Here's a tale in history   About a period of tragedy   A man who thought of horrid things   But really sought what happiness brings   Terror instilled within the souls   Of men and women, young and old   Come and listen to me, my friend   He'll make your morale descend      One Boston day, it's sad to say   A newborn child was granted miserable life   Abandoned by his father and   Left alone by death of father's wife      Foster child   Tobacco exporter gave him a chance   History defiled   Twisted by literature, dark and opium enhanced   Irregularity   So far ahead of his time   A spark of a breed   Regarding all of his literature creed      Infamy of tales and poetry   Connecting his themes to his wildest dreams      The maelstrom grew but no one knew   He descended far beyond its spinning walls   Into the pit, the black abyss   His house was collapsing as he searched for El Dorado      Perched upon Pallas was life, hard and callous   The shadows of burden lifted nevermore   The vulture eye of death concealed   By wooden planks below the floor   The quest for solace evolved into sorrow   Lingering obsessions   Intoxication, stimulation, creation   Hindering addictions      Apparently the message in a bottle was lost   For I could see no conclusion   But all of us remaining in the shrouded past   Must remember to further ourselves by obtrusion      Inebriated grin leads the mighty pen   Across the paper as his fears come alive   Satiric whim ignites the brim   Of insanity as Pluto arrives   Swaying cognac barriers   And the beating of his hideous heart   Increasing ever so constantly   Conjuring the ne'er forgotten lore   'Tis only this and nothing more   Nevermore      Lightning bolts   Tearing through his house and soul   Mental gibes   Darkness hailed in what he's told      Eternally infatuated with despair      Fortunado leads the way to fermented pleasures   But as the cup of drink is met   The hour tolls and the Red Death guest reveals      In a kingdom by the sea   Is where they left beloved thee   The time has come to join, my dear   In your kingdom by the sea      Hear the toll of the iron bells!