Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 208)

//Panel 1//
Baron Portsnell:
Sheila!
//Panel 2//
Baron Portsnell:
Old Hannah has agreed to meet you tonight!
Sheila:
OH!
//Panel 3//
Sheila:
Thank goodness—I…I…
//Panel 4//
Edgar:
What do you mean—‘Old Hannah will meet you tonight’?
Sheila:
It’s marriage.
Permission to marry. Oh, but…
//Panel 5//
Edgar's Narration:
Ahh…
//Panel 6//
Sheila:
Will Old Hannah be pleased with me…?
//Panel 7//
Edgar's Narration:
Oh, I see…
//Panel 8//
Edgar's Narration:
…That's it.
//Panel 9//
Baron Portsnell:
It should be fine, without a doubt!
Sheila:
……
//Panel 10//
Sheila:
When we marry, I want some adorable children.
Baron Portsnell:
Boys? Girls?
Sheila:
Both!
//Panel 11//
Edgar:
Do you love her a lot?

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 207)

//Panel 1//
SFX:
CHEEP CHEEP CHEEP
TWEET TWEET
//Panel 5//
Edgar’s Narration:
She’s so pretty…
So pretty.
Edgar’s Narration:
—I don’t know my mother…
—But surely she must have been like this, I wonder…
//Panel 6//
Sheila:
Um, Edgar, what is that cluster of flowers?
Edgar:
Oh…that…
//Panel 7//
Edgar:
That…those are garlic flowers planted by the idiots from Scotty…
Edgar:
…who are scared of things like vampires that don’t exist.
SFX:
GRRR GRRR GRRRR

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 206)

//Panel 1//
Sheila:
Please don’t be so formal. Let’s chat, shall we?
What a charming village.
Edgar:
There are lots of pretty places around Scotty.
//Panel 2//
Edgar:
There’s a bluejay nest, and a little stream where you can float a water wheel…
And some cliffs…if you fell off them, you’d probably die!
Sheila:
Well now, that’s something!
//Panel 3//
Edgar:
Oh, I’ll take you around tomorrow morning.
Sheila:
Really? Do you promise?
//Panel 6//
Baron Portsnell:
Do you remember?
Baron Portsnell:
How I asked for your permission the last time?
//Panel 7//
Old Hannah:
Have you touched her yet?
Baron Portsnell:
I haven’t laid a finger on her!
Baron Portsnell:
I tell you, I waited for her to turn twenty! Five years…!
//Panel 8//
Old Hannah:
Do you still love her?
Baron Portsnell:
Now, and forevermore!
Baron Portsnell:
As a member of our clan!

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 205)

//Panel 1//
Baron Portsnell:
So—it’s true, then! You’re Edgar and Marybel! How many years has it been? How old are you now?
Edgar:
Now? I’m eleven and Marybel’s seven.
//Panel 2//
Baron Portsnell:
I’ll bet you don’t remember me. All right, then…up you go!
Marybel:
Wheeeee!
Maid:
Heh heh, that would be impossible. This gentleman is Baron Frank Portsnell.
Edgar:
Portsnell……?
//Panel 3//
Maid:
He visited the manor one time, five years ago.
Edgar:
Hnnnn.
Baron:
Hmm, you’re a good girl. You’re going to be a beauty.
Marybel:
Oooh, your mustache hurts!
//Panel 4//
Baron:
Now, is Old Hannah well?
Baron Portsnell:
I would like to greet her, but before that, Edgar…
I ask that you keep the lady company.
//Panel 5//
Edgar:
……

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 204)

//Panel 1//
Sheila:
You shouldn’t fight. Don’t you see how you startled your little sister? She’s crying.
//Panel 2//
Baron Portsnell:
Sheila!
//Panel 3//
Baron Portsnell:
The wheel alignment is finally repaired.
Please get in…we’ll be at the manor shortly.
//Panel 4//
Edgar:
The…manor?
//Panel 7//
Baron Portsnell:
You are—
Baron Portsnell:
The two of you are—
Edgar:
!!

In Panel 3, Baron Portsnell uses the word 轍 (wadachi), which literally means "wheel tracks" or "wheel ruts." Because it is difficult to imagine all carriages having the same exact width and thus fitting in the same ruts or tracks, I'm convinced that this was an error in her (or an editor's) choice of vocabulary. But I had to make an educated guess that she meant to refer to alignment of the wheels.

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 203)

//Panel 1//
SFX:
WAAAAA!
SFX:
SHRIEK
//Panel 2//
Edgar:
Don’t frighten Marybel, you liar!
SFX:
SHOVE
Remy:
Hey, you—
//Panel 3//
Remy:
When did I lie, huh?
SFX:
PUSH
Edgar:
OW
//Panel 4//
Marybel:
Brother
Brother
Edgar:
That’s crazy!
Remy:
No, it’s not!
Edgar:
Ouch! You—
Remy:
Everyone in the village says so!
//Panel 5//
Sheila:
Stop that!
SFX:
WHA—
//Panel 6//
Remy:
Woo-hoo! Foundling, foundling
Fall down, break your neck and die!
//Panel 7//
Edgar:
All of you from Scotty are idiots and fools!!!
//Panel 10//
Sheila:
Don’t move. You’ll get dirt in your eye.

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 202)

//Panel 1//
Boy:
Wha—over there! Oh, damn!
Boy 2:
Oof, you let it get away! Get ready for the next one—it’s b-i-i-g! Okay—
//Panel 2//
Remy:
Edgar! Help us out here!
Edgar:
Wait a second!
//Panel 3//
Edgar:
Here you go. Now try it out on the river.
Marybel:
Uh-huh.
//Panel 4//
SFX:
CHEEP CHEEP CHEEP CHEEP
//Panel 5//
SFX:
GLUG GLUG
//Panel 6//
Remy:
Shee—!
//Panel 7//
Remy:
It’s Old Bill!
//Panel 8//
Remy:
He must be going grave-digging!
Edgar:
He’s crazy.
Remy:
He’s not crazy.
//Panel 9//
Boy 2:
They say Old Bill’s wife was killed by vampires a long time ago!
Edgar:
My granny says there’s no such thing.
Remy:
Old Bill saw them.
They sleep in their graves during the daytime, and go out to suck blood at night. They have faces like this…

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 201)

//Panel 1//
Marybel:
Edgar! Edgar!
//Panel 2//
Edgar:
What is it?
What? What is it, Marybel, what?
Marybel:
SOB
Servant:
She spent the whole day looking around for her naughty brother.
//Panel 3//
Edgar:
Oh, sorry, Marybel! I'm sorry!
//Panel 4//
Old Hannah:
…You say they were driving stakes in the forest…?
//Panel 5//
Old Hannah:
Well.
//Panel 6//
Old Hannah:
That’s all right. Let’s forget about what you saw in the forest.
Old Hannah:
There’s no such thing as evil spirits.
That’s what cowards dream of.
//Panel 7//
Good night.
Good night.

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 200)

//Panel 1//
SFX:
STRIKE
SHRIEK
Villager:
Evil spirits, be gone!!
//Panel 2//
SFX:
Ha!
Villager:
Who’s that!
//Panel 3//
SFX:
RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE
//Panel 4//
RUSTLE!
//Panel 5//
Villager:
You damned village brats!!
//Panel 6//
SFX:
PANT PANT
//Panel 7//
Boys:
PANT
GASP
PANT
Remy:
What a shock!
Edgar:
Th-that woman was already dead, too!
//Panel 8//
Remy:
--------It’s protection against vampires-------
She must have gotten attacked by them.
Edgar:
Vampires?

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 199)

//Panel 1//
Edgar:
L-let’s go back, Remy.
Boy 2:
I’m…scared.
Remy?:
Quiet. You can't go back now!
//Panel 2//
Edgar:
That’s the drunkard priest.
The Mayor.
All the officials from the village.
Remy:
The woman on the cart—that must be Seb’s young wife, who died in childbirth two nights ago.
Remy:
They’re not burying her in the cemetary—what could they be doing?
Where are they going?
//Panel 3//
SFX:
KARA KARA KARA KARA
//Panel 4//
Villager:
Around here should be good……?
//Panel 5//
Boy:
Are they going to eat her?!
Remy:
Shut up, fool!
//Panel 8//
Villager:
With one thrust of this stake…
//Panel 9//
Edgar:
GASP

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 198)

//Panel 1//
Marybel:
Brother!
//Panel 2//
Marybel:
Brother!
Marybel:
Ohhh!
//Panel 3//
Old Hannah:
Now, now. Did he leave you behind?
Marybel:
But he promised he’d make me a water wheel.
//Panel 4//
Old Hannah:
What a bad brother.
Don’t cry, don’t cry.
When he comes back, let’s scold him, eh?

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 196-197)

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 195)

//Panel 1//
Edgar:
Why were we left in the forest?
Old Hannah:
So you’re old enough to think about such things, now.
//Panel 2//
Old Hannah’s Narration:
I myself wonder. Whose children are you—and from where?
Old Hannah’s Narration:
You were both dressed nicely. You said your name was Edgar, and that you were four. Your sister Marybel had just been born. You said so yourself.
//Panel 3//
Edgar:
What’s this?
Old Hannah:
Soup made from roses.
//Panel 4//
Edgar:
YUCK
Marybel:
SLURP
Old Hannah’s Narration:
But you know, that’s not what matters, who you are and where you come from.
//Panel 5//
Marybel:
Are those bluejays?
Old Hannah:
They're mommy and daddy bluejays.
Old Hannah’s Narration:
You were brought up in this manor, and I’m so fond of you both.
//Panel 6//
Marybel:
Doesn’t Marybel have a mommy and a daddy?
//Panel 7//
Edgar:
Don’t you see…
//Panel 8//
Edgar:
You have a big brother, right? And your granny, too.
Edgar:
And we all love Marybel. We love her so much.
//Panel 9//
So much.
So much.
So much.

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 194)

//Panel 1//
Old Hannah’s Narration:
------stopped time.
Old Hannah’s Narration:
So the girl lives on, tomorrow
And the next day
Villagers:
Ready your stakes. Don’t stop praying!
Kill them!
Kill those evil spirits! Kill them!
//Panel 2//
Old Hannah:
Sleep……
Good little children.
Keep growing, growing.
Old Hannah’s Narration:
Her lovely silver hair caressed by the breeze…
Old Hannah’s Narration:
Forever a young maiden.
//Panel 4//
Bill:
Old hag…old crone…
//Panel 6//
Edgar:
What are vampires?
Old Hannah:
They are a legend in this village… such ridiculous talk…
//Panel 8//
Edgar:
How old are you, Granny?
Old Hannah:
Heh heh, how old do I look to you?

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 193)

//Panel 1//
Villager:
…They’re saying that the old mistress Hannah Poe from the manor…
…brought back some children from the forest.
How compassionate of her.
//Panel 2//
Bill:
That misty night?
That was the night my wife died.
Bill:
In the forest?! What was that old hag doing in the forest?
//Panel 3//
Villager:
Calm down, Bill!
Your wife died from illness, in her very own bed!
Bill:
SOB
//Panel 4//
Bill:
That’s a lie! That was no normal face of death...
Bill:
She was strangled by vampires!
//Panel 5//
Old Hannah’s Narration:
There was a girl with translucent silver hair.
Old Hannah’s Narration:
So beautiful that the gods
Old Hannah’s Narration:
Stopped time for this young girl.
Old Hannah:
Sleep…
Sleep…
Villagers:
Keep the fires blazing at the doors.
Hang garlic and crucifixes from the windows.

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 192)

//Panel 3//
Old Hannah:
Oh, you’re awake, eh? Little foundling.
Edgar:
……Where’s Marybel?
//Panel 4//
Old Hannah:
Leda the maid came back with some goat’s milk. She’s feeding her now.
You must eat, too.
//Panel 5//
Old Hannah:
You look at me, so astonished.
I am Old Hannah Poe. From today, this is your home.
//Panel 6//
Edgar:
……What’s that?
Old Hannah:
Those are roses.
In Spring, they will bloom.
//Panel 7//
Edgar:
What’s that?
//Panel 8//
Old Hannah:
That’s Scotty’s Village.

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 191)

//Panel 1//
Edgar:
Marybel
Marybel, Marybel, don’t cry.
SFX:
WAAAAIIIIILL
SOB
CRY
Edgar:
I’m here.
Your big brother’s here with you.
Don’t cry!
//Panel 2//
SFX:
MURMUR MURMUR
SFX:
CRY CRY CRY
//Panel 3//
Edgar:
……
//Panel 4//
SFX:
RUSTLE
STARTLE!
//Panel 5//
Old Hannah:
Well! Here’s the source of all the crying.
This way, Leda.

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 190)

//Panel 1//
Marybel:
WAIL CRY WAIL
//Panel 2//
Marybel:
CRY WAIL
//Panel 3//
Marybel:
WAIL WAIL
//Panel 4//
Edgar:
Sniff
Why?
//Panel 5//
Edgar’s Narration:
Why?
Why?
Why?
//Panel 6//
Edgar/s Narration:
Why is it so dark here?
Edgar's Narration:
Why? Where did they all go?
Edgar:
Marybel...
Edgar’s Narration:
Nanny, where are you?
Where did you go, Nanny?

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 189)

//Panel 1//
Edgar:
Oh, Nanny! Nanny!
Adult:
Please, don’t use the knife, all right? If you just leave them there, they’ll die.
Hurry! Start up the carriage!
SFX:
NEIGH
//Panel 2//
Edgar:
Wait, wait! Oh, Nanny, don’t leave us here!
Edgar:
Nanny, wait!
Nanny!
SFX:
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE
WHIP!
//Panel 3//
Edgar:
Nanny!
SFX:
WAIL

Moto Hagio Perfect Selection

Moto Hagio Perfect Selection (萩尾望都パーフェクトセレクション) went on sale last month. So far Vol 1 and Vol 2 are available. All color pages are being reproduced in their full glory! It's very interesting that this anthology starts with Tooma no Shinzo. Is that perhaps more popular in Japan than Poe?

Vol. 1 [on sale]
Tooma no Shinzo I (トーマの心臓 I)
Contains Tooma no Shinzo (Thomas' Heart)

Vol. 2 [on sale]
Tooma no Shinzo II (トーマの心臓 II)
Contains Tooma no Shinzo (Continuation), The Visitor (訪問者), and The November Gymnasium (11月のギムナジウム).
accompanied by a separate, full color volume: On the Lake - Summer of Fourteen and a Half (「湖畔にて」十四と半分の年の夏)

Vol. 3 [Aug 2007 release]
They Were Eleven! (11人いる！)
Contains They Were Eleven, Horizon of the East, Eternity of the West (東の地平　西の永遠), and Space Street (スペース・ストリート)

Vol. 4 [Sep 2007 release]
Mesh (or Meches) I
Contains Mesh (or Meches), Rouge, Blanc, Spring Bone (春の骨), MontMartre, MOVEMENT, Revolution (革命), and Plan de Paris

Vol. 5 [Oct 2007 release]
Mesh (or Meches) II
Contains Listening (耳をかたむけて), Thousand Arrows (千の矢), People You Can't Stand (苦手な人種), Carnival(謝肉祭), Realistic Death of Surrealistic Love (シュールな愛のリアルな死), and The Boat (船)

Vol. 6 [Nov 2007 release]
Poe no Ichizoku I
Contains Translucent Silver Hair (すきとおった銀の髪), The Village of the Poes (ポーの村), Glen Smith's Diary (グレンスミスの日記), The Clan of the Poes (ポーの一族), Marybel and the Silver Roses (メリーベルと銀のばら), and The Little Birds' Nest (小鳥の巣)

Vol. 7 [Dec 2007 release]
Poe no Ichizoku II
Contains Evans' Will (エヴァンズの遺書), Penny Rain (ペニー・レイン), Liddell in the Forest (リデル・森の中), Lambton speaks (ランプトンは語る), Piccadilly at Seven (ピカデリー7時), Flowers and Little Birds of Faraway Lands (はるかな国の花や小鳥), Holmes's Deerstalker Cap (ホームズの帽子), A Week (一週間), and Edith (エディス)

Vol. 8 [Jan 2008 release]
Star Red (スター・レッド)

Vol. 9 [Feb 2008 release]
Hanshin
Contains Hanshin (Demigod 半神), Iguana's Daughter (イグアナの娘), The Mimicry of Angels (天使の擬態), The Drug to Go to School (学校へ行くクスリ), The Afternoon Sun (午後の日射し), Catharsis (カタルシス), The Returning Child (帰ってくる子), The Yukata That Sayo Sews (小夜の縫うゆかた), Friend K (友人Ｋ), The Pretender (偽王), Greenhouse (温室), Marine (マリーン)

On "The Clan of the Poes"

Wow, what a curious epilogue after such an dramatic ending! We are now transported back into the "present" (as this work was published), with the same characters reappearing in a new settings. We will know more about what happens there in later episodes. But for now, let me share a controversy I had about the ending - why did Allan run away from home and decide to join Edgar?

The pressure from Mother's worsening conditions mounted to a breaking point for Allan. I just thought that his mother consenting to his uncle's plan was too much to take for Allan, and the dramatic fall of his uncle finally pushed him over the edge.

My husband says that the dialogue between Allan's mother and uncle — where they address each other by "darling" and "dear" on Page 178 — hints that they were on much more 'intimate' terms than just brother and sister in laws, and that's the real reason. What do you think?

Finally, the relationship between Edgar and Allan, as well as the characters themselves, are really well-delineated with the conclusion of this story. The gothic tone of the piece is also very striking. However, Hagio is not the sort of author to sit complacently within her well-established universe...she will surely change the environment and the mood, as well as the time period, with her continuation of the Poe saga, "Marybel and the Silver Roses."

As you will see, Hagio is not interested in telling the Poes' story in a time-sequential manner. However, this artistic decision does not create confusion (it is clear that each of her stories are complete within themselves, not relying on the other stories within the series to make sense). What this does create, however, is the sense that puzzle pieces are being added slowly, deliberately, and the painting or storyline is gradually receiving a brushstroke here, a bit of landscape there, to cast and reflect light back on what was previously narrated, and add to the whole. I myself have no experience reading Poe out of the order I am currently translating and blogging, but I am sure some readers have done so, and their experiences and feelings regarding the piece must be somewhat different...though surely there is no "wrong" or "right" order in which to read this work.

The Clan of the Poes (Page 187)

//Panel 1//
Professor:
It took much time for people to journey in the old days.
//Panel 2//
Professor:
Now, it takes a tiny portion of your lives to span the globe.
Space travel was nothing but a dream...
//Panel 3//
Professor:
And now it’s steadily becoming a reality.
Professor:
In our own Germany...
//Panel 4//
Professor:
That’s it for today!
Student:
I like Professor Groff!
He always wraps things up five minutes early.
//Panel 5//
Student:
Here’s the new single by Paul Anka…hey!
Another student:
First I have to call my Mom…huh…?!
//Panel 6//
Student:
Who are those two over by the gate?
Other student:
What? Where? Where—
Whoa, don’t push!
//Panel 7//
Student’s Narration:
I bet they’re transfer students. Wonder what year they are? Where could they be from?

The End, The Clan of the Poes
(first published October, 1972)

The Clan of the Poes (Page 186)

//Panel 1//
Narration:
Moments we pass through now and then
Whispering, laughing
Exchanging glances
Narration:
Running, running amongst the people as they weave their dreams
Narration:
What might there be at the ends of this flow of Time……

The Clan of the Poes (Page 185)

//Panel 1//
SFX:
RATTLE RATTLE
//Panel 2//
Servant:
Master Allan! Your Uncle is fine!
Servant:
Your Uncle is…Master Allan?!
//Panel 3//
Servant:
Master Allan!
//Panel 4//
SFX:
BAN
AHAHAHAHA
//Panel 6//
Servant:
Was he spirited away on the wind…?

The Clan of the Poes (Page 184)

//Panel 1//
Edgar:
Me, I’m going…
//Panel 2//
Allan:
Going where?
Edgar:
Far away.
//Panel 3//
Edgar:
And you, what will you do?…Will you join me?
//Panel 5//
Edgar:
Come.
//Panel 6//
Come with me. It’s lonely on my own.

The Clan of the Poes (Page 183)

//Panel 2//
Allan:
Marybel? Where is she?
//Panel 3//
Edgar:
Do you know where people come from before they’re born?
Allan:
No…
Edgar:
Neither do I. So I don’t know where Marybel has gone.
//Panel 5//
Allan:
…Before they're born?

The Clan of the Poes (Page 182)

//Panel 1//
Servant:
Master Allan—wait!
Someone:
Allan!
Aunt:
Darling!
Margot:
Father! Father!
//Panel 2//
Servant:
Master Allan!
//Panel 4//
SFX:
SLAM
//Panel 5//
SFX:
BANG
BANG
Servant:
Master Allan!
Master Allan!
//Panel 6//
Servant:
Please stay right there; do you understand? Right away, right away, the doctor will be…!
//Panel 8//
Allan:
…Ah…Marybel, Marybel……Someone……
Allan:
Help me, Marybel!
//Panel 9//
Edgar:
Marybel is gone.

There was a challenge in attributing dialogue in the first panel, since the dialogue balloons were coming out of visual range where you could see who was speaking. So I had to speculate a bit. Obviously it would only be the servant who would refer to Allan as "Allan-sama" or "Master Allan." The second balloon, mentioning only "Allan", was really hard to pin down so I just let it go as "Someone." Presumably, Uncle is injured and can't speak, Margot is probably too hysterical, and it could be the Aunt, though I wasn't positive about that. The next balloon, which states, "Anata" or "Darling", is presumably the Aunt, comforting her injured husband. And obviously the shrieking cries of "Father, Father," must belong to Margot.

The Clan of the Poes (Page 181)

//Panel 2//
SFX:
SCREAM
AAAAA
//Panel 4//
Margot:
Murder!
//Panel 6//
Margot:
Murder!
//Panel 7//
Servant:
Master Allan!

The Clan of the Poes (Page 180)

Panel 1//
Uncle:
Regarding the marriage—
//Panel 2//
The marriage between you and Margot.
Rachel was terribly disappointed.
//Panel 3//
Uncle:
Rachel was—
Allan:
Don’t…
//Panel 4//
Allan:
DON’T TOUCH ME.
SFX:
SHOVE
//Panel 6//
SFX:
SCREAM

The Clan of the Poes (Page 179)

//Panel 1//
Uncle:
ALLAN.
//Panel 5//
Uncle:
Wait. I want to talk to you…Allan. I’ve just spoken with Rachel.

The Clan of the Poes (Page 178)

//Panel 1//
Uncle:
You know, Rachel, it’s best if you speak to him yourself. He’s still a boy, after all.
Uncle:
He doesn’t understand. Not about business, or any of it!
//Panel 2//
Mrs. Twilight:
Don’t grip me so tightly. My chest will start hurting again.
Uncle:
Will you speak to Allan for me, darling?
//Panel 3//
Mrs. Twilight:
All right, dear, I will.
Uncle:
I’m counting on you, darling.
//Panel 5//
SFX:
BAN

The Clan of the Poes (Page 177)

//Panel 1//
Edgar’s Narration:
Curtains. It's all over!
I’m free now.
I'm alone in this world.
Edgar’s Narration:
No need to go on
For Marybel’s sake, to protect her.
No need to go on……
//Panel 2//
Servant:
Master Allan.
Is it alright for you to be out of bed?
//Panel 3//
Allan:
Ah. My fever’s gone.
//Panel 4//
Allan’s Narration:
I’d better tell Mother; otherwise she’ll worry.
//Panel 5//
Allan’s Uncle:
Allan…objects to marrying Margot.
//Panel 6//
Allan:
It's Uncle.

The Clan of the Poes (Page 176)

//Panel 1//
Bystander 1:
An accident!
Bystander 2:
It’s awful!
Edgar’s Narration:
Farewell
Farewell
Bystander 3:
What a mess. Traveling this blind curve downhill at such a speed!
//Panel 2//
Bystander 1:
One person fell beneath the carriage. I saw it!
Bystander 2:
Liar! No one’s there.
Move that out of the way.
Edgar’s Narration:
Farewell, ties to my distant past…
//Panel 5//
Edgar:
Huh…
//Panel 6//
Edgar:
Ha ha.

Edgar's last line in Panel 2 translates literally as "Farewell my far-off/distant days/past." However, this doesn't have much meaning in English (or Japanese). It makes more sense interpreted as "TIES to my distant past," meaning that Marybel, Sheila and Baron were the only ones who had any connection to Edgar in the days before he became a vampire.

In the last two panels, Edgar appears to be laughing, but is really reacting in sheer stress and shock to the absurdity of the situation...all the efforts he has made up until now have been for nothing.

The Clan of the Poes (Page 175)

//Panel 1//
Edgar’s Narration:
Ahh, at least for me…
Baron Portsnell:
Sheila—
SFX:
PSSSSSTTT
//Panel 2//
Driver:
AAH…
//Panel 3//
SFX:
CLONK
//Panel 4//
SFX:
WHIP
//Panel 6//
Baron Portsnell:
WAAAAA—
Baron’s Narration:
My wife
My love
Those who shared my destiny

In Edgar's line from Panel 1, which is repeated from the last panel of the previous page, the implication is that at least for Edgar, he had one singular purpose: to take care of Marybel.

In Panel 6, Baron Portsnell is referring, of course, to members of the Poe clan, many of whom have shared a fate similar to Sheila's.

The Clan of the Poes (Page 174)

//Panel 1//
SFX:
SMASH!
SHATTER!
//Panel 2//
Edgar’s Narration:
Why are we alive?
If only I knew!
//Panel 4//
Edgar’s Narration:
There's nothing we create, or give birth to.
//Panel 5//
Edgar’s Narration:
Nothing we pass on to later generations.
//Panel 6//
Edgar’s Narration:
Why do we live on and on like this?
//Panel 7//
SFX:
STUMBLE!
Edgar’s Narration:
At least for me…

The Clan of the Poes (Page 173)

//Panel 1//
Edgar:
This is the pistol you used to shoot Marybel.
//Panel 2//
Clifford:
Evil spirit…! Be gone! You don’t exist!
//Panel 3//
Edgar:
We do exist. For much longer than you do……
Do you have any last words?
//Panel 4//
SFX:
RUMBLE
Clifford:
Be gone! Why on earth are you demons here?!
//Panel 5//
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE
Clifford:
Why on earth are you alive…why do you exist? You demons!

If I were directing this scene for a movie, I have no idea how I would have the Clifford character read these lines. He seems to be putting up a front, trying to be forceful and in control, but I might instruct the actor to have his tone waver in and out of a higher range, betraying his likely hysteria. He is still fighting with his rational view that none of this can be possible. Isn't it a little late for these mixed assessments, after he has shot Marybel and gravely injured Sheila? Has he accepted his fate? Does he expect the rational world to rescue him at the last second? But he is all alone……apart from Edgar.

The Clan of the Poes (Page 172)

//Panel 1//
Bike:
Do something about those wet clothes! I’ll put Miss Jane to bed.
After that, you’ll explain to me what is going on here!
Clifford:
I welcome the chance! After all, Jane saw it too.
Clifford:
Even Dr. Caster would have to believe it.
//Panel 2//
Bike:
Believe? Believe what!
Clifford:
Believe in demons!
//Panel 3//
Dr. Caster:
Has he gone mad?
Bike:
It can't be!
//Panel 4//
SFX:
CREAK
//Panel 5//
Clifford:
If this lightning is sent by God, then let that house on the cape be shattered to pieces!
//Panel 6//
Clifford:
Aren't they also God's creatures?…But why?
//Panel 7//
SFX:
SLAM
//Panel 8//
Edgar:
I heard Marybel’s screams from outside.
…I didn't make it in time.

The Clan of the Poes (Page 171)

//Panel 1//
Dr. Caster:
Jane? What’s wrong?
Bike:
Miss Jane!
Clifford:
Jane!
Clifford:
She’s only fainted from the shock!
//Panel 2//
Jane:
Aah…aah…aah
//Panel 3//
Jane:
SCREECH
AAAAH
SHRIEK
//Panel 4//
Clifford:
Grab pitchforks and stakes! Raise up your crucifixes!
Bike:
Clifford.
Clifford:
Crush those demons!
//Panel 5//
Clifford:
Those demons!

It's odd how in Panel 4, Clifford himself looks like a stereotypical Hollywood vampire.

The Clan of the Poes (Page 170)

//Panel 1//
SFX:
BAZA
//Panel 4//
Clifford:
Jane!
//Panel 5//
Dr. Caster:
What’s going on? What’s all this noise?!
SFX:
SLAM
Clifford:
Jane saw it too!