When I was a little kid, my mother used to read me Poe before bedtime. I only ever had nightmares after she read me "The Tell-tale Heart." As an adult, I decided to look back and re-read those stories from my childhood, and I fell in love with Poe all over again. I also realized how NOT child friendly his stories are...I wonder what possessed my mom to read them as bedtime stories. Anyway, here is the like to the Poe museum, which has a biography, selected works and so-on. One of my favorite poems by Edgar Allan Poe is "Sonnet: To Science," which isn't on the Poe Museum website so here is the link to that poem.
I look forward to reading what everybody else has listed as their faves. Enjoy the day off!
<3 always,
Heather
I love that you included Poe, because I too enjoy Poe. I love that your mom read him to you when you were younger, although I do agree that they aren't child friendly choices and I'm sure your mom has an interesting reason to her methods. I first read Poe in my freshman year of high school and it was an instant love. My mom went out and bought me the biggest book she could find on Poe including all his work. Reading this post makes me want to go home and read all his work again, so thank you!
ReplyDelete-AR
Poe was an incredible writer. I fear that many talented people go unnoticed or are misunderstood for so long that they end up in the poorest of conditions. Oh boy. That sounds depressing. Anyway, I love Poe's work. The Raven is one of my favorites. The Tell-Tale Heart is a bit intense as are some of his other work, I do admit. But I believe it was great to be exposed to such great writing at such a young age. :)
ReplyDeleteI must be one of the few that sees no problem in reading Poe to small children, haha. It's the stuff I was raised on, horror and all that. I really love the intensity of his writing, how it always feels like he's managed to dig inside of his own personal madness and splash it onto the page like Hemingway did with his brains to his wall(morbid, I know).
ReplyDeleteYou should check out H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard if you're into this stuff. Lovecraft is generally considered the writer who bridged the gap between Poe and modern horror. And Robert E. Howard was a friend of Lovecraft's and an equally great writer.
Lovecraft to read: The Dunwich Horror or The Colour Out of Space
Howard to read: Pigeons From Hell. Goofy title, but I read this with all but one light off and it scared the crap outta me.
A mother who read Poe at bedtime. You should bring her to class!
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, thanks for the post....
Poe is awesome. I remember being so enthralled by his stories when we had to do a unit on him in 7th grade. I think it was because it was my first experience dealing with a writer who had such a well developed sense of atmosphere. For example, I couldn't REALLY tell you what The Masque of the Red Death was about now, but I remember sounds of the words, how their careful, plodding pace rolled off the tongue and created these vivid images that creeped the shit out of me.
ReplyDeleteI love Poe and always like to re-read his stuff as much as I can. His writing is dark and disturbed and so not ordinary which suits me very well. I'm happy you like him too!
ReplyDeleteI remember being introduced to poe in the 7th grade and I loved his stories because they kept me wanting to know more about him and his writing. I really enjoy his darkside and how all of the things that he went through in his life had some sort of an influence on his writing. I really appreciate the love that people have for Poe.
ReplyDeleteWow! I can't believe your mother read Poe to you before bed! I haven't read much of his work, but I loved The Tell-Tale Heart. That is one of my favorite stories! I'm just sad I was never introduced to him until college.
ReplyDeleteHis poems aren't child "friendly" per say but they would definitely be useful in teaching kids a lesson or two. lol. I have a love/like relationship with Poe's work but, I think it wavers depending on which one I am reading. I really enjoy reading your posts and I look forward to reading more. :)
ReplyDelete