Edgar Allan Poe

Today is the anniversary of the death in 1849 of Edgar Allan Poe, writer and poet. His complete works are available online. His works have inspired countless artists, including these:

an animated short film of The Tell-Tale Heart narrated by James Mason,

Rachmaninoff's The Bells (hear part of it),

several pieces by English composer Joseph Holbrooke (1878-1958),

a song based on Annabel Lee sung by Joan Baez,

the Alan Parsons Project album Tales of Mystery and Imagination (listen to the Tell-Tale Heart and The Raven),

Marilyn Manson's portrait of Poe,

Iron Maiden's Murders in the Rue Morgue (listen here),

and others. He has been cited as an influence on a great many fantasy and horror writers.

I have recently watched 2 different film adaptations of The Fall of the House of Usher. One is an American short film and the other is a French film a bit over an hour in length.

John Astin tours a one-man play as Poe. Here's a clip from that show:


Read The Raven here.

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 kinsmen 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 her sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

more Poe:

on 19/9/90 SFSignal posted links to youtube videos of 3 actors, including John Astin -we just love him, reading The Raven.