g c's List: Poe Poetry

Read this biography of Poe provided by the editors at the Heath Anthology of American Literature and then move on to the next page in the listl to learn about the problems with any biography of Poe.

This page from the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore discusses the problems that arise from trying to learn about Poe's life.

After reading this page, move on to the discussion of Poe in the gothic and romantic traditions on the next page in the listl.

Constructed by the editors of the _Norton Anthology of English Literature_, this page explains more about the idea of the gothic than you ever wanted to know, but it has great information about the literary gothic, and many of Poe's stories and poems fit into this category, which can be seen as a subcategory of romanticism.

As you read and listen to Poe's poetry on the remainder of this list, consider where aspects of the gothic are evident.

Please read "Annabel Lee" and the information below it at this page maintained by the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore.

Then move to the next spot on the list.

You can listen to a reading of "Annabel Lee" here. Just click the "Play" button on the left of the page near the top.

Then move on to the next page in the list.

This is an interactive edition of "The Raven". Use the arrows at the end of each stanza or the numbers at the top of the page to move forward and backward in the poem.

Be sure to read all 18 stanzas.

For a little more fun, this is a link from a German fan site for "The Simpsons" TV show. (The originating site is called "Uter's Land of Chocolate." In this file, the poem is read in part by actor James Earl Jones (the voice of the original Darth Vader). What is cool is that Jones does the voice of the narrator telling the story in the present and Homer does the voice of the narrator from the past that is inside the story/poem. Also, I think they have captured the craziness of the event in Homer's crazy antics. Lisa provides interesting commentary as well.<br/><br/>A creepy audio version of "The Raven" is at http://instruct.uwo.ca/mit/204f/audio/raven.mp3. This one is read by actor Christopher Walken over a bed of scary sounds. This is the end of the Poe Poetry list.