Yet unmoulded shroud

[Mher]

What does the author mean by saying "yet unmoulded shroud"?
"It was the skeleton of his wife in her yet unmoulded shroud." (http://poestories.com/read/premature)

 

[Raymott]

The shroud hasn't gone mouldy yet.

 

[shjnn3e]

Thanks ...

 

[BobK]

I think Poe may have been aware of a second meaning: his wife had not been buried for long enough for her shroud to be moulded to her form. (A shroud does mould itself to a corpse, but its form becomes clearer as flesh rots away and the bones are exposed.)

b

 

[emsr2d2]

For me:

Unmoulded = not yet moulded to her body
Unmouldered = has not yet gone mouldy

I should point out that I have never used either word and my spellchecker has underlined both of them, suggesting that neither is in use.

 

[Mher]

I think Poe may have been aware of a second meaning: his wife had not been buried for long enough for her shroud to be moulded to her form. (A shroud does mould itself to a corpse, but its form becomes clearer as flesh rots away and the bones are exposed.)

b

For me:

Unmoulded = not yet moulded to her body
Unmouldered = has not yet gone mouldy

I should point out that I have never used either word and my spellchecker has underlined both of them, suggesting that neither is in use.

So, as I understand, "to be molded to her body" means to acquire the shape of her body or her skeleton.

 

[BobK]

That's the way I read it - though I don't discount Ray's reading. I've never met 'moulded' in the meaning 'covered in mould', but on the analogy of 'battered fish' it seems possible. There's a third possible meaning, now I think of it: 'mould' could just be a verb (like rot) In horror fiction, writers aren't too worried about tying down a particular/precise/unambiguous meaning - they just want to create in the reader a feeling of distaste/disgust/unease/fear....

b

 

[Mher]

That's the way I read it - though I don't discount Ray's reading. I've never met 'moulded' in the meaning 'covered in mould', but on the analogy of 'battered fish' it seems possible. There's a third possible meaning, now I think of it: 'mould' could just be a verb (like rot) In horror fiction, writers aren't too worried about tying down a particular/precise/unambiguous meaning - they just want to create in the reader a feeling of distaste/disgust/unease/fear....

b

Will stick to your opinion if you read the last part of the next paragraph.
"While thus occupied, she probably swooned, or possibly died, through sheer terror; and, in falling, her shroud became entangled in some iron-work which projected interiorly. Thus she remained, and thus she rotted, erect."