The Annotated Poe
October 27, 2003 6:54 PM   Subscribe

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary... Ok, but ever wonder what "quaff this kind nepenthe" means, or where "the night's plutonian shore" is? You'll be an expert on "The Raven" in minutes with this interactive annotation of Poe's classic Halloween poem. There are many interesting subjects on this site, which was linked previously in a thread about the mysterious toaster who leaves cognac at Poe's grave every year on the writer's birthday.
posted by planetkyoto (6 comments total)
 
nicely done site (and I grew up near Poe Cottage)
posted by amberglow at 8:07 PM on October 27, 2003


thread about the mysterious toaster

That totally popped out at me. It made me grin as I contemplated the idea of a mysterious toaster.

"And the bread was never burnt!..."
posted by kayjay at 8:33 PM on October 27, 2003


*quaffs nepenthe, belches*
posted by quonsar at 8:35 PM on October 27, 2003


amberglow, the Poe Cottage just looks way too wholesome to me; not at all the sort of decaying elegance I envision. And kayjay, I also had the same mindfart about the toaster:

Back into the chamber turning, my Eggo in the toaster burning,
soon again I heard a crackling, somewhat louder than before
"surely", said I, surely that is just my waffle,
and not the sound of something awful, something awful on my toaster floor...


ahem. Okay, what I really wanted to point out was this site with Gustave Dore illustrations of The Raven. (click on the little Poe heads to move forward.)
posted by taz at 11:12 AM on October 28, 2003


Poe wasn't nearly as spooky as his literary executor made him out to be. Griswold was furious about a review that Poe had written...and as soon as Poe was dead, he set about creating horrid, horrid smear campaign claiming all kinds of things...many of which have become "common knowledge"...such as the drug abuse, gothic surroundings and whatnot.

In my opinion, he's one of America's finest poets...and it's a shame that Griswold's smear campaign is still coloring how people view him.

/rant...er, sorry about that. I get all worked up about Poe. This was a great link...thanks. :)

Mystery Toaster struck me as funny as well. I envisioned an appliance in an opera mask and a black cape...but, I'm a loon.

Taz, you rock! I adore Dore. Thanks!
posted by dejah420 at 12:00 PM on October 28, 2003


amberglow, the Poe Cottage just looks way too wholesome to me; not at all the sort of decaying elegance I envision.

It was shabbier, and creepier, when i was little before they restored it, and if i remember correctly, you used to only be able to peek in the windows (it was empty then).
posted by amberglow at 12:15 PM on October 28, 2003


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