The complete, unabridged text of The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe, with vocabulary words and definitions.

Can you not see that I have full control of my mind? Is it not clear that I am not mad? Indeed, the illness only made my mind, my feelings, my senses stronger, more powerful. My sense of hearing especially became more powerful. I could hear sounds I had never heard before. I heard sounds from heaven; and I heard sounds from hell! Listen!

"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843. It is told by an unnamed narrator who endeavors to convince the reader of the narrator's sanity while simultaneously describing a murder the narrator committed.

Poe wants to make it clear that the tell-tale heartbeat which makes the narrator finally confess to his crime could not be that of the victim. In addition to ascertaining that the old man is "stone, stone dead," the narrator tells how he "cut off his victim's head and the arms and the legs."

Need help with The Tell-Tale Heart in Edgar Allan Poe's Poe's Stories? Check out our revolutionary side-by-side summary and analysis.

A short summary of Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart. This free synopsis covers all the crucial plot points of The Tell-Tale Heart.

"The Tell-Tale Heart" By Edgar Allan Poe Transcription, correction, editorial commentary, and markup by by Students and Staff of Marymount University, Hawa Sheikh-Adam, Austin Benson.

An in-depth examination of the events in The Tell-Tale Heart and what they mean.

First published in 1843 in The Pioneer, “The Tell-Tale Heart” features many of the signature elements of an Edgar Allan Poe short story: a dark gothic setting, an unhinged narrator, and a tense plot.

From a general summary to chapter summaries to explanations of famous quotes, the SparkNotes The Tell-Tale Heart Study Guide has everything you need to ace quizzes, tests, and essays.