Warning! This article contains Spoilers for The Fall of the House of Usher.

Edgar Allan Poe's poem, "The City in the Sea," serves as an allegory for the decay of the human soul and reflects the moral decay of the Usher family in The Fall of the House of Usher. Verna's recitation of the poem highlights the sins committed by the wealthy Ushers and how their pursuit of wealth has darkened their souls. The final stanzas of the poem foreshadow the doom of the Usher empire, mirroring how their sins and acts of immorality lead to their downfall and ultimate destruction.

Verna recites Edgar Allan Poe's The City in the Sea poem to Madeline in The Fall of the House of Usher — its significance in the show's overarching story is deeper than it seems. In its eight-episode runtime, Mike Flanagan's The Fall of the House of Usher features...