Poe (?) short-story about a dead man's speech

November 9, 2012 5:26 AM

(Poe?) tale about a speech by a dead man

I thought this was a Poe short story, but have been unable to find it:

University professor or other long-winded academic gets up on a stage to give a lecture about how he's discovered immortality. As the speech proceeds, it becomes increasingly rambling and incoherent. In the end, it turns out the immortal speech giver is actually dead.

posted by Remote Network to writing & language (5 answers total)

That sounds a bit like Poe's The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
posted by moonmilk at 5:47 AM on November 9, 2012 [2 favorites]

Thanks. I don't think that's it. In the story I'm thinking about, the immortal dead man was on a mission to convince people about his breakthrough discovery of the key to immortality.
posted by Remote Network at 6:38 AM on November 9, 2012

"Mesmeric Revelation" is about a hypnotized dying man.

A lot Poe's stories -- particularly those about women --- involve coming back from the dead in one form or another. But I can't think of a Poe story in which a character is dead for the entire story (and I've read all of Poe, so I'll try to dig through my books when I have a chance --- this intrigues me.)
posted by zizzle at 1:14 PM on November 9, 2012

I've read all of Poe too (although not for a few years) and I don't recognize that story at all.
posted by mmoncur at 12:47 AM on November 10, 2012

I guess maybe it wasn't Poe... Or I dreamed it? :-)
posted by Remote Network at 10:56 AM on November 10, 2012