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Tales and Poems
This companion volume to Tales of Mystery & Imagination contains Poe’s best-known poetry and a selection of his very best stories, including some fine tales from the last decade of his tragically short life. Many of these stories and poems reflect familiar Poe themes of murder, obsession, and love, but there are also tales of the fantastic, black comedies, parodies, and hoaxes.
475 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2004
41 people are currently reading
258 people want to read
About the author
Edgar Allan Poe
9,876 books28.6k 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 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 10, 2015
Μικρές σύντομες ιστορίες με βαθύ σκοτεινό περιεχόμενο. Ιστορίες με πολύ συγκεκριμένη θεματολογία και δομή, συνεχίζουν 150 χρόνια να δίνουν την δικιά τους χροιά στις λέξεις "φόβος" και "ανατριχιαστικό". Και αυτό γιατί ο Πόε δεν επιχειρεί να τρομάξει τον αναγνώστη του με παραφυσικά φαινόμενα αλλά με το "τέρας" που κρύβει μέσα του άνθρωπος και η ψυχή του! Κάθε του ιστορία μοιάζει να βγήκε από τον κόσμο των ονείρων έχοντας μελαγχολικό και μυστήριο ύφος, ενώ στην επόμενη πρόταση καιροφυλακτεί πάντα ο κίνδυνος να μετατραπεί το όνειρο σε εφιάλτη (κάτι το οποίο γίνεται πολλές φορές). Επομένως κάθε ιστορία του θα μαγέψει, τρομάξει, ανατριχιάσει και προβληματίσει τον αναγνώστη όπως ένα αντίστοιχο όνειρο ή εφιάλτης κάνοντας τον να ψάξει το βαθύτερο νόημα του.
Παρόμοια θεματολογία και ύφος συναντάται και στα περισσότερα από τα ποιήματα του.
Προσωπικά ήταν η πρώτη μου επαφή με το έργο του Πόε και ιδιαίτερη εντύπωση μου προκάλεσαν οι ιστορίες: Metzengerstein, The Visionary, Morella, Berenice, William Wilson, The System of Dr Tarr and Profesor Fether, The Spectacles όπως επίσης και τα ποιήματα: The Raven, Lenore, The Bells, Annabel Lee, For Annie και Bridal Ballad . Εννοείται όμως ότι όλα αξίζει να διαβαστούν.
Παρόμοια θεματολογία και ύφος συναντάται και στα περισσότερα από τα ποιήματα του.
Προσωπικά ήταν η πρώτη μου επαφή με το έργο του Πόε και ιδιαίτερη εντύπωση μου προκάλεσαν οι ιστορίες: Metzengerstein, The Visionary, Morella, Berenice, William Wilson, The System of Dr Tarr and Profesor Fether, The Spectacles όπως επίσης και τα ποιήματα: The Raven, Lenore, The Bells, Annabel Lee, For Annie και Bridal Ballad . Εννοείται όμως ότι όλα αξίζει να διαβαστούν.
November 15, 2020
I've read this over a bigger time-span that I would like to admit, so I cannot write a very coherent review, since there are stories that I don't remember so well. Still, I appreciate how the works were picked, so as to illustrate Poe's wide range of genres. There are some incredibly beautiful poems (To My Mother was so subtle and touching) and even in his more comic (and in my opinion, weakest) stories there were some gems (The King Pest, as well as The System of Dr Tarr and Professor Fether, had me chuckling with their dark humor). However, let's face it, Poe shines the most when he's writing dark twisted tales, with obsessive and maniac narrators. Berenice and Morella had me absolutely petrified, and Metzengerstein, the gothic tale with a demonic horse would have been a heck of a Fritz Lang movie. Spooky Poe is the best Poe!
May 9, 2021
3.5 ⭐
February 27, 2017
First of all I shall give my usual disclaimer of how much I love Poe's writing, his ability to capture the humanity of his characters and see past the usual and expected to grasp at the things behind the veil is nothing short of genius.
Now that's out in the open, I can honestly say that I loved this collection, it pulls together many of his lesser well known tales that show that his skills in writing are far more diverse than his reputation allows. This collection includes fantasy stories, such as A Tale of the Ragged Mountains, which uses Poe's eye for lavish detail to show the beauty of Augustus Bedloe's travels, and the Island of Fay, which finds a man of science discovering a place he cannot explain but cannot help but believe. The collection also includes some of Poe black comedies and satires such as The Balloon Hoax and The Imp of the Perverse. I also rather enjoyed The System of Dr Tarr and Professor Fether, an amusing yet disturbing (or should that be disturbing yet amusing) tale of what can happen when an asylum is overrun by its patients.
This volume also has a good selection of his poems, including my ever lasting favourite The Raven, along side Annabel Lee, A Dream Within A Dream (another favourite of mine) and Lenore. Even this poetry collection includes works that don't fit with Poe's macabre reputation but instead show the sadness that can pervade what is meant to be a happy day, as with Bridal Ballad, or how obsession can take over even the most rationale mind, as with Eldorado.
A great volume to add to my Poe collection, both for its content and its beautiful bindings and cover.
Now that's out in the open, I can honestly say that I loved this collection, it pulls together many of his lesser well known tales that show that his skills in writing are far more diverse than his reputation allows. This collection includes fantasy stories, such as A Tale of the Ragged Mountains, which uses Poe's eye for lavish detail to show the beauty of Augustus Bedloe's travels, and the Island of Fay, which finds a man of science discovering a place he cannot explain but cannot help but believe. The collection also includes some of Poe black comedies and satires such as The Balloon Hoax and The Imp of the Perverse. I also rather enjoyed The System of Dr Tarr and Professor Fether, an amusing yet disturbing (or should that be disturbing yet amusing) tale of what can happen when an asylum is overrun by its patients.
This volume also has a good selection of his poems, including my ever lasting favourite The Raven, along side Annabel Lee, A Dream Within A Dream (another favourite of mine) and Lenore. Even this poetry collection includes works that don't fit with Poe's macabre reputation but instead show the sadness that can pervade what is meant to be a happy day, as with Bridal Ballad, or how obsession can take over even the most rationale mind, as with Eldorado.
A great volume to add to my Poe collection, both for its content and its beautiful bindings and cover.
February 28, 2020
DNF at 80%
Decided not to force myself to read the final few short stories. I didn't know there were two collections in this edition: one of his more fantastical/horror stuff and ... this one.
While I did really enjoy some of these, the vast majority I found to be super long and mostly boring.
There's a lot of scientific reasoning going on in a lot of these stories and that sometimes makes them read more like a textbook. Sometimes a shocking twist would occur later on, but this wouldn't make up for the slug of getting through them.
I do really want to read more of his horror stuff, but his other tales just didn't really do it for me and I'm done forcing my way through them (even though I still read some 400 out of 475 pages).
Decided not to force myself to read the final few short stories. I didn't know there were two collections in this edition: one of his more fantastical/horror stuff and ... this one.
While I did really enjoy some of these, the vast majority I found to be super long and mostly boring.
There's a lot of scientific reasoning going on in a lot of these stories and that sometimes makes them read more like a textbook. Sometimes a shocking twist would occur later on, but this wouldn't make up for the slug of getting through them.
I do really want to read more of his horror stuff, but his other tales just didn't really do it for me and I'm done forcing my way through them (even though I still read some 400 out of 475 pages).
May 11, 2015
Absolutely loved this book. There were some stories that were a bit tedious to read, but never the less the overall experience was fantastic. He sets the scene vividly and tugs at the heart strings when it comes to love and women. He manages to draw you in and somehow we find ourselves waiting in suspense for the other shoe to drop. I take my hat off to him.
November 5, 2016
A suitably spooky read for Halloween. I haven't read any Poe for about 10 years and was kinda disappointed to notice how very formulaic his writing is. Still, several of the stories made me laugh out loud.
January 6, 2024
“TALES AND POEMS” by EDGAR ALLAN POE
{Macmillan - light-aqua colour, black-white raven image}
Fantastic collection of essential Poe masterpieces! *****
Tales:
METZENGERSTEIN
An angry Joffrey-like Heathcliff-like Absalom-like heir who obsesses over a phantom-like black stallion.
Dark and spooky! (4 stars)
.
VISIONARY-ASSIGNATION
Vivid descriptions! The narrator reminded me of The Great Gatsby. (4 stars)
.
MORELLA
Almost a poem! Definitely same author as The Black Cat and The Raven.
Morbid and foreboding this husbands obsessive love for his deceased wife manifests itself in a family horror. Brilliant Poe! (4 stars)
.
KING PEST
Quirky over-the-top comedy. Brilliant two protagonists, classic duo, hilariously drunk.
Poe must have enjoyed pushing the humour to its dark edges in this tale. (4 stars)
.
THE UNPARALLELED ADVENTURES OF HANS PFALL
Once this story got started it was a combination of intelligent quasi-scientific data and outrageous subtle comedy… only to end up being a deliberate berating and mockery of other supposed accounts of moon visitations. (4 stars)
.
BERENICE
Spooky! “There came a light tap at the library door – and, pale as a tenant of the tomb …” (4 stars)
.
MYSTIFICATION
Two egotistical young men trying to out-do each other. (2 stars)
.
HOW TO WRITE A BLACKWOOD ARTICLE
Dark and biting satire about a (I presume) a dodgy newspaper or magazine of dubious credibility. (2 stars)
.
A PREDICAMENT
Following up from ‘Blackwood Article” this is full-on. What the heck? Morbid sarcasm… again! (3 stars)
.
THE MAN THAT WAS USED UP
The narrator is searching for renown former soldier ...
"I fairly shouted with terror, and made off, at a tangent, into the farthest extremity of the room."
I love Poe's evocative prose. (3 stars)
.
WILLIAM WILSON
You and I, identical? or one and the same? Do I look like you, or do you look like me?
The doppelgänger conundrum.
".. I passed with the stride of a giant, into more than the enormities of an Elagabalus."*
"All is grey shadow - a weak and irregular remembrance - an indistinct regathering of feeble pleasures and phantasmagoric pains."
How is this for a brilliant paragraph?!
"There was that in the manner of the stranger, and in the tremulous shake of his uplifted finger, as he held it between my eyes and the light, which filled me with unqualified amazement — but it was not this which had so violently moved me. It was the pregnancy of solemn admonition in the singular, low, hissing utterance; and, above all, it was the character, the tone, the key, of those few, simple, and familiar, yet whispered, syllables, which came with a thousand thronging memories of by-gone days, and struck upon my soul with the shock of a galvanic battery. Ere I could recover the use of my senses he was gone."
Did you catch that? "... struck upon my soul with the shock of a galvanic battery.." (4 stars).
* "Elagabalus" = God of the Mountain. The deity's Latin name, "Elagabalus", is a Latinized version of the Arabic, and is a manifestation of Ba'al.
.
ELEONORA
Edgar Allan Poe has a way of opening up insight through his gift of articulation. I rarely quote whole sections but you have to check this out -
"They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night. In their gray visions they obtain glimpses of eternity, and thrill, in awakening, to find that they have been upon the verge of the great secret. In snatches, they learn something of the wisdom which is of good, and more of the mere knowledge which is of evil. They penetrate, however, rudderless or compassless into the vast ocean of the 'light ineffable'.."
Also … “Hand in hand about this valley, for fifteen years, roamed I with Eleonora before Love entered within our hearts. It was one evening at the close of the third lustrum of her life, and of the fourth of my own, that we sat, locked in each other's embrace, beneath the serpent-like trees, and looked down within the water of the River of Silence at our images therein. We spoke no words during the rest of that sweet day, and our words even upon the morrow were tremulous and few. We had drawn the God Eros from that wave, and now we felt that he had enkindled within us the fiery souls of our forefathers. The passions which had for centuries distinguished our race, came thronging with the fancies for which they had been equally noted, and together breathed a delirious bliss over the Valley of the Many-Colored Grass. A change fell upon all things. Strange, brilliant flowers, star-shaped, burn out upon the trees where no flowers had been known before."
Spoiler - - concludes with:
"... and sweet voice, saying:
'Sleep in peace! -- for the Spirit of Love reigneth and ruleth, and, in taking to thy passionate heart her who is Ermengarde, thou art absolved, for reasons which shall be made known to thee in Heaven, of thy vows unto Eleonora.'" (4 stars)
.
The Island of the Fay
Slightly more peculiar for Poe. Discovering a place where fairies dwell.
“While within the influence of the lingering sunbeams, her attitude seemed indicative of joy - but sorrowed deformed it as she passed within the shade.” (3 stars)
.
The Balloon Hoax
Rather tedious read of what was intended to be a convincing ‘true’ report, hence the boring nature of the tale. (2 stars)
.
The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether
An elaborate dark comedy with a title that is a play on words. A visit to a lunatic asylum is not enough to enlighten the naïve narrator. (4 stars)
“.. although I have searched every library in Europe for the works of Dr Tarr and Professor Fether, I have, up to the present day, utterly failed in my endeavours at procuring an edition.”
.
Mesmeric Revelation
“WHATEVER doubt may still envelop the rationale of mesmerism, its startling facts are now almost universally admitted.”
Poe sure writes some obscure stuff, obsessively. (2 stars)
.
A Tale of the Ragged Mountains
“You will say now, of course, that I dreamed; but not so.”
The uncertainty of what was real, spectre, hallucination, or fabrication!
“I feared to tread, lest I should be precipitated into some abyss. I remembered, too, strange stories told about these Ragged Hills, and of the uncouth and fierce races of men who tenanted their groves and caverns. A thousand vague fancies oppressed and disconcerted me—fancies the more distressing because vague.” (4 stars)
.
The Spectacles
Rom-com. If only he’d gone to Spec Savers!
“He begged me not to be impatient—to moderate my transports—to read soothing books—to drink nothing stronger than Hock—and to bring the consolations of philosophy to my aid. The fool! if he could not come himself, why, in the name of every thing rational, could he not have enclosed me a letter of presentation?” (4 stars)
.
The Imp of the Perverse
Poe truly was a fantastic (fantasy) writer.
“There is no passion in nature so demoniacally impatient, as that of him, who shuddering upon the edge of a precipice, thus meditates a plunge. To indulge for a moment, in any attempt at thought, is to be inevitably lost; for reflection but urges us to forbear, and therefore it is, I say, that we cannot.” (4 stars)
.
The Sphinx
Imagination fuelled by dread and fatigue. Comical conclusion. (4 stars)
“We might say that from the impious love of liberty has been born a new tyranny — the tyranny of fools — which, in its insensible ferocity, resembles the idol of Juggernaut.”
.
The Domain of Arnheim (The Landscape Garden)
Long introduction about Ellison’s inheritance and passion for landscaping … then … “the whole Paradise of Arnheim bursts upon the view.” (3 stars)
.
Von Kempelen and His Discovery
Discovery? Hmm. Poe the parody portrayer. (3 stars)
“In Europe, as yet, the most noticeable results have been a rise of two hundred per cent. in the price of lead, and nearly twenty-five per cent. in that of silver.
.
X-ing a Paragrab
Poe must have laughed much to himself. When editorial writers feud, with faulty technology. (3 stars)
“I shell have to x this ere paragrab,” said he to himself, as he read it over in astonishment, “but it's jest about the awfulest o-wy paragrab I ever did see:” so x it he did, unflinchingly, and to press it went x-ed.
.
Hop-Frog
As we all now know thanks to Tyrion Lannister, never openly mock a dwarf! (4 stars)
“...madness is no comfortable feeling.”
“I never knew any one so keenly alive to a joke as the king was.”
.
Poems:
The Raven
Unrivalled perfection!!
Lenore
“Ah, broken is the golden bowl! the spirit flown forever!..
… Avaunt! tonight my heart is light. No dirge will i upraise,
But waft the angel on her flight with a paean of the old days!..."
Hymn
"..Let my Future radiant shine.."
A Valentine
His 'secret code' detracts from the poem itself
The Coliseum
"... But stay! these walls- these ivy-clad arcades-
These moldering plinths- these sad and blackened shafts-.."
To Helen
(“I saw thee once — once only…
.. Venuses, unextinguished by the sun!
To – (“I heed not..”)
“… But that you sorrow for my fate, Who am a passer by.” {some publications have this 8 line poem as part of ‘Oh I care not that my earthly lot..’; ‘Alone,’ and also ‘To M –‘}
Ulalume
The loss of his beloved, similar to Annabel Lee. “The skies they were ashen and sober..”
The Bells
So skillful. Silver - Golden - Brazen – Iron. “Hear the sledges with the bells-..”
An Enigma
Probably meant to be clever, but not particularly entertaining.
Annabel Lee
Beautiful, angelic, fateful poem.
“It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me…..”
To My Mother
To Poe's mother-in-law
“Because I feel that, in the Heavens above
the angels, whispering to one another
can find, among their burning terms of love
none so devotional that of "Mother"…”
The Haunted Palace
(part of The Fall of House Usher)
“.. But evil things, in robes of sorrow, / Assailed the monarch's high estate. / (Ah, let us mourn!- for never morrow / Shall dawn upon him desolate!)..”
The Conqueror Worm
Mortality of man, the final winner? the (unmentioned until the last word) worm! “Lo! 't is a gala night..”
To F - [Francis S. Osgood, ‘Beloved!..’]
"Beloved! Amid the earnest woes..."
To One in Paradise (To One Beloved), (To Ianthe in Heaven)
Echoes of Frankentein. ".. Shall bloom the thunder-blasted tree / Or the stricken eagle soar!.."
The Valley of Unrest (The Valley Nis)
Beautiful. "Now each visitor shall confess / The sad valley's restlessness. / Nothing there is motionless- / Nothing save the airs that brood Over the magic solitude... / … Perennial tears descend in gems."
A City in the Sea
Gothic indeed. "A City in the Sea" - "Lo! Death has reared himself a throne
In a strange city lying alone..."
The Sleeper
Underrated. I love this one
"... An opiate vapor, dewy, dim,
Exhales from out her golden rim..."
Silence
I like the contrasting dualisms - sea & shore, body & soul
"There are some qualities- some incorporate things,
That have a double life, which thus is made
A type of that twin entity which springs
From matter and light, evinced in solid and shade.
There is a two-fold Silence- sea and shore-
Body and soul. One dwells in lonely places,
Newly with grass o'ergrown; some solemn graces,
Some human memories and tearful lore,
Render him terrorless: his name's "No More."
He is the corporate Silence: dread him not!
No power hath he of evil in himself;
But should some urgent fate (untimely lot!)
Bring thee to meet his shadow (nameless elf,
That haunteth the lone regions where hath trod
No foot of man,) commend thyself to God!" …
A Dream Within a Dream
Real or temporary, or both? "Take this kiss upon the brow! / ... Is all that we see or seem / But a dream within a dream?"
Dream-Land
Almost could be considered a Creation Origin polemic. "Out of SPACE- out of TIME."
"By a route obscure and lonely, / Haunted by ill angels only..”
To Zante
Reminds me of Emily Bronte's material. I like it.
"Fair isle, that from the fairest of all flowers,
Thy gentlest of all gentle names dost take!
How many memories of what radiant hours
At sight of thee and thine at once awake!
Eulalie
I respect his raw honesty and dream-like imagination. "I dwelt alone / In a world of moan..”
Eldorado
Pursuing the land, and assumedly the gold, of this mythical ideal
"Gaily bedight, / A gallant knight,.."
Israfel
The 'heart' and the 'lute' are regular images in Poe's work. "In Heaven a spirit doth dwell / Whose heart-strings are a lute;"
For Annie
Wonderful grasp on rhyme and rhythm. e.g.
"The moaning and groaning,
The sighing and sobbing,
Are quieted now,
With that horrible throbbing
At heart:—ah, that horrible,
Horrible throbbing!
The sickness—the nausea—
The pitiless pain—
Have ceased, with the fever
That maddened my brain—
With the fever called "Living" That burned in my brain."
To – (“I heed not..”)
“… But that you sorrow for my fate, Who am a passer by.”
Bridal Ballad
Love, (lies?), loss, letting go ... echoes of Emily Bronte again. I like it.
To F - [Francis S. Osgood, ‘Beloved!..’]
"Beloved! Amid the earnest woes..."
….
Afterword:
In a letter to a friend, Poe rightly described his collection of writings, “… There is a vast variety of kinds, indegree of value, these kinds vary – but each tale is equally good of its kind.” (p466)
{Macmillan - light-aqua colour, black-white raven image}
Fantastic collection of essential Poe masterpieces! *****
Tales:
METZENGERSTEIN
An angry Joffrey-like Heathcliff-like Absalom-like heir who obsesses over a phantom-like black stallion.
Dark and spooky! (4 stars)
.
VISIONARY-ASSIGNATION
Vivid descriptions! The narrator reminded me of The Great Gatsby. (4 stars)
.
MORELLA
Almost a poem! Definitely same author as The Black Cat and The Raven.
Morbid and foreboding this husbands obsessive love for his deceased wife manifests itself in a family horror. Brilliant Poe! (4 stars)
.
KING PEST
Quirky over-the-top comedy. Brilliant two protagonists, classic duo, hilariously drunk.
Poe must have enjoyed pushing the humour to its dark edges in this tale. (4 stars)
.
THE UNPARALLELED ADVENTURES OF HANS PFALL
Once this story got started it was a combination of intelligent quasi-scientific data and outrageous subtle comedy… only to end up being a deliberate berating and mockery of other supposed accounts of moon visitations. (4 stars)
.
BERENICE
Spooky! “There came a light tap at the library door – and, pale as a tenant of the tomb …” (4 stars)
.
MYSTIFICATION
Two egotistical young men trying to out-do each other. (2 stars)
.
HOW TO WRITE A BLACKWOOD ARTICLE
Dark and biting satire about a (I presume) a dodgy newspaper or magazine of dubious credibility. (2 stars)
.
A PREDICAMENT
Following up from ‘Blackwood Article” this is full-on. What the heck? Morbid sarcasm… again! (3 stars)
.
THE MAN THAT WAS USED UP
The narrator is searching for renown former soldier ...
"I fairly shouted with terror, and made off, at a tangent, into the farthest extremity of the room."
I love Poe's evocative prose. (3 stars)
.
WILLIAM WILSON
You and I, identical? or one and the same? Do I look like you, or do you look like me?
The doppelgänger conundrum.
".. I passed with the stride of a giant, into more than the enormities of an Elagabalus."*
"All is grey shadow - a weak and irregular remembrance - an indistinct regathering of feeble pleasures and phantasmagoric pains."
How is this for a brilliant paragraph?!
"There was that in the manner of the stranger, and in the tremulous shake of his uplifted finger, as he held it between my eyes and the light, which filled me with unqualified amazement — but it was not this which had so violently moved me. It was the pregnancy of solemn admonition in the singular, low, hissing utterance; and, above all, it was the character, the tone, the key, of those few, simple, and familiar, yet whispered, syllables, which came with a thousand thronging memories of by-gone days, and struck upon my soul with the shock of a galvanic battery. Ere I could recover the use of my senses he was gone."
Did you catch that? "... struck upon my soul with the shock of a galvanic battery.." (4 stars).
* "Elagabalus" = God of the Mountain. The deity's Latin name, "Elagabalus", is a Latinized version of the Arabic, and is a manifestation of Ba'al.
.
ELEONORA
Edgar Allan Poe has a way of opening up insight through his gift of articulation. I rarely quote whole sections but you have to check this out -
"They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night. In their gray visions they obtain glimpses of eternity, and thrill, in awakening, to find that they have been upon the verge of the great secret. In snatches, they learn something of the wisdom which is of good, and more of the mere knowledge which is of evil. They penetrate, however, rudderless or compassless into the vast ocean of the 'light ineffable'.."
Also … “Hand in hand about this valley, for fifteen years, roamed I with Eleonora before Love entered within our hearts. It was one evening at the close of the third lustrum of her life, and of the fourth of my own, that we sat, locked in each other's embrace, beneath the serpent-like trees, and looked down within the water of the River of Silence at our images therein. We spoke no words during the rest of that sweet day, and our words even upon the morrow were tremulous and few. We had drawn the God Eros from that wave, and now we felt that he had enkindled within us the fiery souls of our forefathers. The passions which had for centuries distinguished our race, came thronging with the fancies for which they had been equally noted, and together breathed a delirious bliss over the Valley of the Many-Colored Grass. A change fell upon all things. Strange, brilliant flowers, star-shaped, burn out upon the trees where no flowers had been known before."
Spoiler - - concludes with:
"... and sweet voice, saying:
'Sleep in peace! -- for the Spirit of Love reigneth and ruleth, and, in taking to thy passionate heart her who is Ermengarde, thou art absolved, for reasons which shall be made known to thee in Heaven, of thy vows unto Eleonora.'" (4 stars)
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The Island of the Fay
Slightly more peculiar for Poe. Discovering a place where fairies dwell.
“While within the influence of the lingering sunbeams, her attitude seemed indicative of joy - but sorrowed deformed it as she passed within the shade.” (3 stars)
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The Balloon Hoax
Rather tedious read of what was intended to be a convincing ‘true’ report, hence the boring nature of the tale. (2 stars)
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The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether
An elaborate dark comedy with a title that is a play on words. A visit to a lunatic asylum is not enough to enlighten the naïve narrator. (4 stars)
“.. although I have searched every library in Europe for the works of Dr Tarr and Professor Fether, I have, up to the present day, utterly failed in my endeavours at procuring an edition.”
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Mesmeric Revelation
“WHATEVER doubt may still envelop the rationale of mesmerism, its startling facts are now almost universally admitted.”
Poe sure writes some obscure stuff, obsessively. (2 stars)
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A Tale of the Ragged Mountains
“You will say now, of course, that I dreamed; but not so.”
The uncertainty of what was real, spectre, hallucination, or fabrication!
“I feared to tread, lest I should be precipitated into some abyss. I remembered, too, strange stories told about these Ragged Hills, and of the uncouth and fierce races of men who tenanted their groves and caverns. A thousand vague fancies oppressed and disconcerted me—fancies the more distressing because vague.” (4 stars)
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The Spectacles
Rom-com. If only he’d gone to Spec Savers!
“He begged me not to be impatient—to moderate my transports—to read soothing books—to drink nothing stronger than Hock—and to bring the consolations of philosophy to my aid. The fool! if he could not come himself, why, in the name of every thing rational, could he not have enclosed me a letter of presentation?” (4 stars)
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The Imp of the Perverse
Poe truly was a fantastic (fantasy) writer.
“There is no passion in nature so demoniacally impatient, as that of him, who shuddering upon the edge of a precipice, thus meditates a plunge. To indulge for a moment, in any attempt at thought, is to be inevitably lost; for reflection but urges us to forbear, and therefore it is, I say, that we cannot.” (4 stars)
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The Sphinx
Imagination fuelled by dread and fatigue. Comical conclusion. (4 stars)
“We might say that from the impious love of liberty has been born a new tyranny — the tyranny of fools — which, in its insensible ferocity, resembles the idol of Juggernaut.”
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The Domain of Arnheim (The Landscape Garden)
Long introduction about Ellison’s inheritance and passion for landscaping … then … “the whole Paradise of Arnheim bursts upon the view.” (3 stars)
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Von Kempelen and His Discovery
Discovery? Hmm. Poe the parody portrayer. (3 stars)
“In Europe, as yet, the most noticeable results have been a rise of two hundred per cent. in the price of lead, and nearly twenty-five per cent. in that of silver.
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X-ing a Paragrab
Poe must have laughed much to himself. When editorial writers feud, with faulty technology. (3 stars)
“I shell have to x this ere paragrab,” said he to himself, as he read it over in astonishment, “but it's jest about the awfulest o-wy paragrab I ever did see:” so x it he did, unflinchingly, and to press it went x-ed.
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Hop-Frog
As we all now know thanks to Tyrion Lannister, never openly mock a dwarf! (4 stars)
“...madness is no comfortable feeling.”
“I never knew any one so keenly alive to a joke as the king was.”
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Poems:
The Raven
Unrivalled perfection!!
Lenore
“Ah, broken is the golden bowl! the spirit flown forever!..
… Avaunt! tonight my heart is light. No dirge will i upraise,
But waft the angel on her flight with a paean of the old days!..."
Hymn
"..Let my Future radiant shine.."
A Valentine
His 'secret code' detracts from the poem itself
The Coliseum
"... But stay! these walls- these ivy-clad arcades-
These moldering plinths- these sad and blackened shafts-.."
To Helen
(“I saw thee once — once only…
.. Venuses, unextinguished by the sun!
To – (“I heed not..”)
“… But that you sorrow for my fate, Who am a passer by.” {some publications have this 8 line poem as part of ‘Oh I care not that my earthly lot..’; ‘Alone,’ and also ‘To M –‘}
Ulalume
The loss of his beloved, similar to Annabel Lee. “The skies they were ashen and sober..”
The Bells
So skillful. Silver - Golden - Brazen – Iron. “Hear the sledges with the bells-..”
An Enigma
Probably meant to be clever, but not particularly entertaining.
Annabel Lee
Beautiful, angelic, fateful poem.
“It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me…..”
To My Mother
To Poe's mother-in-law
“Because I feel that, in the Heavens above
the angels, whispering to one another
can find, among their burning terms of love
none so devotional that of "Mother"…”
The Haunted Palace
(part of The Fall of House Usher)
“.. But evil things, in robes of sorrow, / Assailed the monarch's high estate. / (Ah, let us mourn!- for never morrow / Shall dawn upon him desolate!)..”
The Conqueror Worm
Mortality of man, the final winner? the (unmentioned until the last word) worm! “Lo! 't is a gala night..”
To F - [Francis S. Osgood, ‘Beloved!..’]
"Beloved! Amid the earnest woes..."
To One in Paradise (To One Beloved), (To Ianthe in Heaven)
Echoes of Frankentein. ".. Shall bloom the thunder-blasted tree / Or the stricken eagle soar!.."
The Valley of Unrest (The Valley Nis)
Beautiful. "Now each visitor shall confess / The sad valley's restlessness. / Nothing there is motionless- / Nothing save the airs that brood Over the magic solitude... / … Perennial tears descend in gems."
A City in the Sea
Gothic indeed. "A City in the Sea" - "Lo! Death has reared himself a throne
In a strange city lying alone..."
The Sleeper
Underrated. I love this one
"... An opiate vapor, dewy, dim,
Exhales from out her golden rim..."
Silence
I like the contrasting dualisms - sea & shore, body & soul
"There are some qualities- some incorporate things,
That have a double life, which thus is made
A type of that twin entity which springs
From matter and light, evinced in solid and shade.
There is a two-fold Silence- sea and shore-
Body and soul. One dwells in lonely places,
Newly with grass o'ergrown; some solemn graces,
Some human memories and tearful lore,
Render him terrorless: his name's "No More."
He is the corporate Silence: dread him not!
No power hath he of evil in himself;
But should some urgent fate (untimely lot!)
Bring thee to meet his shadow (nameless elf,
That haunteth the lone regions where hath trod
No foot of man,) commend thyself to God!" …
A Dream Within a Dream
Real or temporary, or both? "Take this kiss upon the brow! / ... Is all that we see or seem / But a dream within a dream?"
Dream-Land
Almost could be considered a Creation Origin polemic. "Out of SPACE- out of TIME."
"By a route obscure and lonely, / Haunted by ill angels only..”
To Zante
Reminds me of Emily Bronte's material. I like it.
"Fair isle, that from the fairest of all flowers,
Thy gentlest of all gentle names dost take!
How many memories of what radiant hours
At sight of thee and thine at once awake!
Eulalie
I respect his raw honesty and dream-like imagination. "I dwelt alone / In a world of moan..”
Eldorado
Pursuing the land, and assumedly the gold, of this mythical ideal
"Gaily bedight, / A gallant knight,.."
Israfel
The 'heart' and the 'lute' are regular images in Poe's work. "In Heaven a spirit doth dwell / Whose heart-strings are a lute;"
For Annie
Wonderful grasp on rhyme and rhythm. e.g.
"The moaning and groaning,
The sighing and sobbing,
Are quieted now,
With that horrible throbbing
At heart:—ah, that horrible,
Horrible throbbing!
The sickness—the nausea—
The pitiless pain—
Have ceased, with the fever
That maddened my brain—
With the fever called "Living" That burned in my brain."
To – (“I heed not..”)
“… But that you sorrow for my fate, Who am a passer by.”
Bridal Ballad
Love, (lies?), loss, letting go ... echoes of Emily Bronte again. I like it.
To F - [Francis S. Osgood, ‘Beloved!..’]
"Beloved! Amid the earnest woes..."
….
Afterword:
In a letter to a friend, Poe rightly described his collection of writings, “… There is a vast variety of kinds, indegree of value, these kinds vary – but each tale is equally good of its kind.” (p466)
August 26, 2021
I really enjoyed reading some of Edgar Allan Poe's lesser known works. His writing is more varied than I knew before. One of my favorite stories was The Spectacles, which was basically a comedy! Who would have thought?
October 31, 2024
Edgar Allan Poe is almost exclusively associated with horror and the macabre; his bleak settings, imperfect characters and plots of death and despair are ingrained in almost all of us. What this collection does is remind us that Edgar Allan Poe was so much more than that: the pioneer of science fiction and the modern detective story, and an expert at satire and the human condition to name but a few more.
This collections gives a small cross section of Poe’s extensive catalogue of works: from the horror of Berenice and The Raven, to the love poems he wrote so earnestly and the adventures of a balloon flight. Each story is a strong example of Poe’s wit and imagination. While there are some gaps in his better known works (and if you were looking for a spooky horror collection this is not it), this is an excellent collection of a man who is not nearly admired enough for his range and versatility.
This collections gives a small cross section of Poe’s extensive catalogue of works: from the horror of Berenice and The Raven, to the love poems he wrote so earnestly and the adventures of a balloon flight. Each story is a strong example of Poe’s wit and imagination. While there are some gaps in his better known works (and if you were looking for a spooky horror collection this is not it), this is an excellent collection of a man who is not nearly admired enough for his range and versatility.
May 24, 2020
Trots att en del texter är sömnpiller, är variationen stor och intressant. Poe är inte bara pionjär vad gälelr mästerdetektiver och skräckpsykologi, utan även på Science Fiction. En fär ditll må nen i luftballong. Och en del humoristiska historier fann jag också. Men bland Poeomen är det the Raven som är bäst, i övrigt hade jag svårt att ta till mig dem.
December 6, 2016
Poe is undoubtedly master of the macabre. His other works are more diverse than I knew before, conjuring worlds of fairies, aeronauts, and vindictive jesters. It's almost sad to say, but he is certainly at his best when he is at his darkest.
February 6, 2015
My favorite edition of his poems.
It feels like my tiny little Edgar allan poe bible !
Completely in love with it.
And Annabel lee is my favorite poem of all.
It feels like my tiny little Edgar allan poe bible !
Completely in love with it.
And Annabel lee is my favorite poem of all.
January 29, 2019
Was good, but my favorite poem I’ve read by him wasn’t included, sadly. Would still recommend
June 4, 2020
I didn't love every story or poem, but there were many that I loved.
February 2, 2024
rip edgar allan poe, you would've loved the two sentence horror stories subreddit
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