Deep into Darkness Peering

Edgar Allan Poe is considered to be one of America’s most prominent poets. While his reputation precedes him, there is little that is actually known about the famous author. His life can only be accurately summed up by a few historical accounts and a series of letters written in his own hand. These, of course, do not even come close to describing the man behind the pen, as it were. One critic writes, “monomania can easily be developed over the motely tragedy of the personal life of Poe, so deeply buried under a shifting mass of conflicting rumours, echoes of rumours, and downright lies” (Bradsher 241). He was, socially, a private man, but he gave the world something more interesting and powerful that can be told in letters and biographies; he gave us himself. Every poem, short story, or piece of literature that his ink marked upon paper was a part of him. They are these things we must study in order to understand Poe. What’s more is that we must understand these things in order to see him. Poe even states that “the mind of a painter is expressed in his pictures” (Poetical 360). His entire repertoire is the key to the proverbial lock of his intent behind his own masterpiece. These are what have made Poe such a notorious figure in American culture. Experiences within Edgar Allan Poe’s life lead to his different perspectives on death. By analysing Annabel Lee, The Raven, The Masque of the Red Death, we can see that these perspectives include: hope; despair; and fear.

Annabel Lee is one of Poe’s more famous poems. It is about a young man (the narrator) that falls in love with a girl when they are both children. Their love was so strong that it made even the angels jealous, so Annabel Lee was stricken ill by the heavens and perished...

... middle of paper ...

...out the nature of yourself and man more interesting than giving us the answers. After all, where’s the fun in knowing?

Works Cited

Bradsher, Earl L. "The Poetic Works of Edgar Allan Poe." Review. The Sewanee Review Apr. 1918: 241-44. Print.

Campbell, Killis. "Contemporary Opinion of Poe." PMLA 36.2 (1921): 142-66. Print.

Campbell, Killis. "Selected Poems of Edgar Allan Poe." Review. American Literature Mar. 1929: 103-04. Print.

Law, Robert A. "A Source for Annabel Lee." Journal of English and German Philology 21.2 (1922): 341-46. Print.

Poe, Edgar Allan, and J. Montgomery Gambrill. Selections from Poe. Boston: Ginn &, 1907. Print.

Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Poetical Works by Edgar Allan Poe." The Crayon 5.12 (1858): 360. Print.

Werner, W. L. "Poe's Theories and Practice in Poetic Technique." American Literature 2.2 (1930): 157-65. Print.