Transcript Edgar Allen Poe - Nova Scotia Department of Education

Poetry Project
By: Shawn Potter
Date: December 12, 2005
Edgar Allen Poe was a famous American writer, known for his
poems, critics and short stories. The first writer to fully embrace the short
story as an art form, Poe practically invented the detective story. He
concentrated much of his energy towards stories of horror and mystery.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1809, Poe was orphaned at a
young age and was taken in by John Allen, a wealthy merchant in
Richmond, Virginia. After studying in England for five years, Poe and his
family moved back to America in 1820.
He began studies at Virginia University but due to gambling
debts was forced to end his studies after a year. Without any income,
Poe decided to enter the army. By this time Poe had already published
his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827).
In 1829, Poe published his second book of poems, Al Aaraaf,
and two years later came his third publication, Poems.
In 1833, Poe moved to Baltimore, to live with his aunt and younger
cousin Virginia, who he would marry three years later. Poe turned to his
writing as a means of financial support, writing for the Southern Literary
Messenger. Here Poe wrote several fictional pieces, such as his prose
Berenice. Yet his writings were mainly critics, known for their harsh
analytical critics of popular writers of the time.
Over the next few years Poe would work for several periodicals in
Philadelphia and New York. In 1836 Virginia became ill and was a burden
upon Poe until her death in 1847, as Poe had addiction problems with
alcohol and drugs.
Poe did not recover from the grief of his wife’s death and soon
thereafter became ill. He continued to write and lecture, but passed away
two years later, in 1849.
Poe’s poems were known for their haunting style. Through
mastery of meter, syntax and diction the reader is made to feel
certain effects, which is indeed the purpose of poetry, to portray
images and ideas to the reader.
Poe was known as a harsh critic, full of wit and sarcasm.
Though he did praise a young Dickens, most writers publishing in his
time were caught by Poe’s “picky” nature. Poe’s essays on fiction
and the short story have been incredibly influential in American and
European writers.
Poe, though known as a poet, was just as famous for his
short stories. Being the first writer to compose prolifically in the
detective story, Poe paved the way for all mystery and detective
books that were to come after him. Known for his grotesque nature,
Poe managed to create gloomy, frightening atmospheres, combined
with a mastery of plot construction.
Poe has indeed become one of the most famous writers of
poems, short stories and critics in the history of American literature.
I find Poe’s writing to be quite enjoyable. Despite the often melancholy feel (or
perhaps due to it), there is a certain effect gained. The word that first comes to mind is
“mesmerizing,” and I find this to be quite accurate. Often as you read one of his poems,
you need not think of how to read it, because it is so perfectly constructed that it rolls off
the tongue effortlessly. Through meter, rhythm and rhyme, Poe sets the pace and tone of
the poem.
I found with the rhyme schemes that often words rhymed that were not at the
end of a line, and this I found intriguing, because I had not seen it before, but I quite
enjoyed it. I found this quality in abundance in The Raven.
Through the repetition of words, Poe also gains certain effects. For example, in
The Bells, words such as time, tinkle and bells are used in repetition. This seemed quite
effective, as it replicated the feel of bells tolling into the night, piano and then forte,
simply tolling. It really struck me with the thought of simplicity, how repeating the words
imitated the bells. I did find this to be almost overused though, when words were
repeated up to seven times.
I had often wondered why Poe’s works were so grim, and through the reading
of a criticism by Aaron Carter I discovered why. Poe lived a hard life, and poetry was
how he counteracted the bad in his life. Since Poe had little earthly joy, he had to
envision the divine, experienced through death. In writing of death and morning, he
hoped to reach a divine beauty that he could not find in life. The divine could
not be attained by a mortal man, only through death could the divine beauty be attained.
This is how Poe sought to express beauty. Before Poe’s time, poetry was written to
express truth; because the truth was too hard for Poe to embrace, Poe sought for beauty
in the divine.
As far as challenges in reading Poe’s poetry, I have found no huge differences
between Poe’s poetry and the poetry of other poets I have read. I actually find Poe, in
general, easier to read than some poets. I think this may be due to its smooth nature.
Perhaps that flowing nature leads me to believe that I fully understand the text due as it
seems to fit so perfectly together.
There seems to be quite a few allusions in Poe’s poems, and this caused minor
problems. I often read through these parts, without giving them too much thought, and
indeed they could be entities other than people or places that I am not aware of.
Perhaps in Poe’s time, these were references that his audience would have been aware
of, and thus their use would be more effective on that audience than on me.
Another aspect I found challenging to grasp, was getting past the idea that all
of Poe’s works contain gore and death. I read several poems that I do not believe had
any references to these themes and I therefore wasn’t sure how to receive them. There
is such a large image of Poe as a horror writer, that I wasn’t sure how to take works that
weren’t strictly horror.
Hark! the lights do dim.
Dreary and lonesome a scene it sets.
Angelic, a host enters, grim
Mosaics they doth weave, silhouettes
Wearily take seat, to hear
A song of contentment and regrets,
Though no conductor dose peer
At the music of horns and cornets.
Marionettes, images of God above,
Scratch and strain for notes
Of beauty and loveAlas! mere shadows they, unable to make their moat,
Kept safe by that stone wall alone
That doth hide from view neath white capotes.
And then Lo! hope is thrown
From us, elsewhere our hope floats.
In my poem on the previous slide, I tried to mimic the opening stanzas to Poe’s,
The Conqueror Worm, through observation of rhyme schemes and themes presented in
Poe’s version.
Though my rhyme scheme did mimic that of Poe’s, I found that in my search for
rhyming words, my voice was lost, and the writing was left to what words rhymed. I felt
inclined to use words, solely for the purpose of rhyming, which could, and I felt did ruin
the mood of the poem. I could not manage to get what was on my head onto paper, and
then rhyme it. It makes you appreciate the true genius of a good poet, who writes
incredibly deep and meaningful works, that thyme in a way that seems unforced.
My theme I feel went better than the rhyming, but once again I feel that true
creativity was lost in such a contained structure. Were my options more open, I feel that
the theme could have been more effectively drawn out.
Should I have the chance to mimic another author in the future, I think my
approach would be different. I would leave myself more options, and perhaps copy the
authors overall style as opposed to a specific work. Try to write a prose or poem that
someone would take as that authors. This would be a more productive approach for me
in the future I believe.
Gmoser, S. (2004). Edgar allan poe. Retrieved December 11, 2005 from the
World Wide Web: http://bau2.uibk.ac.at/sg/poe/
Carter, A. (2001). The mystery of edgar allan poe. USA: The American
Poetry Web. Retrieved December 11, 2005 from the World Wide
Web:http://titan.iwu.edu/~wchapman/americanpoetryweb/poebio.ht
ml
(2005). Edgar Allan Poe. Retrieved from the World Wide Web:
http://www.online-literature.com/poe/