Edgar Allan Poe
 

I seem to like his poetry far better than his short story am I wrong?

I gotta disagree. His poems are great (Ode to Science and Bells are two of my favorites) but his short stories are some of the best examples of the english language in existence. He had one called Morella or something that was just awesome. King Pest and another one that had something to do with someone drowning in a Venice river at night are great too.

One would think it should be the other way round, but his stories are marked by a much prettier use of language.

Quoth the Raven; his short stories, as Hip said, are written with a fabulous mastery of the english language. The poems- while still good- are not as enjoyable.

Sorry to bump something so old but I'm in a Poe mood.

A genius, no less.

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.

The Tell-Tale Heart was, imho, Poe's best work. You felt as if you were in the room.

funny fact: as a teenager i devoured poe's stories, but i can't read them again-- but i keep coming back to the poetry.

Poe's genius is in his words, regardless of the structure in which they are placed, I say burn this thread and start a new 'Who Loves Edgar Allan Poe thread?"

nevermore.

the hi-lo is surreal. fer' reals