How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Paragraph)
Quote #4
And the chin, with its dimples, as in health, might it not be hers? – but had she then grown taller since her malady? What inexpressible madness seized me with that thought? One bound, and I had reached her feet! Shrinking from my touch, she let fall from her head, unloosened, the ghastly cerements which had confined it, and there streamed forth, into the rushing atmosphere of the chamber, huge masses of long and disheveled hair; it was blacker than the raven wings of the midnight! And now slowly opened the eyes of the figure which stood before me. "Here then, at least," I shrieked aloud, "can I never – can I never be mistaken – these are the full, and the black, and the wild eyes – of my lost love – of the lady – of the LADY LIGEIA." (29)
Even in the most bizarre of moments, it's a small perception, a tiny observation (the too-tallness of Rowena) that clues the narrator into what's to come. It just goes to show you how committed Poe is to details – another writer might have focused on something more obvious, like, say, a big old scar. Instead, here we really see how vividly the narrator remembers his dead wife.