Never Bet the Devil Your Head | |
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by Edgar Allan Poe | |
![]() "Never Bet Your Head" as it appeared in its original published form | |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Genre(s) | Satire Short story |
Published in | Graham's Magazine |
Media type | Print (Periodical) |
Publication date | 1841 |
"Never Bet the Devil Your Head", often subtitled "A Moral Tale", is a short story by American author Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1841. The satirical tale pokes fun at the notion that all literature should have a moral [1] and spoofs transcendentalism.
The narrator, presented as the author himself, is dismayed by literary critics saying that he has never written a moral tale. The narrator then begins telling the story of his friend Toby Dammit. Dammit is described as a man of many vices, at least in part due to his left-handed mother flogging him with her left hand, which is considered improper. Dammit often made rhetorical bets, becoming fond of the expression "I'll bet the devil my head". Although the narrator tries to break Dammit of bad habits, he fails. Nevertheless, the two remain friends.
While traveling one day, they come across a covered bridge. It is gloomy and dark, lacking windows. Dammit, however, is unaffected by its gloom and is in an unusually good mood. As they cross the bridge, they are stopped by a turnstile partway across. Dammit bets the devil his head that he can leap over it. Before the narrator can reply, a cough alerts them to the presence of a little old man. The old man is interested in seeing if Dammit is capable of making such a leap and offers him a good running start. The narrator thinks that it is improper for an old man to push Dammit into making the attempt — "I don't care who the devil he is", he adds.
The narrator watches as Dammit makes a perfect jump, but directly above the turnstile he falls backwards. The old man quickly grabs something and limps away. The narrator, upon checking on his friend, sees that Dammit's head is gone ("what might be termed a serious injury"). He realizes that there is a sharp iron bar above the turnstile that severed his friend's head. The narrator sends for the "homeopathists", who "did not give him little enough physic, and what little they did give him he hesitated to take. So in the end he grew worse, and at length died". After the bill for his funeral expenses is left unpaid, the narrator has Dammit's body dug up and sold for dog meat.
"Never Bet the Devil Your Head" is a clear attack on transcendentalism, which the narrator calls a "disease" afflicting Toby Dammit. The narrator, in fact, sends the bill for Dammit's funeral expenses to the transcendentalists, who refuse to pay because of their disbelief in evil. [2] Despite specific mentions of transcendentalism and its flagship journal The Dial , Poe denied that he had any specific targets. [3] Elsewhere, he certainly admitted a distaste for transcendentalists, whom he called "Frogpondians" after the pond on Boston Common. [4] He ridiculed their writings in particular by calling them "metaphor-run," lapsing into "obscurity for obscurity's sake" or "mysticism for mysticism's sake." [5] Poe once wrote in a letter to Thomas Holley Chivers that he did not dislike transcendentalists, "only the pretenders and sophists among them." [1]
The story was published in the September 1841 issue of Graham's Magazine as "Never Bet Your Head: A Moral Tale". Its republication in the August 16, 1845, issue of the Broadway Journal included its now-standard title "Never Bet the Devil Your Head". [3] Noted Poe biographer Arthur Hobson Quinn dismissed the story, stating "it is a trifle." [6]
"Never Bet the Devil Your Head" is the final segment (retitled "Toby Dammit") of the three-part Histoires extraordinaires (English title: Spirits of the Dead ) (1968), directed by Federico Fellini. [3]
"Never Bet the Devil Your Head" was adapted as a radio play for the CBS Radio Workshop in 1957. The cast features noted voice actors John Dehner as Mr. Poe, Daws Butler as Toby Dammit and Howard McNear as the Devil. [7] The program is available on the Internet Archive. [8]
Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States, and of American literature. Poe was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story, and considered to be the inventor of the detective fiction genre, as well as a significant contributor to the emerging genre of science fiction. Poe is the first well-known American writer to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.
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"Annabel Lee" is the last complete poem composed by American author Edgar Allan Poe. Like many of Poe's poems, it explores the theme of the death of a beautiful woman. The narrator, who fell in love with Annabel Lee when they were young, has a love for her so strong that even angels are envious. He retains his love for her even after her death. There has been debate over who, if anyone, was the inspiration for "Annabel Lee". Though many women have been suggested, Poe's wife Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe is one of the more credible candidates. Written in 1849, it was not published until shortly after Poe's death that same year.
"Ulalume" is a poem written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1847. Much like a few of Poe's other poems, "Ulalume" focuses on the narrator's loss of his beloved due to her death. Poe originally wrote the poem as an elocution piece and, as such, the poem is known for its focus on sound. Additionally, it makes many allusions, especially to mythology, and the identity of Ulalume herself, if a real person, has been a subject of debate.
"William Wilson" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1839, with a setting inspired by Poe's formative years on the outskirts of London. The tale features a doppelgänger. It also appeared in the 1840 collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, and has been adapted several times.
"The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" is a short story by the American author Edgar Allan Poe about a mesmerist who puts a man in a suspended hypnotic state at the moment of death. An example of a tale of suspense and horror, it is also to a certain degree a hoax, as it was published without claiming to be fictional, and many at the time of publication (1845) took it to be a factual account. Poe admitted it to be a work of pure fiction in letters to his correspondents.
The Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site is a preserved home once rented by American author Edgar Allan Poe, located at 532 N. 7th Street, in the Spring Garden neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Though Poe lived in many houses over several years in Philadelphia, it is the only one which still survives. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962.
"Berenice" is a short horror story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in the Southern Literary Messenger in 1835. Egaeus, who is preparing to marry his cousin Berenice, tends to fall into periods of intense focus, during which he seems to separate himself from the outside world. Berenice begins to deteriorate from an unnamed disease until only her teeth remain healthy. Egaeus obsesses over them. When Berenice is buried, he continues to contemplate her teeth. One day, he awakens with an uneasy feeling from a trance-like state and hears screams. A servant reports that Berenice's grave has been disturbed, and she is still alive. Beside Egaeus is a shovel, a poem about "visiting the grave of my beloved", and a box containing 32 teeth.
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