The Verbose Insomniacs
Edgar Allan Poe
Biography (1809-1849)
*Poe's tragic life translated directly to his works.
Fast Facts:
-At a young age, Poe's mother died of tuberculosis. With his father out of the picture, he was taken in by the Allan family (to which he was related).
-He attended the University of Virginia, but dropped out for financial reasons. Then, his stepfather forced him to attend West Point, but he did not last there either.
-Poe married his cousin Virginia when she was 13 years old.
-Then, his stepmother died of tuberculosis.
-Later, Virginia died of tuberculosis; this was devastating as Poe often referred to her as his only source of happiness.
-Poe turned to alcohol and other drugs (such as opium) throughout his life.
-Poe was poor his entire life; he did not receive much money from his writings, even though the works like "The Raven" were well known.
-Hence, Poe became more famous after his death.
-Poe's death was a mystery; he left Virginia to go to New York, but was found in Baltimore, where he was beaten (for an unknown reason) and later died in the hospital.
This video is a short biography of Edgar Allan Poe.
The Raven
Synopsis:
This poem is told by a man sitting alone in his room. Late one night, he hears a tapping sound at his door. At first he thinks it is merely someone coming to visit him. Instead of opening the door, he begins to reminisce on his lost love, Lenore, who has recently died. Finally, the man begins to fear what is on the other side of the door. When he works up the courage to open the door, all he sees is darkness.
The narrator continues to hear the tapping, so he checks the window. In flies a raven who lands on a sculpture of Athena above his door. The narrator asks the raven what its name is. The raven answers, "Nevermore." The narrator then muses that "on the morrow he will leave" like everyone else in his life. Again, the raven answers with "Nevermore." This is the only word the raven speaks to the narrator.
Eventually, the narrator begins to ask the raven about Lenore. When he asks if Lenore is in Heaven, the raven repeats, "Nevermore." This angers the narrator who then yells "Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!" The raven does not move. The narrator realizes that the bird will never leave because it represents his memory of Lenore which will also never leave him.
Analysis/ Relation to Poe's Life:
Many critics believe the speaker represents Poe himself. Poe wrote this poem during his wife's fatal illness. Just like the speaker, Poe was being devastated by Virginia's illness, and was not stable as a result. Furthermore, the poem indicates that it was very hard for Poe to accept that he would "nevermore" see his wife, his only source of happiness.
Success:
"The Raven" was Poe's most known work during his lifetime. Sometimes, Poe would even walk around in a suit with wings pretending to be the raven in public! However, Poe did not receive much money at all for this work.
Style:
Poe's gothic style is very evident in this poem. The poem has a bleak setting of a dark room at night, in which the speaker is alone. The speaker is undergoing psychological torment at the loss of Lenore. Lastly, the talking raven is undoubtedly a supernatural element that symbolizes the realization and constant reminder that the speaker would "nevermore" see Lenore.
This video analyzes "The Raven."
The Fall of the House of Usher
Synopsis:
An unnamed narrator arrives at the House of Usher, a very creepy mansion owned by his childhood friend Roderick Usher. Roderick has been sick lately, afflicted by a disease of the mind, and wrote to his friend, the narrator, asking for help. The narrator spends some time admiring the awesomely spooky Usher edifice. While doing so, he explains that Roderick and his sister are the last of the Usher bloodline, and that the family is famous for its dedication to the arts (music, painting, literature, etc.). Eventually, the narrator heads inside to see his friend.
Roderick indeed appears to be a sick man. He suffers from an "acuteness of the senses," or hyper-sensitivity to light, sound, taste, and tactile sensations; he feels that he will die of the fear he feels. He attributes part of his illness to the fact that his sister, Madeline, suffers from catalepsy (a sickness involving seizures) and will soon die, and part of it to the belief that his creepy house is sentient (able to perceive things) and has a great power over him. He hasn’t left the mansion in years. The narrator tries to help him get his mind off all this death and gloom by poring over the literature, music, and art that Roderick so loves. It doesn’t seem to help.
As Roderick predicted, Madeline soon dies. At least we think so. All we know is that Roderick tells the narrator she’s dead, and that she appears to be dead when he looks at her. Of course, because of her catalepsy, she might just look like she’s dead, post-seizure. Keep that in mind. At Roderick’s request, the narrator helps him to entomb her body in one of the vaults underneath the mansion. While they do so, the narrator discovers that the two of them were twins and that they shared some sort of supernatural, probably extrasensory, bond.
About a week later, on a dark and stormy night, the narrator and Usher find themselves unable to sleep. They decide to pass away the scary night by reading a book. As the narrator reads the text aloud, all the sounds from the fictional story can be heard resounding from below the mansion. It doesn’t take long for Usher to freak out; he jumps up and declares that they buried Madeline alive and that now she is coming back. Sure enough, the doors blow open and there stands a trembling, bloody Madeline. She throws herself at Usher, who falls to the floor and, after "violent" agony, dies along with his sister. The narrator flees; outside he watches the House of Usher crack in two and sink into the dark, dank pool that lies before it.
Style:
"The Fall of the House of Usher" is without a doubt a piece of gothic literature. The setting of the Usher house is bleak and remote. The characters, specifically Roderick, are undergoing psychological torment and physical torment as a result of Madeline. Also, there are indeed supernatural elements to this plot (depending on whether or not the reader interprets them to be so, as the plot could be interpreted multiple ways). Furthermore, every detail is focused towards the single effect of disturbing, amibguous fear, such as "vacant windows" and the incident with Madeline.
Analysis/ Relation to Poe's Life:
"The Fall of the House of Usher" contains common themes of Poe's works, such as the single effect of fear and themes of ill females and mentally unstableness. These themes, just like the themes of "The Raven," relate back to Poe's life. Poe was distraught, just as Roderick, as a result of his mother, and stepmother's deaths from tuberculosis (this was written in 1839, before Virginia's death).
For an in depth analysis of elements of the plot,
A Dream Within A Dream
Full poem:
Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow —
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand —
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep — while I weep!
O God! Can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
The speaker appears to be prepared to say his farewell through these opening lines, but also offer a last elucidation into his troubled mind. These last two lines may read as a concession to the frivolous pursuits of one’s past interests, but if read with the line that precedes it the message takes on a much more affirmative tone than a reader might expect from a shame induced defense. The man understands that it is too late to bother with vacuous humility about one’s misdeeds, and instead opts to simply give his closing testament of his dire state of mind–offer his own epitaph, if you will.
The question asked is much more complex than its simple framing might suggest. When a man reaches a point in which his past desires, dreams, and ambitions are no longer feasible goals for him to pursue, should it matter by what means or length these hopes have left, since they are presently nothing more but mere memories anyway? Is it not true how this will eventually be the fate of all our current pursuits and hopes? And if so, is there any use in pursuing one hopes to begin with?
Every matter we dedicate ourselves to will some day decay to nothing more but a faint memory–a dream within a dream. Although it seems apparent when stated in such terms, the actual prose of this first stanza of the poem presents the blatant fatalism of its message in a much subtler tone. The sort a dying man might present to ease the misfortunes that have haunted his life.
Now, the reader is given a clearer description of the poet’s current circumstance. The usage of “roar” and “surf-tormented” brings up images of anguish, but the poet’s allusion to an unruly sea as the source implies that the troubles of his life are ultimately pangs that life has thrust upon him (and not the result of self-inflicted foolishness). The last two lines here are important, for they reference the poet’s still vivid recollection of past valuables amidst his gloomy memories. But rather than give him solace, these few redeeming moments are the most painful of all to bear:
Edgar Allen Poe is a man whose life is filled with more tragedies than his writings could ever express. Having lost his parents, his wife, seen much of his literary career dismissed to the margins by his colleagues, reduced to the state of an impoverished drunk, he now stands crying in isolation, trying to hold on to the tiniest of golden moments he can recall in life, but finding himself powerless in capturing them for any meaningful comfort:
Whereas the poet began his prose in collective reflection, the endeavor appears to have been too much for his fragile mind, as he now tries to plea with the phantoms of his past. The desperation in these final gasps reveals much about the writer’s final mental state. Far from being ready to make peace with his life’s torments and losses, and despite his previous insistence how his hope has flown away, his self-pity still prevents him from giving into the apathy he seems at times to crave. This is evident by how he finishes his prose by repeating his once exclamatory statement, as a hopeful question for mercy from some undisclosed fate:
For someone like Edgar Allen Poe, who at this point in his life had nothing more to hold onto but his dreams–his fading memories–nothing would have been more desirable than the reassurance that this sole valuable of his was more than a mere intangible thought. But given how the poet’s life ended within the same year that this poem was published, I am skeptical as to whether he ever managed to truly convince himself of this dying wish.
This video is a reading of "A Dream Within A Dream."
Fun Fact: This poem is the basis for the movie Inception.
PLAY ME FOR DRAMATIC EFFECT!!!
Analysis/ Relation to Poe's Life
Poe's Style
Many of Poe's works are Gothic literature. Gothic literature is characterized by elements such as bleak or remote settings, violent incidents, characters in physical/ psychological torment, supernatural elements, and strong language full of dangerous meanings.
Many of Poe's works also include the feature of a single effect, in which all of the details contribute to one single impression. In Poe's works, the single effect is usually fear or disturbing ambiguity.
for a deeper analysis of the poem and its literary elements!
