Poe Poetry Discussion

[Dark Muse]

Even thought the odds are against me becasue I have not been able to garner much interest in the Poe Short Story thread, and it seems poetry discussions in general, particuarly, that of more classical work do not seem to often last long here, I thought I would go out on a limb, and take a chance.

Out my my love for all things Poe, I am going to attempt a thread discussing Poe's poetic works, becasue I think they are fantastic.

I will be starting with one of my personal favorites Annabel Lee, which will be posted shortly with eye-catching pictures, becasue we all love visual effects.

[Dark Muse]

Annabel Lee

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.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

[Dark Muse]

This is a beautiful and touching preformance of Annabel Lee, and whoever is reciting it, does an amazing job. Very classy and simple.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4bb_6MmgZo

[Dark Muse]

Poe often laments both in his poetic work as well as his short stories about the death of your maidens, this is drawn from his own personal tragedies in which he suffered, and never fully recovered from. His mother died of illness when he was still a young boy and he remained haunted through his life by that loss, as well his young bride and true love Virginia who was but a child, 14 I believe when they wed, though whom he loved dearly had also fallen ill and died. It would seem that Poe would be followed by the death of his loved one's, and I think in many cases the figures of his work are a mergence of both his mother as well as his young bride.

This poem reads almost like a haunting fairy tale in the rhythm of it, it is full of lush dark imagery, and a heavy sense of loss, and yet, I think there still lingers to it something of almost a playfulness, in the way in which he portrays these two young lovers as being but children themselves, though their love spans beyond their years.

The idea of this kingdom by the sea, also gives it an almost dream like quality. There is something in this poem which almost seems as almost a darker version of The Lady of Shallot, there is a certain similarity between the Kingdom by the Sea, to Shallot's tower, and in a way they are maidens who are both cursed for their love, and kept hidden away from the rest of the world, remaining inaccessible.

[caddy_caddy]

Among many poets he is the one who touches me the most;I have problem in memorizing poetry but I memorized "The Raven "and performed it . There is something ethereal in the way he addresses his beloved; his words are so pure and translucent like a morning dew.
Reading poetry is a pleasure and his poetry offers you this pleasure .It is highly musical and fluent. You are taken by his words, the atmosphere of each poem and its tone. I really love him.
Thx a lot for offering me this pleasure.
I think there is a dramatic irony in this poem because the kingdom of love he speaks of in the first lines turns out to be a tomb and a sepulchre by the end for him. As he is saying " my darling , my life, my bride " and my death , too.
Maybe death for him is the other face of love or maybe as u said death and love go hand with hand in his poetry as in his life.