Tekst piosenki
In the science of the mind there is no pointmore thrilling than to notice which I never noticed in schools that in our endeavorsto recall to memory something long-forgottenwe often find ourselves upon the very verge of remembrancewithout being in the end able to remember Under the intense scrutiny of Ligeia's eyes I have felt the full knowledgeand force of their expressionand yet been unable to possess itand have felt it leave me as so many other things have leftthe letter half-read, the bottle half-drunkfinding in the commonest objectsof the universe a circle of analogiesof metaphors for that expressionwhich has been willfully withheld from methe access to the inner soul denied Eyes blazed with a too-glorious effulgencepale fingers transparent, waxen, the hue of the grave Blue veins upon the lofty forehead swelledand sunk impetuously with the tides of deep emotionand I saw that she must diethat she was wresting with the dark shadow Her stern nature had impressed mewith the belief that, to herdeath would come without its terrorsbut not so I groaned in anguish at the pitiable spectacle I would have soothed I would have reasoned But she was amid the most convulsive of writhings Oh, pitiful soul Her voice more gentlemore low, and yet her words grew wilder of meaning I reeled, entranced, to a melody more than mortal She loved me, no doubtand in her bosomlove reigned as no ordinary passion But in death only was I impressedwith the intensity of her affection Her more than passionate devotion amounted to idolatry How had I deserved to be so blessedand then cursed with the removal of my belovedupon the hour of her most delirious musings In her more than womanly abandonment to a loveall unmerited and unworthily bestowed I came to realize the principle of her longing It was a yearning for lifean eager, intense desire for lifewhich was now fleeing so rapidly awayas she returned solemnly to her bed of death And I had no utterance capable of expressing itexcept to say Man doth not yield to the angelsnor unto death utterlysave only through the weakness of his feeble will I became wild with the excitementof an immoderate does of opium I saw her raising wine to her lipsor may have dreamed that I saw fall within a gobletas if from some invisible springin the atmosphere of the roomthree of four large dropsof a brilliant and ruby-colored fluid Falling While Ligeia lay in her bed of ebonythe bed of deathwith mine eyes riveted upon her body Then came a moana sob low and gentle but once I listened in superstitious terror but heard it not again I strained vision to see any motion in the corpsebut here was not the slightest perceptible Yet I had heard the noiseand my whole soul was awakened within me The red liquid fell and I thought, Ligeia livesand I felt my brain reelmy heart cease to beatand my limbs go rigid where I sat In extremity of horror I heard a vague sound issuing from the region of the bed Rushing to her I saw I distinctly sawa tremor upon her lips I sprang to my feet and chafedand bathed the temples and hands but in vainall color fledall pulsation ceased Her lips resumed the expression of the deadthe icy hue, the sunken outlineand all the loathsome peculiarities of thatwhich for many days has been the tenant of the tomb And again I sank into visions of Ligeia And again I heard a low sob As I looked she seemed to grow taller What inexpressible madness seized me with that thought?I ran to touch her Her head fell, and her clothing crumbledand there streamed forth huge masses of long disheveled hair It was blackerthan the raven wings of midnight
