A Descent into the Maelström

When Poe takes us to sea, we get sucked in.

In "A Descent into the Maelstrom" (1841) Poe's narrator recounts his horrific experience when he and his brother's boat get sucked down in the world's fastest moving current of water, the tumultuous maelstrom known as Moskenesstraumen.

Constructed as a story within a story, "A Descent into the Maelström" is a beautiful and gripping tale about the rough life on the seven seas told in the manner of Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner."

In 1980, the legendary American composer Philip Glass composed a much-praised 66-minute piece based on the short story.