Yes, I know this isn’t a prose story, it’s a poem, but for the sake of reviewing it I’m counting it as a story regardless.
This is one of the most well-known poems by Edgar Allen Poe. It’s also commonly read in October around Halloween, given its creepiness and overall tone.
The story is about a man who attempts to relax in his study. However, the titular raven appears and begins to pester him, possible with his own feelings of loss. He seems to long for a woman named Lenore, who died some time ago. The bird remains above his door chirping something that may or not be “nevermore”.
Poe’s writing is, of course, incredible. His poetic skills are phenomenal and his ability to create something creepy. Consider his opening stanza:
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”
A fantastic mix of timing, rhyme, and story. There’s tons of mood throughout, with old books and a somber setting. From there, the narrator becomes scared of the raven, specifically because it sounds like it says, “Nevermore” repeatedly.
The timing is incredible, but honestly Poe often repeats some lines for emphasis. Far be it from me to criticize master poet Edgar Allen Poe, but I do feel rhyming with the same word is a bit tacky, as is rhyming the same entire lines slightly modified. Still, given Poe’s skill it hardly matters.
Read this poem if you haven’t. It’s available online and it’s well worth your time. Read it aloud if you can!
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You may like some of my other reviews:
- Story Review: Black Amazon of Mars by Leigh Brackett
- Book Review: The Ship of Ishtar by A. Merritt
- Story Review: The Dark Eidolon by Clark Ashton Smith
- Book Review: Stormbringer by Michael Moorcock
You may also like some of my other work:
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