Great Britain flag icon  A Descent Into the Maelstrom

 Edgar Allan Poe

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Inspired by the Moskstraumen, it is couched as a story within a story, a tale told at the summit of a mountain climb. The story is told by an old man who reveals that he only appears old – “You suppose me a very old man,” he says, “but I am not. It took less than a single day to change these hairs from a jetty black to white, to weaken my limbs, and to unstring my nerves.” The narrator, convinced by the power of the whirlpools he sees in the ocean beyond, is then told of the “old” man’s fishing trip with his two brothers a few years ago.



Text Analysis: Unique words: 397 Total words: 1954

Hard words: maelstro whirlpool, guide, cliff, tide, foa amazement, pit, steadily, mast, barrel