Edgar Allan Poe Journal

Tanya Barragan
Scott Lankford
English 48A

Edgar Allan Poe
10/14/11

AUTHOR QUOTE

“Regarding, then, Beauty as my province my next question referred to the tone of its highest manifest-and experienced has shown that this tone is one of sadness. Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears. Melancholy is thus the most legitimate of all the poetical tones.” (1620)

INTERNET QUOTE

“Anyone who has ever heard “The Raven” read aloud remembers it.  The internal rhymes, the classical allusions, the repetition of sounds and words, and the slow build from curiosity to horror all combine to make “The Raven” one of the best known poems of the nineteenth century, no small feat considering the quality of the verse that was written in the 1800s.  Beyond being an amazing poem, however, “The Raven” has the additional attraction of being the subject of an essay by the poet himself that explains the process he used to write it.  One doesn’t have to do a ton of research or a deep analysis to figure out what Poe was thinking as he wrote “The Raven” because he tells you in “The Philosophy of Composition.”
http://10000birds.com/edgar-allan-poes-the-raven.htm




SUMMARY

The Philosphy of Compostion, in words describes the meaing of writing poetry. Poe describes it through the words of tones, reality, truth, beauty, stanza, originality, and objective to state what makes  poetry stand out. He uses “The Raven as and example to show what he is talking about. Even though “The Raven” is seen as dark and is about death, he explains that it is how the poetry is seen beyond tand makes it goof poetry.

In The Philosophy of Composition, I thought that Poe made interesting examples and clarification on how to write good poetry. I think that it can help someone learn how to write poetry in a way that can make people/the readers enjoy and like it. I think that there were many good points that stood out and explained justification clearly to why poetry is good and bad. I know when he said that if poetry is too long that it is not as good as short poetry and I would have to agree because sometimes the longer the poetry; I get bored and just want it to be over. I liked Poe’s ideas on how he used “The Raven” as an example of how to write good poetry. But what was great about it is that he explains that “The Raven” is seen as dark because its about death and that no matter what kind of poetry is written; it can be beautiful. I think that's true because if poetry is great, dark or not dark; if it is written well, it can catch the readers to want to read it and love it, and that it's beautiful no matter what. However, I am a person who likes dark poetry as to sweet, nice, or loving poetry; I do like it, but dark and deep poetry stands out because there is some kind of mystery to it and that grabs me into the poetry. All in all, Poe does a fantastic job at making you see the truth in poetry and that it should come reality and that’s what I like.