He is described as having a “ghastly pallor of the skin, and the now miraculous lustre of the eye” (Poe 894). The earliest usage of the word “miraculous” references the idea that some things are not “explicable by natural laws” (OED 1) and must occur due to supernatural or godly intervention. Later usage of the term was applied to the actions of someone under significant influence of alcohol. Likewise, Poe describes Usher 's voice in the next paragraph as resembling that of a “lost drunkard” (Poe 894). Using this meaning, Usher 's depressed mood, glazed eyes, guttural speech, and loss of mental clarity could all be attributed to heavy alcohol consumption rather than an apparent descent into insanity. This is unlikely, as the usage of the word “miraculous” in this manner didn 't appear until several decades after Poe published “The Fall of the House of
He is described as having a “ghastly pallor of the skin, and the now miraculous lustre of the eye” (Poe 894). The earliest usage of the word “miraculous” references the idea that some things are not “explicable by natural laws” (OED 1) and must occur due to supernatural or godly intervention. Later usage of the term was applied to the actions of someone under significant influence of alcohol. Likewise, Poe describes Usher 's voice in the next paragraph as resembling that of a “lost drunkard” (Poe 894). Using this meaning, Usher 's depressed mood, glazed eyes, guttural speech, and loss of mental clarity could all be attributed to heavy alcohol consumption rather than an apparent descent into insanity. This is unlikely, as the usage of the word “miraculous” in this manner didn 't appear until several decades after Poe published “The Fall of the House of