardman, who had a mortgage on the old home, was very rich and elderly. He was dark and cruelly handsome, and always rode horseback and carried a riding-crop. Long had he sought the radiant Ermengarde, and now his ardour was fanned to fever heat by a secret known to him alone—for upon the humble acres of Farmer Stubbs he had discovered a vein of rich GOLD!![9] “Aha!”[10] said he, “I will win the maiden ere her parent knows of his unsuspected wealth, and join to my fortune a greater fortune still!” And so he began to call twice a week instead of once as before.
But alas for the sinister designs of a villain—’Squire Hardman was not the only suitor for the fair one. Close by the village dwelt another—the handsome Jack Manly, whose curly yellow hair had won the sweet Ermengarde’s affection when both were toddling youngsters at the village school. Jack had long been too bashful to declare his passion, but one day while strolling along a shady lane by the old mill with Ermengarde, he had found courage to utter that which was within his heart.
“O light of my life,”[11] said he, “my soul is so overburdened that I must speak! Ermengarde,[12] my ideal [he pronounced it i-deel!], life[13] has become an empty thing without you. Beloved[14] of my spirit, behold a suppliant kneeling in the dust before thee. Ermengarde—oh, Ermengarde, raise me to an heaven of joy and say that you will some day be mine! It is true that I am poor, but have I not youth and strength to fight my way to fame? This I can do only for you, dear Ethyl—pardon me, Ermengarde—my only, my most precious—” but here he paused to wipe his eyes and mop his brow, and the fair responded:
“Jack—my angel—at last—I mean, this is so unexpected and quite unprecedented! I had never dreamed that you entertained sentiments of affection in connexion[15] with one so lowly as Farmer Stubbs’ child—for I am still but a child! Such is your natural nobility that I had feared—I mean thought—you would be blind to such slight charms as I possess, and that you would seek your fortune in the great city; there meeting and wedding one of those more comely damsels whose splendour we observe in fashion books.
“But, Jack, since it is really I whom you adore, let us waive all needless circumlocution. Jack—my darling—my heart has long been susceptible to your manly graces. I cherish an affection for thee—consider me thine own and be sure to buy the ring at Perkins’ hardware store where they have such nice imitation diamonds in the window.”
“Ermengarde, me[16] love!”
“Jack—my precious!”
“My darling!”
“My own!”
“My Gawd!”
[Curtain][17]
Chapter II.
And the Villain Still Pursued Her[18]
But these tender passages, sacred though their fervour, did not pass unobserved by profane eyes; for crouched in the bushes and gritting his teeth was the dastardly ’Squire Hardman! When the lovers had finally strolled away he leapt out into the lane, viciously twirling his moustache and riding-crop, and kicking an unquestionably innocent cat who was also out strolling.
“Curses!” he cried—Hardman, not the cat—“I am foiled in my plot to get the farm and the girl! But Jack Manly shall never succeed! I am a man of power—and we shall see!”
Thereupon he repaired to the humble Stubbs’ cottage, where he found the fond father in the still-cellar washing bottles under the supervision of the gentle wife and mother, Hannah Stubbs. Coming directly to the point, the villain spoke:
“Farmer Stubbs, I cherish a tender affection of long standing for your lovely offspring, Ethyl Ermengarde. I am consumed with love, and wish her hand in matrimony. Always a man of few words, I will not descend to euphemism. Give me the gir
l or I will foreclose the mortgage and take the old home!”
“But, Sir,” pleaded the distracted Stubbs while his stricken spouse merely glowered, “I am sure the child’s affections are elsewhere placed.”
“She must be mine!” sternly snapped the sinister ’Squire. “I will make her love me—none shall resist my will! Either she becomes muh wife or the old homestead goes!”
And with a sneer and flick of his riding-crop ’Squire Hardman strode out into the night.
Scarce had he departed, when there entered by the back door the radiant lovers, eager to tell the senior Stubbses of their new-found happiness. Imagine the universal consternation which reigned when all was known! Tears flowed like white mule,[19] till suddenly Jack remembered he was the hero and raised his head, declaiming in appropriately virile accents:
“Never shall the fair Ermengarde be offered up to this beast as a sacrifice while I live! I shall protect her—she is mine, mine, mine—and then some! Fear not, dear father and mother to be—I will defend you all! You shall have the old home still [adverb, not noun—although Jack was by no means out of sympathy with Stubbs’ kind of farm produce] and[20] I shall lead to the altar the beauteous Ermengarde, loveliest of her sex! To perdition with the crool ’Squire[21] and his ill-gotten gold—the right shall always win, and a hero is always in the right! I will go to the great city and there make a fortune to save you all ere the mortgage fall due! Farewell, my love—I leave you now in tears, but I shall return to pay off the mortgage and claim you as my bride!”
“Jack, my protector!”
“Ermie, my sweet roll!”[22]
“Dearest!”
“Darling!—and don’t forget that ring at Perkins’.”
“Oh!”
“Ah!”
[Curtain][23]
Chapter III.
A Dastardly Act[24]
But the resourceful ’Squire Hardman was not so easily to be foiled. Close by the village lay a disreputable settlement of unkempt shacks, populated by a shiftless scum who lived by thieving and other odd jobs. Here the devilish villain secured two accomplices—ill-favoured fellows who were very clearly no gentlemen. And in the night the evil three broke into the Stubbs[25] cottage and abducted the fair Ermengarde, taking her to a wretched hovel in the settlement and placing her under the charge of Mother Maria, a hideous old hag. Farmer Stubbs was quite distracted, and would have advertised in the papers if the cost had been less than a cent a word for each insertion. Ermengarde was firm, and never wavered in her refusal to wed the villain.
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