Diamond in the Rough

"A Mansion in Darkness" is the third track on King Diamond's 1987 concept album, Abigail. The album tells the story of a young couple who inherit a mansion haunted by the spirit of the previous owners' stillborn child. In "A Mansion in Darkness", Jonathan and Miriam spend their first night in the mansion. The lyrics use imagery to establish a dark picture of the mansion:

A giant shadow which was to be                                                                       A house where evil ruled at night                                                                   And the shadows at the gate, they seemed to be alive

The song uses shadows as a dual symbol, both for the literal darkness that floods the mansion at night and for the metaphorical darkness that infests the mansion through spirits. Miriam and Jonathan serve as direct contrasts to this darkness:

Through the dark they fought their way                                                              Armed with candlelight and open eyes

The couple wield lights as they journey through the dark halls, but their vulnerability shows through their eyes. This almost innocence, in conjunction with the candles, serves as a foil to the corrupted darkness of the house's visage. Ultimately, Miriam and Jonathan draw their characteristics from their life while the house draws from a crude imitation of life. The shadows only seem to be alive. The song both paints a vivid image and uses language to root that image in both actuality and symbolism. The duality of the diction and the striking subject matter are why I chose to defend this song as poetry.