The Tell-Tale Heart

 

The Tell-Tale Heart

 

A poetic echo to the short story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe; from my poetry collection "Poetic Echoes in the Art of Speech". Cover picture from the Internet.

Set to video music with AI (Suno, Dalle-3, Clideo): https://youtu.be/zWe4PTXms7w

 
 

The text set to music

[Intro]
 
[Verse 1]
The house is still, the candles fade,
within the dark a plan is laid,
I loved the old man, I knew him well,
but in his eye I saw something of hell.
That vulture gaze, so pale, so blue,
it pierced me, it looked my soul through,
I waited there, a shadow stone
to stop the breath, to break the bone.
 
[Chorus]
Oh, hear the rhythm, hear the dread,
the restless chanting is of the dead?
It’s thumping loud, it’s thumping fast
a ghost of sins leapt from the past.
Down in the dark, beneath the wood
the sound of pulse where silence stood.
Thump-thump... What ever will be
the heart will not let me be!
 
[Verse 2]
[Tense and whispered]
The deed was done, the floor was tight,
I hid the shame from morning light,
the law came knocking at my door,
                                          I smiled and stood above that floor.                                                                           
We spoke of tea, we spoke of rain,
while deep below, the pulse of pain.
A rhythmic drum, a heavy beat,
it’s rising up beneath my feet.
 
[Chorus]
[Powerful, orchestral hit]
Oh, hear the rhythm, hear the dread,
the restless chanting is of the dead?
It’s thumping loud, it’s thumping fast
a ghost of sins leapt from the past
Down in the dark, beneath the wood
the sound of pulse where silence stood.
Thump-thump... What ever will be
the heart will not let me be!
 
[Bridge]
Can’t you hear it? Can’t you see?
It’s screaming out to set him free!
Louder! Louder! Through the planks,
the dead man gives his silent thanks...
My head is spinning, walls are thin,
I cannot hide this noise within!
 
[Outro]
"Tear up the boards!" I shrieked in fear,
the sound is all that I can hear,
it beats for him, it beats for me,
the heart that won't let silence be.
 
[Ending]
[Thump... thump... thump...]

2026©G.Tzivras