Date: 10-30-00
THIS IS AMERICA #1038 - Halloween and Edgar Allan Poe
By Carolyn WeaverVOICE ONE:
October Thirty-First is Halloween. It is an unofficial holiday
that celebrates the frightening and strange. We celebrate with a
report about a Nineteenth-century American writer. His stories
were some of the most frightening and strange ever written.
I'm Shirley Griffith.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Doug Johnson. The writer Edgar Allan Poe is our
report today on the VOA Special English program THIS IS
AMERICA.
((Scary MUSIC BRIDGE in stead of THEME))
VOICE ONE:
Halloween is mostly a holiday for children, who like to be
frightened. Yet many grown people observe Halloween, too. Those
who love the writings of Edgar Allan Poe think Halloween is the
best time of year to celebrate them. Poe is most famous for his
stories and poems of strangeness, mystery, and terror.
He wrote about people buried while still alive. About insanity
and death. About dreams that become real. . . or reality that seems
like a dream.
VOICE TWO:
Edgar Allan Poe died in the city of Baltimore in
Eighteen-Forty-Nine. Now, in that city, an unusual party takes
place every Halloween.
In the dark of night, visitors go to the church ground where Poe
is buried. Everything is quiet. Then a voice calls out. It is
Poe! (pause) No, it is just an actor, reading Poe's work.
((Scary MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE ONE:
Reading stories was one of the most important forms of enjoyment
in Edgar Allan Poe's time. Poe created many of these "short"
stories. They appeared in different publications.
Horror stories already were popular when Poe began writing.
Critics say he wrote the perfect horror story.
Poe also wrote detective stories. These were mysteries about
crimes, such as murder. The mysteries are solved by an
investigator called a detective. He or she is able to find
important, hidden meanings in facts.
The horror and detective stories Poe created remain extremely
popular in books and movies.
VOICE TWO:
Edgar Allan Poe's work is not easy to read. His language is
difficult to understand today. And most of his writing describes
very unpleasant situations and events.
His story "The Pit and the Pendulum," for example, is about the
mental torture of a prisoner. Each time the prisoner saves
himself from death, a new and more horrible form of death
threatens him.
Another story is "The Masque of the Red Death." In it, a
terrible disease -- the Red Death -- has killed half the
population of a country.
The ruler of the country shuts his castle against the disease.
He and his wealthy friends are inside. They pass the time by
having parties. They believe the Red Death will not find them.
But it does.
((Haunting MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE ONE:
Edgar Poe was born in Eighteen-Oh-Nine. His parents
were actors. At that time, actors were not accepted by the best
society. Edgar was a baby when his father left the family. He
was two years old when his mother died. He was taken into the
home of a wealthy businessman, John Allan. He then received his
new name -- Edgar Allan Poe.
John Allan never officially made Edgar his son. In fact, he came
to dislike him strongly.
As a young man, Edgar attended the University of Virginia. He
was a good student. But he liked to drink alcohol and play card
games for money. Edgar was not a good player. He lost money he
did not have. John Allan refused to pay Edgar's gambling losses.
So, Edgar left the university. He began working as a writer and
editor for monthly magazines.
VOICE TWO:
Edgar Allan Poe worked hard. He became a successful editor. Yet
he was not well-paid or well-known. His life was difficult. He
was poor, and he was troubled by sicknesses of the body and mind.
Poe suffered from depression. He feared he was insane. He drank
alcohol to escape his fears. The alcohol had a very bad effect
on him.
VOICE ONE:
At the age of twenty-seven, he married Virginia Clemm. She was
the daughter of his father's sister. She was only thirteen years
old. For a time, it seemed that Poe would find some happiness.
But his wife was sick for most of their marriage. She died in
Eighteen-Forty-Seven. Poe died two years later, at the age of
forty. He was found dead in Baltimore after days of heavy
drinking.
((Haunting MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE TWO:
Through all his crises, Edgar Allan Poe produced many stories,
poems, and works of criticism. Some of his stories won prizes.
Yet he did not become famous until Eighteen-Forty-Five. That was
when his poem "The Raven" was published.
There is no question that Poe suffered from emotional problems in
his life. One critic said Poe's spirit was torn. He said Poe's
stories were often about his own divided nature. Each person in
the story showed a different side of the writer.
There is a question, however, about Poe's importance. Some
critics say he was one of America's best writers. Others
disagree.
VOICE ONE:
Critic Vincent Buranelli says Poe discovered a new artistic
universe. It is a universe of dreams. It is a place where the
line between reality and unreality is extremely thin.
Even those who praise Poe agree that there are many difficulties
in his work. These difficulties place Poe's writing outside the
main body of American literature. Most American writing is
realistic. Poe's interests and way of writing were not realistic
at all.
Poe's work has been praised most in France. He had a great
influence on many French writers, including the poets
Charles-Pierre Baudelaire and Stephane Mallarme.
VOICE TWO:
Poe's best-known poem is the "The Raven." Some people love it.
They say it is like music. Others hate it. They say it sounds
forced and unnatural -- like bad music.
"The Raven" is about a man whose great love, Lenore, has died.
She is gone forever. But the man cannot accept that all
happiness is gone. He sits alone among his books late at night.
He hears a noise at the window. Here is the beginning of the
poem:
ANNOUNCER:
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered,
weak and weary
Over many a quaint and curious volume of for-
gotten lore --
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there
came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my
chamber door.
"Tis some visitor, I muttered, "tapping at my
chamber door --
Only this and nothing more."
VOICE TWO:
The man looks out the window and sees only blackness.
ANNOUNCER:
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there
wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared
to dream before:
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness
gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered
word, "Lenore?"
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the
word, "Lenore!"
Merely this and nothing more.
VOICE TWO:
But there is something at the window. It is a large black bird
-- a raven. It comes into the room like the spirit of death and
hopelessness. The raven can speak just one word: 'nevermore' --
meaning 'never again'. We know the raven will never leave the
man's room.
ANNOUNCER:
But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust,
spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he
did outpour.
Nothing farther than he uttered -- not a feather
then he fluttered --
Till I scarcely more than muttered, "Other friends
have flown before --
On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes
have flown before."
Then the bird said, "Nevermore."
[Pause]
((Scary MUSIC BRIDGE instead of THEME))
VOICE ONE:
This program was written by Carolyn Weaver. It was produced by
Lawan Davis. Our poetry reader was Shep O'Neal. I'm
Shirley Griffith.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Doug Johnson. Join us again next week for another
report about life in the United States on the VOA Special
English program THIS IS AMERICA.
Source: www.voa.gov/special/