This month we’re going to lighten things up and go deep into the depths with two poetic selections. Both are narrative poems telling a story.
Each of the selections has been hyperlinked to its entry at the Poetry Foundation for those of you who may not have either poem in any other source. I don’t imagine it is everyone who keeps their Literature texts or collects poetry books.
The Raven was first published in 1845 and features a talking raven that seemingly visits to torment a man morning the loss of the woman he loved. It is the low decline of grief into madness. It was written by Edgar Allan Poe, an American writer noted for this work and his many short stories. Poe specialized in the mysterious and the macabre. This poem definitely falls in with the macabre.
Christina Rossetti was an English poet. Her poetry was often romantic and devotional. She also wrote children’s poems of which she claimed in public included Goblin Market, though in a letter to her publisher she conversely claimed that it was not. I’d put it on par with Grimm’s fairy tales in that while it could be read innocently enough as a cautionary tale for children on the dangers of encounters with faerie folk, it most definitely has adult innuendo and can be interpreted as sexually charged.
Poetry is a literary art form, and I believe, it is meant to penetrate our very beings through recitation and not merely silent reading. To that end I am also including links to two recitations.
- The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe as recited by Christopher Lee
- Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti as recited by Elizabeth Klett
As you read and listen allow the stories to draw you in. What are your thoughts and feelings about the characters within each poem? What are your thoughts on each of the poets?