Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)美国文学作家

Not accepted before French symbolists like Charles Pierre Baudelaire (1821-1867) and Mallarmé.
Edgar Allan Poe
Literary features of Poe Motifs of Poe’s poems and stories: Love Beauty (supernatual beauty) Death (often of a woman, a lover) Terror Neurotic diorder
Edgar Allan Poe
Emerson dismissed him in three words “the jingle man” (打油诗人)，Mark Twain declared his prose to be unreadable. And Whitman was the only famous literary figure present at the Poe Memorial Ceremony in 1875.
(1) Forgotten Lore
may be about the occult or black magic
(2) Bar;Eighty by Charles Dickens
at the end of the fifth chapter of Dickens's novel, Grip makes a noise and someone says, "What was that – him tapping at the door?" The response is, "'Tis someone knocking softly at the shutter." Dickens's raven could speak many words and had many comic turns, including the popping of a champagne cork, but Poe emphasized the bird's more dramatic qualities.
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Edgar Allan Poe
Poe’s literary contribution
Aestheticism
Principle of beauty Principle of unity and concentration Careful choice of diction for desired effect (the musical effect of words themselves) Negligence of so-called truth and social, political and moral suggestions “Pure poetry” or “pure art” Unity of effect and atmosphere; content in service of artistic effect
Edgar Allan Poe
Poe’s dream technique Disgusted with science and materialism Desire to break away from earthly bondage into a dream land for spiritual consolation
Edgar Allan Poe
Reading of The Raven
What is the tone of the poem? What is the effect of the words like “tapping”, “napping” and others ending with “-ing”? Who is the speaker thinking about? What kind of image is the raven? Does this bird image change through the poem at least in the mind of the speaker? Do you notice the repetition of the words “no more”, “never more”? What effect does they create? Do you notice any gothic elements in the poem? What are they?
Edgar Allan Poe
Poe’s literary position Forerunner of western decadent literature Forerunner of aestheticistic literature Explorer of abnormal psychology Father of psychoanalytic criticism Path-breaker of American detective novel Father of modern short story
Stanza 2
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December, And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore Nameless here for evermore.
The Raven (1845)
Left by Gustave Doré Right by John Tenniel
Stanza 1
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,1 While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. `'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door Only this, and nothing more.‘2
Edgar Allan Poe
Principles of short story writing
Short enough to finish at one sitting to aquire desired effect on the reader Attractive first sentence Abruptness of last sentence Concise; devoid of tedious statement
Edgar Allan Poe
Entering West Point in 1830 and breaking with John Allan finally in 1831 His elder brother died in 1831 and his idiot younger sister died soon His cousin wife Virginia died of breaking of her throat blood vessel in poverty in 1847 Poe died of cerebral haemorrhage after a heavy drink on Oct. 7, 1849
Edgar Allan Poe
Theories of literary criticism Literary works are self-containted Forerunner of New Criticism
List of Poe’s Works
Tales of the Grotesque and the Arabesque 《奇异怪诞故事集》 “MS. Found in a Bottle” 《瓶子里发现的手稿》 “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” 《毛格街杀人案》 “The Fall of the House of Usher” 《厄舍古屋的倒塌》 “The Masque of the Red Death” 《红色死亡的化妆舞会》 “The Cask of Amontillado” 《一桶酒的故事》 The Raven 《乌鸦》 Israfel 《伊斯拉菲尔》 Annabel Lee 《安娜贝尔•李》 To Helen 《致海伦》 The Poetic Principle 《诗歌原理》 The Philosophy of Composition 《创作哲学》
Stanza 3
And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating `'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; This it is, and nothing more,'
Edgar Allan Poe
Poe’s gothicism Decadent content Grotesque images Abnormal psyches Melancholy Supernatural elements Other gothic elements (deserted castle, old temple, dark and gloomy cellar; stone coffin; dead woman; hero of abnormal psyche)
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)
This daguerreotype of Poe was taken in 1848 when he was 39, a year before his death.
Edgar Allan Poe
Life of Poe
Born on Jan. 19m 1809 to unsuccessful touring actor parents (Elizebath who died in 1911 and David Poe who died in 1910). Adopted by his parents’ friends the Allans, but bad relations with John Allan Entering Virginia University in 1826 and turning into a drunkard, gambler and drug addict