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The Raven and Other Poems
The Raven . . . Annabel Lee . . . Ulalume . . . these are some of the spookiest, most macabre poems ever written, now collected in this chilling, affordable volume.
48 pages, Paperback
Published February 1, 1990
1 person is currently reading
77 people want to read
About the author
Edgar Allan Poe
9,796 books28.7k followersThe name Poe brings to mind images of murderers and madmen, premature burials, and mysterious women who return from the dead. His works have been in print since 1827 and include such literary classics as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and The Fall of the House of Usher. This versatile writer’s oeuvre includes short stories, poetry, a novel, a textbook, a book of scientific theory, and hundreds of essays and book reviews. He is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern detective story and an innovator in the science fiction genre, but he made his living as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician. Poe’s reputation today rests primarily on his tales of terror as well as on his haunting lyric poetry.
Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.
The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...
Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.
The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.
For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 6, 2017
The Raven and Other Poems by Edgar Allen Poe is the short story selection in the group catching up on classics in November 2017. A gloomy, gothic selection of poetry that deems suitable for longer fall evenings ahead, I decided to read along with the group. After being exposed to much modern poetry this year, I was markedly underwhelmed by Poe's work. The fact that The Raven has endured as an American classic intrigued me to read it over a few times to see if I could evoke scarier images, which I feel is what Poe may have been after all along.
Checking my yearly reading log, I noted that The Raven is the nineteenth poetry collection that I have read this year; however, the other eighteen anthologies were all written in the 20th or 21st centuries and contain modern imagery and sentence structure. I have been moved by the last few Pulitzer winners which contain sharp images of both the writers' lives and events in the late 20th or 21st century which I am familiar with. Poe's poetry is gloomy and filled with countless images of death and depression, and it rhymes. While this structure makes the Raven easier to study in the classroom, especially by teachers who would like for their students to write their own poems, it does not make the poems satisfying for me. I remember studying Annabel Lee in school, and my adolescent self enjoyed the poem especially because the first few stanzas rhymed and appeared upbeat. Of course, the study followed with my classmates and I attempting our own rhyming poetry, and to this day my children tell me that I can create rhymes with the drop of a hat. Yet, with a closer study even Annabel Lee tells the story of two adolescent lovers separated by distance, with the girl eventually dying. This is not the happy poem I remember from my youth.
The Raven itself is a part of Americana, the poem or bird enjoying appearances in the Simpsons television show, the National Football League, and everywhere in between. Perhaps, I remember the humor in the Simpsons version of the poem because it featured Homer Simpson as Poe, and, of course, something had to go wrong in his telling of it. I also note positive imagery in the football team uniform of purple and gold which stand out in a league of reds, blues, and whites. Poe's original work was not meant to be happy or humorous. Beginning with the famous words, "once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary" already evokes gloom and doom. The entire poem features rhyming stanzas that translate well to the classroom, but, between my modern mind and thirst for quality literary fiction, I was not as moved by it as I might have been had I lived years ago. The appearance of the Raven scattered throughout American vernacular dulls the spookiness of Poe's original work, allowing me to read quickly through his rhyming words that initially were meant to scare people when they were first written.
I think the fact that a classics group chose to read a poetry collection allows for much discussion. Poems are personal and run the gamut of human emotions, which each reader having an distinct view on the meaning of the words. In the group discussion there is a link to a video with James Earl Jones reading the Raven, but, alas, my mind evoked Darth Vader coming to scare the narrator rather than a bird. I do like that in its original intention that the poems are meant to be scary and evoke countless images of death. That they rhyme also allow for much creativity in the classroom. Yet, for myself who reads many modern collections to relax, the Raven did feel spooky or full of quality literary prose to move my emotions. With images of ghosts and scary birds, however, the poem has endured and remained an American classic and one that is often studied and enjoyed by many.
3 stars
Checking my yearly reading log, I noted that The Raven is the nineteenth poetry collection that I have read this year; however, the other eighteen anthologies were all written in the 20th or 21st centuries and contain modern imagery and sentence structure. I have been moved by the last few Pulitzer winners which contain sharp images of both the writers' lives and events in the late 20th or 21st century which I am familiar with. Poe's poetry is gloomy and filled with countless images of death and depression, and it rhymes. While this structure makes the Raven easier to study in the classroom, especially by teachers who would like for their students to write their own poems, it does not make the poems satisfying for me. I remember studying Annabel Lee in school, and my adolescent self enjoyed the poem especially because the first few stanzas rhymed and appeared upbeat. Of course, the study followed with my classmates and I attempting our own rhyming poetry, and to this day my children tell me that I can create rhymes with the drop of a hat. Yet, with a closer study even Annabel Lee tells the story of two adolescent lovers separated by distance, with the girl eventually dying. This is not the happy poem I remember from my youth.
The Raven itself is a part of Americana, the poem or bird enjoying appearances in the Simpsons television show, the National Football League, and everywhere in between. Perhaps, I remember the humor in the Simpsons version of the poem because it featured Homer Simpson as Poe, and, of course, something had to go wrong in his telling of it. I also note positive imagery in the football team uniform of purple and gold which stand out in a league of reds, blues, and whites. Poe's original work was not meant to be happy or humorous. Beginning with the famous words, "once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary" already evokes gloom and doom. The entire poem features rhyming stanzas that translate well to the classroom, but, between my modern mind and thirst for quality literary fiction, I was not as moved by it as I might have been had I lived years ago. The appearance of the Raven scattered throughout American vernacular dulls the spookiness of Poe's original work, allowing me to read quickly through his rhyming words that initially were meant to scare people when they were first written.
I think the fact that a classics group chose to read a poetry collection allows for much discussion. Poems are personal and run the gamut of human emotions, which each reader having an distinct view on the meaning of the words. In the group discussion there is a link to a video with James Earl Jones reading the Raven, but, alas, my mind evoked Darth Vader coming to scare the narrator rather than a bird. I do like that in its original intention that the poems are meant to be scary and evoke countless images of death. That they rhyme also allow for much creativity in the classroom. Yet, for myself who reads many modern collections to relax, the Raven did feel spooky or full of quality literary prose to move my emotions. With images of ghosts and scary birds, however, the poem has endured and remained an American classic and one that is often studied and enjoyed by many.
3 stars
June 2, 2021
This volume collects nine of Poe's poems with illustrations by Gahan Wilson. Wilson's quirky, macabre style adds a very enjoyable touch of the surreal to Poe's darkly elegant verse. Excellent stuff!
December 27, 2021
Gahan Wilson is so great, that he almost gets me on each page. Poe demands rereading. I had to memorize "Annabell Lee" in elementary school, and this sure would have helped.
I just want to keep all Gahan Wilson in print, all the time; I believe this is in print from Papercutz (https://papercutz.com/).
Recommended.
I just want to keep all Gahan Wilson in print, all the time; I believe this is in print from Papercutz (https://papercutz.com/).
Recommended.
October 16, 2024
The raven 2/5
Annabel lee 3/5
Lines of ale 1/5
The city in the sea 2/5
Eldorado 2/5
Alone 2/5
The haunted palace 2/5
The conqueror worm 2/5
Annabel lee 3/5
Lines of ale 1/5
The city in the sea 2/5
Eldorado 2/5
Alone 2/5
The haunted palace 2/5
The conqueror worm 2/5
September 8, 2018
Oh, I guess it's not (just) goofy but in fact sort of heart-shredding - who'd've thunk it (- am I goff now)?
February 2, 2014
I love Poe's stories and I love three of his poems: The Raven, Annabel Lee and The Bells. I kind of like Eldorado. I was disappointed to find that The Bells was not included in this poetry collection, but not surprised as it was omitted from the last graphic compilation I read too. I wonder why it's not as popular as I'd like? Hmmmm. The poems here are Poe's original text. They are written in a slightly larger than normal font, with double spaced lines and the type is bolded making it feel more accessible to younger readers. Also many pages have only one or two stanzas so as not to overwhelm with pages of full text. I've always loved Gahan's illustrations ever since I came across a wonderful book when I was very young called "Harry and the Sea Serpent". I was more than pleased with his combination of creepy but cartoony illustrations. The selection of poems was less pleasing; other than the first three listed below that I knew (mentioned above) i hadn't read (or more likely did but don't remember) any of the others and they didn't do anything for me. Included are:
The Raven
Annabel Lee
Eldorado
Lines on Ale
The City in the Sea
The Sleeper
Alone
The Haunted Palace
The Conqueror Worm (ok, I know this, but don't like it)
The Raven
Annabel Lee
Eldorado
Lines on Ale
The City in the Sea
The Sleeper
Alone
The Haunted Palace
The Conqueror Worm (ok, I know this, but don't like it)
August 29, 2018
So importantly UNABRIDGED, with Gahan's delightful artistic silliness almost always reflecting an ideal scene in each poem with few he-should-haves.
BUT there's a queer one inside Annabel Lee that puzzles me silly: despite my love for subtle genitalia injected into art, I cannot deduce the meaning of a full page depicting a sandcastle with a clam shell on top pointed to enter MASSIVE LABIA complete with a coffin clitoris! Corresponding illustrations have many of these TOWERING VULVA MONUMENTS all closely spread continuing down the beach from Annabel's crypt- all facing the ocean.
Another has Poe in her crypt holding up the very young and rotting corpse of his lost love by the back of the neck which represents his habit of sleeping in there with her.
Please let me know what you think about THIS HULKING VULVA OF DEATH mystery!!
Moving past the PUDENDUM PUZZLE/MUFF MYSTERY/SNATCH SNAFU: This edition is ideal for adding not-as-popular (short) Poems to your graphic Poe collections with its bonus of excellent PoeInfo on the insides of the front and back covers!
BUT there's a queer one inside Annabel Lee that puzzles me silly: despite my love for subtle genitalia injected into art, I cannot deduce the meaning of a full page depicting a sandcastle with a clam shell on top pointed to enter MASSIVE LABIA complete with a coffin clitoris! Corresponding illustrations have many of these TOWERING VULVA MONUMENTS all closely spread continuing down the beach from Annabel's crypt- all facing the ocean.
Another has Poe in her crypt holding up the very young and rotting corpse of his lost love by the back of the neck which represents his habit of sleeping in there with her.
Please let me know what you think about THIS HULKING VULVA OF DEATH mystery!!
Moving past the PUDENDUM PUZZLE/MUFF MYSTERY/SNATCH SNAFU: This edition is ideal for adding not-as-popular (short) Poems to your graphic Poe collections with its bonus of excellent PoeInfo on the insides of the front and back covers!
July 15, 2016
I received this book and the Great Expectations graphic novel as gifts when I was ten. I loved them both, but Poe was the one I read over and over again. I loved the illustrations, even though they had an unsettling affect on my childhood imagination - especially Alone, which gave me nightmares. More than 25 years later I find that I enjoy this book as much, if not more than I did when I was a kid. Though I prefer his tales to his poetry, this work would make a wonderful introduction to Poe for a child, possibly providing a gateway to his truly masterful short stories.
February 27, 2016
Classics Illustrated, Berkeley, 1990.
There's an introductory page about the poems. Gahan Wilson does the illustrations. The poems include The Raven, Annabelle Lee, Lines on Ale, The City in the Sea, the Sleeper, El Dorado, Alone, the Haunted Palace and the Conqueror Worm.
There are a few of the poems that I don't think are really that great, actually. What makes the book worth getting most of all are the illustrations by Gahan Wilson that go so perfectly with the poems themselves.
There's an introductory page about the poems. Gahan Wilson does the illustrations. The poems include The Raven, Annabelle Lee, Lines on Ale, The City in the Sea, the Sleeper, El Dorado, Alone, the Haunted Palace and the Conqueror Worm.
There are a few of the poems that I don't think are really that great, actually. What makes the book worth getting most of all are the illustrations by Gahan Wilson that go so perfectly with the poems themselves.
November 13, 2011
This isn't exactly recommended reading for me. I'm not one for freaky things unless I, myself come up with them, so I didn't really like it. See, I know someone who would LOVE this selection, but I am not one of them. Just not my type of book, although I did not drop it since I was quite intrigued since I had never read Poe before.
October 1, 2011
I mistakenly thought this was a graphic novel version, but it's really just Poe's poems with some lame illustrations. Seriously - the kids could come up with better pictures.
The stars are for this version, not for Poe. He's a legend.
The stars are for this version, not for Poe. He's a legend.
December 19, 2013
More illustrated poems than actual comics, this volume of Classics Illustrated is nonetheless interesting. Gahan Wilson's art works well with the nine poems included, sticking close to Poe's original tone and intent.
March 29, 2018
Good art. You probably know if you like Poe or not; he's all right, in my eyes. I'm indifferent to the whole Classics Illustrated concept, though I guess adapting literature to comics is no different that adapting it to film.
December 12, 2012
Can't really go wrong with Mr. Poe.
October 10, 2015
Love the concept, but the art seemed to take away rather than add.
September 8, 2016
This was not the graphic novel I was expecting.
Still love the poetry.
Still love the poetry.
September 13, 2016
Not really a fan of poetry or graphic novels. I'd argue this was really poetry with illustrations though.... definitely not set up in a traditional graphic novel format. Mhhh.
February 6, 2018
Despite creepy drawings, I enjoyed this book, for the most part. Poe is a master of poetry, and as a poet myself, I really admire his craft.
January 25, 2020
Very Strong four stars
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews