We had always dwelled together, beneath a tropical sun, in the Valley of the Many-Colored Grass. No unguided footstep ever came upon that vale; for it lay away up among a range of giant hills that hung beetling around about it, shutting out the sunlight from its sweetest recesses. No path was trodden in its vicinity; and, to reach our happy home, there was need of putting back, with force, the foliage of many thousands of forest trees, and of crushing to death the glories of many millions of fragrant flowers. Thus it was that we lived all alone, knowing nothing of the world without the valley — I, and my cousin, and her mother.
The Tale
This is a highly descriptive, tragically romantic tale, which may or may not involve a touch of madness. The narrator describes a magical, idyllic time when he lived in the Valley of the Many-Colored Grass with his cousin and her mother (a polycule that might sound familiar to those with knowledge of Poe’s biography). Several pages of this short tale are devoted to the beauty of the valley and of the lovely cousin, whose name was Eleonora. Alas, Eleonora is not long for this world, and in her final days the narrator makes a solemn vow that he “would never bind [himself] in marriage to any daughter on Earth.” He even invokes a curse, whereby he accepts “a penalty the exceedingly great horror of which will not permit [him] to make record of it here” if ever he were to violate his vow. (Do you see where this is headed?)
Eleonora is relieved to hear the narrator’s sacred vow, and dies an easier death because of it. Alas, the narrator soon afterward leaves the Valley of the Many-Colored Grass and finds himself in a strange land, where he encounters Ermengarde– “a maiden to whose beauty my whole recreant heart yielded at once.” He married this hot maiden, never mind the curse that doing so would invoke. And yet, during the night he heard Eleonora’s disembodied voice, urging him “Sleep in peace! For the Spirit of Love reigneth and ruleth, and, in talking to thy passionate heart her who is Ermengarde, thou art absolved, for reasons which shall be made known to thee in Heaven, of thy vows unto Eleonora.”
The full story is available here.
The Drink
What struck out to me about this tale was Poe’s description of the luxuriant Valley of the Many-Colored Grass. So I figured what we need here is a Cocktail of Many Colors. And here it is:
Ingredients:
1 oz grenadine
1.5 oz pineapple juice
2 oz blue curacao and vodka (1 ounce of each, mixed together)
A few dashes of bitters (because this drink is way too sweet otherwise!)
Orange rind and two maraschino cherries (for garnish)
Chill the liquid ingredients. Then, create colored layers by s-l-o-w-l-y pouring each over the back of a spoon into a martini glass. (The blue curacao and vodka should already be mixed into a 2-ounce shot.) Gently add a few dashes of bitters by dripping them along the side of the glass. Create a garnish by shaping a thin strip of orange rind into a heart, with a maraschino cherry within each half of the heart, and held together with a cocktail pick. (See photo.) This represents the eternal love of the narrator and Eleonora…or perhaps their love broken in two?
Poe-Script
This tale has clear autobiographical elements. Poe did indeed live with his young cousin (Virginia) and her mother, and he eventually married Virginia when she was 13 years old. What’s more, Virginia became ill and eventually died. Poe would go on to woo (but not marry) other women. It is not known whether Virginia’s spirit ever forgave him and released him.
Chasing Phantoms 