The Raven and Other Poems

by Edgar Allan Poe

Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”

With that undying line Edgar Allan Poe ensured his immortality in the annals of American letters. What student of literature or lover of poetry is not familiar with his poem “The Raven,” and the heartbreaking message implicit in its melancholy refrain?

“The Raven” is by far Poe’s best-known poem and it is one of more than forty to be found in The Raven and Other Poems, a volume that collects the best of Poe’s exercises in verse. Here, readers are treated to such masterpieces as “Annabel Lee,” “The Haunted Palace,” “The Conqueror Worm,” “The City in the Sea,” “Lenore,” and many more. These poems are imbued with the somber seriousness that we associate with Poe’s macabre fiction, but also with his marvelous appraisals of the mysteries of our and other worlds, and his fervent belief in undying love.

The Raven and Other Poems is one of Barnes & Noble’s Collectible Editions classics. Each volume features authoritative texts by the world’s greatest authors in an elegantly designed bonded-leather binding, with distinctive gilt edging.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Horror, Gothic, Fiction, Literature

107 pages, Leather Bound

First published August 27, 2021

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

[The Aspie Author · Rating 5 out of 5]

Annabel Lee is so beautiful.

I have never felt so strongly for a poem till I read For Annie.

[Owen Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Yes, Heaven is thine; but this
Is a world of sweets and sours;
Our flowers are merely - flowers,
And the shadow of thy perfect bliss
Is the sunshine of ours.”

[Hannah Degn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read out loud to my indulgent boyfriend.

Happy Halloween, Witches!

[hawk]

I only read The Raven, but enjoyed it 🙂🦅

I didn't read the rest of the collection, partly cos I didn't really take to the reader.
(I stopped about 30 percent in)

🌟 🌟

accessed as a library audiobook, read by Brian Kelly.

(I didn't find a goodreads listing for the library audiobook I borrowed, so picked a collection that looked close).

[Luke Glasspool · Rating 3 out of 5]

No cap, I copped this for the Raven and it didn’t disappoint. This was a nice introduction to poetry, but being the short king that I am, like most things this went above my head. I think I’ll stick to Ice Spice for my source of poetry frfr. The cover alone deserves 5*, holdtight the drillers at barnes and noble for whipping up a masterpiece.

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty black and red leather-bound copy of Poe's most popular poems in a small, easy to hold size. I like finding different collections of Poe's works because they all have a slightly different selection, so it's interesting to see what is included and what isn't. This version is a lot nicer looking than my old tattered collections found over the years.

[jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m desperately and pathetically in love with Poe. So… 5 stars!

[Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poe is, of course, a master of using sound to create feeling. I agree with him, however, that generally, his shorter poems are better than the longer ones. The Raven and The Bells are about as long as his poems should be, and the brief lyrical poems are little jewels.

[Tommy Vachon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book somehow got me to learn that:
- Poe married his 13 year old first cousin when he was 27 :(
- Poe thought all Bostonians were illiterate dummy dumb dumbs :((

Here were my top five poems in no particular order:
- The Raven
- The Bells
- The Valley of Unrest
- The City in the Sea
- A Dream Within a Dream

Honorable Mention: The Conqueror Worm

[Lore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some truly amazing bangers, lots of misses, but an overall amazing atmosphere

[Will Mortell · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars because “Annabel Lee” and “The Raven” are stunning, “A Valentine” was a cute and fun riddle and I loved the explanatory footnotes in “Al Araaf”. Also the book is beautifully designed and made

[Manwithpez · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, the master. Poems so good that even the bad ones are fantastic!

[oli ♥︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

thank you edgar very cool
4 stars because it took me way too long to read and comprehend (1 month ish) but the poems were nice and also thank you georgia for liking edgar

[Ree · Rating 4 out of 5]

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor. Shall be lifted, nevermore.

Ah Edgar Allan Poe, the perfect accompaniment to a dark and stormy night spent brooding in an armchair by the fire. 'The Raven' will forever be a favourite of mine - it having inspired my only A+ shortstory assignment in senior English studies - but, I also thoroughly enjoyed the rest of this collection of his works. His poetry is so hauntingly sombre, yet also beautiful and I can't get enough! Some of my favourites from this collection included:

*The Raven
*To Helen (I)
*The Bells (I really enjoyed the creative prose about the different types of bells and their meanings or portents)
*Annabel Lee (so beautiful, and yet so sad)
*The Haunted Palace (from The Fall of the House of Usher)
*The City in the Sea
*A Dream within a Dream
*Dreamland
*Eulalie
*Eldorado
*A Dream
*Fairy-Land
*The Lake - To - -
*Spirits of the Dead
*Serenade
*[The Happiest Day]
*Evening Star
*Dreams

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most readers are familiar with Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” and “Annabel Lee” But diving into a compilation of his poetic works reminded me, at least, that he did indeed write some uplifting poetry—though they are far fewer in number than his melancholic works.

For the first time, I read “The Bells,” a poem that starts so cheerily with Christmas bells and wedding bells but then delves into alarm bells and death bells. The repetition of the word “bells” was hypnotic and lulled me into a sense of calm and carried me from happiness to despair. The picture of a wedding day in “Song” was equally sweet but held hints of a lost love. And “Serenade” seemed to ooze complexities with nature, mythology, love, and longing.

Whether I was reading one his poems for what felt like the hundredth time or reading them for the first, I was struck by the mental illness that seemed to plague the poet throughout his entire life, reminded that, even when at our lowest, bits of hope and light shine through.

[Myrtheee · Rating 3 out of 5]

poems are beautiful of course, but i canNOT handle the way this compilation was done. i understand that there are multiple versions and révisions of each poem, but for the love of god do not spread them randomly throughout the book!!! i felt like i was going crazy half the time thinking hmmmmmm i feel like i recognize this..... oh yeah well ive already read this 5 times in different versions GAH

[Nghia · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of his poems are slightly melancholy and sad, but it does tell you a story. It was really enjoyable when I was able to read it aloud aloud, and have my sister and I both travel into his poem to visualize the scene being depicted in it.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not gonna lie, I liked the first few (which included The Raven, of course) but overall, Edgar Allen Poe is not for me.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edgy, morose, dark. Edgar Allan Poe does best what he does best --> spooky poems that really make you think.

[Brayden Burton]

pretty good

[Santiago Carhuatanta · Rating 4 out of 5]

👻🐈‍⬛🧛

[Jennifer Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a great copy that I carry in my purse every day!!

[Traian · Rating 4 out of 5]

First Half of stories were really good! But then the second half of the collection felt like they just had to find random stories of his to call it a day.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

a great collection of poe’s poems, the raven was so good!

[Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply to say Edgar Allen Poe. The one dead man I’d do anything for. The one poet who makes me feel so seen. My favorite

[Hana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poe is of course an extraordinary poet but probably not my favorite. However there are some poems I loved and will be returning to.

[Sarah Faye · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m really trying to like Edgar Allan Poe’s writing since everyone else seems to, but I think I hate it lol, I’m not sure why

[Stephen Robert Kuta · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful anthology of poetry by Edgar Allan Poe

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

read this to myself aloud and enjoyed every line. modern poetry pales in comparison to anything poe has ever written

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
the raven was really good, enjoyed most of the poems that were at the end