The Messenger by H.P. LovecraftThe Messenger
by H.P. Lovecraft
Written November 30, 1929 
Published December 3, 1929 in the Providence Journal 
The thing, he said, would come in the night at three 
From the old churchyard on the hill below; 
But crouching by an oak fire's wholesome glow, 
I tried to tell myself it could not be. 
Surely, I mused, it was pleasantry 
Devised by one who did not truly know 
The Elder Sign, bequeathed from long ago, 
That sets the fumbling forms of darkness free. 
He had not meant it - no - but still I lit 
Another lamp as starry Leo climbed 
Out of the Seekonk, and a steeple chimed 
Three - and the firelight faded, bit by bit. 
Then at the door that cautious rattling came - 
And the mad truth devoured me like a flame! 



This was written in response to Bertrand Kelton Hart, author of a daily column 
called "The Sideshow" in the Providence Journal, who, upon discovering that 
Wilcox's residence in "The Call of Cthulhu" (7 Thomas Street) was his own, 
published in his column "...I shall not be happy until, joining league with 
wraiths and ghouls, I have plumped down at least one large and abiding ghost by 
way of reprisal upon [Lovecraft's] own doorstep in Barnes street... I think I 
shall teach it to moan in a minor dissonance every morning at 3 o'clock sharp, 
with a clinking of chains." 



Last modified: 02/18/2000 14:00:24