Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Pendulum'

The unnamed narrator laments that he is "sick unto death" after agents of the Spanish Inquisition in Toledo used torture while questioning him. When they unbind him, they allow him to sit while robed judges sentence him to death. Thereafter he cannot make out what they are saying; he can hear only a low hum while their lips move with "immoveable resolution."

In the apartment where he sits, the slight movement of the black draperies unnerves him, but seven burning candles hearten him, like rescuing angels, until nausea overcomes him as he realizes the hopelessness of his predicament. He begins to long for the "sweet rest there must be in the grave." Suddenly, the judges disappear, the candles go out, and darkness and stillness prevail.

On it he sees a personified painting of Time. But instead of holding a scythe, as in the traditional depictions, Time is holding a pendulum like the ones on clocks. Something strange then happens: The pendulum begins to swing slowly. The narrator becomes frightened at first, but then loses interest in the sight and shifts his attention elsewhere–in particular to huge rats coming up from the pit, apparently after detecting the presence of the narrator through their keen sense of smell.

"It required much effort and attention to scare them away," the narrator says.

He again looks up and notices that the pendulum is descending–and sweeping back and forth at a great speed. The bob of the pendulum is a crescent blade of gleaming steel. As the pendulum swings, it makes a hissing sound. For many hours–for many days–the pendulum descends, getting so close that the narrator can feel it fanning him and smell the odor of the steel. Suddenly, he becomes calm and accepts his fate.

Then he faints. When he opens his eyes, he has no idea how long he has been unconscious. However, the pendulum has descended no further. Raging hunger overcomes him, and he snatches up a morsel left by the rats. For a moment, he becomes