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Reading

to create dreadful moods. ?쏷he Raven??is perhaps the most famous

poem written by Poe and follows a narrator who laments the death of                    14	champion ??to
                                                                                          support
his one true love, Lenore. A raven visits the bereaved man, who believes
                                                                                       15	epic poem ??a
the bird was sent from the underworld. The man then asks the raven a                      long poem that
                                                                                          narrates a hero?셲
25 number of questions regarding his lost love. Despite the man?셲 anguish,                life or deeds

the raven repeatedly answers with only the word ?쏯evermore.??This                      37	vault ??an
                                                                                          underground
repetition only increases the narrator?셲 anguish, yet the poem does                       room, usually with
                                                                                          an arched ceiling
not seek to reconcile the situation in order to provide a moral lesson.

In accordance with Poe?셲 literary theory, the poem conveys a feeling

30 of hopelessness, coupled with an eerie mood, which became Poe?셲

defining literary style.

Similarly, Poe?셲 short stories combine spooky, dark elements with

a sense of despair. These themes are frequently connected to a feeling

of loss and a fear of one?셲 inevitable demise. For instance, Poe?셲 short

35 story ?쏷he Fall of the House of Usher??follows a narrator as he visits

an old friend. He learns that his friend?셲 sister has died and is currently

entombed in a vault in the house. The narrator and his friend bury her,

only to find that they are inexplicably agitated for the next week. His host

begins to hallucinate. Eventually, the deceased sister reappears in the

40 house and falls on her brother, violently killing him. The narrator then flees

the estate and turns to see the house sink into the bog surrounding it.

The work includes many elements typical of the gothic genre

in general. Such elements are descriptions of the decaying mansion

accompanied by other eerie elements throughout the story. For Poe,

45 ?쏷he Fall of the House of Usher??explored the depths of human fear,

as the two men become more frightened after burying the woman. The

story focuses on psychological paranoia, much more so than other

horror tales of the time. Several other stories by Poe explore similar

themes but never become overtly violent or bloody.

50 Poe?셲 writing was poorly received in America due to his public

image as a drunkard and

gambler. However, Poe?셲

writing was translated into

other languages and became

55 influential in a number of

countries, including France

and Russia. He has received

more critical attention in

recent years and is now

60 considered one of the great

American writers of his time.   ??The Museum of Edgar Allan Poe in Richmond, Virginia

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