Ulalume, a haunting poem by Edgar Allan Poe, tells of the author’s journey one October night into a melancholy, dreaded place – the “misty mid-region of Weir” which, with its “dank tarn of Auber” somewhat resembles the setting of the bleak mansion in Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. The narrator is agitated as he makes the journey with Psyche, who cries in distress and begs him to return, fearful of a star’s omen, but he calms her down and kisses her. They continue in their journey through the forest – for what purpose we are not told –until they come to a grave, a tomb on which the name “Ulalume” is written. The narrator becomes aghast, suddenly remembering what transpired on that very same night – something terrible - a year before. Finally, he understands why he is led there on that same night. The theme of this poem is typical of Poe’s other classic works: the untimely death of a beautiful woman, or one man’s melancholy foreboding on account of it, as in The Raven and Annabel Lee. It is rich in symbols: Psyche may be a literal woman, or the soul of the narrator himself (“psyche” means soul); the haunted woodland may symbolize man’s fear of death and the unknown; the journey in October may refer to man’s lonely wanderings in the autumn of life. Psyche’s fear of a star’s “ominous light” speaks of human foreboding at the approach of dreaded fate. Despite its somber mood, the poem is beautifully crafted, lyrical, and vintage Poe.