THE POEMS OF EDGAR ALLAN-POE (illustrated)

Edgar Alan Poe's poems would be acceptable if read from the back of a cereal box. They are fantastic - dark, surreal, fascinating. The beautiful cover of this edition can only add to the loveliness. Good quality with a gorgeous image of a raven perched atop a skull on a deep burgundy background. A delight to own.

Poe's most enduring and undisputed claim to fame were his stunningly gripping short stories and his fathering two genres, the detective story and science fiction (not to mention horror stories). However, his first love was poetry and his first publications were books of poems, which he wrote from his adolescence onwards.Prior to rediscovering Poe's work recently the only poem of his that I can recall reading previously is "The Raven." Re-reading it here served as a reminder of how powerful a writer he is, and I found myself again tormented by his verses almost as much as the young man in the poem is tormented by the raven.His poetry was sometimes denigrated by later writers but also highly praised by others equally eminent. His poetry was, on the whole, more appreciated and probably more influential outside the USA and Britain, particularly in France. This collection gives readers an opportunity to reach their own verdict on the basis of a complete collection of his poems.This beautifully illustrated compendium is enhanced by the illustrations, many by some of the greatest artists of his time (like Aubrey Beardsley and Gustave Doré), which complement and enrich the writing.

I tried listening to an Audible download of an Edgar Allan Poe poetry collection several years ago and almost completely failed to get into his writing. When this similar poetry collection was offered as the free daily ForgottenBooks download in September, I thought I should give Poe another chance. His work is so popular worldwide that there must be some essence I had missed.I am pleased that I did get on better with written Poe poetry than spoken. Being able to revisit lines and ideas definitely helped me to understand and I enjoyed reading his classics such as The Raven and Annabel Lee. (I love Annabel Lee as a Sarah Jarosz song too and hadn't previously realised the origin of its lyrics.) Other poems which particularly spoke to me were The Coliseum and A Dream Within A Dream. However, I didn't like much of the included early poetry written in Poe's youth, and the lengthy Al Aaraaf was lost on me! I passed on most of a play excerpt too - The Politian.This collection ended with a lengthy essay, by Poe, discussing his poetic principles and quoting from other poets whom he admired. Despite its pompous tone, I did find the ideas interesting and preferred several of the quoted works here to Poe's own. I suppose he is simply not the poet for me!

All of Edgar Allen Poe's poems rolled into one bumper Kindle, which is supremely formatted and accompanied by excellent period illustrations.

Poes poems can be dark, romantic, occasionally funny, and are worth reading for the raven alone, some lovely illustrations illuminate the text.