The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies (46 page)

See Dan Clore, “Loss and Recuperation: A Model for Reading Clark Ashton Smith's ‘Xeethra'” (
FFT
318
–
23
).

1
. Canopus is the brightest star in the southern constellation Argo Navis and the second brightest star in the sky, after Sirius.

2
.
murrain:
an archaic term for a variety of infectious diseases affecting cattle and sheep.

3
. See note
4
to “The Maze of the Enchanter.”

THE TREADER OF THE DUST

This story was completed on February
15
,
1935
, one of only two or three stories CAS wrote that year. It was readily accepted by
Weird Tales,
where it appeared in the August
1935
issue. It was subsequently reprinted in
LW
and
CF
5
. It is one of CAS's more successful attempts to fuse an initial realism of setting with a subsequent incursion of weird or fantastic elements.

1
. The imaginary title was first cited in the epigraph to “Xeethra” (see p.
208
).

2
. goety:
invocation of evil spirits; from the Greek
go
¯
eteia
(witchcraft).

3
. Bactria was an ancient region in southwest Asia that had been a part of the Persian Empire before its conquest by Alexander the Great in
328
BCE
It later became part of the Seleucid Empire. But Diodotus, the satrap of Bactria, seceded from the empire around
250
BCE
and established the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. The kingdom was overrun by nomadic tribes around
130
BCE.

4
.
ankylosed:
having become joined by ankylosis (the stiffening or immobility of joints).

MOTHER OF TOADS

This story was completed on March
20
,
1937
, but its genesis dates to almost two years earlier. In June
1935
he told R. H. Barlow: “I have started a new Averoigne story, ‘Mother of Toads,' which, I fear, will be too naughty for the chaste pages of W[eird] T[ales]” (letter to Barlow, circa June
1935
; manuscript, JHL). CAS's initial intended market was
Spicy Mystery Stories,
a pulp magazine that featured stories that fused sexual situations with weirdness or mystery. But that magazine rejected the story. CAS then sent the story to
Esquire,
which also rejected it. CAS—who had already faced the initial rejection by
Weird Tales
of another Averoigne story, “The Disinterment of Venus” (
1932
), that mingled sex and horror, although Farnsworth Wright finally did accept that story after several revisions—reluctantly sent a bowdlerized version of “Mother of Toads” to Wright, who accepted it. (Wright's reluctance to accept tales of a sexual nature may have dated to the early days of
Weird Tales,
before he was editor: the May–June–July issue of the magazine had included a tale by C. M. Eddy, Jr. [revised by HPL], “The Loved Dead,” that was a surprisingly explicit narrative about necrophilia. As a result, that issue of the magazine had been temporarily banned in the state of Indiana.) The bowdlerized version was reprinted in the posthumous volume
TSS,
but the appearance in
CF
5
is a restored text based on consultation with CAS's original typescript and other documents.

1
. An imaginary town; but the name (The Owls) is the title of a poem by Baudelaire in
Les Fleurs du mal
(for CAS's verse translation, see
CPT
3
.
131
).

2
. See note
4
to “The Holiness of Azédarac.”

PHOENIX

In an attempt to elicit new work from CAS, August Derleth asked him to write an original story for his science fiction anthology
Time to Come.
CAS complied in September
1953
with “Phoenix.” It is derived from a plot germ found in the
Black Book
(item
81
): “An expedition sent from the earth to the extinct sun, for the purpose of rekindling it by means of atomic fission. The expedition is trapped by the tremendous gravity of the dead, solid orb but accomplishes its purpose, after sending back to earth a rocket containing reports, messages, etc.”
Time to Come
was published by Farrar, Straus & Young in
1954
, and the story was subsequently reprinted in a posthumous collection of CAS's miscellaneous tales,
Other Dimensions
(
1970
), and in
CF
5
.

1
.
hydroponic:
adjectival form of
hydroponics,
the process of cultivating plants in a nutrient solution without soil.

2
. A reference to the Greek myth of Argus (Argos) Panoptes, a creature with a hundred eyes.

3
. See note
2
to “The Maze of the Enchanter.”

PROSE POEMS

CAS's prose poems were written predominantly over two periods—first in the mid-
1910
s and then in December
1929
. They run the gamut in subject matter from languorous beauty to cynical morbidity to clutching terror to pensive philosophy, but all are characterized by a keen sense of the poetry and music of words. The composition and publication history of the prose poems included in this volume is as follows:

“The Image of Bronze and the Image of Iron.” Written in
1914
or earlier. First published in
PP.

“The Memnons of the Night.” Written on March
19
,
1915
. First published in
Bohemia
(February
1
,
1917
); reprinted in
EC
and
PP.
This piece was dedicated by CAS to his friend and benefactor, Albert M. Bender (
1866
–
1941
), a San Francisco businessman and patron of the arts.

“The Demon, the Angel, and Beauty.” Written on April
2
,
1915
. First published in
EC;
reprinted in
PP.

“The Corpse and the Skeleton.” Written on April
5
,
1915
. First published in
PP.

“A Dream of Lethe.” Written on November
20
,
1916
. First published in
EC;
reprinted in
PP.

“From the Crypts of Memory.” Date of writing unknown. First published in
Bohemia
(April
1917
); reprinted in
EC, OST, PP,
and
CF
1
. The story served as the nucleus of the story “The Planet of the Dead” (
Weird Tales,
March
1932
;
LW, CF
1
).

“Ennui.” Date of writing unknown. First published in
Smart Set
(September
1918
); reprinted in
EC
and
PP.

“The Litany of the Seven Kisses.” Written in the spring of
1921
. First published in
EC;
reprinted in
PP.

“In Cocaigne.” Written before September
5
,
1921
. First published in
EC;
reprinted in
PP.

“The Flower-Devil.” Date of writing unknown. First published in
EC;
reprinted in
PP.
The nucleus of the tale “The Demon of the Flower” (
Astounding Stories
, December
1933
; in
LW
).

“The Shadows.” Date of writing unknown. First published in
EC;
reprinted in
PP.

“The Passing of Aphrodite.” Written on February
26
,
1925
. First published in
Fantasy Fan
(December
1934
); reprinted in
AY
and
PP.

“To the Daemon.” Written on December
16
,
1929
. First published in
Acolyte
(Fall
1943
); reprinted in
PP
and
CF
1
.

“The Abomination of Desolation.” Written on December
16
,
1929
. First published in
Fantasmagoria
(November
1938
); reprinted in
PP.

“The Mirror in the Hall of Ebony.” Written on December
17
,
1929
. First published in
Fantasy Fan
(May
1934
); reprinted in
AY
and
PP.

“The Touch-Stone.” Written on December
18
,
1929
. First published in
PP.

“The Muse of Hyperborea.” Written on December
22
,
1929
. First published in
Fantasy Fan
(June
1934
); reprinted in
PP
and
CF
4
.

1
. In the title, “Memnons” evokes Memnon, who in Greek myth was a king of Ethiopia and the son of Tithonus and Eos. More specifically, CAS may be alluding to a colossal statue of Memnon at Thebes (Egypt) that sang at dawn when the sun struck it. See also his poems “Echo of Memnon” (
1912
) and “Memnon at Midnight” (p.
300
).

2
. Aldebaran is a large red star in the constellation Taurus. The Hyades is a star cluster and the nearest open cluster to our solar system.

3
. The
Optimates
(singular
Optimas
) were, in the Roman Republic, political figures who sided with the traditional aristocracy.

4
. The wine produced on the Greek island of Chios was prized throughout classical antiquity.

5
. irremeable:
allowing no possibility of return.

6
. Acherontic:
adjectival form of Acheron, one of the five rivers of the Greek underworld.

7
. Cocaigne (or Cockaigne) was an imaginary medieval land of abundance, luxury, and sexual debauchery. The realm was described in both poems (such as the Middle English
The Land of Cokayne
[fourteenth century]) and in paintings (such as Peter Brueghel the Elder's “Luilekkerland”). See also CAS's poem “Cocaigne” (
CPT
1
.
254
).

8
. anaglyphs:
ornaments carved in low relief.

9
. The phrase is from the Bible (Matthew
24
:
15
; Mark
13
:
14
), referring to passages in the Book of Daniel (
9
:
27
,
11
:
31
,
12
:
11
). The passages are variously interpreted as referring to the desecration of the Second Temple (
167
BCE
), the siege of Jerusalem (
70
CE
), or the coming of the Antichrist.

POETRY

All poems printed in this book were collected in
CPT,
the definitive edition of CAS's poetry and translations. Notes on individual poems follow:

“The Last Night.” First published in
Town Talk
972
(April
15
,
1911
):
8
(in Edward F. O'Day's “Varied Types: XVII—George Sterling”); in
ST
and
SP.
CAS sent this poem (with others) to Sterling on February
2
,
1911
. GS commented: “. . . you will not set any great value on any of these enclosed poems (good as some of them are), except in the case of ‘The Last Night.' There is actual performance” (letter to CAS, February
28
,
1911
;
SU
20
). GS quoted the entire poem in his interview with Edward F. O'Day, remarking: “This boy has a wonderful gift, if I know anything about such things.”

“Ode to the Abyss.” Written on May
3
,
1911
. First published in
ST;
reprinted in
OS
and
SP.
CAS remarked of the poem that he wrote “practically all of it at a sitting” (letter to GS, May
26
,
1912
;
SU
47
). GS was enthusiastic about the work, writing (letter to CAS, July
13
,
1911
): “It is a noble, majestic and delightful thing” (
SU
27
). CAS responded: “Your praise of my ‘Ode to the Abyss' is far higher than I had expected or dared hope for. Nor can I concede, after more consideration, that the poem deserves it. It does not seem possible to me that I can have written anything having the merit that you assign to this Ode” (letter to GS, September
5
,
1911
;
SU
28
). GS submitted it to the
North American Review,
but it was rejected. Through GS's influence, the poem was quoted in a number of California newspapers. GS also sent it to Ambrose Bierce, who remarked of it: “Kindly convey to young Smith of Auburn my felicitations on his admirable ‘Ode to the Abyss'—a large theme, treated with dignity and power. It has many striking passages—such, for example, as ‘The Romes of ruined spheres' [l.
57
]. I'm conscious of my sin against the rhetoricians in liking that, for it jolts the reader out of the Abyss and back to earth. Moreover it is a metaphor which belittles, instead of dignifying. But I like it” (letter to GS, August
11
,
1911
; quoted in
SU
289
n). Elsewhere (letter to
Town Talk,
August
6
,
1912
; published in the issue of August
10
,
1912
), in responding to exaggerated claims of CAS's merits placed in Bierce's mouth, Bierce wrote: “Several weeks ago I had from a correspondent a manuscript copy of Mr. Smith's ‘Ode to the Abyss.' It seemed to me uncommonly good work and a promise of better work to come. So I commended it—in just what words I do not recollect, but if I said any of the things recently attributed to me I beg my correspondent to cover me with shame and confusion by quoting them from my letter—and filing the letter in proof” (quoted in
SU
288
–
89
). See Carl Jay Buchanan, “An Appreciation of Clark Ashton Smith's ‘Ode to the Abyss,'”
Lost Worlds
5
(
2008
):
15
–
18
.