Unforgettable Opening Paragraphs

[The Laughing Man]

[danlo]

That's the 3rd time I've seen that posted on the Watch (it should be posted ALL OVER the Watch! ) Hmmm...off to look up a Poem.

:edit: OK here we go-

ULALUME: — A BALLAD
The skies were ashen and sober;
The leaves they were crisped and sere —
The leaves they were withering and sere;
It was night in the lonesome October
Of my most immemorial year ;
It was hard by the dim lake of Auber,
In the misty mid region of Weir —
It was down by the dank tarn of Auber,
In the ghoul[[-]]haunted woodland of Weir.
Here once, through an alley Titanic,
Of cypress, I roamed with my Soul —
Of cypress, with Psyche, my Soul.
There were days when my heart was volcanic
As the scoriac rivers that roll —
As the lavas that restlessly roll
Their sulphurous currents down Yaanek
In the ultimate climes of the pole —
That groan as they roll down Mount Yaanek
In the realms of the boreal pole.

Our talk had been serious and sober,
But our thoughts they were palsied and sere —
Our memories were treacherous and sere —
For we knew not the month was October,
And we marked not the night of the year —
(Ah, night of all nights in the year!)
We noted not the dim lake of Auber —
(Though once we had journeyed down here) —
Remembered not the dank tarn of Auber,
Nor the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir.

And now, as the night was senescent
As star-dials pointed to morn —
And the star-dials hinted of morn —
At the end of our path a liquescent
And nebulous lustre was born,
Out of which a miraculous crescent
Arose with a duplicate horn —
Astarte's bediamonded crescent
Distinct with its duplicate horn.

And I said — "She is warmer than Dian :
She rolls through an ether of sighs —
She revels in a region of sighs :
She has seen that the tears are not dry on
These cheeks, where the worm never dies,
And has come past the stars of the Lion
To point us the path to the skies —
To the Lethean peace of the skies —
Come up, in despite of the Lion,
To shine on us with her bright eyes —
Come up through the lair of the Lion,
With Love in her luminous eyes."

But Psyche, uplifted her finger,
Said — "Sadly this star I mistrust —
Her pallor I strangely mistrust: —
Oh, hasten! — oh, let us not linger!
Oh, fly! — let us fly! — for we must."
In terror she spoke, letting sink her
Plumes till they trailed in the dust —
In agony sobbed, letting sink her
Wings till they trailed in the dust —
Till they sorrowfully trailed in the dust.

I replied — "This is nothing but dreaming :
Let us on by this tremulous light !
Let us bathe in this crystalline light !
Its Sybilic splendor is beaming
With Hope and in Beauty to-night: —
See! — it flickers up the sky through the night !
Ah, we safely may trust to its gleaming,
And be sure it will lead us aright —
We safely may trust to a gleaming
That cannot but guide us aright,
Since it flickers up to Heaven through the night."

Thus I pacified Psyche and kissed her,
And tempted her out of her gloom —
And conquered her scruples and gloom ;
And we passed to the end of the vista,
But we stopped by the door of a tomb —
By the door of a legended tomb ;
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!"

Then my heart it grew ashen and sober
As the leaves that were crisped and sere —
As the leaves that were withering and sere,
And I cried — "It was surely October
On this very night of last year
That I journeyed — I journeyed down here —
That I brought a dread burden down here —
On this night of all nights in the year,
Oh, what demon has tempted me here?
Well I know, now, this dim lake of Auber —
This misty mid region of Weir —
Well I know, now, this dank tarn of Auber,
This ghoul[[-]]haunted woodland of Weir."

[The Laughing Man]

[Sorus]

That's incredible.

(Ditto for Lewis Carroll.)

Hapscomb's Texaco sat on US 93 just north of Arnette, a pissant four-street burg about 110 miles from Houston. Tonight the regulars were there, sitting by the cash register, drinking beer, talking idly, watching the bugs fly into the big lighted sign.

And that's The Stand.

[danlo]

Yess! Go Sorus, Go Sorus!

[Sorus]

I felt vaguely uneasy, though I couldn't say why. It did not seem all that unusual to be drinking with a White Rabbit, a short guy who resembled Bertrand Russell, a grinning Cat, and my old friend Luke Raynard, who was singing Irish ballads while a peculiar landscape shifted from mural to reality at his back. Well, I was impressed by the huge blue Caterpillar smoking the hookah atop the giant mushroom because I know how hard it is to keep a water pipe lit. Still, that wasn't it. It was a convivial scene, and Luke was known to keep pretty strange company on occasion. So why should I feel uneasy?

[danlo]

It almost sounds like the beginning of the Illuminatus! trilogy-The Eye in the Pyramid, or whatever it's called-haven't read them in ages...

[Sorus]

It does!

But it isn't.

[ur-bane]

Wow! I forgot all about this thread, and it has since been turned to trivia.

My very first instinct on that (as soon as I saw "White Rabbit") was Alice In Wonderland. But if it's not that, then I have no idea.

[Sorus]

Well, I was trying to avoid anything too obscure.

And I'm fairly sure that some of you have read this, so I'm going to give a clue instead of the answer.

It's from a ten-book fantasy series, written about 30-35 years ago.

[wayfriend]

It's from a ten-book fantasy series, written about 30-35 years ago.

Mission: Earth, by L Ron Hubbard!!!

[Sorus]

No, no, no. A fantasy series.

Clue #2: There is only one true world, of which all others are shadows.

[Khaliban]

No, no, no. A fantasy series.

Clue #2: There is only one true world, of which all others are shadows.

One of the Amber books definately. Second to last Merlin, I think, but I don't recall exactly.

[lucimay]

seems Amber-ish Sorus but it also has a Jonathan Lethem feel...except i know he hasn't done a 10 book series...
sort of Gun, With Occasional Music-ish.

must be Zelazny.

[I'm Murrin]

I cheated, but it's interesting seeing you all try to work it out. :p

[Khaliban]

seems Amber-ish Sorus but it also has a Jonathan Lethem feel...except i know he hasn't done a 10 book series...
sort of Gun, With Occasional Music-ish.

must be Zelazny.

I know for a fact it's Amber. I remember the scene. Luke Raynard was under the influence of an hallucinogen and creating the Alice in Wonderland moment. I remember Random yelling, "B-12, B-12!" (complex) before Merlin was dragged to the tea party. I just can't remember the exact book.

[Lord Mhoram]

"Sign of Chaos," I believe.

[lucimay]

ah...thanks Khaliban and LM...the Luke Raynard name should have been a dead give away except its been a year since i read the entire omnibus of Amber for the first time and have read Bakker and Erikson since and i just couldn't quite get it!!!

[Sorus]

Good teamwork! It was Sign of Chaos.

[lucimay]

that was fun...do another one somebody