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Poetry · Chapter

Ulalume explained

The narrator wanders through a ghoul-haunted woodland with his soul, Psyche, on a night in October, unaware of the significance of the date.

What happens

The narrator wanders through a ghoul-haunted woodland with his soul, Psyche, on a night in October, unaware of the significance of the date. They encounter a crescent moon that the narrator sees as a hopeful guide, but Psyche mistrusts it. They proceed to a tomb, which reveals the name of his lost love, Ulalume, and the narrator realizes he has unknowingly returned to her grave on the anniversary of her burial.

Themes in this chapter

  • Loss and Grief

    The narrator's journey to the tomb of his lost love Ulalume on the anniversary of her death embodies profound grief.

  • Madness and Terror

    The ghoul-haunted setting, Psyche's terror, and the narrator's unwitting return to the grave evoke madness and dread.

Characters to notice

  • Narrator

    The grieving speaker who roams with Psyche and discovers the tomb of his lost Ulalume.

  • Psyche

    The narrator's soul, who senses danger and mistrusts the crescent moon, but is persuaded to continue.

  • Death

    Implied presence through the tomb of Ulalume and the theme of loss.

Key passages

  • “It was night in the lonesome October / Of my most immemorial year;”

    It was a lonely October night in a year I will never forget.

    Sets the scene of a memorable, sorrowful autumn night.

  • “And I said—'What is written, sweet sister, / On the door of this legended tomb?' / She replied—'Ulalume—Ulalume— / 'Tis the vault of thy lost Ulalume!'”

    I asked Psyche what was inscribed on the tomb, and she answered that it was the resting place of my lost Ulalume.

    Climactic revelation that the narrator has unknowingly come to his beloved's grave.

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