not edgar allan poe stealing taylor swift's folklore aesthetic for his poetry

having already devoured "the tell tale heart" by edgar allan poe, which i binged last month and is still giving me the chills. curiousity got the best of me, and i decided to venture into another work of poe, "the raven". i came across this poem whilst reading frieda mcfadden's "the teacher" and, coincidentally happened to be playing "beyond: two souls" at the time. i used that as an omen and dove into the world of poe.

while reading "the raven," i was reminded by poe of an eerie unprocessed grief and how devastating its impact can be. his words built a narrative telling the dangers of obsession and how one desperately needs acceptance and a move on from such happenings.

what was most relatable to me is the distinctively gothic tone that seems to be very pronounced in his writings, making this sense of melancholic longing palpable almost.

In a Nutshell: The audio version helped me crack a classic poem! Enjoyed it way more than I expected. (This isn’t an insult to Poe, but an honest comment about my – Ahem! – outstanding poetic sensibilities.)

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I am not a staunch fan of verse. This logical head much prefers to read stories in prose then in poem form. I do love a few poems, but I am very much a traditionalist in my choices. Free verse makes my head spin. Rhymes and repetitions make a poem a “poem’ in my eyes.

‘The Raven’ was not at all on my reading radar. To be honest, I have attempted it twice in the last couple of years, but my brain is so anti-verse that the moment it sees lengthy poems, it goes a-wandering after the threshold limit is crossed. Any poem that extends beyond 15-20 lines gives me palpitations. However, a retelling based on this poem is present in the anthology I am currently reading, and I like to be familiar with the source material when I read retellings. Hence the brave decision of checking this out.

When I looked for a free version online (the poem is in the public domain, being originally published in January 1845), I stumbled upon Wikipedia, which, to my surprise and relief, featured an audio recording of this poem. I thus decided to try immersion reading - audio in the ears and text in front of the eyes - to coerce my brain into cooperating, and this idea worked brilliantly!

The poem is made up of 18 stanzas of six lines each. Generally, the meter is trochaic octameter—eight trochaic feet per line, each foot having one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable. (The poetic smartness evident in this para should immediately make you realise that I didn’t write it. I copied it from Wiki so that I remember in future what a long poem I read!

My first narrative poem and it did not disappoint.

REREAD (2025):
If you know you know. Don't talk to me.

REVIEW (2016):
My only advice for reading Poe's The Raven is that you try to read it out loud as if you were performing it in front of a crowd, only then you can grab the true mastery of what this poem does on a phonetic level! This poem gave me chills; I will treasure it from here on out for the rest of my life. It truly has become one of my favorite poems of all time. I might even learn it by heart, who knows.

Death and Sorrow

A tragic and creepy poem about a RAVEN who hauntingly appears as a (spirit?) 'rapping' on a man's door who is distraught over the loss of his love Lenore. (or did the man murder Lenore and the Raven came to collect his soul?)

The last verse: "And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor-------Shall be lifted Nevermore".

First... you must read the introductory stanza from Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem, The Raven. And then I'll provide a short review:

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 someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”

And this is what will happen to you once you read it:



Yeah, I probably should have told you that part first, huh? But that's the thing about Mr. Poe. He enjoyed the fact that his writing drove him crazy. And all of us. That tapping... non-stop... reminds you of his other work, The Tell-Tale Heart.

This raven and its real or imaginary appearance is such a powerful image. And here's the thing about this poem... you need to have a professional read this poem aloud, perhaps with a little music in the background. Just a little bit, as the words in the poem... the rhymes, the images... it's ghastly. And if the speaker is as brilliant as Poe, (s)he will alter their voice as each line erupts, enticing the rhythm and the beat. And when it happens, the fear will surround you. The words will penetrate you as your eyes ears lay still, absorbing the melody and the lyrics.

It may sound funny, but find a recording of it. Listen to it in a semi-dark room. And just let the poem attack your mind and body. I believe it's what inspired the boat ride in the Willy Wonka movie... only much darker. You will love it!



n  n    About Men  n
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.
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La primera vez que leí esta historia fue hace 12 años aproximadamente.
En aquel entonces era una pobre diabla puberta que empezaba a leer por placer y no obligación, y siguiendo lo pretenciosa que era yo en aquel entonces leía puros clásicos, en especial de terror. Y este fue el primer cuento que leí de Edgar Allan Poe, no recuerdo bien que sentí o pensé aquella primera vez que lo leí Probablemente nisiquiera lo entendí o lo interprete de una manera súper alucinada.

El punto es que siempre e considerado a Edgar Allan Poe como mi escritor clásico favorito, y como tal tenía muchas ganas de releer sus obras, pero ahora en ingles.

Lo cual me costo un poco de tiempo. Para los que leen en ingles y este no es su idioma principal me entenderán.

Por que es muy fácil leer un libro contemporáneo, donde se utilizan frases coloquiales y populismos que nos son familiares, ya sea porque los hemos escuchado en alguna canción o visto en la televisión. Pero leer un libro en ingles clásico es un reto mas difícil de lo que me imaginaba, creo que por eso mismo me siento tan orgullosa en este momento de haberlo logrado.

Es como haber leído algo completamente nuevo, no solo por lo diferente que soy a aquella primera vez que lo leí, si no por toda las hermosura que cada palabra transmite, sin el cambio de idioma, leyendo exactamente lo que el escritor visualizaba. Sentir ese escalofrió con cada "Nevermore"

En conclusión: Leer esta pequeña historia me hizo reafirmar el porque amo tanto el dark romance, y por que me gusta tanto Edgar Allan Poe, y ser capaz de leer y entender sus obras en ingles será difícil, pero lo valdrá.

n  n   

"Dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before"

n  n

Am I the only one creeped out by ravens? Every time I hear mention of them I shudder. I mean, come on. Have you ever heard one croak? Second question; have you ever heard a tree full of them croak? I have.

There I was, minding my own business, just trying to walk home from the bus stop. I didn’t even see them until I was directly beneath the tree. I heard this strange rustling sound and thought it was weird because the leaves had already fallen. Naturally, I paused to look up. What was I met with?



Okay, maybe it wasn’t that dramatic but I was eleven and they were just up there…looking at me…with their beady little eyes…and their stabby little beaks. Then one opened its mouth and croaked. Then another joined in. Then another.

I ran the rest of the way home. I was convinced that it was some kind of omen and I was going to die within 24 hours. My mom didn’t buy it. That heartless woman made me go to school. I spent the next day acting like some kind of little schizo, jumping at noises, slinking down hallways, screaming whenever a loud noise went off. What? I had an overactive imagination as a kid.

Ravens still creep me out. Crows too. They hang out in groups called murders. They’re far too intelligent for comfort. It’s in the eyes, in the way they just…stare at you.

*shudder*

Did you know that they can count to five? One species even makes its own tools. And another…sorry, I’m getting off topic. I avoided reading this poem until I was in my twenties. I’d read all of his other works before I sucked it up and attempted this. It gave me nightmares.

I suggest never reading Poe’s thoughts on this poem. It takes the magic away. His approach to writing it was too clinical, too structured. I like to ignore what he said about his method and picture him gaunt and disheveled, crouched over a piece of parchment and scribbling away like a madman.

I’ll leave you with my favorite passage:

n  “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 that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light 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!”n

This review can also be found at The Book Eaters.

Happy Halloween, EAP! This is probably the best poem in history ever to have sold for $9. But what is it about? That's a more difficult question. The poem has undeniable power, but its power (as in much of Poe) is not entirely susceptible of rational explication.

First, there's the sheer liturgical music of the poem, as evidenced from the very opening lines:

"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 visiter,' I muttered, 'tapping at my chamber door--
Only this and nothing more.'"

We've technically got 8-syllable troches here (trochaic octometer?), with the stress on the first syllable of each line, but the real genius is how the rhymes weave in and out of the lines, with the rhymes not just happening at the end of each line but also in between (dreary / weary; napping / tapping). As a reader, you get so caught up in the sing-song rhymes that what exactly is happening seems secondary, and the fact that it's often opaque seems irrelevant to its linguistic power. Or perhaps it heightens its power in the same way as the Latin Mass, through the sheer rhythmic beauty of the sounds themselves.

Because really almost nothing is explained here--who's Lenore? What's the raven doing? Was there another visitor at the door? What does "nevermore" mean?

No, as in much of Poe, what's transcendent here is the feeling, the emotion, of dread, loss, and the slow descent into madness, until at the end, "the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting" about his door, "And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor / Shall be lifted--nevermore!"

Eagerly I wished the morrow..
Vainly I had sought to borrow..
From my books surcease of sorrow,sorrow for the lost Lenore..

For the rare and madien whom the angels named "Lenore"..
Nameless here for evermore..

خسارة تتبعها خسارة تتبعها خسارة..تلك كانت حياة ذاك الرجل..إدجار آلان بو.
عاش منبوذاً كسيراً سكيراً، سلبه الموت حب حياته مرتين..

رحل ادجار آلان بو عن عالمنا مُفلساً وحيداً لا يعرفه أحد، و لم يشهد تقديراً كافياً لابداعه خلال حياته..ماتت حبيبته آنابيل لي جراء السُل أمام عينيه و لم يملك شيئا يمنحه لها سوي قلباً دافئاً و قطاً يرجوه أن يجلس قليلاً علي قدميها الحبيبتين ليمنحهما بعض الدفء..


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 lamp-light 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.

جسّد العظيم جون كوزاك شخصيته ك تكريم لذكراه في فيلم رائع باسم القصيدة..
The raven.



القصيدة كاملة منطوقة..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BefliM...

أُرشحهما معاً، القصيدة من أفضل ما قرأت له و الفيلم يستحق المشاهدة :)

Wes Craven.
by Federico DN

For the love of God, poetry please begone!
I loathe ye! Can’t thou see? Just let me be!
Obliterated my soul, poetry stands alone.
..................Curious I will be, “Nevermore.”

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n  PERSONAL NOTEn:
[1845] [6p] [Horror] [Poetry] [Conditional Recommendable]

[It’s public domain. You can find it  HERE.]

One of the best poems ever written. Poe’s. Not mine!
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★★★☆☆  The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
★★☆☆☆  The Complete Stories and Poems
★★★☆☆  The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Writings
★★★☆☆  The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales
★☆☆☆☆  The Raven and Other Poems

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San Lorenzo.
por Federico DN

Por el amor de Dios, ¡poesía adiós!
¡Ódiote! ¿Acaso no ves? ¡Déjame ser!
Obliterada mi alma, poesía vos ganás.
...............Curioso seré, “Nunca jamás.”

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n  NOTA PERSONALn:
[1845] [6p] [Horror] [Poesía] [Recomendable Condicional]

[Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar  ACA.]

Uno de los mejores poemas jamás escritos. El de Poe. ¡No el mío!
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