Speaker 1: I Heart three D Audio. Welcome to brain Stuff production
Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hey there, brain Stuff. Lauren Vogelbaum
Speaker 1: here with a special three D episode. So make sure
Speaker 1: that you have headphones or earbuds ready, because after we
Speaker 1: talk a little bit about the life and times of
Speaker 1: Edgar Allan Poe, we're going to have for you a
Speaker 1: special three D reading of his poem The Raven. Whether
Speaker 1: you were introduced to Edgar Allan Poe through his short
Speaker 1: stories or his poems, a mention of his name is
Speaker 1: enough to conjure up a sense of eeriness. This early
Speaker 1: American writer has been credited with inventing the detective story,
Speaker 1: pioneering science fiction, and of course, revolutionizing dark fiction. He's
Speaker 1: the subject of three museums, the Poem Museum in Richmond, Virginia,
Speaker 1: the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum in Baltimore, Maryland,
Speaker 1: and the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1: Many fans of the writer also enjoy visiting his grave
Speaker 1: at Westminster Hall and Burying Ground in Baltimore. Along with
Speaker 1: his long lasting literary popularity, Poe was equally known for
Speaker 1: his literary criticism and if his career as a writer
Speaker 1: now seems inevitable. No one would have suspected it at
Speaker 1: the beginning. Born in Boston to traveling actors in eighteen
Speaker 1: o nine, Poe had become an orphan by the age
Speaker 1: of three. A Scottish immigrant and tobacco merchant, John Allen
Speaker 1: and his wife Francis, brought Poe to Richmond and raised
Speaker 1: him as their foster child. His new father expected that
Speaker 1: Poe would become a businessman like he was, but the
Speaker 1: boy had other aspirations. Poe left home to study at
Speaker 1: the University of Virginia in eighteen twenty six without much
Speaker 1: support from Allen, who provided him with a meager allowance.
Speaker 1: In an attempt to increase his income, Poe began gambling,
Speaker 1: which led him to debt rather than prosperity. Allen refused
Speaker 1: to cover his losses, and Poe dropped out of university.
Speaker 1: The relationship with his father strained. Poe joined the U.
Speaker 1: S Army and later entered the United States Military Academy
Speaker 1: at West Point. By that time, he determined that he
Speaker 1: would become a writer and published his first book, Tamerlane
Speaker 1: and Other Poems, pieces, largely inspired by Lord Byron. His
Speaker 1: time at West Point was cut short when he was expelled,
Speaker 1: probably not as rumors have had it, for drinking, fighting,
Speaker 1: or nudity, but rather for offenses like skipping class and chapel.
Speaker 1: Perhaps the end of his military career was for the best.
Speaker 1: Poe always knew he was meant to be a writer,
Speaker 1: and he was right. After West Point, Poe returned to Baltimore,
Speaker 1: got left out of Allen's will when he died, and
Speaker 1: began publishing his own short stories, acquiring an editorial position
Speaker 1: with the magazine Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond. Poe added,
Speaker 1: literary critics is m to a skill set. His reviews
Speaker 1: were known for their critical and exacting nature. But if
Speaker 1: critics are sometimes accused of operating from a perspective of arrogance,
Speaker 1: not having done the work themselves, Poe was different. He
Speaker 1: was a writer himself. Indeed, Pope felt it was his
Speaker 1: duty to bring American writers up to higher standards. According
Speaker 1: to the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site for the
Speaker 1: article this episode is based on How Stuff Works. Spoke
Speaker 1: with Paul Voss, Associate professor of English at Georgia State University.
Speaker 1: He said he was on the leading edge of what
Speaker 1: it meant to be a professional writer. He was a craftsman.
Speaker 1: He put in the time when Poe was writing, American
Speaker 1: literature was still in its infancy. Post contemporaries included Herman
Speaker 1: Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne, while Mark Twain was just a
Speaker 1: teenager when Poe died. As a writer and magazine editor,
Speaker 1: Poe campaigned to improve the profession, pushing for better pay
Speaker 1: and copyright laws. At the age of twenty seven, he
Speaker 1: married thirteen year old for Ginia Clem, his first cousin.
Speaker 1: He continued writing, moved to New York and Philadelphia, and
Speaker 1: struggled financially. His situation improved in eighteen forty five when
Speaker 1: his poem The Raven made him a household name, but
Speaker 1: two years later, in eighteen forty seven, Virginia died of tuberculosis,
Speaker 1: and Poe would soon follow her to the grave. His
Speaker 1: works include stories like The Tell Tale Heart and The
Speaker 1: Fall of the House of Usher, plus poems like The
Speaker 1: Bells and Annabelle Lee. If you're looking to dip your
Speaker 1: toe in Poe's greatest hits, start with the select works
Speaker 1: on the Poem Museum website. They're available in full for
Speaker 1: free online as are his other works now in the
Speaker 1: public domain. Following Virginia's death, Poe is reported to have
Speaker 1: increased his alcohol consumption, but by the summer of eighteen
Speaker 1: forty nine he had become re engaged to his ex fiancee,
Speaker 1: Sarah Elmira Royster, but the two were not destined to marry.
Speaker 1: Stopping in Baltimore while traveling, Poe disappeared for five days.
Speaker 1: He was spotted near a pub, possibly drunk, wearing strange
Speaker 1: clothing that was not his, in and out of consciousness.
Speaker 1: A few mornings later, he died in a hospital at
Speaker 1: the age of forty. Many theories have been suggested about
Speaker 1: his death, ranging from alcohol poisoning to epilepsy to tuberculosis,
Speaker 1: but another theory posits that Poe fell victim to corrupt
Speaker 1: politicians in Baltimore who attacked men, drugged and disguised them,
Speaker 1: and took them to vote repeatedly at various polling places,
Speaker 1: and then left them for dead. Originally buried in an
Speaker 1: unmarked grave and an inauspicious location at Westminster, Poe was
Speaker 1: moved thanks to Baltimore school children who raised enough money
Speaker 1: with their eighteen seventy five pennies for Poe project to
Speaker 1: earn him a monument and a place at the front
Speaker 1: of the cemetery. He lies near Virginia and her mother,
Speaker 1: Maria Poe clem among heroes from the American Revolution and
Speaker 1: the War of eighteen twelve. Outside of inspiring lovers of
Speaker 1: the macabre, Poe's work has had a lasting effect on
Speaker 1: the literature and popular writing that followed him. The Guardian
Speaker 1: lists Arthur Conan Doyle, Peter Straub, and Jules Verne among
Speaker 1: those who were influenced by Poe, and states that he
Speaker 1: quote signals the beginning of what would become a great
Speaker 1: Anglo American literary dialogue. The master of Celluloid's Spence, none
Speaker 1: other than Alfred Hitchcock, has been quoted as stating, it's
Speaker 1: because I liked Edgar Allan Poe's stories so much that
Speaker 1: I began to make suspense films. But he was more
Speaker 1: than a writer. According to Voss, Poe held the belief
Speaker 1: that there was no puzzle that the human mind can
Speaker 1: make that the human mind cannot then solve. He tried
Speaker 1: to test that theory in The Purloined Letter by looking
Speaker 1: at the operation of intellect and rationality. His was a
Speaker 1: rational approach, even to something as carnal and visceral as revenge.
Speaker 1: As Voss said, his stories still continue to fascinate. Also,
Speaker 1: not many writers can boast a sports team being named
Speaker 1: in honor of them, but Poe can. The Baltimore Ravens
Speaker 1: NFL team owes its name to the hometown heroes most
Speaker 1: famous poem, and fittingly, its mascot is named Poe. And
Speaker 1: now this is where an episode would usually wrap up.
Speaker 1: But please stay tuned headphones on if you've got them,
Speaker 1: for a special three D presentation of Poe's poem The Raven.
Speaker 1: Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and
Speaker 1: weary over many acquainting curious volume of Forgotten Law. While
Speaker 1: I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came tapping, as of
Speaker 1: someone gently rapping, wrapping at my chamber door. To some visitor,
Speaker 1: I muttered, tapping at my chamber door, Only this and
Speaker 1: nothing more. Distinctly, I remember it was in the bleak samber,
Speaker 1: and each separate dying amber wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Speaker 1: Eagerly I wished to themorrow. Vainly I had sought to
Speaker 1: borrow from my book secrease of sorrow, sorrow for the
Speaker 1: lost Lenore, for the rare and radiant maiden whom the
Speaker 1: angels named Lenore, nameless here forever more. And the silken, sad,
Speaker 1: uncertain rustling of each purple curtain thrilled me, filled me
Speaker 1: with fantastic terrors never felt before. So that now to
Speaker 1: still the beating of my heart, I stood, repeating, tis
Speaker 1: some visitor and treating entrance at my chamber door, some
Speaker 1: late visitor, in treating entrance at my chamber door. This
Speaker 1: it is, and nothing more. Presently my soul grew stronger,
Speaker 1: hesitating than no longer, sir, said I, or madam, truly
Speaker 1: your forgiveness, I implore. But the fact is I was napping,
Speaker 1: and so gently you came rapping, and so ly you
Speaker 1: came tapping, tapping at my chamber door, that I scarce
Speaker 1: was sure I heard you here. I opened wide the door.
Speaker 1: Darkness there, and nothing more. Deep into that darkness, peering long,
Speaker 1: I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams. No mortals
Speaker 1: ever dared to dream before. But the silence was unbroken,
Speaker 1: and the stillness gave no token. And the only word
Speaker 1: they're spoken was the whispered word lenor this, I whispered,
Speaker 1: and an echo murmured back the word merely this and
Speaker 1: nothing more, back into the chamber, turning, Oh, my soul
Speaker 1: within me burning Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat
Speaker 1: louder than before. Surely, said I, surely that is something
Speaker 1: at my window lattice. Let me see then what they're attics,
Speaker 1: And this mystery explore, Let my heart be still a moment,
Speaker 1: and this mystery explore tis the wind, and nothing more
Speaker 1: open Here I flung the shutter, when with many a
Speaker 1: flirt and flutter in their stepped a stately raven of
Speaker 1: the saintly days of yore, not the least obesiance made
Speaker 1: he not a minute stopped or stated he, but with
Speaker 1: mien of Lord or lady, perched above my chamber door,
Speaker 1: perched upon a bust of palace just above my chamber door,
Speaker 1: perched and sat, and nothing more then this ebony bird
Speaker 1: beguiling my sad fancy into smiling by the grave and
Speaker 1: stern decorum of the countenance at war. Though thy crest
Speaker 1: be shown and shaven, thou, I said, art show no craven, ghastly,
Speaker 1: grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore. Tell
Speaker 1: me what thy lordly name is on the Knight's Plutonian shore.
Speaker 1: Quote the raven never more much. I marveled this ungainly
Speaker 1: fowl to hear discourse so plainly, though its answer little meaning,
Speaker 1: little relevancy bore. For we cannot help agreeing that no
Speaker 1: living human being ever yet was blessed with seeing bird
Speaker 1: above his chamber door, bird or beast upon the sculptured
Speaker 1: bust above his chamber door, with such name as never more.
Speaker 1: But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke
Speaker 1: only that one word, as if his soul in that
Speaker 1: one word he did outpour nothing farther than he uttered,
Speaker 1: not a feather than he fluttered, till I scarcely more
Speaker 1: than muttered other friends have flown before. On the morrow
Speaker 1: he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before. Then,
Speaker 1: the bird said, never more. Startled at the stillness broken
Speaker 1: by reply so aptly spoken, doubtless, said I what it
Speaker 1: utters is its only stock and store caught from some
Speaker 1: happy master, whom a merciful disaster followed fast, and followed
Speaker 1: faster till his songs one burden bore till the dirges
Speaker 1: of his hope, that melancholy burden bore of never never more.
Speaker 1: But the raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling Straight,
Speaker 1: I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and
Speaker 1: bust and door. Then upon the velvet sinking, I betook
Speaker 1: myself to linking fancy and to fancy, thinking what this
Speaker 1: ominous bird of Yore, Oh, what this grim, ungainly, ghastly,
Speaker 1: gaunt and ominous bird of yore meant in croaking? Never more?
Speaker 1: This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
Speaker 1: to the foul, whose fiery eyes now burned into my
Speaker 1: bosom's core. This and more I sat divining, with my
Speaker 1: head at ease, reclining on the cushion's velvet, lining the
Speaker 1: the lamplike gloated. Or but whose velvet violet lining with
Speaker 1: the lamplike gloating, Or she shall press nevermore? Then methought,
Speaker 1: the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censor swung
Speaker 1: by seraphim, whose footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor. Hrett
Speaker 1: I cried, Thy God hath lent thee by these angels.
Speaker 1: He hath sent thee rest spite, rest spite, and the
Speaker 1: penthee from thy memories of Lunore quaf o quaff this
Speaker 1: kind of penthey, and forget this lost Ludore. Quote the
Speaker 1: Raven never more profit said, I thing of evil profits still,
Speaker 1: If bird or devil, whether tempter sent, or whether tempest
Speaker 1: tossed thee here ashore, desolate yet all undaunted on this
Speaker 1: desert land, and shaunted on this home by horror, haunted,
Speaker 1: Tell me truly, I implore. Is there is there balm
Speaker 1: in Gilead, Tell me, tell me, I implore. Quote the
Speaker 1: raven nevermore profit said, I think of evil profits still,
Speaker 1: if bird or devil, by that heaven that bends above us,
Speaker 1: by that god we both adore, Tell this soul was
Speaker 1: sorrow lad, and if within the distant aid and it
Speaker 1: shall clasp the sainted maiden whom the angel's name Lenore,
Speaker 1: clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angel's name Lenoir.
Speaker 1: Quote the raven nevermore be that word our sign of
Speaker 1: parting bird of fiend, I shrieked up, starting get thee
Speaker 1: back into the tempest and the night's plutonian shore. Leave
Speaker 1: no black plume as a token of the lie thy
Speaker 1: soul hath spoken, Leave my loneliness unbroken, Quit the bust
Speaker 1: above my door, Take thy beacout from my heart, and
Speaker 1: take thy form from off my door. Quote the raven nevermore,
Speaker 1: and the raven never flitting still, is sitting still, is
Speaker 1: sitting on that pallid bust of palace just above my
Speaker 1: chamber door. And his eyes of all the seeming of
Speaker 1: a demon's that is dreaming, and the lamplight or him
Speaker 1: streaming throws his shadow on the floor, And my soul
Speaker 1: from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Speaker 1: shall be lifted nevermore. This episode was brought to you
Speaker 1: an i Heeart three D audio. To experience more podcasts
Speaker 1: like this, search for i Heeart three D audio in
Speaker 1: the i heart Radio app. It was based on the
Speaker 1: article Life and Mysterious Depth of Edgar Allan Poe on
Speaker 1: how stuff Works dot Com, written by Carrie Whitney. Brainstuff
Speaker 1: is a production of I Heart Radio in partnership with
Speaker 1: how stuff Works dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang.
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