As American As Edgar Allan Poe

“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 visiter,” I mutter, tapping at my chamber door –
    Only this and nothing more.”

…..

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
“Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, “art sure not craven.
Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore –
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!”
    Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe got $9 for the poem, The Raven, when it was first published in 1845 in New York’s Daily Mirror.  The poem turned him into a national sensation overnight, but Poe continued to struggle with money, alcohol, publishers, illness and the deaths of many dear friends and family; he was dead himself four years later at age 40.

Many consider Poe’s 1841 classic short story, “The Murder in the Rue Morgue” to be the very first detective story.  Indeed Poe helped to birth and shape the short story form itself.  Likewise his own personal strange, dark appearance and character seem to live on over 150 years after his death.  He is widely admired, parodied, marketed, recreated in fiction and film, and, oh yeah, read.

Poe’s gothic romantic style appeals to all ages, but especially the adolescent.  Its dark and creepy stories of mystery and loss fascinate proto-Goth youth, especially girls.  I devoured Poe as a teen, and so did my daughter.  Picture this sweet mother-daughter scene; my 12 year old daughter, home sick from school, asking me please to read her “The Fall of The House of Usher.”  It seemed to cheer her up to hear about the “rank miasma of the tarn.”

On a trip up the Oregon coast when she was 15, we stayed at the Sylvia Beach Literary Hotel, with its theme rooms for Jane Austen, Tolkein,  Dr. Seuss and many others.  She was very disappointed that the Edgar Allan Poe room was already booked.  No raven on the bureau and pendulum over the bed for us.

Poe lived briefly in Baltimore, Maryland, and died there, buried in a church graveyard.  For decades an unknown fan, known affectionately as the “Poe Toaster” has left three red roses on his grave in the early hours of Jan. 19, his death day, and reportedly toasts him with cognac, a Poe-ish act of mystery and gloom.  (Of course we Poe sisters visited the graveyard on our own Poe fan tour in 2001, an incredibly hot July day as I recall, walking blocks through a poor decrepit neighborhood with our own wilting roses.)

When Baltimore got a new (U.S) football team in the 90’s, after the owner of their beloved Baltimore Colts (named for a nearby racetrack) had moved the team to Indianapolis, the new owners had a fan contest for the team’s new name, and hence mascot.

Mascots Edgar, Allan and PoeSports teams names and mascots are a huge deal in the U.S.  Many are warlike (Titans, Warriors, Spartans), many are racist (Indians, Redskins, Chiefs) and many are sort of scary animals (Bulls, Diamondbacks, Bears.)  The fans of Baltimore overwhelming chose the Ravens, in honor of their favorite poet native son and his most famous poem.  And the team mascots, those comical characters or critters than prance around the field inspiring fan support?  Three sort of snide looking ravens, dancing and prancing, and squawking, named Edgar, Allan and Poe. 

Baltimore is a fine American city with a proud history, world class universities, museums  and landmarks, but it doesn’t immediately come to mind when one thinks American literary history.  But what other football team begins its broadcast introduction of the starting lineup with a stanza from a poem?  Sure, it helps to have a great poetic chorus, like “Nevermore!”  Even ESPN, the sports media monopoly, punctuates highlight film of the Raven’s record setting defense with the cheer, “Quote the Ravens, Never score!”

In 2000, a mere 4 years into their new hometown and new name, the Baltimore Ravens won it all, culminating in a Super Bowl victory.  This past year, 2012, they won it again, making them the only NFL team with a perfect record in multiple Super Bowls.  My Poe-fan teenage daughter became, in 2000, needless to say, a Baltimore Ravens fan. A poet herself, she loved that the only team named for a writer was victorious over all those militaristic and racist-ly named teams.  Go writers!

Poe’s last published poem was “Annabel Lee.” Like The Raven, it is one of his many poems and short stories about the untimely death of a young woman.  I heard it first from my mother, who helped us get to sleep by reciting poetry to us.  I still get a little drowsy when I hear the final stanza:

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
   Of my darling – my darling – my life and my bride,
   In her sepulchre there by the sea –
   In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Copyright © 2013 Deborah Streeter