I love his poem “The Bells.” My mother said she never could make any sense of it until I read it to her aloud. Then she heard them ringing. I was 12: “Hear the sledges with the bells Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells! How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, In the icy air of night! While the stars that oversprinkle All the heavens, seem to twinkle With a crystalline delight; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells From the bells, bells, bells, bells, Bells, bells, bells From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. II Hear the mellow wedding bells, Golden bells! What a world of happiness their harmony foretells! Through the balmy air of night How they ring out their delight! From the molten-golden notes, And all in tune, What a liquid ditty floats To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats On the moon! Oh, from out the sounding cells, What a gush of euphony voluminously wells! How it swells! How it dwells On the Future! how it tells Of the rapture that impels To the swinging and the ringing Of the bells, bells, bells, Of the bells, bells, bells,bells, Bells, bells, bells To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells! III Hear the loud alarum bells Brazen bells! What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells! In the startled ear of night How they scream out their affright! Too much horrified to speak, They can only shriek, shriek, Out of tune, In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire, In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire, Leaping higher, higher, higher, With a desperate desire, And a resolute endeavor, Now - now to sit or never, By the side of the pale-faced moon. Oh, the bells, bells, bells! What a tale their terror tells Of Despair! How they clang, and clash, and roar! What a horror they outpour On the bosom of the palpitating air! Yet the ear it fully knows, By the twanging, And the clanging, How the danger ebbs and flows: Yet the ear distinctly tells, In the jangling, And the wrangling, How the danger sinks and swells, By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells Of the bells Of the bells, bells, bells,bells, Bells, bells, bells In the clamor and the clangor of the bells! IV Hear the tolling of the bells Iron Bells! What a world of solemn thought their monody compels! In the silence of the night, How we shiver with affright At the melancholy menace of their tone! For every sound that floats From the rust within their throats Is a groan. And the people - ah, the people They that dwell up in the steeple, All Alone And who, tolling, tolling, tolling, In that muffled monotone, Feel a glory in so rolling On the human heart a stone They are neither man nor woman They are neither brute nor human They are Ghouls: And their king it is who tolls; And he rolls, rolls, rolls, Rolls A paean from the bells! And his merry bosom swells With the paean of the bells! And he dances, and he yells; Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the paean of the bells Of the bells: Keeping time, time, time, In a sort of Runic rhyme, To the throbbing of the bells Of the bells, bells, bells To the sobbing of the bells; Keeping time, time, time, As he knells, knells, knells, In a happy Runic rhyme, To the rolling of the bells Of the bells, bells, bells: To the tolling of the bells, Of the bells, bells, bells, bells Bells, bells, bells To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.”

Dona, keeping you in my thoughts and admiring your example to your family of how to honor and remember your dearest love. You are so gracious to reach out and allow you family to share your emotions rather than to close yourself off in grief. Nou are one special lady, Dona. Peace and grace

Though I like the raven the repetition and rhythm drives me a bit crazy. The Tell-Tale Heart is frightening! I really loved it!

That Poe boy’s writing reads like a bad Hallmark card, dahlings. You want to hear great writing delivered by a talented actor? Rent “Mildred Pierce.”

I liked Vincent Price in the movie version of “The Pit and the Pendulum”.

Edgar Alan Poe was a tormented genius. How could I ever pick a single favorite piece of his? From the wow list I’d have to pick The Raven but he’s completed so many hauntingly beautiful pieces such as Alone, A Dream Within a Dream and Anabelle Lee (so many more). I’m really not a “favorites” type of person but the most memorable and gripping for me is the poem Alone. As an aside it is said that Poe’s Raven was inspired by a character (Grip) in Charles Dickens’ novel Barnaby Rudge and that Dickens based this character on his own talking pet raven named Grip. Dickens loved this pet and had him preserved upon his death. If you find yourself in Philadelphia you can visit Dickens’ and Poe’s Grip in the rare books section of the main branch of the Philadelphia Free Library.

My mom won’t let me read Mr. Poe very much because she “doesn’t need a kid with those bad dreams,” but she wants me to memrize “The Bells.” I love “The Bells.”

Poe… Lovecraft… King. For a girl who was a chicken for horror movies, I simply loved horror stories. As for Poe, the devilish Cask of Amontillado gave me chills. The thought of being buried alive is the worst of all human fears. Fortunato was not fortunate.

I love “The Masque of the Red Death” and “The Tell Tale Heart.” Poe was a master in the art of suspense. Love his work!

“The Fall of the House of Usher”