3 stars

I needed another poetry book for the forty book challenge, and while this was very good poetry I didn't enjoy reading it as much as some others. This book was very poetic and you have to slow down to really understand. Edgar Allan Poe is very poetic and his poems often have elements of sadness and sorrow. Like I said, though it didn't flow like free-verse I still thought it was ok

Be nothing which thou art not.

Overview 4/5 stars

I don't read much of any poetry. Apart from poems I've read for school (way back when), this is my first book of poetry I've ever read. I will be reading more poetry from now on as I thoroughly enjoyed this.

Poe is well known for the Raven, which everyone has heard at some point. Even the Simpsons recited it during a tree house of horror episode. His other works are also brilliant. There are, of course, a few misses but for the most part everything is great.

The raven

This is now my favourite poem ever. I'm currently looking on amazon to see if I can get the poem in a frame to put on a wall in my house, it's that good. If you don't check out any of the other poems, you must read the raven.

I’ve read this every night before bed since starting this collection. Very few writers can command language like Poe. Here are some of my favourite lines.

But the Raven, sitting lonely on that placid bust, spoke only That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.

But the Raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling, Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door

Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!

I could copy the whole thing as every word is placed brilliantly.

Other favourites

Amongst my favourites were Tamerlane, Alone, Elizabeth, Lenore, The City in the Sea, The Sleeper, The Valley of Unrest and Dreamland.

Most of the poems are gothic in nature and are rather haunting, though beautiful. Here are just some of my favourite bits. First up is a beaut from Dreamland:

By the lakes that thus outspread Their lone waters, lone and dead,—Their sad waters, sad and chilly With the snows of the lolling lily,—By the mountains—near the river Murmuring lowly, murmuring ever,—By the gray woods,—by the swamp Where the toad and the newt encamp,—By the dismal tarns and pools Where dwell the Ghouls,—By each spot the most unholy—In each nook most melancholy,—There the traveller meets aghast Sheeted Memories of the past—Shrouded forms that start and sigh As they pass the wanderer by—White-robed forms of friends long given, In agony, to the Earth—and Heaven.

Would to God I could awaken For I dream I know not how, And my soul is sorely shaken Lest an evil step be taken,—Lest the dead who is forsaken May not be happy now.

My love, she sleeps! Oh, may her sleep, As it is lasting, so be deep; Soft may the worms about her creep!

For no ripples curl, alas! Along that wilderness of glass—No swellings tell that winds may be Upon some far-off happier sea—No heavings hint that winds have been On seas less hideously serene.

“Wretches! ye loved her for her wealth and hated her for her pride, And when she fell in feeble health, ye blessed her—that she died! How shall the ritual, then, be read?—the requiem how be sung By you—by yours, the evil eye,—by yours, the slanderous tongue That did to death the innocence that died, and died so young?”

Read nothing, written less –in short’s a fool

And all I loved—I loved alone

And boyhood is a summer sun Whose waning is the dreariest one—For all we live to know is known, And all we seek to keep hath flown

Darkness there and nothing more…

And boyhood is a summer sun
Whose waning is the dreariest one—
For all we live to know is known,
And all we seek to keep hath flown—

Let life, then, as the day-flower, fall
With the noon-day beauty— which is all.

[ISBN:978-989-8382-07-8
FolioExemplar editora]



"O Belo é o único domínio legítimo da poesia"
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 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!



E o corvo, na noite infinda, está ainda, está ainda No alvo busto de Atena que há por sobre os meus umbrais.
Seu olhar tem a medonha cor de um demónio que sonha,
E a luz lança-lhe a tristonha sombra no chão há mais e
[mais,
E a minh'alma d'essa sombra, que no chão há mais e
[mais
Libertar-se-á... nunca mais!

(F. Pessoa)


E o corvo aí fica; ei-lo trepado
No branco mármore lavrado
Da antiga Palas; ei-lo imutável, ferrenho.
Parece, ao ver-lhe o duro cenho,
Um demônio sonhando. A luz caída
Do lampião sobre a ave aborrecida
No chão espraia a triste sombra; e, fora
Daquelas linhas funerais
Que flutuam no chão, a minha alma que chora
Não sai mais, nunca, nunca mais!

(M. Assis)




O interesse do presente livro reside todo ele numa comparação estética das traduções elaboradas por Fernando Pessoa e Machado de Assis.
E se do primeiro podemos dizer que prima pela exatidão e rigor do trabalho, do segundo podemos dizer que bate o anterior aos pontos pela força emotiva e o encanto da linguagem adotada.

No entanto, a elaboração do volume peca pela adição de um outro escrito pela mão do autor, intitulado A Filosofia da Composição que, procurando explicar os processos criativos de Poe na elaboração do poema O Corvo no-lo apresenta (fragmentado como o autor escolheu) em ainda outra tradução, desta vez por João da Costa. O documento não perde o seu valor claro, mas por esta altura já contamos com três traduções dispares de um mesmo poema e esta análise crítica de autor ao seu próprio trabalho fica assim algo solta no meio de tudo isto.


Veja-se a estância anterior como apresentada neste ensaio:


E o corbeau, não se mexendo, continua empoleirado,
[continua empoleirado
Sobre o busto pálido de Palas, mesmo por cima
[da porta do meu quarto,
E os seus olhos assemelham-se aos dum demónio
[pensativo,
E a luz frouxa do candeeiro, que flui, projecta a sua
[sombra no chão
E a minha alma, para longe desta sombra flutuante
[que jaz por terra
Não se evadirá nunca mais!

(João da Costa)



Ainda assim, as reflexões de Poe são extraordinárias:

"Aquilo a que chamamos um poema comprido não passa, na realidade duma sucessão de poemas curtos, isto é, de efeitos poéticos breves. Inútil se torna dizer que um poema só é um poema enquanto eleva a alma e lhe proporciona uma excitação intensa; e, por uma necessidade psíquica, todas as excitações intensas são de curta duração."
29


"O prazer apenas é extraído da sensação de identidade, de repetição."
32



Os pontos altos do livro, contudo, são certamente os dois poemas escolhidos para o encerrar, Annabel Lee e Ulalume, em versões assinadas por Fernando Pessoa e já tão nossos conhecidos - pelas imensas alusões e declamações que sofrem na cultura televisiva/cinematográfica - como se fizessem parte de um guião de leitura obrigatório.


Annabel Lee

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee:
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling - my darling - my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.


Porque os luares tristonhos só me trazem sonhos
Da linda que eu soube amar;
E as estrelas nos ares só me lembram olhares
Da linda que eu soube amar;
E assim 'stou deitado toda a noite ao lado
Do meu anjo, meu anjo, meu sonho e meu fado,
No sepulcro ao pé do mar,
Ao pé do murmúrio do mar.

n  "All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."n

Lush use of language and wonderful atmospheres! I really enjoyed reading this one.

this book is all about poems about life. there is one about sadness that reminds me of sadness!!!! this book was soo boring i didnt like at all but there was only one poem that got me interested. i dont recomend this to anyone becouse it is a hard book to understand. i had a lot of trouble trying to fu=igure out what was the meaning of each poem but i did make me think a lot. it helped a lot by bringign my reading levels up becouse aftyer reading this book i took the teenbiz3000 test and i bumped up. know thanks to this book i learned that you have to try to figure out each word each poem each sentence so the text could make sense. if you diont understand what you are raeding its like saying youre not even reading becouse you are not going to our expectations. if you want to try to get your reading levels you should read this book but i have to warn you that it is really hard to understand. i sometimes recomend this bookm to hard worling srudents but if ypu are not gunna try dont bother reading it

I love Poe and can't think of a better author to read in October. He has some creepy stuff. It's fantastic!

"Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!
Quoth the raven, 'Nevermore.' "

These poems...where something else.

I really really loved 'The Raven', which is the first poem in this collection. It was incredibly weird and abstract and I really enjoyed making notes on it and studying the writing of it.

One other poem I found really creative and interesting was 'Epigram For Wall Street. Something about it just spoke to me and made me laugh, so loved that one also.

But unfortunately the others fell a little flat for me. I am, without a doubt, certain that they are great poems and I am sure if I really sit down and focus and study them, I will be able to appreciate them alot more.

I found myself just skipping some of the poems and kind of drifting away while reading them. So maybe I'll re-vist this collection at some point, but not any time soon.

სულშიწამწვდომი მისტიურობა შევიგრძენი, გრძნობებითა და სიღრმეებით სავსე.

პო ჩემი საყვარელი პოეტია.
ასეთი მელოდიურობა და დახვეწილი სტილი სძენს განსაკუთრებულ ხიბლს მის შემოქმედებას.
"ყორანი" საქვეყნოდ ცხნობილია და ალბათ ყველას მიაჩნია რომ საუკეთესოა პოს ლექსებში, მაგრამ ვფიქრობ რომ სხვა ლექსები არანაკლებ ღრმაა.

არ შემიძლია არ ავღნიშნო კონკრეტულად ეს კრებული რაოდენ კარგია. მომწონს ის იდეა, რომ ჯერ ლექსის ორიგინალ ვერსიას კითხულობ, შემდეგ ნათარგნს, ბოლოს კი ინფორმაციას ლექსის, ავტორის, ქვეტექსტის და მრავალი სხვა ფაქტის შესახებ.
ლექსების მთარგმნელს მილიონი თაყვანისცემა ჩემგან, რომ შეძლო და არც სურნელი დაუკარგა, არც გემო და არც აურა.

აღარ ვიცი რა ვთქვა, ჩემს გულთან ახლოს მისული საოცრებაა.

genial.

tak strašně moc dlouho jsem se na to chystala, ale buď to měl někdo z knihovny neustále půjčené, a nebo jsem na to už neměla chuť a musela zase přijít. TEĎ konečně se mi podařilo mít chuť a mít štěstí na prezenci knihy v regálu.

nikdy jsem poezii neholdovala, nerozuměla, ani se asi nesnažila rozumět, ale čím jsem byla starší, tak jsem zjišťovala, že když budu opravdu vnímat tu podstatu a ten text a klidně když si to přečtu vícekrát, tak v tom něco uvidím. nejsem tedy moje učitelka ze střední, která viděla poselství snad v každém slově, ale krůček po krůčku cítím, že můj mozek už to nepřijímá jen jako cosi nepochopitelného.

co k havranovi, sbírka se mi líbila. číst to v tomhle mém období, kdy zrovna nevidím radost na každém rohu, se docela hodilo. chci si to fakt přečíst ještě v tom originálu, aby to na mě ještě víc dolehlo, ač tedy tyhle staré překlady ještě mají něco do sebe a zní to bravůrně (ne jako dnešní knihy, někdy mi to až trhá srdce). nejvíc se mi ale zatím líbily Zvony, Annabel-Lee, Anně a Eldorado.

Edgar Allan Poe je moje srdcovka v každé podobě. tyhle básničky jsem četla asi už po desáté a ještě mě neomrzely.