The Insanely Awesome Life of E. A. Poe

"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there; wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before."
- Edgar Allan Poe

There are times in most human beings life when they come across something very beautifully awesome that it hurts them why they lived for so long only to discover this gem only now. He starts wondering how amazing his life would have been if he had know about the existence of this beauty much earlier.
Well in my life there has been quite a few of these shocks like Beatles, Led Zep, 'Its a wonderful life', 'Patch Adams', 'Life is beautifull', Harry Potter, Ayn Rand, fried chicken.

And now, E. A. Poe.

I am not really a big fan of poetry, let alone the dark kind. I appreciate songs with poetic sensibilities (one Mr.Paul Simon; Mr.Art Garfunkel can attest to that). But I never really got to like poetry too much. It seemed way to quirky for my taste (coming from a guy who thinks eating icecream with a fork is normal). But E.A. is something totally different. I tried gettting into other famous poet's work, Whitman, Frost etc. But nothing compares to this guy's insane outlook towards the world.

In Indian literature there was a writer Premchand 'Munshi', he wrote in hindi as far as I've read. Mostly short stories based on day-to-day lives of ordinary people of his time. He was an ultimate cynic and had the most realistic outlook towards life. Imagine that, and go atleast a hundred times vicious. Then maybe you would get somewhere close to Poe's domain.

E. A.'s work is probably the most controversial of American literature in his time. Born Edgar Poe on January 19, 1809 he is more known for his tales of mystery and the dark than his more "normal" ones and generally considered "the inventor of the short story". But just how awesome it is, is for you to discover.

There was this one article I stumbled upon that introduced me to him. I was reading about Stephen King's Carrie, it mentioned that this King numero uno in some or the other manner resembled Poe's writing. And well I was of the solid belief that Carrietta White as insanely vicious dark character as can be possibly written. So, I was wondering what this guy who died in 1849 could have done to have inspired this inhumanely carzy girl.

Like they say, ignorance is bliss.

And for those who already knows his work, I started with "The Raven". His books should come with a warning, not fit for pregnant ladies, people with cardiac issues or the heart-broken on verge of killing themselves. This one rules them all when it comes to love-stinks theme. That bird should have been shot at its first "Nevermore" usage. The world would have been a much better place for it.

Since going-dark was new to me, I kept reading his stuff. And each of them were more and more brilliant when it came to the Dark-World-Sucks Quotient. Not usually what I look for in books, but this guy is a genius.

These are his other works that I have read so far, in order of its awesomeness:

• Annabelle Lee
• Lenore
• The Bells
• The Tell-Tale Heart
• The Premature Burial
• The Murders In Rue Morgue
• The Haunted Place
• The Fall of the House of Usher

Poe’s psychologically moving stories/poems examine the depths of human psyche. His own life was scarred by tragedy (his parents died before he was three years old) and in his works there is just too much of a tormented (sometimes neurotic) obsession with death and violence and overall affection for the beautiful yet sad mysteries of life.

"They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night. —Elonora"

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Well, since I am writing about him. It is only fair that he has the last say. The following is one his most unnerving poem I've read so far, not too tragic or dark, but a bit upsetting yes. For more quotes and book info about him, go over the net for it, you will find pages and pages about him! (Just google Poe + Creepy you get 803,000 results!!)

A Dream Within A Dream

Take this kiss upon the brow!

And, in parting from you now,

Thus much let me avow-

You are not wrong, who deem

That my days have been a dream; 

Yet if hope has flown away

In a night, or in a day,

In a vision, or in none,

Is it therefore the less gone?

All that we see or seem

Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar

Of a surf-tormented shore,

And I hold within my hand

Grains of the golden sand-

How few! yet how they creep

Through my fingers to the deep,

While I weep- while I weep!

O God! can I not grasp

Them with a tighter clasp?

O God! can I not save

One from the pitiless wave?

Is all that we see or seem

But a dream within a dream?

                                                                                                                  - E. A. Poe

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More from the man himself:

"Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality."

"The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?"

“All religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry”

“Man's real life is happy, chiefly because he is ever expecting that it soon will be so.”

"The death of a beautiful woman, is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world. "

"I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity."

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 I just placed an order for my first very own collected works of Poe from Junglee.com (Amazon's Indian offspring) today. Check the following link for it:

http://www.junglee.com/Complete-Poetry-Edgar-Signet-Classics/dp/0451531051/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355218796&sr=1-1

Happy reading!! :-)

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