Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe

"Quoth the Raven, Nevermore."

Excerpt from "The Raven"

Grief, revenge, and unsurpassed sorrow. Few authors can replicate these feelings as well as Edgar Allan Poe. "The Raven", "Lenore", and "Annabel Lee" all refer to an instance where the narrator is grieving over a lost loved one.

See! on yon drear and rigid bier low lies thy love, Lenore!

Come! let the burial rite be read- the funeral song be sung!-

An anthem for the queenliest dead that ever died so young-

A dirge for her the doubly dead in that she died so young. ("Lenore")

Poe spent most of his life grieving for lost loved ones. His first wife Virginia Clemm died five years into their marriage of tuberculosis. Poe endured many tragedies and his poetry reflects his agony and torture.

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil- prophet still, if bird or devil

By that Heaven bends above us- by that God we both adore

Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,

It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore

Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore

Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."("The Raven")

As the reading above indicates, Poe grieved continuously throughout his life for his sainted "Lenore". He wrote numerous poems before and after the death of Virginia Clemm to her. "Annabel Lee" was actually written before the death of Virginia as a token of his undying love for her.

Poe wrote over 120 poems and is known very well for his morbid and grievous writings.

"Poe was born a poet, his mind is stamped with the impress of