Describes his lost love, Ligeia, but struggles with his memory. The only thing that remains clear to him is her personality and her appearance. He speaks with awe about her irregular looks and her intelligence and is heartbroken by her death. Afterwards, he is a changed man – he buys a desolate abbey and decorates it in bizarre taste and takes a new wife whom he subsequently hates. Memories of Ligeia come back to him when Rowena is on her deathbed, but he also admits to taking a lot of opium. It is unclear if the final sequence of unnatural events, in which Ligeia appears to return from the dead, where the narrator’s drug-fueled delusion ends and where Ligeia’s paranormal spirit begins.
Narrator (Ligeia) Quotes in Poe's Stories
The Poe's Stories quotes below are all either spoken by Narrator (Ligeia) or refer to Narrator (Ligeia). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Ligeia
Quotes
They were, I must believe, far larger than the ordinary eyes of our own race. They were even fuller than the fullest of the gazelle eyes of the tribe of the valley of Nourjahad. Yet it was only at intervals – in moments of intense excitement – that this peculiarity became more than slightly noticeable in Ligeia.
Related Characters:
Narrator (Ligeia) (speaker), Ligeia
Related Symbols:
Eyes
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
The night waned; and still, with a bosom full of bitter thoughts of the one only and supremely beloved, I remained gazing upon the body of Rowena.
Related Characters:
Narrator (Ligeia) (speaker), Lady Rowena of Tremaine
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Narrator (Ligeia) Character Timeline in Poe's Stories
The timeline below shows where the character Narrator (Ligeia) appears in Poe's Stories. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Ligeia
The narrator of "Ligeia" cannot remember how he came to know Ligeia. He says his memory has become weak...
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There is only one aspect of Ligeia that the narrator of "Ligeia" does not ever fail to remember, the form and appearance of her. He remembers how...
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...the form of Ligeia’s eyes is haunting, it is their expression that he really remembers. The narrator of "Ligeia" says he has spent hours thinking about this expression, trying to understand its power. He...
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The narrator of "Ligeia" describes the feeling of almost remembering something, which he thinks is one of the most...
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The narrator of "Ligeia" has also been reminded of Ligeia by music and literature, and a certain book in...
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The narrator of "Ligeia" tells us that Ligeia was also very educated – she read all the time and...
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So when Ligeia dies, the narrator of "Ligeia" is left alone, without both his teacher and wife. He is like a lost child....
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...voice low and soft again, and confesses the fierceness of her love for her husband. The narrator of "Ligeia" has never imagined her love to be as fierce as this, and he feels both...
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...by angels, in which the hero is a horrible worm, destroying the human characters. As the narrator of "Ligeia" finishes reading this morbid poem, Ligeia cries out appeals to God that the worm be...
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After Ligeia dies, the narrator of "Ligeia" can’t stand to be in their city by the Rhine and, with no lack of...
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In chambers like these, the new couple pass their first month. The narrator of "Ligeia" can’t help but notice that Rowena isn’t very loving towards him and dreads his moods....
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...Rowena becomes ill, and she has feverous nights, and mumbles and moans strange words, which the narrator of "Ligeia" puts down to the fantastical images surrounding her in the chamber. She recovers but then...
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One night, Rowena wakes the narrator of "Ligeia" , who has been sleeping fitfully beside her. She tells him that she sees things...
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The narrator of "Ligeia" brings back the wine and Rowena begins to come to her senses again. But as...
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The fourth night that the narrator of "Ligeia" watches over Rowena indeed turns out to be her last. As he sits with the...
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At midnight, the narrator of "Ligeia" believes he hears a low sob coming from the bed. He is filled with superstitious...
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The narrator of "Ligeia" falls back down onto his couch and the visions of Ligeia come back to him....
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For a third time, the narrator of "Ligeia" dreams of Ligeia and for a third time, Rowena seems to awaken. He can’t bear...
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