The Raven and Other Poems and Stories by Edgar Allan Poe - Scholastic Classics | Gothic Literature Collection for Book Lovers & Halloween Reading

What can I say of "The Raven" that has not been said? Beauty and sadness, grief and romance. "Annabel Lee" is like it, and "Ulalume" will bend your heart to weeping. These aren't the only poems here, but they are among the reasons you will reread this small volume of poetry.Lamenting the loss of a gentle but passionate woman, the narrator drinks, yet somberly dwells on her name. A local raven, with the capacity to utter like a parrot a syllable or two, repeats the speaker's chant "Lenore," as "Nevermore." The narrator, tired and broken, believes the raven might be sent by God or even by the Devil, and tries talking with it.Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,--While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door."'T is some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door;Only this and nothing more."The poem, like a long tale, draws the listener or reader to be in that lonely room.Anyone who has ever been in love and lost that lover will known Poe's pain and supplication of God.Similar to the Raven in its message is "Annabel Lee," as the poet declares his grief over his lost lover. This love here is one he knew as a young teen, and whose love even the angels were jealous of.It was many and many a year ago,In a kingdom by the sea,That a maiden there lived whom you may knowBy the name of Annabel Lee;And this maiden she lived with no other thoughtThan to love and be loved by me.Slightly lesser known is "Ulalume." It will remind readers of "The Raven," in its storytelling structure, though the poetry behind it is somewhat different. Like many of Poe's poetry, rhythm, alliteration and near internal rhymes lift the poem up high. It is somber, driven by gray images of sadness.The Skies they were ashen and sober;The leaves they were crispèd and sere,The leaves they were withering and sere;It was night in the lonesome OctoberOf my most immemorial year;It was hard by the dim lake of Auber,In the misty mid region of Weir:It was down by the dank tarn of Auber,In the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir.I fully recommend " The Raven And Other Poems And Stories," by Edgar Allan Poe, and look into a fuller collection including his stories, and more poetry.Anthony Trendl[...]