Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

Table of Contents

 

 

 

 

 

From the Pages of
The Essential Tales
and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe

A feeling, for which I have no name, has taken possession of my soul—a sensation which will admit of no analysis, to which the lessons of bygone time are inadequate, and for which I fear futurity itself will offer me no key. (from “Ms. Found in a Bottle,” page 74)

“The first thing requisite is to get yourself into such a scrape as no one ever got into before. The oven, for instance,—that was a good hit. But if you have no oven, or big bell, at hand, and if you cannot conveniently tumble out of a balloon, or be swallowed up in an earthquake, or get stuck fast in a chimney, you will have to be contented with simply imagining some similar misadventure.”

(from “How to Write a Blackwood Article,” page 143)

During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country, and at length found myself, as the shades of evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher.

(from “The Fall of the House of Usher,” page 159)

I could not help remarking and admiring (although from his rich ideality I had been prepared to expect it) a peculiar analytic ability in Dupin. He seemed, too, to take an eager delight in its exercise—if not exactly in its display—and did not hesitate to confess the pleasure thus derived. (from “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” page 200)

The “Red Death” had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal—the redness and the horror of blood.

(from “The Masque of the Red Death,” page 261)

The sweep of the pendulum had increased in extent by nearly a yard. As a natural consequence its velocity was also much greater. But what mainly disturbed me was the idea that it had perceptibly
descended.
I now observed—with what horror it is needless to say—that its nether extremity was formed of a crescent of glittering steel, about a foot in length from horn to horn; the horns upward, and the under edge evidently as keen as that of a razor.

(from “The Pit and the Pendulum,” page 274)

It was
a low, dull, quick sound—much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton.
(from “The Tell-Tale Heart,” page 285)

“The Prefect and his cohort fail so frequently, first, by default of this identification, and, secondly, by ill-admeasurement, or rather through non-admeasurement, of the intellect with which they are engaged. They consider only their
own
ideas of ingenuity; and, in searching for any thing hidden, advert only to the modes in which
they
would have hidden it.” (from “The Purloined Letter,” pages 371-372)

We continued our route in search of the Amontillado. We passed through a range of low arches, descended, passed on, and descending again, arrived at a deep crypt, in which the foulness of the air caused our flambeaux rather to glow than flame.

(from “The Cask of Amontillado,” page 430)

Published by Barnes & Noble Books
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Published in 2004 by Barnes & Noble Classics with new Introduction,
Notes, Biography, Chronology, Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales and Poems,
Comments & Questions, and For Further Reading.

 

Introduction, Notes, and For Further Reading

Copyright @ 2004 by Benjamin F. Fisher.

 

Note on Edgar Allan Poe, The World of Edgar Allan Poe, Inspired by
Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales and Poems, and Comments & Questions
Copyright © 2004 by Barnes & Noble, Inc.

 

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and
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Barnes & Noble Classics and the Barnes & Noble Classics colophon are
trademarks of Barnes & Noble, Inc.

 

ISBN-13: 978-1-59308-064-8 ISBN-10: 1-59308-064-6

eISBN : 978-1-411-43214-7

 

LC Control Number 2004102193

 

Produced and published in conjunction with:
Fine Creative Media, Inc.
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New York, NY 10001
Michael J. Fine, President and Publisher

 

Printed in the United States of America
QM
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Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, to Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins and David Poe, Jr., traveling stage actors. David Poe may have abandoned his young family in 1811; in any event, Eliza took Edgar and a newborn daughter to Richmond, Virginia, where on December 8 she died, possibly of pneumonia or tuberculosis. David, according to many, died two days later in Norfolk, Virginia.

A wealthy Richmond couple, John and Frances Allan, took Edgar into their home, and though the Allans never formally adopted him, in 1812 Edgar was christened as Edgar Allan Poe. John Allan provided Edgar with an excellent education, and the young man excelled in his studies. But tensions with his guardian developed as Edgar grew up. John Allan became weary of the discontented youth, whom he described as sulky and ill-tempered, and their relationship began a long decline.

In 1826 Edgar enrolled in the newly founded University of Virginia, where he studied ancient and modern languages. During his time at the university, he amassed large gambling debts, which John Allan refused to pay, deepening the rift between the two. Edgar left school and traveled to Boston, where he joined the army and published his first volume of verse,
Tamerlane and Other Poems,
under the pseudonym “A Bostonian.” In 1829 Edgar’s foster mother, Frances Allan, died; he returned to Richmond and reconciled with John Allan. He then obtained an early discharge from the army and applied for admission to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. While awaiting acceptance, he visited his father’s family in Baltimore, where he published
Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems.
Although he was an excellent cadet and a distinguished student, his time at West Point was short. Following a heated quarrel with John Allan, Edgar resolved to leave the Academy; to accomplish this, he ceased attending classes or church services. In 1831 he was dishonorably discharged; that same year his book
Poems
was published in New York. He returned to Baltimore, determined to be a writer, and entered a fiction contest sponsored by the
Philadelphia Saturday Courier,
though he did not win, the
Courier
published five of his stories the following year. In 1833 Edgar won another newspaper fiction contest with “MS. Found in a Bottle,” but the scant prize money did little to alleviate his financial burdens, and he tried unsuccessfully to solicit his foster father’s help. In 1834 John Allan died, leaving a large fortune, but Edgar was not named in the will.