coldmocha.com

I remember back in school during GCSE (the age of 15ish) when I was writing about this guy and how I got hooked on his short stories and poetry. For anyone who does not know him, he used to write in the early 19th century and is accepted by many to be the progenitor of the detective-horror genre; progenitor being the originator or ‘forefather’ figure.

A lot of his work is macabre and focuses on the fear caused by things you cannot see. It is his build up to the climax that is extraordinary; the way he just keeps you waiting and building up the suspense until you inevitably find nothing. Well, that’s what usually happens.

His best poem in my opinion is ‘The Raven’; a tale of a man, mourning his dead lover alone in his house one evening when he hears a knock upon his door:

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
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."

You can see from the opening stanza that the rhythm of the poem is in itself cleverly constructed and flows beautifully so as to force you to read it at a fixed tempo, especially as you are continually pausing for the many commas. There’s also the fixed rhyming structure at the end of each line that enhances the actual sound of the poem, which is why it is better when read out aloud. Yes, this is like an English essay, but if it can feature on The Simpsons, it can’t be that bad.

Thinking about it now, this may very well be my most favourite poem ever. And I have very few ‘favourite’ things.

For those too lazy to read it, sit back and listen to the rendition of it from those yellow, three-fingered animations.