--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The Conqueror Worm Lo! 'tis a gala night…" description: "\"“The Conqueror Worm Lo! 'tis a gala night Within the lonesome latter years! An angel throng, bewinged, bedight In veils, and drowned in tears, Sit in a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eab/edgar-allan-poe-315_conqueror_the-conqueror-worm-lo-tis-a-gala-night-w_2391753.jpg" --- # The Conqueror Worm Lo! 'tis a gala night Within the… ![“The Conqueror Worm Lo! 'tis a gala night Within the lonesome latter years! An angel throng, bewinged, bedight In veils, and drowned in tears, Sit in a theatre, to see A play of hopes and fears, While the orchestra breathes fitfully The music of the spheres. Mimes, in the form of God on high…” quote by Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eab/edgar-allan-poe-315_conqueror_the-conqueror-worm-lo-tis-a-gala-night-w_2391753.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eab/edgar-allan-poe-315_conqueror_the-conqueror-worm-lo-tis-a-gala-night-w_2391753.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eab/edgar-allan-poe-315_conqueror_the-conqueror-worm-lo-tis-a-gala-night-w_2391753.jpg) > ““The Conqueror Worm Lo! 'tis a gala night Within the lonesome latter years! An angel throng, bewinged, bedight In veils, and drowned in tears, Sit in a theatre, to see A play of hopes and fears, While the orchestra breathes fitfully The music of the spheres. Mimes, in the form of God on high, Mutter and mumble low, And hither and thither fly— Mere puppets they, who come and go At bidding of vast formless things That shift the scenery to and fro, Flapping from out their Condor wings Invisible Wo! That motley drama—oh, be sure It shall not be forgot! With its Phantom chased for evermore, By a crowd that seize it not, Through a circle that ever returneth in To the self-same spot, And much of Madness, and more of Sin, And Horror the soul of the plot. But see, amid the mimic rout A crawling shape intrude! A blood-red thing that writhes from out The scenic solitude! It writhes!—it writhes!—with mortal pangs The mimes become its food, And the angels sob at vermin fangs In human gore imbued. Out—out are the lights—out all! And, over each quivering form, The curtain, a funeral pall, Comes down with the rush of a storm, And the angels, all pallid and wan, Uprising, unveiling, affirm That the play is the tragedy, "Man," And its hero the Conqueror Worm.”” [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poem depicts humanity’s life as a theatrical tragedy, where fate and cosmic forces manipulate human suffering and inevitable death. **In simple terms:** Life is a tragic play controlled by unseen forces. Key Takeaway Recognize life’s fleeting nature and act with purpose. Themes mortality fate theatre cosmic chaos human suffering Mood somber reflective dramatic Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - artistic analysis - philosophical discourse Key Concepts existentialism nihilism symbolism Questions to Reflect On - What does the Conqueror Worm symbolize about human destiny? - How do we find meaning amid inevitable suffering? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conqueror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conqueror/) [Conqueror Worm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conqueror-worm-1935175/) [Hopes and fears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hopes-and-fears/) [Pangs Mimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pangs-mimes-5960154/) [Theatre Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theatre-play-574805/) [Worm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worm/) ## Related quotes > [That the play is the tragedy, “Man,” And its hero, the Conqueror Worm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/that-the-play-is-the-tragedy-man-and-its-hero-the-conqueror-worm/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [While the angels, all pallid and wan, Uprising, unveiling, affirm That the play is the tragedy, "Man", And its hero the Conqueror Worm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-mae-brown/while-the-angels-all-pallid-and-wan-uprising-unveiling-affirm-that/) [Rita Mae Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-mae-brown/) > [As far as I'm concerned, an audience is an audience. Whether it's an audience in Hull or the National Theatre, that's who you play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvester-mccoy/as-far-as-i-m-concerned-an-audience-is-an-audience-whether-it-s-an/) [Sylvester McCoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvester-mccoy/) > [You need three things in the theatre - the play, the actors and the audience, and each must give something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-haigh/you-need-three-things-in-the-theatre-the-play-the-actors-and-the/) [Kenneth Haigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-haigh/) > [My mum, in 2007, was invited by some Australian friends in London to a fringe theatre play reading of an unrehearsed, unproduced play called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hooper/my-mum-in-2007-was-invited-by-some-australian-friends-in-london-to-a/) [Tom Hooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hooper/) > [Some people seem to think football is like theatre and that everyone has to play the good guy. But I think that you transform…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diego-costa/some-people-seem-to-think-football-is-like-theatre-and-that-everyone/) [Diego Costa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diego-costa/) > [The difficulty of writing a good theatre play set in new reality was even greater given that the level of similitude to life that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrzej-wajda/the-difficulty-of-writing-a-good-theatre-play-set-in-new-reality-was/) [Andrzej Wajda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrzej-wajda/) > [In avant garde drama ... primitivism goes hand in hand with aesthetic experimentation designed to advance the technical progress of the art itself by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-d-innes/in-avant-garde-drama-primitivism-goes-hand-in-hand-with-aesthetic/) [C. D. Innes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-d-innes/) > [I've never been one for late nights, which is why I have always preferred making films to theatre. A play takes over your life:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dance/i-ve-never-been-one-for-late-nights-which-is-why-i-have-always/) [Charles Dance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dance/) > [I want to burn with the spirit of the times. I want all servants of the stage to recognize their lofty destiny. I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vsevolod-meyerhold/i-want-to-burn-with-the-spirit-of-the-times-i-want-all-servants-of/) [Vsevolod Meyerhold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vsevolod-meyerhold/) > [Money's never an issue. I can go and work for a small studio theatre somewhere if it's a play I really care about, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conleth-hill/money-s-never-an-issue-i-can-go-and-work-for-a-small-studio-theatre/) [Conleth Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conleth-hill/) > [“Lo! 'tis a gala night Within the lonesome latter years! An angel throng, bewinged, bedight In veils, and drowned in tears, Sit in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/lo-tis-a-gala-night-within-the-lonesome-latter-years-an-angel-throng/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [Out- out are the lights- out all! And, over each quivering form, The curtain, a funeral pall, Comes down with the rush of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/out-out-are-the-lights-out-all-and-over-each-quivering-form-the/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“She was famous, and she was insane. Her voice soared out over the audience, holding them spellbound and enraptured, delivering their hopes and fears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dianne-sylvan/she-was-famous-and-she-was-insane-her-voice-soared-out-over-the/) [Dianne Sylvan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dianne-sylvan/) > [“Such, in outline, but even more purposeless, more void of meaning, is the world which Science presents for our belief. Amid such a world,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/such-in-outline-but-even-more-purposeless-more-void-of-meaning-is-the/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) ## More by Edgar Allan Poe > [“From childhood’s hour I have not been As others were—I have not seen As others saw—I could not bring My passions from a common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/from-childhood-s-hour-i-have-not-been-as-others-were-i-have-not-seen/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [There is no passion in nature so demoniacally impatient, as that of him who, shuddering upon the edge of a precipice, thus meditates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/there-is-no-passion-in-nature-so-demoniacally-impatient-as-that-of/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [To vilify a great man is the readiest way in which a little man can himself attain greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/to-vilify-a-great-man-is-the-readiest-way-in-which-a-little-man-can/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“A skillful literary artist has constructed a tale. If wise, he has not fashioned his thoughts to accommodate his incidents; but having conceived, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/a-skillful-literary-artist-has-constructed-a-tale-if-wise-he-has-not/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“For eyes we have no models in the remotely antique.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/for-eyes-we-have-no-models-in-the-remotely-antique/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/during-the-whole-of-a-dull-dark-and-soundless-day-in-the-autumn-of/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who dream only at night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/those-who-dream-by-day-are-cognizant-of-many-things-that-escape-those/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“I have said that the sole effect of my somewhat childish experiment—that of looking down within the tarn—had been to deepen the first singular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/i-have-said-that-the-sole-effect-of-my-somewhat-childish-experiment/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [And all my days are trances, And all my nightly dreams Are where thy dark eye glances, And where thy footstep gleams-- In what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/and-all-my-days-are-trances-and-all-my-nightly-dreams-are-where-thy/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“Other friends have flown before — On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.” Quoth the raven, “Nevermore.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/other-friends-have-flown-before-on-the-morrow-he-will-leave-me-as-my/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“To the right and left, as far as the eye could reach, there lay outstretched, like ramparts of the world, lines of horridly black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/to-the-right-and-left-as-far-as-the-eye-could-reach-there-lay/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [Men die nightly in their beds, wringing the hands of ghostly confessors ... on account of the hideousness of mysteries which will not suffer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/men-die-nightly-in-their-beds-wringing-the-hands-of-ghostly/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [And the Raven, never flitting, Still is sitting, still is sitting On the pallid bust of Pallas Just above my chamber door; And his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/and-the-raven-never-flitting-still-is-sitting-still-is-sitting-on-the/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [I was forced to fall back upon the unsatisfactory conclusion, that while, beyond doubt, there are combinations of very simple natural objects which have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/i-was-forced-to-fall-back-upon-the-unsatisfactory-conclusion-that/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise but i feel the bright…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/for-the-moon-never-beams-without-bringing-me-dreams-of-the-beautiful/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) [Explore all 615 Edgar Allan Poe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) ## More Conqueror quotes > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [How you see yourself is IMPORTANT... We would do well to see ourselves as God sees us More than a conqueror !!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marv-stark/how-you-see-yourself-is-important-we-would-do-well-to-see-ourselves/) [Marv Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marv-stark/) > [Oh while I live, to be the ruler of life, not a slave, to meet life as a powerful conqueror, and nothing exterior to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/oh-while-i-live-to-be-the-ruler-of-life-not-a-slave-to-meet-life-as-a/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Much can they praise the trees so straight and high, The sailing pine,the cedar proud and tall, The vine-prop elm, the poplar never dry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/much-can-they-praise-the-trees-so-straight-and-high-the-sailing-pine/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [Faith is always at a disadvantage; it is a perpetually defeated thing which survives all conquerors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/faith-is-always-at-a-disadvantage-it-is-a-perpetually-defeated-thing/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to permit the conquered Eastern peoples to have arms. History teaches that all conquerors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/the-most-foolish-mistake-we-could-possibly-make-would-be-to-permit/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [Yet only the atrocities of the conquered are referred to as criminal acts; those of the conqueror are justified as necessary, heroic, and even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-fergus/yet-only-the-atrocities-of-the-conquered-are-referred-to-as-criminal/) [Jim Fergus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-fergus/) > [He came, not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conqueror, but as one whose first cries were heard by a peasant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/he-came-not-as-a-flash-of-light-or-as-an-unapproachable-conqueror-but/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [“Napoleon the greatest of the conquerors, is a sufficient proof that great men of action are criminals, and, therefore not geniuses. One can understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-weininger/napoleon-the-greatest-of-the-conquerors-is-a-sufficient-proof-that/) [Otto Weininger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-weininger/) > [If all the barbarian conquerors had been annihilated in the same hour, their total destruction would not have restored the empire of the West:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/if-all-the-barbarian-conquerors-had-been-annihilated-in-the-same-hour/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [“You see, that's the thing with conquerors, they cannot stop conquering, for then they would have to start ruling, and my guess is Jarasandh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gourav-mohanty/you-see-that-s-the-thing-with-conquerors-they-cannot-stop-conquering/) [Gourav Mohanty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gourav-mohanty/) > [As he walks away on his own two feet--the toddler's body-mind has reached its moment of perfection. The world is his and he the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-j-kaplan/as-he-walks-away-on-his-own-two-feet-the-toddler-s-body-mind-has/) [Louise J. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-j-kaplan/) > [They were conquerors, and for that you want only brute force--nothing to boast of, when you have it, since your strength is just an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/they-were-conquerors-and-for-that-you-want-only-brute-force-nothing/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [The native American has been generally despised by his white conquerors for his poverty and simplicity. They forget, perhaps, that his religion forbade the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-alexander-eastman/the-native-american-has-been-generally-despised-by-his-white/) [Charles Alexander Eastman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-alexander-eastman/) > [This England never did, nor never shall, Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror, But when it first did help to wound itself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/this-england-never-did-nor-never-shall-lie-at-the-proud-foot-of-a/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) [Browse all 269 Conqueror quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conqueror/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The Conqueror Worm Lo! 'tis a gala night Within the lonesome latter years! An angel throng, bewinged, bedight In veils, and drowned in tears, Sit in a theatre, to see A play of hopes and fears, While the orchestra breathes fitfully The music of the spheres. Mimes, in the form of God on high, Mutter and mumble low, And hither and thither fly— Mere puppets they, who come and go At bidding of vast formless things That shift the scenery to and fro, Flapping from out their Condor wings Invisible Wo! That motley drama—oh, be sure It shall not be forgot! With its Phantom chased for evermore, By a crowd that seize it not, Through a circle that ever returneth in To the self-same spot, And much of Madness, and more of Sin, And Horror the soul of the plot. But see, amid the mimic rout A crawling shape intrude! A blood-red thing that writhes from out The scenic solitude! It writhes!—it writhes!—with mortal pangs The mimes become its food, And the angels sob at vermin fangs In human gore imbued. Out—out are the lights—out all! 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