6. However, Poe was not merely recording fragments of opium dreams; the earliest prose work of the romantic period, now forgotten because of its many weaknesses and imperfections, consisted largely of just such tales of horror. Bürger's "Lenore," Walpole's "Castle of Otranto," Mrs. Radcliffe's "Mysteries of Udolpho," and Mrs. Shelley's "Frankenstein" were among the foremost of these.
7. Can you discover any suggestions of religious or moral feeling in either of these tales? If so, do they impress you as Poe's actual conviction or as a part of the picture which he is drawing?
8. Is this type of tale worth preserving apart from its excellence in style? Do you think it easy or difficult to tell such a story? Why?
1. Why is the raven chosen as the bird of ill omen?
2. Compare the raven with the albatross in Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner."
3. It has been often claimed that the poem was written by Poe in a fit of delirium. As a matter of fact it was composed during his wife's illness and then polished into its present shape during subsequent months of grief. "The Bells" was written at the same time.
4. "Annabel Lee" is another expression of his passionate love for his wife.
5. "The Raven" is written in the first person. Is this characteristic of Poe? Does he gain anything by it? What does he lose?
7. What do you understand by the reference to "the Night's Plutonian shore"?
8. As "The Raven" may be said to be the masterpiece of American poetry, so the stanza, "Then methought the air grew denser," is considered the supreme moment in the poem. Can you see why?
9. For a critical analysis of the structure of this poem see Poe's essay, "The Philosophy of Composition," in the complete editions of his works.
"Life and Letters of Edgar Allan Poe."--HARRISON.
"Edgar Allan Poe; the Man, the Master, the Martyr."--LEIGH.
"Poe" ("American Men of Letters").--WOODBERRY.
"The Mind and Art of Poe's Poetry."--FRUIT.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, by general repute the greatest of American novelists, was of sound New England lineage, and his forefathers had for generations followed the sea. After graduating from Bowdoin College, where he had formed a close friendship with Longfellow and Pierce, he returned to Salem, resolved to take up literature as a life-work.