I was 7 or 8 when I first heard The Raven by Poe. Although I don't remember my exact age I do remember where I was when I heard it for the first time. My dad and I were huddled around the book with him reading the poem out with just the right mix of doom and excitement. I didn't understand all the parts of the poem but I knew that I loved it. Instantly. From the grim "Nevermore" to the "rapping at my chamber door". It was and still is a magical poem for me. I can actually remember the exact place I was in whenever I read any of his works for the first time (something that I can't say for any other author). They just cut deep into my psyche in ways that other stories don't.
Edgar Allan Poe and I have an odd relationship. I am thrilled by his work and terrified by his work. I read "The Fall of the House of Usher" when I was 12 or so and slept with the lights on that night. Now I am a coward when it comes to horror films. I like to say that I have too good an imagination for them. And I don't read a lot of horror, but I keep going back to Poe. "The Pit and the Pendulum" has inspired more horror and torture films than any other work. I noticed that the new Saw film pays homage. And although I won't see that movie, I will still read the story over and over and shiver.
Even before I knew his terrible past (parents dead when he was two, estrangement from his foster parents, homelessness, alcholism, and a pennyless death followed by posthumous fame) I knew that his work was dark and tortured and thrilling. I had an English teacher who spent an entire class reading "The Bells" in a way that none of us could forget. She made us (lazy high school students) pay attention with those words. We scoffed at Wordsworth and Longfellow and even Hawthorne, but we sat rapt in our seats for Poe. It had just the right mix of darkness and violence to catch our attention.
Monday was not just MLK day but the 200th birthday of Poe. I celebrated by reading "The Cask of Amontillado" (one of my favorites) and watching the incredibly creepy animated version of "The Tell-tale Heart" from UPA pictures. So in honor of his terrible life and his torturedly beautiful works, find a dark corner, light a candle, and read some Poe.
2 comments:
I will never forget reading "The Cask of Amontillado" and recoiling with absolute horror at the realization of what was going on. The long, slow torture that was being initiated.
So horrible, and so fascinating. Poe was amazing.
I was in middle school when I first read that and I was the same as you. It took me a moment to realize exactly what was happening. Then I was horror-stricken. The story has stuck with me as one of the creepiest tales I have read. Poe has a way of getting under my skin.
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