Analysing "Weapons Training"

Watch this short excerpt from an interview with Bruce Dawe and answer the following questions.

http://dl.screenaustralia.gov.au/module/1194/

The poem highlights the regimentation and humiliation dished out during defence training.

1. Who is ‘I’? Is the reader supposed to sympathise with him, do you think
2. What’s happening here? What is the context?
3. Why is the language clipped, the tone condescending?
4. What is the purpose of omitting most of the punctuation, including fullstops and capital letters?
5. What concepts do you consider demeaning to the soldiers and is the speaker’s choice of language acceptable in either the armed forces or in civilian life? Why has Dawe written in this way?
6. The speaker in the poem refers to ‘a mob of the little yellows’ and the ‘Charlies’ with their ‘rotten fish-sauce breath’. To whom is he referring and why has Dawe chosen language that most people would consider racist and offensive?
7. Does the opening line set the tone for the poem? How effective are onomatopoeic words ‘click’ and ‘pitter-patter’?
8. What is the point of the last line and the repetition of ‘dead’?
9. Dawe has chosen to use a regular rhyme scheme for this poem – abba – and finishing with a rhyming couplet. What is the effect of this?
10. What is the point of this poem? Would you consider this an anti-war poem? Explain.

Weapons Training by Bruce Dawe

And when I say eyes right I want to hear
those eyeballs click and the gentle pitter-patter
of falling dandruff you there what's the matter
why are you looking at me are you a queer?
look to your front if you had one more brain
it'd be lonely what are you laughing at
you in the back row with the unsightly fat
between your elephant ears open that drain
you call a mind and listen remember first
the cockpit drill when you go down be sure
the old crown-jewels are safely tucked away what could be more
distressing than to hold off with a burst
from your trusty weapon a mob of the little yellows
only to find back home because of your position
your chances of turning the key in the ignition
considerably reduced? allright now suppose
for the sake of argument you've got
a number-one blockage and a brand-new pack
of Charlies are coming at you you can smell their rotten
fish-sauce breath hot on the back
of your stupid neck allright now what
are you going to do about it? that's right grab and check
the magazine man it's not a woman's tit
worse luck or you'd be set too late you nit
they're on you and your tripes are round your neck
you've copped the bloody lot just like I said
and you know what you are? You're dead, dead, dead

Notes per line

• The poem starts in the middle of a sentence, giving the impression that we might have fallen asleep like one of the young recruits being shouted at. It serves to catch our attention.
• Note the use of spaces and pauses: these indicate a dramatic monologue, because they are natural spaces to take breath. Dramatic monologues give insight into the speaker, their situation, and the people around the speaker and their reactions.
• pitter-patter is generally a gentle sound, but in this context it is made to sound harsh.
• are you a queer? - this question reflects the tone of the whole poem: to be called a "queer" is obviously insulting to these men. Also is the start of a whole string of insults littered through the monologue, delivered in a blunt, confronting tone. The question mark is also the first use of punctuation, as the speaker pauses for impact - and breath.
• Eventually we get to the heart of the matter - the instructions the sergeant is giving: "Cockpit drill" where soldiers drop to the ground and return fire, and the weapon checks.
• The poem is full of crude sexual references: "Cockpit drill" and "crown jewels", for example.
• mob of the little yellows - the sergeant dehumanises the enemy by making a racist comment, thus making it easier for the soldiers to kill them (if they're not really people, it doesn't matter if they die).
• turning the key in the ignition, apart from being an obvious reference to sex, serves to give the soldiers hope by reminding them of coming back home.
• The sergeant has drifed slightly, with alright now he gets back on track, and throws a problem at the soldiers, to make them feel uncomfortable. They are conscript soldiers and unusued to the strict discipline of the Army; the sergeant must show his authority to impress into them the necessity of listening to him: it's the only hope they've got of staying alive.
• He drops back into dramatic monologue, using "you" all the way because in the end it will be up to the individual soldiers to determine what happens to them.
• a number-one blockage refers to a certain technical problem. The sargeant is teaching his soldiers to learn by terrorising them.
• Charlies is a racist name given to the Viet Cong. At every opportunity he degrades the enemy: rotten fish-sauce breath; they are ugly, etc.
• it's not a woman's tit - back to sex references, reinforced with worse luck - because in this case, it's bad luck it's not a woman!
• tripes is slang for "guts" (which I guess is slang for "stomach and intestines"!) Here Dawe shows how bloody war is - this is a vivid image that brings to mind images of battle.
• Like I said ... you're dead dead dead : the message of this poem; leaves us with a sense of foreboding, that most people in this group will end up "dead dead dead".

General Notes

• Dawe shows the realities of war: alive one moment, dead the next.
  too late ... your tripes are round your neck ...
  you know what you are? You're dead dead dead.
  Here we see the explicit crudity of the sargeant, and the reptition of "dead" emphasises the message the officer wants to drill into his soldiers. They are taught to hate, fear, and listen to authority, so they won't just go out and die needlessly. The officer does this by asserting his authority and convincing them that war is real, not a game: they are sent out not only with a weapon, but as a weapon.
• The soldiers need to be numbed of all emotion when on the field. Crude, racist jargon is used so they will view the enemy as subhuman and feel no emotion for them.
• The officer is not malicious: he is doing his job, and he will do anything he has to to keep the boys alive.
• There is no clear structure and the rhyme scheme is unobtrusive, which emphasises the monologue form of the poem: despite the rhymes, the poem still sounds like human speech.
• The repetition of "T" and "I" sounds in words like "click" and "pitter-patter" are onomatopoeic and sound like weaponry. The soldiers are being turned into weapons themselves (so that their gun is merely an extension of themselves).
• This poem is not ironic; the use of voice is almost a parody of a sargeant, but the edge to the tone gives away his fear that these soldiers will just go and die.

Questions

• What initial impression do we get of the instructor?
• What is our attitude to him and what he represents?
• How do we know it is the voice of somebody who has power or control in this situation?
• Why does the instructor raise the issue of protecting the genetalia?
• Why does he speak about the enemy in the way he does?
• What do you think the instructor hopes to achieve?
• Is your attitude towards the instructor changed by the end of the poem?

http://lardcave.net/hsc/english.2ug.dawe.weaponstraining.html

Analysis of Dulce Et Decorum Est

Here are some links to pages that offer an analysis of Wilfred Owen's poem. Just click on the link and have a look. By the way, the picture on this post is a handwritten draft of the poem from The British Library.

http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/englit/owen/index.html

http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/sept97/mika.htm

http://www.articlemyriad.com/dolce_decorum_owen.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c49tRplMh-Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBOOLskOt48

Dulce Et Decorum Est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime. . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.

8 October 1917 - March, 1918

Dulce Et Decorum Est - the first words of a Latin saying (taken from an ode by Horace). The words were widely understood and often quoted at the start of the First World War. They mean "It is sweet and right." The full saying ends the poem: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - it is sweet and right to die for your country. In other words, it is a wonderful and great honour to fight and die for your country.

An Excerpt From a Letter Owen Wrote To His Mother;

"I can see no excuse for deceiving you about these last four days. I have suffered seventh hell. – I have not been at the front. – I have been in front of it. – I held an advanced post, that is, a "dug-out" in the middle of No Man's Land.We had a march of three miles over shelled road, then nearly three along a flooded trench. After that we came to where the trenches had been blown flat out and had to go over the top. It was of course dark, too dark, and the ground was not mud, not sloppy mud, but an octopus of sucking clay, three, four, and five feet deep, relieved only by craters full of water . . .All a poet can do today is warn. That is why the true poet must be truthful."

How to Analyse a Poem

I found this on a site called "Poem of Quotes" (http://www.poemofquotes.com) and it looks like a pretty good way to begin analysing a poem.

Poetry can be a tiresome set of words when analyzing. The elements of analyzing poetry listed below will help you identify the meaning through its parts and give a sense of interpreting a poem. Since each poem is unique, there is no one way of going about this. Nonetheless, the general advice goes like this:

Interpreting poetry tips

1. Read the title
2. Read the poem. Look for the setting, topic and voice.
3. Divide the poem into parts: intro, rising action, climax, declining action, conclusion.
4. What tone does the poem have? Pay close attention to intonation, nuance and words used.

Now that the general structure and relationship of the poem is revealed, it's time to look at the elements of analysis: genre, voice, thesis, structure, setting, imagery, key statements, sound, language use, allusion, qualities that evoke the reader, historical/cultural, ideology.

Genre

What type of poem is it? Is it a cinquain, haiku, lyric, narrative, elegy, sonnet, epic, epistle? Different genres have separate attributes, purposes and emphases.

Voice

Who is the speaker? What point of view is the speaker? Is the speaker involved in the action or reflection of the poem? What perspective (social, intellectual, political) does the speaker show? The voice and perspective of the speaker tells of what world the poem is in.

Thesis

What is the poem about? What are the obvious and less obvious conflicts? What are the key statements and relationships of the poem? The thesis gives an indication of what tone the poem is written in: historical, social, emotional.

Structure

What is the poems 'formal structure' (number of meters, stanzas, rhyme scheme)? What is the 'thematic structure' (the plot)?

Setting

What type of 'world' is the poem set in? The time, place -- is it concrete, tonal, connotative, symbolic, allegorical?

Imagery

What images does the poem use; the physical setting or metaphors used?

Key Statements

What direct or indirect statements are made – repetition, actions, alliteration?

Sound

How does the sound, both rhythm and rhyme (if applicable), contribute to the poem.

Language Use

What kind of words are used? Do the words have double meanings? What about connotations, puns or ambiguities?

Allusion

Does the poem have a meaning from another work?

Qualities That Evoke the Reader

What sort of learning or experience does the poem give its reader?

Ideology

What are the values and basic ideals of the world that are expressed?

Poetic Techniques

The style of writing poetry differs from person to person; long or short meters, three or four lines to a stanza. But the great thing is, no matter how a poem is written it still holds great emotion. Some techniques used in poetry are onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance, rhyming, simile and metaphor.

Onomatopoeia is one of the easiest to learn and use (but not spell). The definition of onomatopoeia is a word imitating a sound. For example; 'buzz', 'moo' and 'beep'. This can be used in a variety of ways giving the reader a 'hands on' feel.

One technique that you might be familiar with is alliteration. This procedure is used by starting three or more words with the same sound. An example of this would be 'The crazy crackling crops.' The three words don't have to have the exact same beginning to have this effect.

The next style is assonance. It is defined as a repetition of vowel sounds within syllables with changing consonants. This is also used in many different circumstances. One would be 'tilting at windmills.' Notice the vowels within each syllable sound the same.

Rhyming is probably the most well-known technique used. However unlike popular belief, it does not need to be within a poem to make it a poem. It is what it is.. a technique.

As for similes, they are often used within poetry. They are an expression that compares one thing to another. A paradigm of this would be 'The milk tasted like pickles.' This method is used in all forms of poetry and generally has the words 'like' or 'as.'

The last but not least style is metaphor. A metaphor is a word or phrase used one way to mean another. Metaphors are sometimes hard to spot and take some thinking to figure out, but they give writers more power to express their thoughts about a certain situation. One famous case where a metaphor is used is within 'The Raven' by Edgar Allen Poe. In fact, not only is it found within the story, the story itself is a metaphor of memory and the constant reminder of the narrator's loss.

These techniques are seen throughout history within both famous and amateur poems alike. To have a full grasp of poetry onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance, rhyming, simile and metaphor should be household words.

Poetry also employs rhythm as a technique. Listed below are some common rythms found in poetry.

• iamb — one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable
• trochee — one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable
• dactyl — one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables
• anapest — two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable
• spondee — two stressed syllables together
• pyrrhic - two unstressed syllables together (rare, usually used to end dactylic hexameter)

The number of metrical feet in a line are described in Greek terminology as follows:

• dimeter — two feet
• trimeter — three feet
• tetrameter — four feet
• pentameter — five feet
• hexameter — six feet
• heptameter — seven feet
• octameter — eight feet

Poetic Forms

Here is a list of different types of poetry. Some types, such as "Blank Verse", "Free Verse" and "Concrete" are missing. To find out more about each form go to: http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/197

Abecedarian
"Abecedarian poems are now most commonly used as mnemonic devices and word games for children, such as those written by Dr. Seuss and Edward Gorey."

Anaphora
"As one of the world’s oldest poetic techniques, anaphora is used in much of the world’s religious and devotional poetry, including numerous Biblical Psalms."

Ballad
"Their subject matter dealt with religious themes, love, tragedy, domestic crimes, and sometimes even political propaganda."

Ballade
"One of the principal forms of music and poetry in fourteenth- and fifteenth-century France."

Blues Poem
"A blues poem typically takes on themes such as struggle, despair, and sex."

The Bop
"Not unlike the Shakespearean sonnet in trajectory, the Bop is a form of poetic argument consisting of three stanzas."

Cento
"From the Latin word for 'patchwork,' the cento is a poetic form made up of lines from poems by other poets.

Chance Operations
"A chance operation can be almost anything from throwing darts and rolling dice, to the ancient Chinese divination method, I-Ching, and even sophisticated computer programs."

Cinquain
"Examples of cinquains can be found in many European languages, and the origin of the form dates back to medieval French poetry."

Dramatic Monologue
"The poet speaks through an assumed voice—a character, a fictional identity, or a persona."

Ekphrasis
"Modern ekphrastic poems have generally shrugged off antiquity's obsession with elaborate description, and instead have tried to interpret, inhabit, confront, and speak to their subjects."

Elegy
"The traditional elegy mirrors three stages of loss. First, there is a lament, then praise for the idealized dead, and finally consolation and solace."

Epic
"Elements that typically distinguish epics include superhuman deeds, fabulous adventures, highly stylized language, and a blending of lyrical and dramatic traditions."

Epigram
"Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker."

Found Poem
"The literary equivalent of a collage, found poetry is often made from newspaper articles, street signs, graffiti, speeches, letters, or even other poems."

Ghazal
"Traditionally invoking melancholy, love, longing, and metaphysical questions, ghazals are often sung by Iranian, Indian, and Pakistani musicians."

Haiku
"Often focusing on images from nature, haiku emphasizes simplicity, intensity, and directness of expression."

Limerick
"A popular form in children’s verse, the limerick is often comical, nonsensical, and sometimes even lewd."

Ode
"Originally accompanied by music and dance, and later reserved by the Romantic poets to convey their strongest sentiments."

OULIPO
"Although poetry and mathematics often seem to be incompatible areas of study, OULIPO seeks to connect them."

Pantoum
"The pantoum originated in Malaysia in the fifteenth-century as a short folk poem, typically made up of two rhyming couplets that were recited or sung."

Prose Poem
"Just as black humor straddles the fine line between comedy and tragedy, so the prose poem plants one foot in prose, the other in poetry, both heels resting precariously on banana peels."

Renga
"Renga began over seven hundred years ago in Japan to encourage the collaborative composition of poems."

Rondeau
"The rondeau began as a lyric form in thirteenth-century France, popular among medieval court poets and musicians."

Sapphic
"The sapphic dates back to ancient Greece and is named for the poet Sappho, who left behind many poem fragments written in an unmistakable meter."

Sestina
"The thirty-nine-line form is attributed to Arnaut Daniel, the Provencal troubadour of the twelfth century."

Sonnet
"From the Italian sonetto, which means 'a little sound or song,' the sonnet is a popular classical form that has compelled poets for centuries."

Tanka
"One of the oldest Japanese forms, tanka originated in the seventh century, and quickly became the preferred verse form in the Japanese Imperial Court."

Terza Rima
"Invented by the Italian poet Dante Alighiere in the late thirteenth century to structure his three-part epic poem, The Divine Comedy."

Triolet
"The earliest triolets were devotionals written by Patrick Carey, a seventeenth-century Benedictine monk."

Villanelle
"Strange as it may seem for a poem with such a rigid rhyme scheme, the villanelle did not start off as a fixed form."

Symbolism in The Raven

Here is an analysis of some of the symbolism in "The Raven" written by Christoffer Hallqvist and found at The Poe Decoder site (www.poedecoder.com)

In this poem, one of the most famous American poems ever, Poe uses several symbols to take the poem to a higher level. The most obvious symbol is, of course, the raven itself. When Poe had decided to use a refrain that repeated the word "nevermore," he found that it would be most effective if he used a non-reasoning creature to utter the word. It would make little sense to use a human, since the human could reason to answer the questions.

In "The Raven" it is important that the answers to the questions are already known, to illustrate the self-torture to which the narrator exposes himself. This way of interpreting signs that do not bear a real meaning, is "one of the most profound impulses of human nature".

Poe also considered a parrot as the bird instead of the raven; however, because of the melancholy tone, and the symbolism of ravens as birds of ill-omen, he found the raven more suitable for the mood in the poem. Quoth the Parrot, "Nevermore?"

Another obvious symbol is the bust of Pallas. Why did the raven decide to perch on the goddess of wisdom? One reason could be, because it would lead the narrator to believe that the raven spoke from wisdom, and was not just repeating its only "stock and store," and to signify the scholarship of the narrator. Another reason for using "Pallas" in the poem was, according to Poe himself, simply because of the "sonorousness of the word, Pallas, itself".

A less obvious symbol, might be the use of "midnight" in the first verse, and "December" in the second verse. Both midnight and December, symbolize an end of something, and also the anticipation of something new, a change, to happen. The midnight in December, might very well be New Year’s eve, a date most of us connect with change. Kenneth Silverman connected the use of December with the death of Edgar’s mother (Silverman, 1992:241), who died in that month; whether this is true or not is, however, not significant to its meaning in the poem.

The chamber in which the narrator is positioned, is used to signify the loneliness of the man, and the sorrow he feels for the loss of Lenore. The room is richly furnished, and reminds the narrator of his lost love, which helps to create an effect of beauty in the poem. The tempest outside, is used to even more signify the isolation of this man, to show a sharp contrast between the calmness in the chamber and the tempestuous night.

The phrase "from out my heart," Poe claims, is used, in combination with the answer "Nevermore," to let the narrator realize that he should not try to seek a moral in what has been previously narrated.

Poe had an extensive vocabulary, which is obvious to the readers of both his poetry as well as his fiction. Sometimes this meant introducing words that were not commonly used. In "The Raven," the use of ancient and poetic language seems appropriate, since the poem is about a man spending most of his time with books of "forgotten lore."

"Seraphim," in the fourteenth verse, "perfumed by an unseen censer / Swung by seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled..." is used to illustrate the swift, invisible way a scent spreads in a room. A seraphim is one of the six-winged angels standing in the presence of God.

"Nepenthe," from the same verse, is a potion, used by ancients to induce forgetfullnes of pain or sorrow.

"Balm in Gilead," from the following verse, is a soothing ointment made in Gilead, a mountainous region of Palestine east of the Jordan river.

"Aidenn," from the sixteenth verse, is an Arabic word for Eden or paradise.

"Plutonian," characteristic of Pluto, the god of the underworld in Roman mythology.

The Raven (1845)

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."

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 name Lenore—
Nameless here for evermore.

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."

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you"—here I opened wide the door;—
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore!"
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!"—
Merely this, and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
"Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore—
Let my heart be still a moment, and this mystery explore;—
'Tis the wind and nothing more."

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door—
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door—
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore—
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning—little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blest with seeing bird above his chamber door—
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as "Nevermore."

But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered; not a feather then he fluttered—
Till I scarcely more than muttered, "Other friends have flown before—
On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before."
Then the bird said, "Nevermore."

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore—
Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore
Of 'Never—nevermore.'"

But the Raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore—
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking "Nevermore."

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then methought the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
"Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee-by these angels he hath sent thee
Respite—respite and nepenthe, from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!—
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted—
On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I implore—
Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil—prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us—by that God we both adore—
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the Angels name Lenore—
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Be that word our sign in parting, bird or fiend," I shrieked, upstarting—
"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted—nevermore!

Vincent by Tim Burton

Here's an interesting short film made by Tim Burton. It has a similar idea to "The Raven" by Poe and quotes from it toward the end.



Vincent Malloy is seven years old
He’s always polite and does what he’s told
For a boy his age, he’s considerate and nice
But he wants to be just like Vincent Price

He doesn’t mind living with his sister, dog and cats
Though he’d rather share a home with spiders and bats
There he could reflect on the horrors he’s invented
And wander dark hallways, alone and tormented

Vincent is nice when his aunt comes to see him
But imagines dipping her in wax for his wax museum

He likes to experiment on his dog Abercrombie
In the hopes of creating a horrible zombie
So he and his horrible zombie dog
Could go searching for victims in the London fog

His thoughts, though, aren’t only of ghoulish crimes
He likes to paint and read to pass some of the times
While other kids read books like Go, Jane, Go!
Vincent’s favourite author is Edgar Allen Poe

One night, while reading a gruesome tale
He read a passage that made him turn pale

Such horrible news he could not survive
For his beautiful wife had been buried alive!
He dug out her grave to make sure she was dead
Unaware that her grave was his mother’s flower bed

His mother sent Vincent off to his room
He knew he’d been banished to the tower of doom
Where he was sentenced to spend the rest of his life
Alone with the portrait of his beautiful wife

While alone and insane encased in his tomb
Vincent’s mother burst suddenly into the room
She said: “If you want to, you can go out and play
It’s sunny outside, and a beautiful day”

Vincent tried to talk, but he just couldn’t speak
The years of isolation had made him quite weak
So he took out some paper and scrawled with a pen:
“I am possessed by this house, and can never leave it again”
His mother said: “You’re not possessed, and you’re not almost dead
These games that you play are all in your head
You’re not Vincent Price, you’re Vincent Malloy
You’re not tormented or insane, you’re just a young boy
You’re seven years old and you are my son
I want you to get outside and have some real fun.

”Her anger now spent, she walked out through the hall
And while Vincent backed slowly against the wall
The room started to swell, to shiver and creak
His horrid insanity had reached its peak

He saw Abercrombie, his zombie slave
And heard his wife call from beyond the grave
She spoke from her coffin and made ghoulish demands
While, through cracking walls, reached skeleton hands

Every horror in his life that had crept through his dreams
Swept his mad laughter to terrified screams!
To escape the madness, he reached for the door
But fell limp and lifeless down on the floor

His voice was soft and very slow
As he quoted The Raven from Edgar Allen Poe:

“and my soul from out that shadow
that lies floating on the floor
shall be lifted?
Nevermore…”

Edgar Allan Poe

The following biography of Edar Allan Poe can be found at the Poe Museum site www.poemuseum.org

Poe's Life
by James Southall Wilson

Edgar Allan Poe was born January 19, 1809 in Boston, where his mother had been employed as an actress. Elizabeth Arnold Poe died in Richmond on December 8, 1811, and Edgar was taken into the family of John Allan, a member of the firm of Ellis and Allan, tobacco-merchants.

After attending schools in England and Richmond, young Poe registered at the University of Virginia on February 14, 1826, the second session of the University. He lived in Room 13, West Range. He became an active member of the Jefferson Literary Society, and passed his courses with good grades at the end of the session in December. Mr. Allan failed to give him enough money for necessary expenses, and Poe made debts of which his so-called father did not approve. When Mr. Allan refused to let him return to the University, a quarrel ensued, and Poe was driven from the Allan home without money. Mr. Allan probably sent him a little money later, and Poe went to Boston. There he published a little volume of poetry, Tamerlane and Other Poems. It is such a rare book now that a single copy has sold for $200,000.00

In Boston on May 26, 1827, Poe enlisted in The United States Army as a private using the name Edgar A. Perry. After two years of service, during which he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant-major, he secured, with Mr. Allan's aid, a discharge from the Army and went to Baltimore. He lived there with his aunt, Mrs. Maria Poe Clemm, on the small amounts of money sent by Mr. Allan until he received an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Meanwhile, Poe published a second book of poetry in 1829: Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems. After another quarrel with Allan (who had married a second wife in 1830), Poe no longer received aid from his foster father. Poe then took the only method of release from the Academy, and got himself dismissed on March 6, 1831.

Soon after Poe left West Point, a third volume appeared: Poems by Edgar Allan Poe, Second Edition. While living in Baltimore with his aunt, Mrs. Clemm, young Poe began writing prose tales. Five of these appeared in the Philadelphia Saturday Courier in 1832.

With the December issue of 1835, Poe began editing the Southern Literary Messenger for Thomas W. White in Richmond; he held this position until January, 1837. During this time, Poe married his young cousin, Virginia Clemm in Richmond on May 16, 1836.

Poe's slashing reviews and sensational tales made him widely known as an author; however, he failed to find a publisher for a volume of burlesque tales, Tales of the Folio Club. Harpers did, however, print his book-length narrative, Arthur Gordon Pym in July of 1838.

Little is known about Poe's life after he left the Messenger; however, in 1838 he went to Philadelphia where he lived for six years. He was an editor of Burton's Gentleman's Magazine from July, 1839 to June, 1840, and of Graham's Magazine from April, 1841 to May, 1842. In April, 1844, with barely car fare for his family of three, [including his aunt, Virginia's mother, who lived with them], Poe went to New York where he found work on the New York Evening Mirror.

In 1840, Poe's Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque was published in two volumes in Philadelphia. In 1845, Poe became famous with the spectacular success of his poem "The Raven," and in March of that year, he joined C. F. Briggs in an effort to publish The Broadway Journal. Also in 1845,Wiley and Putnam issued Tales by Edgar A. Poe and The Raven and Other Poems.

The year 1846 was a tragic one. Poe rented the little cottage at Fordham, where he lived the last three years of his life. The Broadway Journal failed, and Virginia became very ill and died on January 30, 1847. After his wife's death, Poe perhaps yielded more often to a weakness for drink, which had beset him at intervals since early manhood. He was unable to take even a little alcohol without a change of personality, and any excess was accompanied by physical prostration. Throughout his life those illnesses had interferred with his success as an editor, and had given him a reputation for intemperateness that he scarcely deserved.

In his latter years, Poe was interested in several women. They included the poetess, Mrs. Sarah Helen Whitman, Mrs. Charles Richmond, and the widow, Mrs. Sarah Elmira Shelton, whom he had known in his boyhood as Miss Royster.

The circumstances of Poe's death remain a mystery. After a visit to Norfolk and Richmond for lectures, he was found in Baltimore in a pitiable condition and taken unconscious to a hospital where he died on Sunday, October 7, 1849. He was buried in the yard of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, Maryland.

In personal appearance, Poe was a quiet, shy-looking but handsome man; he was slightly built, and was five feet, eight inches in height. His mouth was considered beautiful. His eyes, with long dark lashes, were hazel-gray.