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| Edgar Allan Poe |
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| John Cusack as Poe |
"I heed not that my earthly lot
Hath little of earth in it--
That years of love have been forgot
In the hatred of a minute:--
I mourn not that the desolate
Are happier, sweet, than I,
But that you sorrow for my fate
Who am a passer by."
("To---" by E.A.Poe)
Every year, when the leaves begin to change colors and the air turns crisp, my thoughts start turning to one of my two favorite holidays... Halloween... And with thoughts of Halloween comes this overwhelming desire to curl up under a nice warm blanket with my book, Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe... Not surprising since he was, for lack of a better term, the founding father of the macabre and tales of dark things, the very thing that the holiday of Halloween is based upon.
Poe's tales are certainly an acquired taste not had by many, back then and even today.
I think that, in order to at least appreciate if not enjoy Poe's works, one must enjoy dark, macabre stories and also be of an above average level of intelligence. At times, his tales are certainly difficult to read, with the vast vocabulary and mile long sentences, something that few of the masses back in his time had the education to comprehend.
And, of course, the masses today have some level of difficulty reading his tales due to the change in patterns of speech over time. That kind of goes without saying...
As for myself... Poe is one of my favorite authors. And so, every year around Halloween, I get this overwhelming desire to read these dark tales of mystery and death. In fact, I look forward to this tradition every year, ever since I bought that beat up old book years ago. I've read almost every tale and poem and have read my favorites dozens of times over, sometimes at various times of the year. So I guess you could say I'm a bit of a Poe addict...
Recently, a movie came out in theaters called "The Raven", starring John Cusack. The plot line is a murder mystery, a tale of a serial killer who fashions all his crimes after the murders in Poe's stories. The police hire Poe (played by John Cusack) to help them solve these mystery murders, hoping he'll have the insight to do so since they're all based on his tales. The movie also offers another interesting view of the reason for Poe's mysterious death.
For me, a Poe-aholic and a huge fan of John Cusack, the news of one of my favorite actors starring in a movie where he'll portray one of my favorite authors fit in the fan-girly nose bleed category. Poe wasn't exactly a handsome man (perhaps for his time he was, however) but John Cusack is quite attractive, even done up to closely resemble the man he was portraying. And after seeing the movie, I can tell you, if you are a fan of either man, you won't be disappointed.
I have to say... I feel a bit of sympathy for Poe... He was something of a mad genius and, as most of us know, mad geniuses are, more often than not, completely misunderstood and isolated...
Did you hear that...?
It sounds like "the beating of that hideous heart"...
Tread lightly... or you may find yourself walled up in catacombs or buried alive...
And if you find yourself on a dreary night, nodding, nearly napping and you hear a sound as if someone is rapping... Don't open your chamber door...
Or you may find yourself faced with a dark, feathery house guest...
"Nameless here forever more..."
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