In the greenest of our valleys,
By good angels tenanted,
Once a fair and stately palace —
Radiant palace — reared its head.
In the monarch Thought’s dominion —
It stood there!
Never seraph spread a pinion
Over fabric half so fair!
Banners yellow, glorious, golden,
On its roof did float and flow;
(This — all this — was in the olden
Time long ago),
And every gentle air that dallied,
In that sweet day,
Along the ramparts plumed and pallid,
A wingèd odor went away.
Wanderers in that happy valley,
Through two luminous windows, saw
Spirits moving musically,
To a lute’s well-tunèd law,
Round about a throne where, sitting
(Porphyrogene!)
In state his glory well befitting,
The ruler of the realm was seen.
And all with pearl and ruby glowing
Was the fair palace door,
Through which came flowing, flowing, flowing,
And sparkling evermore,
A troop of Echoes, whose sweet duty
Was but to sing,
In voices of surpassing beauty,
The wit and wisdom of their king.
But evil things, in robes of sorrow,
Assailed the monarch’s high estate.
(Ah, let us mourn! — for never morrow
Shall dawn upon him desolate!)
And, round about his home, the glory
That blushed and bloomed,
Is but a dim-remembered story
Of the old time entombed.
And travellers now within that valley,
Through the red-litten windows see
Vast forms, that move fantastically
To a discordant melody;
While, like a ghastly rapid river,
Through the pale door
A hideous throng rush out forever,
And laugh — but smile no more.
Originally published in 1839 by Edgar Allan Poe. Public domain.
Analysis
“The Haunted Palace” operates both as a Gothic parable and as one of literature’s earliest psychological allegories. The palace, radiant and harmonious in its prime, mirrors the human mind before the onset of madness. Its “banners yellow, glorious, golden” evoke intellect and imagination at their zenith. As “evil things, in robes of sorrow” encroach, beauty and reason are overrun — the palace decays into grotesque spectacle.
Symbolism and Structure
The palace’s architecture serves as metaphor: the “windows” are eyes, the “door” the mouth, and the monarch “Thought” the ruling reason. The gradual corruption of music into “discordant melody” dramatizes mental disintegration — harmony dissolving into chaos. The transformation from “spirits moving musically” to “a hideous throng” mirrors Poe’s fascination with the fine boundary between genius and insanity.
Theme
Through this symbolic ruin, Poe anticipates modern conceptions of psychological collapse. The poem suggests that beauty and intellect, though sublime, are perilously fragile. Once invaded by grief or madness, the mind becomes its own haunted palace — echoing laughter where wisdom once sang.