The Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe - Arcturus Great Poets

by Edgar Allan Poe

A collection of verse from one of America's greatest writers, the undisputed master of Gothic horror, and a true literary pioneer.

In this anthology, readers will find a full range of Poe's poetry and prose poems. The mysterious and lyrical 'The Raven' is Poe's best-known poem and immediately became a sensation when it was first published. 'The Bells' presents Poe's enjoyment of and mastery over language, 'Sonnet to Science' his reflections on rationalism, while 'The City in the Sea' and 'The Haunted Palace' will leave you thrilled and filled with fantastic terrors never felt before.

Genres: Poetry, Classics

192 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2020

About the author

The 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...

Reviews

[Tuva Pettersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful lyrical writing and dark and gothic at the same time.

A lot of interesting themes, but I think the most fascinating part is the on going conversations between science and religion which is present throughout Poe’s works.

As this is a collection it’s hard to give it a rating, as some of his poems fell flat for me. However a lot of poems I really enjoyed such as the classics “the raven” and “the bells” I also liked “romance” and the “to Helen” once. But the best part of the collection were the prose poems at the end. Will definitely go back and read my favorites later.

[Sophia Alexis Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm big fan of Poe and I loved reading more of his poems (and re-reading my favorites)

4 stars

[Benjamin Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I certainly got what I expected and desired from the work of Poe: dreary, melancholy, and heartache aplenty.
I also enjoyed the seemingly random:
"I'll tell you a plan for gaining wealth,
Better than banking, trade or leases -
Take a bank note and fold it up,
And then you'll find your money in creases!"

[Mihir Joshi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's Poe, come on, is there really anything to be said here?

Albeit, I really don't think Prose Poems are my cup of tea, what prose poems I did read were relatively enjoyable - not too much so. They feel drab and sluggish to me and just not my style. Nonetheless, it's Poe, c'mon, must I really explain further?

I would like to leave behind one of my favourite poems from this collection:

Full with mingled cream and amber
I will drain that glass again
Such hilarious visions clamber
Through the chamber of my brain-
Quaintest thoughts-queerest fancies
Come to life and fade away;
What care I how time advances
I am drinking ale today

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edgar Allan Poe is such an interesting fella and has such range . His romantic poetry is gorgeous, His Gothic poetry is brooding and dark, and his Mythological poems are iconic and hymn-like. Those are all good, but my favorites were his reflections on weather and nature (Maybe some count as Gothic too), but they are written with such a reverence and understanding of the natural world.
Anyway, his dialogues on rationalism were kinda boring and I didnt fully understand his fables or parables.
It's an anthology; so there's some good and some bad.

[stori · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75★
really enjoyed most of this but some parts were a drag, especially the prose poems at the end, but i guess that can be expected in such a long anthology. great to reread some of my favorites and well known classics and to discover some new ones! the spooky gothic vibes were exactly what i was looking for

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edgar Allen Poetry was pretty mediocre to be honest

[Edgar · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say share the same first name

[Aries Aster · Rating 3 out of 5]

The regular poems were good but just skip the prose poems like I did. Prose isn't Poe's best work anyways.

[Issabella Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I understand why everyone hypes up "The Raven".

[Sara K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly his rhymes still slap. And the short prose poems were wery atmospheric and some downright creepy. He knew his stuff.

[T · Rating 3 out of 5]

extraordinary

[Elena Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contains my favorites: The Sleeper, The Bells, The Raven. Some dark explorations of the soul and of love, as well as some goofy, witty poems.

[Maria Zlatinova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, I fell in love with Poe's words and his mind. He easily became my favorite poet. Such haunting, yet tender and beautiful language and abstract ideas.

[loafiie.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

love my emo boy

[Gabrielle Geddes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Look, I don't love all of it, but damn this raving lunatic was rly onto something here.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection that demonstrates why Poe was a better short storyist.

[g · Rating 5 out of 5]

BELLS BELLS BELLS BELLS BELLS BELLS BELLS BELLS BELLS BELLS BELLS BELLS BELLS BELLS BELLS BELLS

[mikayla hawkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

finally read his poems. he has such a way with words.

[Jim Anderson-Greenover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”
Very good read! ….. nevermore hahahahah!

[Ella S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Endnotes and longer, more in depth intro would have made this a 5 star read for me