The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion

by Edgar Allan Poe

Editor's Notes by Blake Linton Wilfong

This gem from 1839 is an early example of the "cosmic disaster"
science fiction tale, showing how biblical end-of-the-world prophecy might
be fulfilled through hard scientific fact. It is also highly imaginative:
what better setting for a post-apocalyptic story than the afterlife (which
Poe called "Aidenn")?
Poe set a perfect example for later SF authors by utilizing the best
scientific information available at his time. His statement of the
proportions of and roles played by the elements in our atmosphere is
essentially correct. And, as he explained, comets have little mass
compared to their immense apparent sizes. Of course, cometary nuclei are
now known to be solid, not gaseous as Poe thought, and Earth has passed
through comet tails without incident.
Still, the kinetic energy of the collision of fragments of comet
Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter in 1992 produced fireballs larger than
Earth. Poe's vision is not far wrong.

"I will bring fire to thee."

Euripides, Andromache

EIROS
Why do you call me Eiros?

CHARMION
So henceforth shall you always be called. You must forget, too, my earthly name,
and call me Charmion.

EIROS
This is indeed no dream!

CHARMION
Dreams are no more; of these mysteries anon. I rejoice to see you, so lifelike!
Your allotted days of stupor have expired; tomorrow, I will teach you the joys
and wonders of your novel existence.

EIROS
Yes, my mind is clear. The wild sickness and terrible darkness are gone, I hear
no longer that mad, rushing, horrible sound, "like the voice of many waters".
Yet, new sensations bewilder me.

CHARMION
Time will remedy this--but I understand, and feel for you. Ten earthly years ago
I underwent what you undergo. You have now suffered all the pain, however, which
you will suffer in Aidenn.

EIROS
Aidenn? Oh, God! Pity me, Charmion! The majesty of all things--of the unknown
now known--of speculative Future merged in certain Present, overburdens me.

CHARMION
Grapple not yet with such thoughts. Seek relief in simple memory. I long to hear
of that stupendous event which threw you among us. Let us converse of familiar
things, of the world which so fearfully perished. Was I much mourned, my Eiros?

EIROS
Deeply. To the last hour, a cloud of sorrow hung over your household.

CHARMION
Of that last hour, inform me. When I passed into Night through the Grave, the
catastrophe which overwhelmed you was utterly unanticipated.

EIROS
True. Men understood the most holy writings which speak of the final destruction
of all things by fire, as referring to Earth alone. And astronomers had
mistakenly divested comets of all terror; vapory and tenuous, they had been
observed passing among the satellites of Jupiter without disturbing their
orbits. We regarded comets as incapable of injuring our substantial globe. That
one should cause fiery destruction, seemed absurd.

Nonetheless, the astronomers' announcement of a new comet inspired apprehension.

Long had men believed comets portents of ill, heralds of pestilence and war.
Worse, its path, at perihelion, was predicted to bring it into contact with
Earth. Laymen steeped in worldly considerations had difficulty grasping this
concept, but the truth of a vitally important fact soon becomes apparent to even
the most stolid. All men saw that astronomical knowledge lied not, and awaited
the comet.
Its approach seemed slow at first. For a week it remained a small, dull glow in
the sky. The ordinary affairs of men halted; everyone became absorbed in
discussion of the comet. Learned men gave their intellect--their souls--to
allaying fear, and to beloved theory. They studied, analyzed, deduced. Truth
arose in her purity, strength, and majesty, and the wise fawned and adored.
Scientists proclaimed the comet's nucleus far less dense than our rarest gas.
Theologists reminded us that the world must end in fire, and that comets were
not fiery. For a brief moment, reason hurled superstition from her throne!
What minor evils might arise were elaborately debated. The learned conjectured
slight geological disturbances, alterations in climate, and consequently in
vegetation; magnetic and electric influences. Perhaps no perceptible effect
would ensue. Meanwhile, the comet gradually approached, growing in apparent
diameter and brightness. Mankind paled as it came, despite all reassurances.
When the comet grew larger than any previously recorded visitation, the people
felt certainty of evil. Their fears no longer seemed chimerical. The hearts of
the stoutest men beat violently within their bosoms. In a few days, however,
such feelings merged into sentiments even more unendurable. We could no longer
apply to the strange orb any accustomed thoughts. Its historical attributes had
disappeared. It oppressed us with a hideous novelty of emotion. More than an
astronomical phenomenon, it became an incubus on our hearts, a shadow on our
brains. It had taken, inconceivably quickly, the character of a gigantic mantle
of rare flame, extending from horizon to horizon.
Another day, and men breathed easier. Clearly already within the comet's
influence, we lived. We even felt an unusual elasticity of frame and vivacity of
mind. The comet's exceeding tenuity was apparent; heavenly objects were plainly
visible through it. Meantime, all vegetation had perceptibly altered, bursting
into a luxuriance of foliage, and we gained faith, from this predicted
circumstance, in the foresight of the wise.
Yet another day, and the evil was not altogether upon us. The first sense of
pain--rigorous constriction of breast and lungs, insufferable dryness of
skin--brought widespread lamentation and horror. Our atmosphere was obviously
radically altered, and when this alteration was investigated, terror filled the
heart of mankind.
The air around us had long been known to consist of 21% oxygen and 79% nitrogen
gases. Oxygen--the principle of combustion, and vehicle of heat--supported
animal life, and was the most powerful, energetic agent in nature. Nitrogen,
however, supported neither animal life nor flame. An unnatural excess of oxygen
would result, it was ascertained, in such an elevation of animal spirits as we
were experiencing. And what would be the result of total extraction of the
nitrogen? Combustion irresistible, universal, immediate--the fulfilment of the
fiery prophecies of the Holy Book!
Need I paint, Charmion, mankind's unleashed frenzy? That impalpable, tenuous
comet would be our doom! Another day passed, along with the last shadow of Hope.
We gasped in rapidly changing air, red blood bounding tumultuously through
strict channels. Delirium possessed us; arms outstretched toward the threatening
heavens, we trembled and screamed. The nucleus of the destroyer was upon us:
even here in Aidenn, I shudder while I speak. A wild lurid light glared,
penetrating everything. Then--let us bow down, Charmion, before God's
majesty!--there came a shouting, pervading sound, as if from HIS mouth; while
the very ether about us burst into intense flame, for whose surpassing
brilliance and heat even the angels have no name. Thus ended all.