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Saturday, April 20, 2013

R - The Raven - Edgar Allan Poe

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The Raven
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What is one of your favorite Edgar Allan Poe reads?

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more." ...

"I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat."
 -Edgar Allan Poe
"With me poetry has not been a purpose, but a passion."
-Edgar Allan Poe
 

... And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!

Long post, maybe... well it could have been?
Jeremy [Retro]
Oh, No... Let's Go CRAZY!

39 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love this wonderful poem.

Yvonne.

Melody said...

It has been many years since I have ready anything by Poe, but reading your excerpt above, my reaction is that his poetry is superb!

Sheena-kay Graham said...

Poe is a literary great.

Anonymous said...

One of my favourites.

Jason "J-Ryze" Fonceca said...

Timeless, classic writers like POe, for some reason feel like a breath of fresh air when 'quoted randomly' like this.

Love it Jeremy, thanks!

Andrea said...

I am trying to recall if I ever read anything else by Poe. (shame)

Sandy said...

Don't know if I have a favorite, wish I'd thought of that as an R...somewhere I have pictures of his grave, Poe's that is.

A-Z

JoJo said...

I loved Annabelle Lee. My high school English classes were big on Poe.

Jackie said...

That's so raven :)

My AtoZ Challenge

Anonymous said...

Poe will be forever a literary Great. I actually did a blog post for the 5o and 100 followers bloggers for others to start to please follow...hope this helps.
http://layedbacklife.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/help-these-bloggers-to-get-established/

John Wiswell said...

I always liked Hopfrog. A good underdog revenge story with Poe's sanguine style.

John at The Bathroom Monologues

ViolaFury said...

I love Poe and this poem. I also love his short story, "The Black Cat" although it is heartbreakingly sad. Good choice!

Monica said...

I haven't read this in years...I always found it a bit scary! There is certainly no doubting Poe's brilliance.

Monica at Older Mommy Still Yummy


Mary Kirkland said...

Have always loved his poems.

Dark Thoughts Blog

Jennifer Duggin said...

Poe was a dark master. When you read his poems you cannot help but realize the fallibility of the human psyche. He really was a genius and his true life story is such a strange one. Great post! Jennifer a.k.a Urban Gypsy Girl

Unknown said...

Reading Poe never fails to send shivers up my spine - in a very good way. He had such a way with setting tone. The Tell Tale Heart, The Masque of the Red Death, The Cask of Amontillado - all brilliantly set up to feel that haunting tone and the darkness within.

Poe and HP Lovecraft are some of my favorites to read, especially during the Autumn months.

Cath from Dramatics and Words

Susan Scott said...

that was just lovely thank you!
The Raven is ogten seen as a harbinger of something - doom, a warning, it appears in the Bible, in fairytales and folk lore ...
Susan Scott's Soul Stuff

Unknown said...

No one can match Poe's writings! The Pit and the Pendulum is my favorite!
Enjoying your posts a lot.
Connie
A to Z-ing to the end
Peanut Butter and Whine

Anonymous said...

I have a collection of his poems. The TellTale Heart was always my favorite story.

Unknown said...

I love the imagery in my mind as I read this poem. Great 'R' for the challenge.

Kern Windwraith said...

Poe was a master at creating a dark, brooding atmosphere, both in his poems and short stories. The Raven has always been one of my favourites.

#1Nana said...

It's also a best selling Tshirt on Woot.

Tina said...

I hope I'm not wrong on this, but I hang out at an online poetry pub called dVerse, and if you like poetry you should definitely check it out, and they teach us (on one of the days)different poetry forms. Anyway, that poem is called a villanelle, I believe, and I tried writing one and just couldn't. The repetition of lines that's required - I just couldn't come up with good lines that would fit that. Poe was a flippin' genius. My 11th grade English teacher taught us about him in a very unique way. I honored her at Q, but now I'm thinking she needs her own post.
Hey Katie,
Thanks for visiting Life is Good, I've appreciated your comments! Water is a life essential. I ALWAYS carry a water bottle, even if I'm NOT riding. I don't ride a bike like yours, but I'm a mountain biker and wouldn't survive without water. it's also good for washing off the inevitable scrapes and cuts. No sense leaving all that mud in there until I get home...
Tina @ Life is Good
Co-host, April 2013 A-Z Challenge Blog
@TinaLifeisGood, #atozchallenge

Tina said...

...and you've just been the victim of me having to copy all my comments and try at least twice to make them post...especially appropriate that this should happen to Jeremy, because he's been getting a lot of DL Hammon's comments from me this week...egads I need to slow down...now it doesn't seem to matter WHERE he posts, he gets double his money ;-)
~Tina

Unknown said...

I love this poem! I read it for the first time about 4 years ago.

Mina Lobo said...

The Cask of Amontillado and The Assignation are among my faves, while Berenice totally creeps me out. Oh, and of course, j'adore the tales featuring le chevalier C. Auguste Dupin. I plan to get a dachshund some day and name him after the famous detective. :-)
Some Dark Romantic

Unknown said...

Great poem! Maria

Patricia said...

Better late than never today, right?

A nail polish review!

- Patricia

4 Life said...

The Raven was the first poem I read from a classic poet that made an impact on me! Thanks for reminding me....

Texas Playwright Chick

Kathy Cannon Wiechman said...

Poe's The Raven is my very favorite poem. When I taught poetry, I used it as an example of internal rhyme & excellent meter. It's so good, I find it almost intimidating to write poetry, knowing I could never be that good.
Kathy @ Swagger Writers

Shannon Mashinchi said...

I love the word cloud of the Raven...awesome!

Tonight I wrote an odd blog,"Really? Powdered Peanut Butter?"

Shannon
<a href="http://www.theothersideoftheequation.com>The Other Side of the Equation</a>

Jer said...

Once upon a time, the good folks at Rivendell Bicycle Works (www.rivbike.com) held a contest in their quarterly Rivendell Reader magazine for the best version of The Raven written without the letter "e." The quality of submissions was surprisingly good.

loverofwords said...

This poem has to be read aloud, like all poems. And perfect practice for speaking clearly and pronouncing every syllable. But my favorite Poe poem is Annabelle Lee.

Gregg Metcalf said...

My favorite was the Tell Tale Heart!

Kristen said...

This is so well known, and so easy to use as an example of various things in writing. It's also fun to alter it for various writing exercises as well.

#atozchallenge, Kristen's blog: kristenhead.blogspot.com

Jean Katherine Baldridge said...

This is one amazing poem.
I love it!
Thanks for choosing it for your post today!

jean

Melancholy and Menace said...

I adore anything Poe related.

Thank you for sharing.

I wish I'd known about your A-Z
challenge earlier, I would
definitely have taken part : )

Enjoy your day,

Yvonne : My Haunted Attic

Anonymous said...

The Raven is one of the ones I haven't read, but I love Poe. I'll have to add a collection of his poems to my Goodreads.

Masque of the Red Death has been my favorite.

Ronald Lee Oliver said...

The "Compleat Works of Edgar Allen Poe" is one of my top ten all time favorite books. I recently wrote a poem that shows his influence. You can read it here:
http://ronaldleeoliver.com/blog/category/rlo-poetry/
If you like art, check out my home page while you are there.