GHENT UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF ARTS AND PHILOSOPHY
Master‘s Dissertation:
Musical Elements in Edgar Allan Poe‘s ―The Raven‖: A Literary Study
EVIE HEMERIJCKX
MASTER OF COMPARATIVE MODERN LITERATURE
PROMOTOR: PROF. DR. Vander Motten
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LITERATURE
ACADEMIC YEAR 2008 - 2009
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface ....................................................................................................................................... 3
1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 4
1.1. Research Questions .................................................................................................... 6
1.2. Research Method ........................................................................................................ 7
2. General Introduction to Edgar Allan Poe: Biography, Popularity and Music .......... 9
2.1. Biography of Edgar Allan Poe ................................................................................... 9
2.2. Edgar Allan Poe and ―The Raven‖ in Popular Culture ............................................ 11
2.2.1.
Edgar Allan Poe‘s Popularity ........................................................................... 11
2.2.2.
Modern Popularity of Edgar Allan Poe ............................................................ 12
2.3. Edgar Allan Poe and Music ...................................................................................... 17
2.3.1.
Poe‘s Fascination for Music ............................................................................. 17
2.3.2.
Poe as an Inspiration for Musicians ................................................................. 20
2.4. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 25
3. The Literary Composition of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” ................................. 26
3.1. Edgar Allan Poe‘s Literary Theory in ―The Philosophy of Composition‖ .............. 26
3.2. Influences from other Literary Works ...................................................................... 27
3.3. Striking Literary Elements in Poe‘s ―The Raven‖ ................................................... 30
3.4. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 34
4. Two Arts in Tandem: Literature and Music ............................................................... 35
4.1. A Historical Survey of Musico-Literary Studies ...................................................... 35
4.2. A General Study of the Close Relationship between Literature and Music............. 38
4.2.1.
Similarities between Literature and Music ....................................................... 38
4.2.2.
Dissimilarities between Literature and Music .................................................. 40
4.3. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 44
5. Musicality and “The Raven” ......................................................................................... 46
5.1. Musical Framework .................................................................................................. 46
5.2. Analysis of the Musical Elements in Edgar Allan Poe‘s ―The Raven‖ ................... 49
5.2.1.
Adaptation of Literary Elements for Musical Purposes ................................... 49
5.2.2.
Imitation of the Structural Musical Principle of Repetition and Variation ...... 52
5.2.3.
Imitation of Traditional Musical Elements ...................................................... 53
5.2.4.
Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 59
5.3. First Modern Musical Setting: Lou Reed and ―The Raven‖ .................................... 61
5.3.1.
Structural Musical Principle of Repetition and Variation ................................ 61
5.3.2.
Traditional Musical Elements: Rhythm, Melody and Establishment of Mood 64
5.3.3.
Poe as Source of Inspiration ............................................................................. 69
5.3.4.
Difference in Content ....................................................................................... 70
5.3.5.
Lou Reed‘s other Musical Settings of Poe‘s Works ........................................ 72
5.3.6.
Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 73
5.4. Second Modern Musical Setting: The Alan Parsons Project and ―The Raven‖ ....... 76
5.4.1.
Structural Musical Principle of Repetition and Variation ................................ 76
5.4.2.
Traditional Musical Elements: Rhythm, Melody and Establishment of Mood 78
5.4.3.
Poe as Source of Inspiration ............................................................................. 82
5.4.4.
Difference in Content ....................................................................................... 83
5.4.5.
The Alan Parsons Project‘s other Musical Settings of Poe‘s Works ............... 85
5.4.6.
Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 86
6. Conclusions ..................................................................................................................... 88
List of Works Cited ................................................................................................................ 92
Appendices .............................................................................................................................. 97
3
Preface
I would like to take this opportunity to thank a number of people. First of all, Prof. dr. J.P.
Vander Motten, who, although the subject of my dissertation does not immediately lie within
his field of study, was prepared to undertake the task of being my promotor. During the past
academic year, he has provided me with firm direction and support.
Naturally, a special thanks also goes to my parents, not only for giving me the chance to
follow these interesting studies, but also for always being there for me to fall back on for
advice.
A final word of thanks goes to my sister, brothers and my friend Klaas for their moral
support and encouraging words.
4
1. Introduction
Edgar Allan Poe is known almost universally. Considered as one of America‘s great
authors, he wrote such popular short stories as ―The Tell-Tale Heart‖ and ―The Fall of the
House of Usher‖, as well as the famous poem ―The Raven‖. Popular from its first publication
in 1845, ―The Raven‖ is still a favourite among Americans, even today.
Though Poe is now known mainly as having been a writer and a poet, in his day he was
also known as an ambitious literary critic and editor. Had he lived today, he would be one of
the richest man of letters alive. However, living in the nineteenth century and being one of the
first in America to try to earn a living only through his writings, he endured hard times in both
his personal and his career. His struggles are reflected throughout his work.
―Who has not been influenced by Poe?‖, Joyce Carol Oates once asked (Vines
Introduction 2). It seems like Poe is spread through all cultural areas: many critics, for
instance, see Poe as an important contributor to the genre of horror. He inspired many writers,
including the French symbolists Mallarmé and Baudelaire – known as ‗the cursed poets‘.
Especially Baudelaire was fascinated by Poe: he was the first translator of Poe‘s works into
French and introduced him into European literature (Vines Introduction 1). Another inspired
author was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who created the detective Sherlock Holmes (Kopley and
Hayes 196). This particular author even stated in 1908 that all detective fiction writers, in one
way or another, are indebted to Poe: ―Each may find some little development of his own, but
his main art must trace back to those admirable stories of Monsieur Dupin, so wonderful in
their masterful force, their reticence, their quick dramatic point‖ (qtd. in Peeples 139).
His influence, though, is not limited to the literary field, as his vivid imagination has also
been an inspiration for many painters, among them the Belgian surrealist René Magritte
(Meyers 333). In this thesis, the focus is specifically on the relationship between Edgar Allan
Poe and music.
5
As yet, few studies of this relationship have been made. Nevertheless, Poe himself was
quite convinced of the positive influence of music on literature and in several essays
suggested that there should be a closer connection between the two arts: in the essay ―The
Poetic Principle‖, for example, he argued why music should be connected with poetry:
Contenting myself with the certainty that Music, in its various modes of metre, rhythm,
and rhyme, is of so vast a moment in Poetry as never to be wisely rejected […] We are
often made to feel, with a shivering delight, that from an earthly harp are stricken
notes which cannot have been unfamiliar to the angels. And thus there can be little
doubt that in the union of Poetry with Music in its popular sense, we shall find the
widest field for the Poetic development. (Poe ―The Poetic Principle‖ 98-99)
This thesis, thus, is an attempt to add something meaningful to the literature on the subject.
Firstly, there is a theoretical analysis of Poe‘s poem ―The Raven‖ and an exploration of
the aspects relating to music. Secondly, in a more practically oriented section, the musical
elements of ―The Raven‖ are compared with two musical settings of the poem. The entire
study itself breaks down into several parts.
In a first part, the literary features of ―The Raven‖ are set out, so that the general
composition of the poem can be grasped. In a second, the musical elements that Poe applied
to ―The Raven‖ are examined, including rhyme schemes, rhythm and melody. In a third part,
two pieces of music are taken as case studies, with a view to a practical examination of the
musical elements of ―The Raven‖ and how they are interpreted by real musicians. The first
musical example is a composition by Lou Reed, who set the poem as a spoken song. The
second musical example is a composition by the group The Alan Parsons Project, which set
the poem as an electronical rock song. Using these two different musical compositions, the
attempt is made to explain how ―The Raven‖ is composed in musical terms and how these
two songs, each in its own specific way, have adopted and elaborated the general musical
6
elements that are present in Poe‘s literary work. Finally, several conclusions are drawn from
all this and answers given to the research questions postulated.
1.1. Research Questions
In this thesis, the two main subjects are the poem ―The Raven‖ by Edgar Allan Poe and
the musical elements it displays. In other words, the main focus is the interaction between
music and poetry, which is examined in detail by means of two musical case studies. The two
central research themes of this thesis are:
1. Examination of the musical elements of the poem “The Raven”
2. Examination of the musical settings of “The Raven”, on the basis of two case
studies
These themes permit several research questions to be formulated, which will be examined,
supplementary to the first two questions.
The first research theme specifically handles Poe‘s poem ―The Raven‖. In this part, the
questions deal for the greater part with Poe trying to bring music into his poetry: how did he
apply musical elements to his literary work? How did he adopt the rhyme scheme to his intent
in musical terms? How did his use of alliteration affect the musical elements in ―The Raven‖?
The second research theme deals with the two chosen musical settings of Poe‘s ―The
Raven‖. The supplementary questions to this theme are about the musical elements Poe used
in his poem and how they are applied in the context of a real musical setting. Some of these
questions are: how do the two settings make separate use of the structural principle repetition
and variation? Is there any difference between them? How did the two composers concerned
incorporate the musical elements used in Poe‘s ―The Raven‖? A last question connected with
7
this second research theme, concerns the interpretative aspect of the musical adaptations: the
two songs will be compared with the original poem to see if there are any differences in
content and if the two composers had the same conception of the poem.
Before the musical analysis of the poem and the two settings, however, the question will
be answered whether the musical elements were intended by Poe. In other words, a context
around his musicality will be formed: his popularity, his interest in music, the different
musical settings of his work, etc.
There are also several aspects that fall outside the scope of this thesis: for instance, the
impact of Poe‘s popularity on commercial society. It is almost impossible to present a study
of Poe‘s worldwide influence within a limited thesis of approximately 25000 words. In
addition, the reciprocal influence between Poe and music is examined, but not his influence
on other of the arts, such as painting or literature, or indeed the cinema, as that requires a
different approach and different methods of research.
1.2. Research Method
This thesis sets out to answer the stated research questions by means of a literary analysis.
First of all, it is necessary to look at the life and popularity of Edgar Allan Poe in general and
the composition of his poem ―The Raven‖ in literary terms. Without any notion of his life, a
relevant aspect is missed when studying his works. Furthermore, examining the general
composition and the literary qualities of ―The Raven‖ is important to obtain an overall idea of
Poe‘s intentions and working method. Otherwise, without this general examination, it would
be impossible to grasp the musical elements of the poem. During the search for relevant
material, a thorough analysis of available documents, essays, websites and books has been
made.
8
A second step in the research was the development of a theoretical framework, apt for the
musical analysis of the two musical compositions. Constructing this framework, the most
important musical elements were examined and taken as parameters for the two case studies.
For this part, recourse was had to scientific publications and websites.
In a final step, the musical framework developed was applied to the two case studies.
Information was taken from audio material, websites, music magazines and essays.
The focus of this thesis on literary material has a specific disadvantage: mainly secondary
sources had to be used, as it was virtually impossible to interview privileged witnesses. In
addition, it is important to add that the aim of this thesis is to provide a general idea of Poe‘s
use of musical elements. As stated above, few studies have been devoted to this subject,
which is why it was thought more useful to give a comprehensive general overview of this
difficult matter than to give details not based on reliable sources.
9
2. General Introduction to Edgar Allan Poe: Biography,
Popularity and Music
2.1. Biography of Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809, the child of David and
Elizabeth Poe. He had one brother and sister: Henry and Rosalie. His mother Elizabeth died in
1811, when he was only two years old. She had separated from her husband and taken the
three children with her, leaving them behind as orphans after her death. The three children
were separated and Edgar was taken in by Mr. and Mrs. John Allan of Richmond. Never
legally adopted, Poe took Allan‘s name for his middle name. John Allan was a successful
merchant, which translated into a good education for the young Edgar, who grew up in good
surroundings and went to top-class schools. When he was seventeen years old, Poe went to
the University of Virginia. At university, his drinking problem first manifested itself and he
quickly ran into debt. John Allan refused to pay them, resulting in Poe leaving school less
than a year later. During his stay at university, Poe wrote a number of short stories, but little is
known of these early works.
After his adventure at the University of Virginia, Poe found himself penniless and without
a job. All that was left to him was to join the U.S. Army, which he did in 1827 in Boston
under an assumed name, Edgar A. Perry. In 1830, he entered West Point as a cadet,
attempting to obtain some financial support from John Allan. When this plan failed, he looked
to gain his release and in 1831 was discharged for intentional neglect of his duties. After this
experience, he left for New York City, where he had some poetry published. According to
Roberto Giordano‘s biography, he also offered some stories to a number of magazines, but
they were all rejected. In 1835, after years of struggling, he finally found a job as an editor, as
a result of a contest he had won with his short story, ―The Manuscript Found in a Bottle‖.
This represented the start of a career on the staff of various magazines, among others the
10
Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond (1835-37), Burton's Gentleman's Magazine in
Philadelphia (1839-40), and Graham's Magazine (1842-43). During these years, he wrote
some of his most popular stories, such as ―The Fall of the House of Usher‖, ―The Murders in
the Rue Morgue‖ and ―The Gold Bug‖.
It was during this period that Poe married his cousin, Virginia, who was fourteen years
younger. Unfortunately, he did not find happiness in marriage either: for most of their married
life, she was invalid and eventually died of tuberculosis. It is thought that ―The Raven‖ dates
from the time of her illness.
When, in 1844, Virginia‘s health weakened, they moved together with Poe‘s aunt to the
country, just outside New York City, where they found accommodation at the farm house of
the Brennans, a hospitable Irish family. This stay represented a short period of peace for Poe,
during which he finished his poem ―The Raven‖. Back in New York, he found employment at
the Evening Mirror, the magazine in which ―The Raven‖ was published in January 1845
under Poe‘s pseudonym, Quarles. The poem was such a great success that the editor of the
Evening Mirror, Mr. Willis, reprinted it, this time including the author‘s name together with
an introduction to the poem. In spite of his popularity, however, Poe still suffered financial
problems: due to the lack of any copyright laws, anyone could copy and publish the poem
without paying a dime to Poe himself (Mankowitz 173-181). In his biography of Poe,
Giordano underlined the irony of Poe not having an easy life, pointing out that he would
probably have been one of the richest authors in the world had he lived now.
The final period of Poe‘s life saw him writing some of his other popular poems: ―The
Bells‖, ―Ulalume‖ and ―Annabel Lee‖, as well as the ambitious ―Eureka‖. On 3 October 1849,
Poe died in the hospital of Baltimore, four days after he was found in a delirious condition.
11
2.2. Edgar Allan Poe and “The Raven” in Popular Culture
Throughout his life, Edgar Allan Poe wanted to be a popular author. If his ambition was
not fully realized when he was alive, it certainly was after his death. It is interesting to take a
closer look at how his popularity grew over the years and how it finally reached the
composers of the two musical compositions in the case studies here. These two musical
settings of ―The Raven‖ are excellent proof that Poe is still very much ―alive‖ in the twentyfirst century.
2.2.1. Edgar Allan Poe’s Popularity
Since 1850, Poe‘s writings have appeared in hundreds of publications. On the basis of
relatively few poems that he wrote, however, it seems somewhat surprising that he is still
known today and that he has the status of a great poet. Several factors have played an
important role in this achievement, one of which is the popularity of the poem ―The Raven‖.
Right from the moment of the first publication, readers loved it and people quoted the refrain.
It has been an inspiration to many poets and parodies appeared already shortly after the first
publication. Poe himself was frequently asked to recite the poem at gatherings and was
sometimes even referred to as ―the raven‖ (Kopley and Hayes 191-196).
―The Raven‖ was such a success from the moment of its publication that Kenneth
Silverman has compared its reception to that accorded to ―some uproariously successful hit
song today‖ (237-238). Within a month after its first publication, the poem had already been
reprinted several times and had been praised by many newspapers. One of the papers
appreciative of it was the New World: ―Everybody reads the Poem and praises it […] justly,
we think, for it seems to us full of originality and power‖ (Silverman, 237-238). It was Poe‘s
own lifelong desire to be successful and with this poem he made a deliberate effort to
accomplish that goal (Neimeyer 207-208). He even explained in his essay, the ―Philosophy of
12
Composition‖, that he wanted ―The Raven‖ to be ―a poem that should suit at once the popular
and the critical taste‖ (Poe 166).1
This essay contains an explanation of the so-called rational composition of the poem. It
became so well-known, that the process described of making a poem was taken as a guide by
other poets (Kopley and Hayes 195-196). The French symbolist Stephane Mallarmé, for
instance, wrote ―The more I work, the more I will be faithful to the strict ideas that my great
master Edgar Poe bequeathed to me. The remarkable poem The Raven was created according
to his ideas. And the soul of the reader responds absolutely as the poet intended (Kopley and
Hayes 196)‖.
Apparently, however, not everyone appreciated Poe as much as the French symbolists.
Aldous Leonard Huxley, for example, considered Poe‘s works too vulgar and did not
acknowledge him as one of the major English-speaking poets (Huxley 160). Today, the essay
is often mentioned in studies about Poe and his most popular poem, but it is now regarded
more as an intellectual hoax (Kopley and Hayes 195-196).
2.2.2. Modern Popularity of Edgar Allan Poe
a) Explanation of his Modern Popularity
160 years after his death, the works of Edgar Allan Poe are still very popular. This
popularity is based upon a dual fascination. In the first place is the fascination felt by readers
of all times for his works: especially ―The Raven‖ has never lost its pull (Reilly 471-472).
Richard Kopley and Kevin Hayes even stated that: ―The poem about the bird of ill omen
visiting the melancholy student is a shared cultural property‖ (191). In the second is the
fascination in Poe‘s life: people are not so much interested in the historical Poe, but in the
mythical image of a tormented spirit that has grown around him (Reilly 472).
1
―The Philosophy of Composition‖, Edgar Allan Poe: see Appendix 1.
13
Poe‘s literary works are the greatest cause of his immense popularity: his poems and
thrilling short stories appeal, even today, to many readers (Neimeyer 205-224). Just as people
run to the cinema for the latest horror film to get a good scare, they like to read Poe‘s gothic
stories of premature burial or shipwreck (Kennedy 3-17).
Moreover, his works are rather easily appropriated to the various dimensions of popular
culture, because it was his own goal to make his work pleasing to a large audience. He
integrated several elements of popular culture into his poems and tales, and the reason for this
is twofold. First of all, he had a natural fascination for the vogues of his day and paid great
attention to the popular culture of the time. Secondly, there were his close ties with the
periodical press, which regularly used elements of popular culture, a practice picked up by
Poe in his work with several magazines.
The modern fascination with Edgar Allan Poe also stems from his extraordinary life: more
practically, his real life overlaid by the myth of fantasy that has grown around his name. Poe
is often seen as the classic example of the mad genius or the suffering Romantic artist. This
myth arose from several biographical elements being blown up out of proportion. The first
was his problem with alcohol: this has often been exaggerated, and his one documented use of
laudanum – a mixture of alcohol and opium – has been transformed into a lifelong opium
habit. A second is Poe‘s marriage to his thirteen-year-old cousin, Virginia, a fact rarely
mentioned without the suggestion that Poe suffered from some defective sexuality. A third
and final element concerns the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death, the unknown
cause of which has been the subject of several theories.
Ironically, the Poe legend was initiated by Rufus Griswold, who in fact was far from
trying to create a mythical status for the figure of Edgar Allan Poe. Griswold was Poe‘s
literary executor and he tried to describe the writer as a reckless and drunken maniac who did
not deserve the least bit of admiration. His account of Poe‘s life is everything but an objective
14
description of the biographical facts. He even stated that ―the remarkable poem of The Raven
was probably more nearly than has been supposed, even by those who were very intimate
with him, a reflection and an echo of his own history‖ (Neimeyer 211). Even today, it is this
subjective portrayal of Poe that is best known to the wider audience, rather than the real
historical facts of his life (Neimeyer 205-224). This shaping and spreading of a certain image
of Poe, and the different ways this image came in touch with popular culture and with Poe‘s
works, has been called ―The Poe effect‖ by modern scholars (Peeples 126).
b) The Commercial Exploitation of Edgar Allan Poe
One of the most significant aspects of Poe‘s modern popularity has been his exploitation
for commercial aims. His name and writings have even been linked to things that have
nothing in common with him. A fine example of this is the Baltimore Ravens, an NFL
professional football team that, without any clear reason, in 1996 chose to name itself after
Poe‘s most famous poem. The only link with Poe is the city of Baltimore. As Neimeyer
beautifully puts it, Poe, with this appropriation, receives a ―fin-de-siècle apotheosis as one of
popular culture‘s favorite sons‖ (205).
There is even Raven Beer, which made use of Poe‘s popularity for its advertising: a
publicity poster for this beer pictured a dark-haired woman standing in front of Poe‘s original
burial stone in Baltimore, holding a rose; the poster caption read: ―Raven Beer. The taste is
poetic‖ (Neimeyer 205). Besides this, Poe‘s image has appeared on coffee mugs, alarm clocks,
T-shirts, bookmarks, buttons, postcards, refrigerator magnets and mouse pads, none of which
– obviously – have any direct link with the author‘s life or works; the sole aim is to profit
from Poe‘s popularity.
A last example of this commercial exploitation – the Edgar Allan Poe Awards, given
annually by the Mystery Writers of America – has a relatively closer link with Poe. These
15
awards have at least a literary connection with the author, albeit not a very strong one, Poe
being considered more as a literary symbol in this context (Neimeyer 205-224).
c) Edgar Allan Poe’s Popularity in the Various Arts
Over the years, Poe‘s fame has spread through the many dimensions of popular culture. In
our modern and technological times, familiarity with his works stems more from the different
adaptations for the screen, stage and radio than from the actual reading of them (Reilly 487).
The sector of popular culture that has turned to Poe‘s life and works the most is the
cinema. Since the first decade of the twentieth century, many directors have been inspired by
his works and a lot of film producers have used pieces of his works as inspiration and
incorporated aspects of his - mythical - life into their own works (Neimeyer 216-220).
According to Peeples, a trio of Universal films were even so important that they strongly
affirmed Poe‘s place in modern pop culture. These three films were produced in the 1930s,
the first golden age of horror films, each starring Bella Lugosi and Boris Karloff: ―The
Murders in the Rue Morgue‖ (1932), ―The Black Cat (1934), and ―The Raven‖ (1935). They
caused a shift in the image people had of Poe: from the suffering romantic poet to the
godfather of horror (134). Also more recently, film producers have been inspired by his works,
including Quentin Tarantino, Brian De Palma and Alfred Hitchcock (Magistrale 32).
Other spheres influenced by Poe are art and music. Major painters inspired by him include
Paul Gauguin, James Ensor, Henri Matisse and René Magritte. In 1932, for example, Matisse
made a sketch called ―Le Tombeau d‘Edgar Poe‖, a portrait of the author with assymmetrical
face and long nose. Another example is the Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte who,
during a visit to New York in 1966, visited a cottage where Poe had lived to honor and thank
him for his inspiration (Meyers 333-334).
In music, Poe has been the source of inspiration for both classical composers and modern
pop musicians, though his influence on classical composers has been more pronounced in
16
Europe than in America. The well-known French composer Claude Debussy, for example,
often declared Poe‘s profound effect on his music and is considered to be not only the
classical composer the most influenced by Poe, but also the greatest Poe enthusiast among
classical composers (Pollin 495-517). He said that Poe ―possessed the most original fantasy
among the literature of all lands; he found a note absolutely new and different‖ (Evans 26).
Many other, ‗less talented‘ composers, too, have created musical settings for Poe‘s poems
(Meyers 333-334). Also for modern pop musicians, Poe‘s significance is worldwide. He has
been an inspiration for artists of various genres, ranging from rock to metal groups (Neimeyer
220-222).
17
2.3. Edgar Allan Poe and Music
2.3.1. Poe’s Fascination for Music
Edgar Allan Poe is known as a very musical poet: his interest in music lays behind the
classical effect and tone of his verses, the typical melody and the fluent rhythms. He also
devoted much critical writing to the discussion of the relationship between music and verse.
However, few critics have yet recognized that Poe deliberately applied musical principles and
few studies have been made that examine the musical qualities of his works (Charmenz 125160).
In the early twenthieth century, there have also been other poets who wrote down their
ideas about music, such as T.S Eliot and Ezra Pound. The latter even claimed that ―poetry is a
composition of words set to music‖ (qtd. in Ingham 236). Moreover, some critics even stated
that it would be almost impossible to understand Pound‘s poetry without knowing his ideas
about the interrelationship of poetry and music (Ingham 236-248).
Poe, nonetheless, was the first to write so much about the importance of music in poetry.
No other poet had up to his time so fully acknowledged the importance of music on metre,
rhythm and rhyme. He was aware of the great influence of musical principles on poetry, and
even referred directly to music and sound in his poems. Everything he cared for seemed to be
connected with music. Many readers of his poetry have been sensitive to the musical qualities
in his verse and are convinced that, for him, music had an incredible power, but few have
actually realized that he deliberately strove to imitate music.
According to his own claims, Poe was already interested at a young age in metrics and,
even today, he is still remembered as a great metrist. Together with a great number of lyrical
poets, Poe rebelled against the syllabic system with its consequent stereotyped patterns that
consisted of feet, long vowels and short vowels, and he thoroughly examined the other
possibilities of metre. Like all the other lyrical poets, his own verse was free from the rules of
18
the syllabic system which divided the lines into a strict number of syllables. According to Poe,
there are only six metrical feet by which all poetry can be scanned: the spondee, the trochee,
the iambus, the anapest, the dactyl and the caesura. His view is reflected practically in ―The
Raven‖, where he used a trochaic octameter. Professor Fagin, who wrote ―The Histrionic Mr.
Poe‖, said of Poe‘s rhythms: ―Iambs, trochees, dactyls, anapests, spondees, long vowels and
short vowels, alliteration and assonance, and medial and terminal rhymes were, for him, more
than devices for adornment, more than mere frills; they were means by which the poet
approaches as closely as possible to music‖ (qtd. in Charmenz 141). Moreover, Poe had the
idea of treating his words as if they were combinations of syllables and tried to take as little
account as possible of their external meaning. In this way, he was able to work with a series
of syllables in a way most comparable to that of a musician who works with a series of notes.
Such treatment of his words brought Poe‘s work again a step closer to music. This
characteristic is a good illustration of the point of view Poe took in the debate that dominated
the nineteenth century, which pitted programme music against absolute music (Charmenz
125-160).
For, in this century, many composers and music critici debated whether absolute music or
programme music was the ―best‖ kind of music. On the one hand, there were composers, such
as Wagner, who condemned absolute music, because it had no extramusical connotations.
They favoured programme music, because this kind of music included a finite and external
meaning. On the other hand, there were such people as the music critic Eduard Hanslick who
praised absolute music, just because it has no reference to an external subject matter. The
latter was also the opinion of Poe (―Absolute Music‖). He chose the side of absolute music,
because he found it essential that music has no extramusical connotations.
His interest in this specific art was also stimulated by his own musical talent, which was
often demonstrated in singing his most musical poems. His voice for speaking and singing
19
was frequently praised and called ―low‖, ―musical‖, and ―exquisitely expressive‖ (Charmenz
127). It was also capable of the finest variations in intonation, which made his performances
of ―The Raven‖ and other poems enchanting (Charmenz 125-160). A listener during one of
those recitals afterwards recalled that Poe did everything to achieve this specific enchanting
effect:
He would turn down the lamps till the room was almost dark, then standing in the
centre of the apartment he would recite those wonderful lines in the most melodious of
voices; gradually becoming more and more enthused… he forgot time, spectators, his
personal identity… To the listeners came the sounds of falling rain and waving
branches; the Raven flapped his dusky wings above the bust of Pallas, and the lovely
face of Lenore appeared to rise before them. So marvellous was his power as a reader
that the auditors would be afraid to draw breath lest the enchanted spell be broken.
(Fagin 52-53)
Moreover, he was interested in diverse musical genres: his letters, tales and critical
essays, exhibit a profound familiarity with concert music and interest in theatre, the concert
hall, chamber music and, most of all, vocal music. He wrote music criticism with knowledge
of the material and was at ease in discussing the music of Mendelssohn and Mozart. Further
proof of his passion for music was his love of the lyrical verses of Burns, Moore and Byron.
In a letter to James Lowell, also a poet and a critic, Poe demonstrated his love for both music
and verse and showed his preference for those poets who were closely attached to musical
forms and expressions:
I am profoundly excited by music, and by some poems – those of Tennyson especially
– whom, with Keats, Shelley, Coleridge (occasionally) and a few others of like
thought and expression, I regard as the sole poets. Music is the perfection of the soul,
or idea, of Poetry. The vagueness [and] exultation arouse[ed by] a sweet air (which
20
should be strictly indefinite & never too strongly suggestive) is precisely what we
should aim at in poetry... .(qtd. In Charmenz 128)
In this quotation, Poe also pointed to the vagueness of music, which was a serious
preoccupation in the nineteenth century, and to the feeling that poetry should strive for the
same end. In addition, he shared the period‘s feeling for the greatness of music and its effect
upon the soul of man, and stated that poetry can elevate and excite the soul in the same
manner as music does. He also acknowledged the long historical parallel between music and
poetry and did not hesitate to acclaim the union of the two. The quotation indeed underlines
the inevitability of music finding its way into Poe‘s writings.
Because of the musical quality of his verse, many composers have thought his works
appropriate for setting to music. But he was not a songwriter and most of their efforts failed,
the musical settings being seen as inferior to the actual poems: in fact, the poems lost their
essential melody and varied metrical pattern when set to music (Charmenz 125-160). That
said, there have also been composers who took account of Poe not being a song-writer, and
who succeeded in their settings of his work.
2.3.2. Poe as an Inspiration for Musicians
a) Sources of Inspiration
In Edgar Allan Poe, there is a two-way process, as it were, in respect of music. Not only
was he himself influenced by musical elements, his work has, over the years, inspired
numerous and diverse composers. Burton Pollin, for instance, has made a count of the number
of times texts of Poe have been set to music over a thirty-two year period and has come up
with a figure of approximately 940.
At first sight, it seems somewhat odd that an author should influence a musician.
Nevertheless, when Poe‘s fascination for music is taken into account, it can be seen that the
influence he has had on musicians is not entirely coincidental. That influence stems from the
21
stress he placed on the interconnectedness of poetry and music in many of his book reviews,
his major essays on poetry, and short reflections. One of his statements in this respect comes
from his March 1842 review of Longfellow‘s ―Ballads‖: ―[In] Music..., one of the moods of
poetical development...the soul most nearly attains, the creation of supernal beauty...The
highest possible development of the Poetical Sentiment is to be found in the union of song
with music‖ (qtd. In Pollin 503). Especially nineteenth-century writers in France and their
musical associates turned to his work for inspiration in their own.
One particular aspect that makes Poe‘s work so special is the wide range of tones he used,
from humour and light satire to the grotesque or the morbid. He is seen as a provider of
several humorous, dramatic, gripping, dreamy and narratively simple plots for short operas
and tone poems, and for dance works of every type, ranging from formal ballets to avantgarde experimental productions. Poe was an exceptional author, if only for the fact that he
was the inspiration for settings in such a great variety of musical forms (Pollin 495-505).
b) A Short Overview of Classical Musical Settings of Poe’s Work
Composers and musicians probably first became acquainted with Poe‘s work through the
publication in the 1850s of The Works of the late Edgar Allan Poe, a well-edited and
illustrated edition. During that period, it was customary for settings to be chiefly for solo
voice and piano. Frequently, these songs gained popularity through publication in a music
magazine, as was the case with Samuel Beman‘s 1850 ―Raven‖ in The Nightingale. Later in
the nineteenth century, in both Great Britain and the USA, settings became more elaborate as
Poe‘s popularity grew and publishers and composers attempted to gain greater profit.
Examples of these elaborate forms are George Fox‘s ―The Bells‖, a cantata of 1876; Frederick
Lacy‘s ―Annabel Lee‖ of 1887 for soloist, chorus and orchestra; and ―The Bells‖, a cantata of
1888 by D. Ezechiels. However, due to changes in public taste, personal inspiration and
perhaps also the innovative tendencies of French and Russian musical circles, settings from
22
the 1890s onwards showed greater ingenuity and variety. The growing respect for Poe as a
librettist or ―parolier‖, for example, led to many recitations of his work with accompanying
music being provided by piano, other instruments or a whole orchestra. In 1866, for example,
George Parker, in Cincinatti, published eight stanzas of ―The Raven‖ as a ―recitative chant‖,
and added a musical tone to it. In 1894, Stanley Hawley, British composer and pianist,
published ―The Bells‖ and ―The Raven‖ and, in 1898, ―Lenore‖ – all as recitations with piano.
This musical form appears very archaic to the modern listener, nowadays, but even in the
twentieth century it was commonly resorted to in putting Poe‘s works to music. In 1905, Max
Heinrich‘s ―Raven‖ recitation with piano came out in Cincinatti. In 1909, Arthur Bergh at the
piano assisted David Bisham in the melodrama ―The Raven‖ and a month later conducted the
orchestra for it at Carnegie Hall. In 1980, in Baltimore, Leonard Slatkin conducted his own
orchestral music for ―The Raven‖, with the voice part being taken by the cult actor Vincent
Price (Pollin 495-517).
c) Popular Musical Settings of “The Raven” in the Twentieth and Twenty-First
Century
Classic composers as well as modern artists of popular music consider Poe a thankful
source of inspiration. In the twentieth and twenty-first century, several songs based on Poe‘s
works were released by musicians of diverse genres, many of which gothic and metal bands.
For instance, The German black metal band Agathodaimon integrated ―The Raven‖ entirely in
the song ―Les Posédes‖ for its album Higher Art of Rebellion (Booklet). Another example is
the American gothic horror band Nox Arcana. This band released in 2007 an album entitled
Shadow of the Raven, including three songs that directly refer to ―The Raven‖: ―Midnight
Dreary‖, ―The Raven‖ and ―Nevermore‖. Even the title of the album is a clear reference to the
poem. The group itself explains on their official website what exactly it is that attracted them
to Poe: ―Nox Arcana pays tribute to the classic tales of the literary master of the macabre with
23
a lush musical tapestry of Victorian elegance and Gothic nightmares.‖ The fascination for Poe
and his works even resulted in an American metal band taking its name from the refrain of
―The Raven‖: ―Nevermore‖.
Poe‘s popularity in the metal and gothic scene can be explained looking at the relationship
between his works and the gothic tradition. Many critics consider Poe a master of the Gothic
horror tale, which stereotypically creates a macabre atmosphere and is meant to scare the
reader. This Gothic atmosphere was often present in Poe‘s stories, such as ―The Haunted
Palace‖, ―The Pit and the Pendulum‖ and ―The Fall of the House of Usher‖. Moreover,
several of his poems, including ―The Raven‖, are sometimes called ―Gothic stories in verse‖
(Fisher 81). These Gothic settings of Poe‘s works appeal, thus, to many fans and musicians of
the metal genre (Fisher 72-91).
However, not only metal or gothic bands found inspiration in the works of Edgar Allan
Poe. Also other musicians, from very diverse genres, dedicated some of their music to the
American poet. The rapper MC Lars, for instance, has a track on his album The Laptop EP
with the name ―Mr. Raven‖. The lyrics of this song include some lines taken directly from
―The Raven‖, other lines are slightly modified: ―Lamplight over him still streaming, hear my
screaming, hear me screaming! / My soul still floats there on that floor and shall be lifted
nevermore.‖
Another genre that has been inspired by Poe is rock. An example of this genre is the
Argentinian rock band Los Tipitos: its song ―Campanas en la Noche‖ (―Bells in the Night‖) is
loosely based upon ―The Raven‖, for it tells the story of a man longing for the return of his
lover. In 1997, another album with stories of Poe was made by a collective of blues and rock
singers together with several Hollywood actors, entitled Closed on Account of Rabies: Tales
and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. Among the artists contributing to this album were Marianne
Faithful narrating ―Alone‖, Christopher Walken reciting ―The Raven‖ and Deborah Harry
24
delivering a jazz interpretation of ―The City and the Sea‖ (Magistrale 30). In this genre the
two compositions can be detected, which are chosen for the musical analysis of this thesis:
Lou Reed with his album The Raven and The Alan Parsons Project with the concept album
Tales of Mystery and Imagination.
25
2.4. Conclusion
This general introduction to Edgar Allan Poe and his fascination for music was a necessary
prelude to a closer examination of his musicality, just one facet of his talents. His life was a
struggle, which was frequently reflected in his works. Some critics even see several
biographical elements in ―The Raven‖, though these are not fully proven. Moreover, it was
the publication of that poem that triggered the definitive start of Poe‘s immense popularity,
which has continued right down to the present day, as illustrated by the two case studies.
Besides music, his fame has spread also through other dimensions of popular culture: cinema,
painting and even commercial society.
Furthermore in this chapter, explanation of the relationship between Poe and music was
given, which rooted in his childhood with studies of metrics and prosody. Grown up, he wrote
several essays about music and was often praised for his musical talent.
This explanation already answers one research question: Poe, indeed, deliberately applied
musical elements to his own work. The study of Poe‘s popularity and knowledge of his
interests indicated that the musical elements present in his work are not a coincidence. He
knew exactly how to apply them, also in ―The Raven‖, and his purpose in this was to bring
literature and music closer together. It is apparent that he succeeded in his aim, as witnessed
by the many musicians who in turn, have been fascinated and influenced by him.
The influence Poe experienced from music was, thus, a two-way process: also musicians
were inspired by Poe. This inspiration was partly caused by himself, stressing the
interconnectedness of poetry and music in many of his essays, short reflections and book
reviews. A short overview of inspired classical composers and pop musicians helped to put
the two musicians of the case studies into the right musical context and makes it possible to
assess their importance in the field of music.
26
3. The Literary Composition of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The
Raven”
Before turning to a consideration of the musical elements of ―The Raven‖, it is necessary
to understand the general composition of the poem in literary terms. What follows, thus, is a
short overview of some of the poem‘s important literary elements that help to structure the
entire composition.
First, however, a brief word on how Edgar Allan Poe thought about literary composition
in general and how he formulated this in his essay ―The Philosophy of Composition‖.
3.1. Edgar Allan Poe’s Literary Theory in “The Philosophy of
Composition”
Poe‘s essay ―The Philosophy of Composition‖ was first published in the April 1846 issue
of Graham‘s Magazine and is a fundamental source in studies on the composition of ―The
Raven‖. Therefore this essay will be frequently referred to throughout this thesis.
It is considered to be an important complement to the poem, although many do not think it
an honest explanation of the composition of the poem (Polonsky 46-49). In the essay, Poe
explained in a rather scientific and rational way why and how he composed ―The Raven‖: the
poem seems to be the result of rational thinking, where nothing is left to mere coincidence
(Kopley and Hayes 192-195):
For my own part, I have neither sympathy with the repugnance alluded to, nor, at any
time, the least difficulty in recalling to mind the progressive steps of any of my
compositions (…) I select ―The Raven‖ as most generally known. It is my design to
render it manifest that no one point in its composition is referable either to accident or
intuition- that the work proceeded step by step, to its completion, with the precision
and rigid consequence of a mathematical problem. (Poe, ―The Philosophy of
Composition‖ 165-166)
27
Additionally, he also formulated his personal ideas about poetry and fiction. He totally
reduced the value of inspiration and empathy in art, stressing technique and artistic
detachment. Poe emphasized the value of objective art, which has no link with political or
moral concerns: the subject of literary art has to be its own dynamic and intrinsic relationships
(Silverman 295-296). He saw art as an intelligent illusion which the artist controls as a
mathematical or mechanical problem.
Not everyone agreed with this vision, however: T.S. Eliot, for instance, criticized Poe of
paying no attention to the contents of ―The Raven‖, and having an eye only for the style. In
Poe‘s work, Eliot declared, ―the subject is little, the treatment is everything‖ (Polonsky 49).
3.2. Influences from other Literary Works
―The Raven‖ is well-known for its originality, although it does also include a great
number of features that remind the readers of other literary works (Silverman 530). This is a
characteristic of all artists: every author or painter is, one way or another, influenced by his or
her environment and contemporary vogues.
a) The Content
A first element that ―The Raven‖ has in common with other literary works is the use of a
symbolic bird, which is in the romantic tradition of Shelley‘s skylark and Keat‘s nightingale.
Even the choice to use this particular bird, though, was not original: Coleridge had already
written a poem called ―The Raven‖ and in Dickens‘ ―Barnaby Rudge‖ featured a bird of the
same type, named Grip (Meyers 162-163). In the following scene the atmosphere can be
picked up, which is also suggested in Poe‘s ―The Raven‖:
Barnaby had been arrested and imprisoned for his part in the Gordon Riots. Grip, the
raven, remains faithful to his master. They sit and brood in the semidarkness of the
cell, and the sunlight filters through the narrow window, casting the shadow of the
28
bars upon the floor, and Grip‘s shadow, too, when he chooses to sit upon the window
ledge. The whole atmosphere of the prison is somber and chilled. The flames of the
fiercely burning city sometimes reflect in Grip‘s eyes. (Meyers 162-163)
A second element that was common to other poems is the word nevermore. Looking at
English and continental poetry of Poe‘s time, it is seen that the words nevermore or never
more were commonly used (Silverman 530). In the poem ―A Lament‖ by P.B. Shelley, for
instance, the words never more forms the end of each stanza, just as Poe‘s ―The Raven‖:
―When will return the glory of your prime? / No more -Oh, never more!‖ (596). In this
perspective, it has many possible origins, from Byron to Longfellow (Kopley and Hayes 193).
Despite of its common use, nevermore stays an essential part of ―The Raven‖ and will
play a major role in the poem‘s musical analysis.
b) Metrical Pattern
A final element of Poe‘s ―The Raven‖ common to other works, is represented by the
stanzaic and metrical patterns. These patterns reminded the contemporary readers of a poem
by Elizabeth Barrett, ―Lady Geraldine‘s Courtship‖ (Silverman 530). Barrett‘s poem appeared
in 1844, only a year before Poe finished ―The Raven‖. Poe certainly knew this poem, because
he reviewed it in early 1845 and even acknowledged in ―The Philosophy of Composition‖ that
his poem did not have an original metre or rhythm. Suggestively, he also dedicated his 1845
collection The Raven and Other Poems to Barrett, writing in the preface to the volume: ―To
the Noblest of her Sex – To the author of The Drama of Exile – To Miss Elizabeth Barrett
Barrett, of England, I dedicate this volume with the most enthusiastic admiration and with the
most sincere esteem‖ (Meyers 161). The metre of Barrett‘s and Poe‘s poems is largely
identical: both poems consist mainly of trochaic octameters. ‗Trochaic‘ means that the poem
is composed of a series of paired syllables or feet, the first of which is stressed and the second
29
unstressed. ‗Octameter‘ indicates that each line has eight feet. To illustrate the similarity in
the metrical pattern, a comparison can be made of the first line of each poem: ―Dear my friend
and fellow-student, I would lean my spirit o‘er you!‖ and Poe‘s ―Once upon a midnight dreary,
while I pondered, weak and weary‖ (Kopley and Hayes 193). A last example not only
illustrates the identical metrical pattern and rhythm, but also the similar rhyme schemes:
―With a murmurous stir uncertain, in the air the purple curtain‖ is echoed by Poe with ―And
the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain‖ (Meyers 160-161).
However, in Poe‘s ―The Raven‖, each line of the stanzas has a slightly different pattern.
To be more precisely, the first line of each stanza is composed of eight trochees, the second of
seven and a half, the third line consists of eight trochees, the fourth of seventh and a half, just
as the the fifth line and the sixth includes three and a half trochees (Poe, ―The Philosophy of
Composition‖ 173):
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.‖ (Poe, ―The Raven‖ 1)2
2
―The Raven‖, Edgar Allan Poe: see Appendix 2.
30
3.3. Striking Literary Elements in Poe’s “The Raven”
As already indicated, every artist is influenced by several elements: his environment,
contemporary works and dominating cultural trend. However, this is not to imply that they are
not capable of producing something original or that their artistic achievement has to be
minimized. Poe himself was deeply aware of such influences and even postulated that a work
of imagination is built up mainly of an unusual combination of already existing elements.
According to him, a good artist has to possess the talent to bring together these features,
common to other literary works, and transform them into something original (Kopley and
Hayes 192-195). Applying this statement to his own poetry, Poe stated in his essay ―The
Philosophy of Composition‖ that ―for centuries, no man, in verse, has ever done or ever
seemed to think of doing an original thing‖ (Poe 172). This ―originality‖ that Poe is speaking
of, refers to the possible varieties of metre. He knew that his lines, taken separately, had
already been used before and he therefore wanted to stress his originality in the combination
into stanzas (Kopley and Hayes 192-195): ―nothing even remotely approaching this
combination has ever been attempted. The effect of this originality of combination is aided by
other unusual, and some altogether novel effects, arising from an extension of the application
of the principles of rhyme and alliteration‖ (Poe, ―The Philosophy of Composition‖ 173).
The following paragraphs set out a number of literary aspects that played a considerable
role in the composition of ―The Raven‖ and helped to shape its originality.
a) Aim of the poem
Poe wanted to write a popular and successful poem and at the same time to elevate the
soul of the reader through his work (Kopley and Hayes 192). In his attempt to accomplish
these two goals, he had a very specific subject in mind: ―the most poetical topic in the world
[…] the death […] of a beautiful woman‖ (Poe, ―The Philosophy of Composition‖ 170).
31
The problem with this topic, however, was the danger of falling into the ―hardness and
nakedness‖ of mere narrative (Poe, ―The Philosophy of Composition‖ 176). Poe‘s intention
was to enrich the implications of the tale without heading for a moral lesson, because he did
not want to fall into allegory or didacticism either. That is why he added the two concluding
stanzas. In these last stanzas, he introduced a metaphor leading the reader to begin
considering the raven and the previous lines as ―emblematical‖: ―Take thy beak from out my
heart, and take thy form from off my door!‖ / Quoth the Raven ―Nevermore!‖ (Poe, ―The
Raven‖ 6). In the musical analysis of ―The Raven‖, it will be made clear that these lines also
form the climactic point of the poem.
The meaning of the emblem, however, is only unfolded in the last line of the concluding
stanza (Silverman 239): ―And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor /
Shall be lifted – nevermore‖ (Poe, ―The Raven‖ 7).
Not all critics agreed with Poe that literature is at its best when it not does not include a
moral. Walt Whitman, for instance, praised Poe‘s talent and originality, but criticized his lack
of moral principle in his verses (73-76). Whitman, himself a poet, stated once:
For a long while, and until lately, I had a distaste for Poe‘s writings. I wanted and
still want for poetry, the clear sun shining, and fresh air blowing – the strength and
power of health, not of delirium, even amid the stormiest passions – with always
the background of the eternal moralities. Noncomplying with these requirements,
Poe‘s genius has yet conquer‘d a special recognition for itself, and I too have come
to fully admit it, and appreciate it and him. (75)
b) Role of the Narrator
A second literary aspect playing a considerable role in the literary composition of ―The
Raven‖ is the part played by the narrator, who guides the reader through the poem, towards its
32
climax. This climax plays an important role in the development of the melodic line, as will be
demonstrated in the musical analysis.
He is a young man mourning for his lost Lenore and he unintentionally reveals his
emotions as he answers the tapping at the door:
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, ―Lenore?‖
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, ―Lenore!‖
Merely this and nothing more. (Poe, ―The Raven‖ 2-3)
As the poem progresses, he becomes more and more desperate and hysterical with grief.
Many think that the narrator symbolizes Poe himself, grieving over his lost family members.
Nonetheless, in ―The Philosophy of Composition‖, Poe makes clear that there is a clear
distance between the author and the narrator, for the poem is composed on a rational basis and
not on an emotional one (Thorpe 96-97).
c) Harmony of the Literary Features
The structure of ―The Raven‖ shows such congruity that it seems as if a rational
explanation lies behind every element of the poem. Poe paid equal attention to every single
element and made sure that the whole composition was perfectly organized (Kopley and
Hayes 194). Every element seems to stand in perfect harmony with the others, and together
they form a unity.
One of the elements that received his special attention, was the indication of the place
where the action should take place: ―it has always appeared to me that a close circumscription
of space is absolutely necessary to the effect of insulated incident: — it has the force of a
frame to a picture. It has an indisputable moral power in keeping concentrated the attention,
33
and, of course, must not be confounded with mere unity of place‖ (Poe, ―The Philosophy of
Composition‖ 173). In other words, the location of the action should be a confined setting, in
order for the preferred effect to be had on the reader. In ―The Raven‖, this setting is a study
room that, in consequence of nostalgia for the lost beloved, is made sacred (Poe, ―The
Philosophy of Composition 173). This particular element is revealed to the reader in the very
first stanza, together with the time indication and the introduction of the narrator:
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,
― ‗T is some visitor,‘ I muttered, ‗tapping at my chamber door –
Only this, and nothing more.‘ (Poe, ―The Raven‖ 1 my italics)
The second stanza sharpens the detail of the first stanza. The midnight dreary, for instance,
becomes a midnight in the bleak December. This general harmony between the stanzas
extends to the more detailed phraseology: every word is cleverly selected and stands in
perfect relation to the whole poem. One of the fundamental components that secures the
harmony of the poem is Poe‘s choice of the word napping. This word is skilfully chosen and
further reading of the poem proves that it plays an important structural role: throughout the
poem, the word napping is repeated several times and stands in relation with other important
words such as tapping and rapping (Cooke 22).
Also in the chosen musical adaptations, some of these crucial words are preserved, which
is again proof of their importance in the global composition.
34
3.4. Conclusion
In this chapter, a general image about the poem‘s composition in literary terms is formed,
which is necessary to answer the research questions about the musical qualities of Poe‘s ―The
Raven‖ and the two musical adaptations. It is impossible to answer questions about the
specific musical intents of such typical literary elements as rhyme schemes and versification,
if the literary context of the poem is unknown. This context is partly shaped in Poe‘s essay
―The Philosophy of Composition‖, a fundamental source in the studies about the composition
of ―The Raven‖. It formulates Poe‘s specific ideas about poetry and fiction and explaines why
and how he composed this particular poem.
Furthermore, this chapter has divided the most important and basic literary elements of
―The Raven‖ into two parts: elements common to other literary works and striking literary
elements typical of this poem. In the first part, the elements discussed were content and
metrical pattern. Especially the latter is important to answer some of the research questions
about the metre and climax of the poem.
In the second part, three elements were discussed: the aim of the poem, the role of the
narrator and the harmony of the different literary elements. These three offer an explanation
for the specific literary composition of ―The Raven‖ and provide a context in which the
musical intentions of Poe can be placed.
35
4. Two Arts in Tandem: Literature and Music
This chapter offers a general introduction to the discipline of musico-literary studies. The
introduction commences with a short historical overview of them, covering their
development and certain theoretical lacunas that still have to be filled. Linked to this survey
is an examination of how the close relationship between the two arts developed, and the
general and structural affinities are discussed, together with the divergences. These studied
elements are the key words around which the musical analysis is structured.
4.1. A Historical Survey of Musico-Literary Studies
For centuries, intellectuals have been fascinated by the relationship between music and
literature. The fascination dates from the early period of artistic history and stems from these
two arts sharing a great number of fundamental characteristics. Although, in Classical
Antiquity, philosophers like Aristotle and Plato were already questioning the relationship, it is
only from the eighteenth century that comparative studies of literature and other arts, such as
music, have been recognized as a distinct discipline. It is not surprising that such studies
began to come steadily into vogue in that specific century, because it was an age when many
operas with librettos written by literary figures and literary scores were composed. These
marriages of music and literature, together with the later advent of programme music were the
stuff of the debate around this last and abstract music that got under way later in the
nineteenth century (Piette 5-11). This field of study developed further in the twentieth century,
when thorough analytical research into the influence of literature on music an vice versa first
began.
All these years of research have produced several very interesting and progressive studies
in this discipline. The most important inquiry is Calvin S. Brown‘s book Music and Literature:
A Comparison of the Arts, which contains the most exhaustive modern evaluation of the
36
interrelationship between music and literature (Cluck, Introduction 1). This book – on which
the musical analysis of this thesis is mainly based – is divided into four parts, the first of
which is a study of the similarities between music and literature: they both are auditive arts,
temporal arts, rely on the memory of the recipients and pay attention to the sonority, the
sentence structure and the communicative function of their respective material. The second
part studies vocal music and gives two possible methods to set a poetic text on music: a
literally method and a dramatic method. The first one tries to find a musical analogy for every
word, the second method is more subtle in suggesting the dramatic elements of the overall
situation. The third part of Brown‘s inquiry examines the influence of music on literature;
more specifically, the influence of the musical form ABA and its elaborations such as the
rondo, fuga and sonate on literature. In the last part, the influence of literature on music is
studied. Although it did not impose new forms on music, literature did cause the development
of programme music. In this inquiry, Brown subdivided programme music into descriptive
and narrative programme music. This entire study was published in 1948 and was one of the
first systematic examinations in the field of melopoesis (Brown, Music and Literature).
Another significant scholar in this interdisciplinary field of study was Steven Paul Scher,
who wrote the innovative book Literatur und Musik and several related essays. Scher‘s
inquiry, just as Brown‘s, meant a great change in musico-literary studies and subdivided the
discipline into three main parts: literature and music, literature in music, and music in
literature. These three subdivisions are, according to Scher, the major types of literary and
musical interrelationships.
The first part of the study examines the mutual influence between music and literature or
melopoesis and pays attention to vocal music, which is the simultaneous presentation of
literary work and musical work. The second part is centered around programme music, just as
Brown‘s chapter of literature‘s influence on music. The third and last part studies the
37
influence of music on literature, which can be divided into two sections: verbal music, which
makes a literary presentation of a musical composition, and word music, in which words are
used to imitate musical sound (Scher, Literatur und Musik).
Thanks to Scher, Brown and other scholars, musico-literary studies have acquired a stable
scientific background, and a considerable change of attitude regarding the seriousness of
comparative studies has taken place among scholars. Traditionally, such studies were
regarded as marginal by many academics, but now this attitude is slowly changing. The
interdisciplinary field of study is gaining recognition from hitherto rather sceptical colleagues
who have been working within the safer confines of solely comparative literary studies (Scher,
―Comparing Literature and Music‖ 159-160). It is not only literary scholars who have become
more interested in these comparative interdisciplinary studies, however, but also
musicologists and composers with a serious literary background, who have become
increasingly fascinated by musico-literary phenomena.
Although comparative studies of literature and music have gained a scientific status
through the works of these scholars, there still remain several obstacles that have to be
overcome (Cluck, Introduction 1). First of all, the discipline still lacks a solid theoretical basis:
there is no standard methodology and no organized school of thought. Moreover, there is no
organization of the material or workers in the field: in other words, musico-literary studies
still lack general organization and remain essentially an individual undertaking. It is hoped
that, with the growing interest of scholars, this lacuna will be filled in the near future (Brown,
―Musico-Literary Research‖ 202-203).
38
4.2. A General Study of the Close Relationship between Literature
and Music
Prior to examining the musical elements of Edgar Allan Poe‘s ―The Raven‖ and making a
comparison with the two case studies, a closer look has to be taken at the parallels and
divergences between music and literature. Familiarity with these basic characteristics is
essential, for some of them are important for what follows.
4.2.1. Similarities between Literature and Music
a) General Similarities
Music and literature bear comparison, because they have several fundamental elements in
common. First of all, they differ from the other arts, such as painting, sculpture and
architecture, in the way they are perceived: music and literature are auditive arts, whereas the
others are visual arts. The fact that the sense of hearing is needed to understand a literary or
musical work, is very closely linked with the feature of temporality, a second general feature
that music and literature have in common. This means that both musical and literary
compositions develop in time rather than in space, which latter is the case for the visual arts
(Brown, Music and Literature 8-10). Paintings and sculptures can be perceived as completed
and even touchable pieces of art, whereas musical and literary compositions are in a continual
state of becoming (Cluck, Preface vii). In the perception of them, musical and literary works
are a matter of process: all elements have to be perceived in consecutive order, for it is
impossible to interpret all elements of an auditory work of art in one single moment (Brown,
Music and Literature 10-11).
This goes hand in hand with a third and last, shared basic feature, which is that, in order to
understand an auditory composition, the use of the audience‘s memory and anticipation is
required. Not all the auditory elements can be interpreted directly, so the complete form of a
39
work of temporal art can only be perceived in the memory, after the perception of the whole
work (Cluck, Introduction 2-3).
b) Structural Similarity: Rhythm
In the comparison of a musical work with a literary composition, it has always to be kept
in mind that the auditory material of both music and literature is organized in a similar way.
In poetry, the main aspects in imposing order on linguistic material are rhyme, which is
essentially the repetition of sound quality, and rhythm, which includes metre, free verse and
various syntactic symmetries such as anaphora. Correspondingly in music, the main aspects in
imposing order on auditory material are pitch, which essentially determines how high or how
low a note is, and rhythm, which is indicated by the metrics of musical notation (Hertz 19).
A particular element of rhythm, present in both music and literature, is the duration of
musical notes or words. However, there is a slight difference in use between the two arts: the
duration of the auditory material is of greater importance in music than in literature. In a
literary composition, the reader is given more freedom to determine his own rhythm. In other
words, the reader is more free to determine the pronunciation of each syllable. Nevertheless, a
great number of poets have worked out a system of metrics based on syllable stress or syllable
counts to have at least some control of the duration of their words (Hertz 19-22).
All in all, rhythm is a structural element of considerable importance in both arts. In music,
it exists in the recurring beat of the measure, and in the larger groupings of phrase, theme,
section and movement. In literature, the rhythmic beat is perceivable in the foot, line, sentence,
stanza and book (Brown, ―The Poetic Use of Musical Forms‖ 146). Only one slight difference
can be seen when musical rhythms are compared to literary rhythms: the rhythms in music
exhibit wider variety than those in literature. Consequently, when a poet or a writer of novels
tries to imitate music, he must try to overcome this difference by adjusting the rhythm and
adapting several literary techniques to a more musical purpose (Hertz 20-21). One of these
40
techniques consists in the use of different types of versification: using alliteration, assonance,
consonance and special rhyme schemes, a poet can bring his literary composition another step
closer to music (Bernhard and Wolf 181).
c) Structural Similarity: Melody and Climax
Melody is a concept that is immediately associated with music, because it is one of the
elements, together with such supporting structural elements as rhythm and timbre, that help to
make the musical composition coherent. The melodic line also forms a basic structural
component in literature: without any coherent sentences, a text could not be understood.
The general structure of melody in music is similar to melody in literature: the melody in
music is organized by its length and intensity, very much like the structure of sentences in a
spoken language. The divisions of melody in music even carry the same names as the
structural divisions in linguistics: in both disciplines one can talk of phrases and sentences.
The melodic division of phrase in music, for example, is very similar to a literary phrase: it is
a meaningful unit within the larger structure of the entire piece of music. Another division
within the overall structure of the melody concerns the concept of climax. The climax, as
Schneider explains it in her article ―The Four Elements of Music: Melody, Harmony, Rhythm,
and Dynamics‖, is the high point of intensity of a musical composition. In poetry and prose,
this concept has a similar meaning: it is the point in the literary work at which the highest
level of interest and emotional response is reached (―Climax‖).
4.2.2. Dissimilarities between Literature and Music
Notwithstanding their many similarities, music and literature also have several
dissimilarities. In attempting any marriage of the two arts, the artist in question must
acknowledge the specific instances of divergeance and assimilate them in the composition.
41
a) General Divergence: Difference in Sound
A very distinct difference between the two auditive arts is the meaning that is given to
sounds. Naturally, they both use organized sounds as a basic material, but the literary sound
unit differs considerably from the musical sound unit (Bernhart and Wolf 180). In literature,
the sounds are given an external meaning and can carry semantic connotations. In music,
however, the sounds do not carry any semantic connotations at all. The only thing that matters
in a musical composition is the pure sound, without any meaning attached to it. Calvin Brown
formulated this difference nicely in his authoritative book ―Music and Literature. A
Comparison of the Arts‖: ―Broadly speaking, music is an art of sound in itself and for itself,
of sound qua sound‖ (11).
b) Structural Divergence: Use of Repetition and Variation
A structural difference between literature and music is the use of repetition and variation.
On the one hand, this structural principle is important in both arts, as is illustrated by Calvin
Brown: ―All meters depend on short-range repetition and variation, and any extended passage
in four-four time consisting entirely of four quarter notes in each measure would be as deadly
as an extended passage of blank verse with five iambs in each line‖ (Music and Literature 70).
On the other hand, the need of repetition differs in both arts. In music, the repetitions are
essential to form a coherent work and the variations to elaborate the original theme. The
repetitions have the general aim to make the hearer gradually more familiar with the theme, so
that one can understand and enjoy the masked versions of it more intensely. Repetition and
variation are such essential factors, that composers elaborated this principle and established
theme and variation as a standard form. The basic structure of this form thus consists of a
theme followed by a set of variations, which normally progress from the clear and simple to
the more difficult and elaborate.
42
In literature, there is also need for repetition and variation, but in a slightly other way than
in music. The essential difference lies not in the need for forms of contrast or variation, which
are present in both literature and music. It is in the use of repetition, however, that both arts
differ. In literature, the creative freedom of the writer steadily grows in accordance with the
length of the literary form: short forms, such as poems, ask for more repetitions than such
longer literary forms as a novel. Looking at ―The Raven‖, for example, it is clear that Poe
made abundant use of this principle. Looking at any novel at random, nevertheless, the use of
this principle has to stay within certain limits.
In music,this is just the opposite: the need for repetition grows together with the length of
the musical form (Brown, Music and Literature 102-128). Larger musical forms demand more
cases of formal repetition, because there is no difference between form and content. In
literature, these two things can be separated: thinking of a novel, for example, a reader can
remember the content, but not the actual words.
Exaggerating repetitive forms can even weaken the reader‘s interest, because they appear
as mere redundancy. In music, however, the listener normally can remember the actual notes
of a musical theme. Additionally, also in poetry some can remember the actual words,
because of the shorter length: for instance, many people can quote at least some lines from
Poe‘s ―The Raven‖.
That is why writers of novels especially have problems in achieving the effect of
originality in their variations, when they adapt the musical form of theme and variations to
their literary work. In order to resolve this problem, they have to make the literary variations
more overtly distinctive from the theme than musical variations would be, so that it cannot be
considered as simple repetition of words. Moreover, since the reader usually remembers the
content but not the words, the author should vary elements that the reader will memorize: the
rhythm, tone or imagery (Brown, ―Theme and Variations‖ 74-76).
43
A final, rather technical problem that occurs when a writer looks to apply the standard
musical form of theme and variation to his literary work, concerncs the length of the theme
and the variations. The composer can work out and vary his theme without increasing its
actual length, simply by increasing the number of notes per beat, i.e. decreasing their time
values. A writer or a poet, however, is not able to do this, as there is not as much variability in
the speed of syllables than in that of notes, and the functional variability is not controlled by
the author himself (Brown, ―Theme and Variations‖ 70-82). Thus, if a writer wants to work
with a theme and variations, he has to be careful that his variations are not too extended.
c) Structural Divergence: Construction of the Mood
The final structural element is the particular construction of the dominating mood in music.
In music, the notes of the moods in the major and minor keys are identical, and it is only in
the combinations of the notes and in the leading mood itself that the true nature of the mood is
established. Poets, and especially Edgar Allan Poe, looking to incorporate musical elements
into their own literary work try to imitate this sort of construction. In his poetry, Poe does not
call upon any different combinations of sounds in his lighter moments; rather, he establishes
the mood by the repetition of a single word or by placing that word in such a position that,
when the reader hears it, he is certain of the mood of the verse. Poe was also able to vary the
tone colour of any stanza, just as in music a pungent quality is often achieved by a wavering
between the two moods, suggesting first one and then the other (Charmenz 158-160).
44
4.3. Conclusion
Musico-literary studies developed in the early period of artistic history, but it is only
recently that they have begun to evolve into a respected discipline: two academics, Calvin S.
Brown and Steven Paul Scher, have been of crucial importance to give these studies a
scientific status. Scholars formerly critical are beginning to accept the value of that discipline:
although some lacunas in theory still exist, the hope is that they will be filled in the near
future.
This close relationship between music and literature stems from the fact that the two arts
share many fundamental elements. These are general, but also specific structural elements,
one of which is rhythm: on both linguistic and auditory material, rhythm imposes order.
Another structural similarity is melody, which helps to make a coherent work out of a musical
and literary composition.
Obviously, there are also some dissimilarities between the two. One of these dissimilar
elements is the difference in sound. In literature, sounds are given an external meaning,
whereas in music, tones do not carry semantic connotations. The only thing that matters in
music is pure sound. Another dissimilarity is the principle of repetition and variation, which is
more necessary in a musical composition than in a literary composition. Musical composers
even elaborated this principle and established the standard form of theme and variation. In
literature and especially in novels, however, forms of repetition can appear as mere
redundancy. A third and last dissimilarity is the construction of the dominating mood, which
is very specific in music and is imitated by musical poets.
Even in these dissimilarities, music and literature are very closely related: for example, a
particular element such as the principle of repetition and variation can be present in both arts,
but simply be used differently. Several elements, however, are associated more with music
than with literature and vice versa. Rhythm, melody and climax, for instance, are elements
45
normally regarded as traditionally musical. The intention in this paper, thus, is specifically to
find out how these particular elements are used in their musical context and how typical
literary features are adapted to evoke them.
46
5. Musicality and “The Raven”
From the outset, it has to be clear that the musical adaptations based on the works of
Edgar Allan Poe are not just simple settings of his poems to music (Neimeyer 220). They are
far more complicated as the analysis of two musical compositions inspired by the great poet
will demonstrate. The first case study is of the song ―The Raven‖ performed by Lou Reed; he
second is a song of The Alan Parsons Project, also called ―The Raven‖.
5.1. Musical Framework
On the basis of the studies examined for this literary study, a research framework was
developed for the analysis of Edgar Allan Poe‘s ―The Raven‖ in tandem with the two case
studies. This framework has proved to be an efficient tool for obtaining a general idea of
Poe‘s musicality and for studying the musical elements of the two songs. Most of the
information was drawn from the studies of Calvin S. Brown and Steven Paul Scher, two
literary scholars who may be credited with founding contemporary word and music studies.
The comparison of the musical elements in Poe‘s work with the two musical adaptations is
centred around the following issues:
1. Literary principles: Rhyme, Assonance and Alliteration
- Do the rhyme schemes, assonances and alliterations in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”
have a musical purpose?
This question relates specifically to Edgar Allan Poe‘s ―The Raven‖. Assonance,
alliteration and rhyme are typically literary features that can also be adapted for musical
purposes. Examined here is how these features are applied in ―The Raven‖ in an attempt
to parallel music.
47
2. Musical Principles:
a. Repetition and Variation
- How does Edgar Allan Poe apply repetition and variation as principles of construction?
Repetition and variation are basic principles in music, as they are in literature, albeit to a
less extent. In this part of the study, the attempt is made to demonstrate how Poe adapted
the musical use of repetition and variation to his own work.
- How do the two composers separately make use of repetition and variation? Do they
differ in this?
Here the two case studies are looked at in more detail and compared with each other to
determine wether there is a general difference regarding repetition and variation not only
between the literary and musical content of the two compositions, but also between the
compositions themselves.
b. Rhythm, Melody and Establishment of Mood
- How are the typical musical elements of rhythm and melody parallelled in literature?
Rhythm and melody are two fundamental elements of a musical composition. In order to
parallel music, the author has to incorporate them into his literary work or substitute them
with similar literary elements. This part looks at how exactly Poe parallelled these
elements.
- How do these elements feature in the two musical settings of “The Raven” taken for the
case studies?
As for the previous part, a second question here relates specifically to the two musical
settings, which are compared to see how they determine rhythm and melody.
- How is the dominating mood developed in “The Raven” and the two musical settings?
Rhythm and melody are usually typical elements in the development of the dominating
musical mood. This is compared with the development of the overriding mood in Poe‘s
48
poem and an examination made of whether these structural features are used for a similar
purpose.
3. Two General Questions
-
Why did the composers of the songs in the two case studies take Edgar Allan Poe as their
source of inspiration?
Complementary to the examination of the technical musical elements of the two
adaptations, a brief interpretative examination is required to define their exact relationship
with Poe‘s poem. With these two interpretative questions a general idea about the
composers‘ conception of the original poem is formed and an explanation is offered why
Lou Reed and The Alan Parsons Project took Poe as a source of inspiration.
-
How do the two case studies differ from the original poem in the matter of content?
In combination with the previous question, a closer look is taken at the lyrics. The two
interpretations of Poe‘s poem are examined in respect of content, for the different
conception of ―The Raven‖ can have a decisive influence on the elaboration of the
linguistic material.
49
5.2. Analysis of the Musical Elements in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The
Raven”
―The Raven‖ is one of the best pieces of Poe‘s work with which to demonstrate his
fascination for music. Not only did he adapt his typical literary elements to give a more
musical meaning to it, he also used genuine musical elements in the poem in order to bring
music and literature closer together.
5.2.1. Adaptation of Literary Elements for Musical Purposes
a) Rhyme Pattern
Literature lacks the acoustic quality of music, but one can try to overcome that lack with
the specific use of rhyme schemes, assonance and alliteration (Bernhart and Wolf 180). Edgar
Allan Poe was one of those poets that use these techniques in order to parallel music. He paid
especially great attention to his rhyme scheme, and this is one of the most fascinating aspects
of his poetic technique. In ―The Raven‖, this scheme consistently has the form ABCBBB
(Kopley and Hayes 193).
Poe applied not only end rhyme in his verses, but also made use of other types of rhyme
that occur within the lines. One of the most distinct types is the identical rhyme, which is not
commonly used in poetry. Poe, nevertheless, used it frequently and it even became known as
one of his characteristic poetic devices. This type of rhyme is very clearly illustrated in ―The
Raven‖: in the first stanza: for instance, door is repeated in the fourth and fifth lines to rhyme
with lore in the second line and more in the sixth. This rhyming pattern is followed
throughout the rest of the poem. However, the other words in the lines, which admit the exact
duplication of the final word, may vary: the lines which include identical rhyme, are not
exactly the same. This is made clear in the two last lines of the following stanza: the word
door is repeated at the end of each line, but the preceding words vary (Charmenz 142-143).
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
50
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.‖ (Poe, ―The Raven‖ 1)
This runs parallel to music, where a phrase comes repeatedly to an identical ending, though
the note pattern up to these points may differ (Charmenz 143).
A second type of rhyme Poe applied to his verse, was internal rhyme. Throughout the
poem, he used this together with alliteration, in order to accentuate the rhythm. An example of
the internal rhyme is formed in the following couplet (Kopley and Hayes, 193): ―Deep into
that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, / Doubting, dreaming dreams no
mortal ever dared to dream before‖ (Poe 2, ―The Raven‖ my italics). In ―The Raven‖, this
type of rhyme goes hand in hand with feminine rhyme, also called double rhyme (Charmenz
143). Usually in poetry, internal rhyme involves the rhyming of two syllables, though there
can also be rhymes involving three syllables (―Feminine rhyme‖). The rhyming of two
syllables can be illustrated by the previous example, the rhyming of three syllables by the
following line: ―Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December‖ (Poe 2, ―The
Raven‖ my italics).
Mixing all the applied types, Poe‘s rhyme pattern became very complex and fulfilled
several functions: it constituted the rhythm of ―The Raven‖ and was of considerable
importance for the configuration of the melody. This second function is typically musical, for
melody in music does not exist unless it is bound to the rhythmic pattern (Charmenz 143). It
can thus be said that Poe used his rhyme pattern to bring his work a step closer to music.
51
b) Alliteration
A second typical literary element that Poe adapted for his musical purpose was the
technique of alliteration. It was one of his trademarks, as it is of many other musical poets.
These poets use alliteration with more skill than do poets who pay less attention to verbal
melody. Poe‘s use of it, together with his virtuosity, brought him fame and again demonstrates
his abilities as a musical poet: the alliterations, in conjunction with the rhyme scheme, seem to
be of considerable importance for the development of melody in his verses.
Although Poe used forms of alliteration in all his poems, there is something very specific
in its use in ―The Raven‖. In this poem, it does not depend entirely on the repetition of a
consonant or vowel at the beginning of a word, there is also a great amount of interlocking
alliteration within the body of a word. This interlocking alliteration can be visualized with the
form syzygy, where the letter y represents the reoccurring sound within the word (Charmenz
156-157). Concrete examples are: remember, December, ember; eagerly; morrow, borrow,
sorrow; words that occur in the following stanza.
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow – sorrow for the lost Lenore –
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore –
Nameless here for evermore. (Poe, ―The Raven‖ 2)
To take the poem another step closer to music, it is important that this alliteration falls on the
stressed syllable of the trochee, because in music similar tones are only repeated when they
occur upon the first beat of a measure. For example, when a musical piece is set in the
musical time 4/4, the repetition of tones can only occur upon the first of the four quarter notes
that constitute the measure (Charmenz 157).
52
Besides alliteration, Poe also used assonance, which is essentially the repetition of a vowel.
He applied it for the same musical purpose as he applied alliteration: it is a help in the
development of the poem‘s verbal melody (Charmenz 155-156). However, its use in ―The
Raven‖ is not exaggerated and is indeed only sporadic: ―And the silken sad uncertain rustling
of each purple curtain / Thrilled me, filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before‖ (Poe 2
my italics).
5.2.2. Imitation of the Structural Musical Principle of Repetition and Variation
The principle of repetition and variation is used in music, as well as in literature. In music,
it is of primary importance, for it intensifies the listener‘s attention and helps him to grasp the
meaning of the musical composition. In literature and especially in novels, however,
repetition is often considered to be an annoyance to the reader. Even poets, who were less
analytical than such musical poets as Poe, consequently felt that its use in poetry ought not to
be as extensive as in music (Charmenz 146-147).
Edgar Allan Poe took an opposite view, demonstrating it with the use of the refrain in his
poem ―The Raven‖, together with the repetition of the word nevermore. He also explained his
opinion in his essay ―The Philosophy of Composition‖:
As commonly used, the refrain, or burden, not only is limited to lyric verse, but
depends for its impression upon the force of monotone- both in sound and thought.
The pleasure is deduced solely from the sense of identity- of repetition. I resolved to
diversify, and so heighten the effect, by adhering in general to the monotone of sound,
while I continually varied that of thought: that is to say, I determined to produce
continuously novel effects, by the variation of the application of the refrain- the refrain
itself remaining for the most part, unvaried. (Poe 169)
A few examples of this refrain are the following three lines: ―Quoth the raven,
‗Nevermore‘‖, ―With such name as ‗Nevermore‘‖ and ―Then the bird said ‗Nevermore‘‖ (Poe,
53
―The Raven‖ 4). Another form of repetition can be noticed in the application of identical
rhyme, frequent in ―The Raven‖. Not only single words, but even whole parts of sentences are
repeated in the poem: ―'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door – Some late
visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door‖ (Poe, ―The Raven‖ 2).
In addition to these different forms of repetition, Poe also employed variation in his verse:
in ―The Raven‖, for example, he applied the musical form of theme and variation. The theme
is formed by the mourning lover questioning the raven, and the variations are then the
different questions he asks throughout the poem (Charmenz 146-149). In the first stanzas,
these questions are quite clear and simple: ―Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night‘s
Plutonian shore!‖ (Poe, ―The Raven‖ 4). Towards the end of the poem, the growing despair of
the student can be felt: ―Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn, / it shall
clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore – / Clasp a rare and radiant maiden,
whom the angels name Lenore'‖ (Poe, ―The Raven‖ 6). The answer of the raven, however,
never changes.
This particular construction also affects the reader: as the questions get more and more
complex, the reader senses the growing tension and is more drawn into the actual story.
5.2.3. Imitation of Traditional Musical Elements
a) Rhythm
Poe acknowledged the importance of rhythm in his attempt to bring his poetry closer to
music (Fagin 145). In the essay ―The Poetic Principle‖ Poe referred directly to this musical
element: ―And here let me speak briefly on the topic of rhythm. Contenting myself with the
certainty that Music, in its various modes of metre, rhythm, and rhyme, is of so vast a moment
in Poetry as never to be wisely rejected — is so vitally important an adjunct, that he is simply
silly who declines its assistance‖ (98). He even defined poetry in this way that the word
54
rhythmical is the essential word of his definition: ―I would define, in brief, the Poetry of
words as The Rhythmical Creation of Beauty‖ (Poe, ―The Poetic Principle‖ 99).
It is understandable that Poe paid so much attention to the subject of rhythm, because it is
an important element in the structure of auditory material and thus present in literature and
music. Nonetheless, rhythm in a literary work is something quite different from rhythm in a
musical composition. In literature, it is based on the metrical system applied, which, in Poe‘s
―The Raven‖, is the trochaic octameter. In music, the metre is indicated by the metrics of
musical notation.
Another difference between musical and literary rhythm is the duration of the auditory
material. This particular element of rhythm is present in both arts, but is of greater importance
in music: writers, especially writers of novels, give readers a great deal of freedom for the
pronunciation of each syllable, whereas the duration of notes is highly controlled by the
composer. Nevertheless, poets including Poe, who wanted to parallel music, have worked out
a specific system of metrics which allowed them to have at least some control over the
duration of their words. In this way, applying a metrical pattern to his poetry, Poe for his part
increased the control on the duration of words and brought his work a step closer to music
(Hertz 19-22).
Poe even considered rhythm to be the basis for the organization of his work into stanzas,
calling his stanzas ―an arrangement of metres into masses‖ (Charmenz 147). With this
statement he placed the organization of a stanza on a rhythmic basis and not on an intellectual
one, which is essentially a musical characteristic. Of all his poems, however, ―The Raven‖ has
the most classical stanzaic form: five lines, which remain unvaried, and a refrain (Charmenz
147-149). This attention to the rhythmical elements is the main cause, according to Fagin, that
so many composers have set Poe‘s poems to music (146).
55
Not everyone thought this elaboration of the literary rhythm a success. The poet William
Butler Yeats, for instance, thought ―The Raven‖ was ―insincere and vulgar‖. ―Analyse The
Raven‖ he said, ―and you find that its subject is a commonplace and its execution a
rhythmical trick. Its rhythm never lives for a moment, never once moves with an emotional
life‖ (Yeats 77). He was puzzled by Poe‘s success, but eventually had to admit that he was
―the greatest of American poets, and always and for all lands a great lyric poet‖ (Yeats 77).
Yeats realized that a writer who had so much influence on Baudelaire and other French
symbolists, must have some great talent (76-77).
b) Melody and Climax
Melody is an aspect that helps to unite an entire composition. It does not exist in music
unless it is connected with the rhythmic pattern, for it is this pattern that gives the melody its
soul (Charmenz 143-144). Poe knew he had to pay attention to the melodic aspects if he
wanted to bring his works closer to music and acknowledged the importance of melody in his
essay ―The Rationale of Verse‖: ―In the construction of verse, melody should never be left out
of view; yet this is a point which all our Prosodies have most unaccountably forborne to touch.
Reasoned rules on this topic should form a portion of all systems of rhythm‖ (117).
In ―The Raven‖, Poe attempted to imitate the typical construction of musical melody in
linking his melody with alliterative components (Charmenz 143-144). In the following line,
for example, the repetition of the consonant n helps to form the rhythm and also plays a role
in the development of the poem‘s melody: ―While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there
came a tapping‖ (Poe, ―The Raven‖ 1).
Poe thought poetry to be inferior to music and said one must try to imitate musical melody
with the use of rhyme, word combinations and repetition. An example of repetition is the use
of a refrain alternating with the verses (Magistrale 48). In ―The Raven‖, the distinction
between verse and chorus is made mainly by means of the metre: the verse is primarily in
56
trochaic octameter, but this is replaced in the refrain by heptameter. However, the distinction
is also revealed by the content of the poem: each stanza is dedicated to the mourning lover,
who desperately questions the visiting raven. Stanza after stanza, he becomes more hysterical,
because the bird cannot provide the comforting answer he seeks.
In the refrain, the raven replies to all his questions with the negative nevermore and thus
makes all consolation impossible (Meyers 163). Though Poe has made this word the climactic
point of each stanza, one can be certain that these are only minor climaxes and do not play
any significant role in the final climactic ascent. In the last four stanzas, the feeling of the
medial lines is much stronger than the bird‘s answers and it is those lines that push the poem
toward the climax.
With this specific construction of the climax, Poe looked to inject the musical qualities of
excitement and indefiniteness into his poetry. In almost any poem written by Poe, the reader
does not know exactly what the main climax will be: it could be the climax suggested at the
beginning of the poem, or another completely different. Stanza after stanza increases the
reader‘s interest, but he has to wait until the climactic word or phrase is revealed to perceive
the actual flow of Poe‘s verse. This particular construction of the climax in Poe‘s poems can
be compared with that of a song or symphony, as it is not artificially conceived: the last line
of a poem is not necessarily the climactic point. It is more often the case that the climax is
reached in the penultimate stanza or before the last few lines, so that the climax itself can be
skilfully elaborated (Charmenz 159-160).
In ―The Raven‖, the signal for the final climactic ascent is given with ―But whose velvetviolet lining with the lamp-light gloating o‘er, / She shall press, ah, nevermore!‖ (Poe 5). At
this point, the narrator‘s madness increases and continues for four stanzas, until it comes to a
climax in the fourth:
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
57
Leave my loneliness unbroken! – quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off
My door!
Quoth the Raven, ―Nevermore.‖ (Poe, ―The Raven‖ 6)
The final stanza contains just a simple repetition of the idea of a future with the raven‘s
eternal presence (Charmenz 159-160).
An interesting point is that, when composing his poem, Poe first wrote the climax: in this
way he could vary the questions and gradually build up the poem‘s seriousness and the
emblematic meaning of the raven. Moreover, in first constructing the climax, he could better
determine the rhythm, metre and length. In ―The Philosophy of Composition‖, he wrote:
―Here then the poem may be said to have its beginning – at the end, where all works of art
should begin‖ (171-172).
c) The Construction of the Mood
Another feature of the application of musical elements to ―The Raven‖ was the
dominating mood or tone that had to be established. Poe even dedicated a part of his essay,
―The Philosophy of Composition‖, to explain the significance of that mood. He thought
beauty should be the effect aimed for and inferred from this that melancholy should be the
preferred mood of ―The Raven‖:
Regarding, then, Beauty as my province, my next question referred to the tone of its
highest manifestation- and all experience has shown that this tone is one of sadness.
Beauty of whatever kind in its supreme development invariably excites the sensitive
soul to tears. Melancholy is thus the most legitimate of all the poetical tones. (Poe
―The Philosophy of Composition‖ 168)
As an example of how Poe injected this melancholic mood into his verse, one can take the
word nevermore whose vowels in the sounding have more meaning than the definition of the
58
word itself. The word selected had to carry great emphasis and had to be sonorous, because it
closed each stanza. These considerations led him to the long o, because it is the most sonorous
vowel of the English alphabet; he had to connect this letter with the r, which is the most
producible consonant. Connecting these two sounds, Poe also had to make sure that the word
at the same time embodied the melancholy which he had predetermined as the mood of the
poem. It was this that led to the word nevermore forming the refrain of ―The Raven‖ (163177).
He thus established the mood by repetition of the single word nevermore and by placing it
conspicuously at the end: ―‗Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!‘ /
Quoth the raven, ‗Nevermore‘‖ (Poe, ―The Raven‖ 4). For this particular means of
establishing the mood, Poe was applauded by many, including Philip Pendleton Cooke, who
praised the musical qualities of Poe‘s verse in his article in the Southern Literary Messenger :
―The rhythm of this poem is exquisite, its phraseology is in the highest degree musical and apt,
the mood of the whole is wonderfully sustained and appropiate to the subject, which, full as it
is of a wild and tender melancholy, is admirably well chosen. This is my honest judgement‖
(23).
Poe devoted attention to the establishment of the mood, because he wanted it to be similar
to that of a musical composition. Just like a movement in music, a Poe poem includes within
its stanzaic range many variations of the prevailing mood. In the process of establishing the
mood, moreover, Poe sought to capture the indefinite or indecisive aspect of a musical piece
(Charmenz 149-159). This indefinitiness is a fundamental element of good music and poetry,
as he claimed in several of his essays: ―Give to music any undue decision – imbue it with any
very determinate tone – and you deprive it … of its…intrinsic and essential character. You
dispel its dream-like luxury:- you dissolve the atmosphere of the mystic in which its whole
nature is bound up… It then becomes a tangible and easily appreciable thing‖ (qtd. in Fagin
59
152). Indefiniteness in music, thus, means that it always includes a certain vagueness: for
instance, one cannot say that a musical piece possessess this or that specific mood. A piece of
music always floats between several different worlds.
More particularly, in ―The Raven‖, Poe‘s verse is narrative and melancholic, while also
possessing a provocative aspect of mystery and obscurity. He hoped with this quality of
indefiniteness that his poetry, like music, would stimulate the imagination, and explore
unrevealed worlds (Charmenz 149-159). G.B. Shaw thought this attempt to be successful and
stated that ―The Raven‖, just as Poe‘s other poems, such as ―The Bells‖, and ―Annabel Lee‖,
were ―as fascinating at the thousandth repetition as at the first‖ (151).
5.2.4. Conclusion
Edgar Allan Poe made a great effort to bring his literary works, and especially ―The
Raven‖, closer to music. A study of the details of this poem‘s composition, reveals the
deliberateness with which the musical elements have been incorporated; their presence is not
mere coincidence. With ―The Raven‖, Poe looked to unite literature and music.
On the one hand, he adapted his literary features to serve a musical purpose. With his
specific use of rhyme schemes, alliteration and assonance, Poe tried to overcome the lack of
music‘s acoustic quality. His use of rhyme was even one of the most fascinating aspects of his
poetic technique: he applied identical rhyme, internal rhyme and feminine rhyme. All together
they formed the rhythm of the poem. Also his use of alliteration, which was a trademark of
many musical poets, took Poe‘s work a step closer to music.
On the other hand, he tried to apply to his linguistic material typical musical features, such
as repetition and variation, rhythm, and the establishment of mood. For instance, with the
application of a refrain and the use of identical rhyme in ―The Raven‖, Poe demonstrated his
opinion that poetry could have such extensive repetitions as music. Above this, there was also
60
room for variation: in his poem, he played with the typically musical form of theme and
variation.
Another musical element that Poe applied to his poem is rhythm: with the use of a metre,
Poe increased the control on the duration of words. This brought Poe‘s rhythm, together with
the different types of rhyme and alliteration, a step closer to music. A third element was the
musical melody, which does not exist unless it is bound to the rhythmic pattern. Poe tried to
imitate this with help of alliterative components and repetition. For instance, he made use of
the refrain, which formed the climactic point of each stanza. With this particular construction
of the melody, Poe wanted to insert the particular indefinite aspect of music.
A last element that helped to form the musicality of the poem was the musical
construction of the mood. With the keyword nevermore Poe gave ―The Raven‖ its
melancholic mood. To make this construction more musical and give it the musical quality of
indefiniteness, Poe put many variations of the prevaling mood into the poem.
61
5.3. First Modern Musical Setting: Lou Reed and “The Raven”
In this study of the musical elements in Edgar Allan Poe‘s ―The Raven‖ and his influence
on music, the focus now turns to two particular musicians who each made his own musical
setting of ―The Raven‖: Lou Reed and Eric Woolfson of The Alan Parsons Project. Another
possibility was to analyse a setting of Claude Debussy, regarded as one of the principal
composers of the modern school of music in nineteenth century France, or an early twentiethcentury adaption, such as the orchestral setting of ―The Raven‖ by Joseph Holbrooke
(Magistrale 30). However, for the musical analyis of this thesis, it was preferred to analyse at
least one modern adaptation of the late twentieth century and to stay in one single genre – the
rock genre. If the two musical adaptations were each from a different genre, it would not be
beneficial to the comprehensibility and lucidity of the analysis.
Taking these two criterions into consideration, the settings of Lou Reed and The Alan
Parsons Project were chosen. Reed is a well-known artist who made a very recent and
personal adaptation of ―The Raven‖, and the setting by The Alan Parsons Project, although its
album was already released in 1976, is regarded as one of the modern, succeeded rock
adaptations. These two musical settings of ―The Raven‖ seemed to fit together in this analysis,
because they complement each other: although they both belong to the same genre, there are
several differences of interpretation.
The musical elements present in Poe‘s poem are examined and an analysis is made of how
they are treated in the two songs.
5.3.1. Structural Musical Principle of Repetition and Variation
The music does not play a major role in Lou Reed‘s interpretation of ―The Raven‖: he
decided to put most stress on the words and to use musical instruments only as a supporting
background. With this spoken song, Reed looked to retain the literary features used by Poe,
62
the logical consequence of which is that one finds forms of repetition and variation in Lou
Reed‘s musical setting similar to those of Poe‘s ―The Raven‖.
The first and most obvious instance of repetition is the refrain, which is analogous to that
of ―The Raven‖: the stanzas of the first half end with the words nothing more and the stanzas
of the second half include the keyword nevermore in the refrain. It is not only in the refrain
that there are similarities between the poem and the song: it can be seen in the first four
stanzas of the song that the repetition is exactly the same as in Poe‘s ―The Raven‖. In Reed‘s
fourth stanza, for example, are the lines:
‘Tis some visitor entreating
entrance at my chamber door
some lost visitor entreating
entrance at my chamber door. (Booklet)3
This is an exact duplication of the corresponding passage in Poe‘s poem. These four stanzas
make the listener believe that Reed made almost no adjustments in the text.
From that point onwards, however, Reed made the repetitions less obvious. He will only
use this direct form of repetition again in the very last stanza to build up the climax: ―I love
she who hates me more / I love she who hates me more‖ (Booklet).
The fact that Reed made his repetitions more subtle indirectly results in his forms of
variation being more elaborate than Poe‘s in ―The Raven‖, for the original repetitions are
often made less conspicuous by the insertion of variation. This change can be exemplified by
comparing a Reed phrase with one of Poe‘s. Reed has: ―But the raven, never flitting / still is
sitting silent sitting / above a painting silent painting‖ (Booklet). Poe has: ―And the raven,
never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting‖; the repetition here is not so sophisticated and is
without any variation (6).
3
Lyrics of Lou Reed‘s ―The Raven‖: see Appendix 3.
63
Another example of variation in Reed‘s lyrics is the interruption in repetitions of whole
word groups or even the replacement of a part of a repetition by means of an original line of
variation. The sixth stanza of Poe‘s poem has: ―Let me see, then, what thereat is, and the
mystery explore – / Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore‖ (―The Raven‖ 3).
Mixing variation with repetition, Reed here has a line interrupting this repetition: ―Let us this
mystery explore / oh, bursting heart be still this once / and let this mystery explore‖ (Booklet).
This interruption gives the listener a clue about the dominating bitter mood, for the narrator,
played by Willem Dafoe, expresses it with a raised and sharp voice which indicates anger and
tension.
A last example of variation has more to do with variation of style rather than of actual
words. Comparing Reed‘s lyrics with Poe‘s poem, one can see that Reed adapted certain
passages to contemporary language. However, some of these passages are rather vulgar and
break with, or vary, the original poem. One very obvious example is a line that contains swear
words: ―Sweaty arrogant dickless liar‖ (Booklet). This line has the same effect on the listener
as the previous case of variation: swear words give the audience already a clue of the song‘s
dominating mood and the narrator‘s state of mind.
Taking all these different forms of repetition and variation into consideration, it can be
stated that Reed has made more use of variation than of repetition in his lyrics: where he has
made use of it, he has made it more sophisticated and less obvious.
The musical line, however, is dedicated for the greater part to repetition: throughout the
whole song, there is a ground tone played by the oboe and keyboards, which stays unvaried.
This groundtone can be heard from 1‘‘ onwards. The variation within the musical part
happens in the melody played by the cello, which begins at 35‘‘ into the music. These musical
forms of repetition and variation are, nonetheless, of minor importance: the music is meant
64
only as a guiding thread that leads the listener through the words, which are spoken by
Willem Dafoe (Booklet).
At first sight, it seems odd that a musical composition should minimize the contribution of
the music. However, Reed interpreted ―The Raven‖ as a spoken track, which means that he
had more need of variation and originality than repetition in his work. He could not risk his
audience losing its concentration listening to the song and becoming bored (Brown, ―Theme
and Variations‖ 74-76).
5.3.2. Traditional Musical Elements: Rhythm, Melody and Establishment of
Mood
a) Rhythm
In this musical setting of a literary work, there are two kinds of rhythm. The first kind is
the musical rhythm imposed on the notes by means of musical time. The second kind is the
literary rhythm imposed on the linguistic material by means of the metrical system (Hertz 19).
In Lou Reed‘s interpretation of Poe‘s ―The Raven‖, it is the metrical system applied to the
linguistic material that is of primary importance. The dominating trochaic octameter of Poe‘s
―The Raven‖ is preserved in its entirety by Reed: ―and see that I can care no more / whatever
mattered came before / I vanish with the dead Lenore‖ (Booklet). Although Reed inserted new
and original parts, he made sure that these lines fit exactly into this metre and that it did not
change the rhythm.
As in Poe‘s ―The Raven‖, rhymes and alliteration also play a significant role in forming
the rhythm of Reed‘s song (Hertz 19-22). That Reed had to use typically literary features for
musical purposes is connected with the fact that the linguistic material is of primary
importance in his composition and that the role of the music itself is minimized. The use of
internal rhyme, for example, is preserved by Reed: ―I there hoping for some sunrise /
happiness would be a surprise / loneliness no longer a prize‖ (Booklet my italics). An
65
example of alliteration of the s sound is noticeable in the following line: ―the self‘s sad fancy
smiles at you I swear / at this savage viscous countenance it wears‖ (Booklet). Putting stress
on these rhyming and alliterating words, it is easier for the listener to hear the rhythm that
Reed has set out.
As already mentioned, the rhythm of the musical notes is of minor importance in Reed‘s
setting of ―The Raven‖ and is dominated by the literary metre. It is almost impossible to
indicate the musical time with certainty due to copyright issues and lack of availability of the
musical score. However, one thing that can be pointed out in the construction of rhythm in the
song is the contradiction between the pace of Dafoe‘s voice and that of the musical
instruments. Next to musical time, pace or tempo is another important element in forming the
rhythm of the musical notes, according to Schneider. The pace of the spoken track is almost
the opposite of that of the actual music: Willem Dafoe speaks at a rather fast tempo with a
sharp pitch, whereas the musical instruments are playing at a slow tempo. To a certain extent,
thus, the soft and gentle musical background contradicts the sharp and accelerated voice of
Dafoe, though his voice slows down and enters into harmony with the musical instruments as
the end of the song and the climax near.
A person who speaks with a raised and accelerated voice is generally caught by emotion,
which is also the case in this musical setting: the melancholy of Poe‘s narrator is turned into
bitterness. This mood is also stressed through the instruments that contrast Dafoe‘s voice and
play at a slow tempo. All this affects the listener, who gets the feeling that the narrator is
bitter and angry.
b) Melody and Climax
Melody is a second traditional element of music, one that is necessary for the organization
of the musical material. As already indicated, Reed opted for a spoken song and therefore puts
the major stress on the words, causing the melody of the linguistic material in the song to
66
dominate the melody of the musical notes. In the linguistic melody, Reed has followed Poe,
who connected his melody to the rhythmical pattern and divided the text into verse and chorus
(Charmenz 143-144). Reed applied this construction of the melody to his own work and
linked his first melody to the trochaic octameter and the melody of the refrain to the applied
heptameter. An example of this octameter is: ―Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered
weak and weary, / Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore‖, whereas the
heptameter sounds like ―Only this, and nothing more‖ (Poe 1).
Although the musical accompaniment is not particularly essential, a certain melody can be
distinguished in it: supported by the constant presence of the ground tone played by the
keyboards and the oboe, the actual melody is played by the cello. For example, between 35‘‘
and 45‘‘ into the music, the cello plays the melody that crescendoes in the first half and then
gradually decrescendoes in the second half. Although the melody cannot be clearly heard and
the changes are very subtle, it varies constantly.
As indicated previously, an important subdivision of melody is the construction of climax.
Not only in musical melody, but also in literary melody, climax plays an essential role in the
interpretation of any given composition. However, a typical musical characteristic of climax
is indefiniteness, which points at the indecisiveness of a musical composition. More
specifically applied to a climactic construction, indefiniteness points at the indecisiveness in
matters of development of the song.
In this particular setting, the climactic construction is perceptible only through hearing the
linguistic material, i.e. through the medium of Dafoe‘s voice. As in Poe‘s poem, the word
nevermore forms a minor climax after each stanza, but ultimately does not interfere with the
major climax. This forms a part of the musical indefiniteness that Reed injected into his lyrics:
in this version of ―The Raven‖, furthermore, the listener has to wait till the climactic phrase is
given to know the exact development of the song (Charmenz 159-160).
67
The definite ascent to the major climax in Reed‘s composition starts at the fourth to last
stanza with the words: ―To forget the base Lenore‖ (Booklet). After this cue, the listener has
to wait until the last stanza for the major climax to be revealed: ―I love she who hates me
more / I love she who hates me more‖ (Booklet). Before these two lines, Dafoe‘s voice is very
calm and slow, but at the moment of the climax he raises it again. Moreover, the importance
of the climax is emphasized by repetition of the exact words of the line.
The climactic signal also gives an indication of the song‘s mood: the stressed word base,
together with the sharpness of Dafoe‘s voice, expresses the narrator‘s bitterness. Moreover,
the eventual climax explains why he has become so bitter.
c) Construction of the Mood
In the analysis of rhythm, melody and climax, some clues have already been given in
matters of mood and its construction. As already indicated, the mood of Lou Reed‘s setting is
not identical to that of Poe‘s poem: in the latter, the narrator grieves for his lost mistress,
which causes the dominating melancholic mood. In Lou Reed‘s version, however, the narrator
has a less utopic image of his lost beloved, and the mood is one of bitterness and anger.
As the other elements discussed, also the mood of Reed‘s adaptation of ―The Raven‖ is
mainly formed in the lyrics. For instance, in the climactic phrase, the listener finally perceives
why the narrator has become this bitter: ―I love she who hates me more‖ (Booklet). Also in
the signal for the last climactic ascent, the bitter and angry mood is set by means of the words:
―to forget at once the base Lenore‖ (Booklet). Moreover, the most important word in this
sentence, base, is stressed and expressed with a sharp voice.
The musical aspect of this particular construction is the fact that the bitterness also occurs
in lighter moments of the song. For example, in passages that seem a bit humouristic at first
sight, the bitter mood eventually dominates: ―And the raven sitting lonely / staring at my male
sex only / that one word / he did oupour ‗pathetic‘‖ (Booklet). As already indicated in the
68
analysis of the musical principle of repetition and variation, also in passages that break
entirely with the original ―The Raven‖, which include such swear words as dickless liar and
whore and evince an under-culture, the bitter and angry mood stays present. Indicative of
these passages are the lines: ―how had lapsed a pure heart lady / to the greediest of needs /
sweaty arrogant dickless liar / who ascribed to nothing higher / than a jab from prick to
needle‖ (Booklet). The swear words used in these lines are typical to express someone‘s anger.
Another musical aspect of this construction is the alternating colouring of the stanzas. In
the beginning of the musical setting, the stanzas are almost identical to Poe‘s and seem to set
a similar melancholic mood. Additionally, the word nevermore plays an important role in
misleading the audience: also in Reed‘s version, this word forms the refrain at the end of each
stanza and seems to help with its melancholic o sound to form the mood. However, after three
stanzas the mood of the song begins to differ from the original poem. For instance, in the
fourth stanza, the listener already can guess that the narrator‘s image of the lost beloved is not
as utopic as in Poe‘s ―The Raven‖: ―and out loud whispered from my lips / the foul name
festered‖ (Booklet).
Besides the pure linguistic view, also the voice of Willem Dafoe helped to create this
bitter and sharp mood. Dafoe‘s sharp voice, indeed, has something mysterious and even
demonic about it, qualities that can be felt, for instance, in his speaking of the words:
open the door to see what threat is
open the window, free the shutters
let us this mystery explore
oh, bursting heart be still this once
and let this mystery explore
it is the wind and nothing more. (Booklet my italics)
69
The italicized line is pronounced with a raised and sharp voice, which indicates anger and
tension. This, however, has already been demonstrated discussing the mix of variation and
repetition in Reed‘s musical setting.
Another instance of Dafoe‘s voice contributing to the song‘s mood is his accelerated voice
and the contradiction of pace between his voice and the accompanying musical instruments.
This acceleration of voice signals the stress and emotion of the narrator, which is highlighted
by the slow tempo of the instruments. An example of this contradiction can be heard between
5‘08‘‘ and 5‘32‘‘ into the music. (Charmenz 149-159).
5.3.3. Poe as Source of Inspiration
Lou Reed‘s special fascination for Edgar Allan Poe and his literary works began when he
was asked to participate at a Poe evening in New York City (Van de Kamp 42-45). It is his
claim that Poe can give an answer to some of his existential questions and unnatural thoughts:
―Who am I? Why am I drawn to do what I should not?‖, he asks himself, ―I have wrestled
with this thought innumerable times: the impulse of destructive desire – the desire for selfmortification‖ (Booklet). This ―self-mortification‖ is comparable to the self-torture of the
mourning student in ―The Raven‖, who questions the bird continuously about his lost lover.
Reed tried to find an answer to the question of why people always want the things that are
forbidden, desire the wrong thing. He saw these preoccupations reflected in Poe‘s writings.
For instance, in Poe‘s ―The Raven‖, the student longs for someone he cannot longer have.
According to Reed, he desires the ―wrong‖ woman (Booklet). Reed emphasized in his album
―The Raven‖ the liberation of these repressed desires, but also the guilt that follows
afterwards (Peeples 150-151).
For many critics, moreover, it is no surprise that Reed regards Poe as a source of
inspiration for his own works: the lyrics of Reed often have the same effect as Poe‘s words.
Even taken from their objective point of view, the stories of Poe are very similar to the lyrics
70
of Reed: however decadent and perverse the characters may be, there is no place in Reed‘s or
Poe‘s narrative for moral judgement. Both artists simply observe the given situation and
describe it in detail.
These personal and artistic affinities between Lou Reed and Edgar Allan Poe could be one
of the reasons why Reed wanted to preserve most literary qualities of ―The Raven‖ and opted
for his lyrics to be spoken (Van de Kamp 42-45).
5.3.4. Difference in Content
The specific literary features of ―The Raven‖, such as the metre and the rhymes, are
indeed preserved in Lou Reed‘s musical setting. At a superficial level, also the greater part of
the content seems to be preserved. For example, the first stanza of Reed‘s musical setting is
almost identical to Poe‘s opening stanza:
Reed:
Once upon a midnight dreary, as 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.‖ (Booklet)
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 visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door –
71
Only this, and nothing more.' (―The Raven‖ 1)
After a more detailed analysis, however, it becomes clear that the content differs
considerably from the original poem: Reed has rewritten some parts, left several parts out,
inserted lines of his own and sometimes adapted the original text to contemporary language.
Also comparing the number of stanzas of his version with Poe‘s, it becomes clear that there is
a difference between the two: Reed‘s ―The Raven‖ counts only thirteen stanzas, whereas
Poe‘s counts eighteen.
Some passages are preserved, but other passages have barely survived Reed‘s reworking,
as illustrated by the following provocative lines that Reed himself inserted into the original
poem: ―Sweaty, arrogant, dickless liar, who ascribed to nothing higher / Than a job from prick
to needle, straight to betrayal and disgrace / The conscience, showing not a trace‖ (Booklet).
Although the lines differ in content from the original poem, they fit the original metre of ―The
Raven‖ exactly.
Reed has interpreted Poe‘s ―The Raven‖ in a way that fully exemplifies the character of
the singer: he changed the text into something more down-to-earth and ironic. The best
example of these adjustments refers to the image of the deceased beloved. In Reed‘s version,
the student grieves over the lost Lenore, but she was not so true and beautiful as in the Poe‘s
original poem. Reed has Lenore losing her ―pure heart to the greediest of needs‖, the narrator
even calls her the ―forever silenced whore‖ (Booklet). In Poe‘s poem, however, Lenore is
portrayed as ―a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore‖ (Poe, ―The Raven 6). These
changes also indicate the change of mood, for the lost beloved is no longer put on a pedestal:
the melancholy of the narrator turns into bitterness.
A second change concerns the inserted lines and the adjusted words, which suggest the
ironic quality of this musical setting. For instance:
And the raven sitting lonely
72
staring sickly at my male sex only
that one word
as if his soul in that one word
he did outpour, ―pathetic‖ (Booklet my italics).
Poe‘s original version reads: ―But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only /
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour‖ (―The Raven‖ 4 my italics).
The inserted passages are inserted to break the macabre and sad atmosphere of the story.
The changes do not always have to be this obvious. Reed also altered the meaning of an
entire passage simply by very subtly changing one single word: in changing adore into ignore,
he gives a new and more ironic meaning to the passage in question. In the original poem, Poe
wrote: ―By that Heaven that bends above us – by that God we both adore‖ (―The Raven‖ 6
my italics). In the lyrics of Lou Reed‘s song, this becomes: ―By that heaven that bend above
us – by that God we both ignore‖ (Booklet my italics).
On a superficial level, the content of Lou Reed‘s musical setting of ―The Raven‖ is very
similar to Poe‘s original poem. However, after a more thorough analysis, it becomes clear that
there are several divergences.
5.3.5. Lou Reed’s other Musical Settings of Poe’s Works
Lou Reed‘s album ―The Raven‖ aimed to tell the short stories and poems of Edgar Allan
Poe by means of words and music.4 According to Deming, these musical settings were largely
taken from the musical production called ―POE-Try‖, a tribute to Poe, together with a number
of new dramatic interpretations of Poe‘s work. Outside the poem ―The Raven‖, it includes
songs such as ―The Valley of Unrest‖, ―Balloon‖ and ―I Wanna Know (The Pit and the
Pendulum)‖. Each of these works, however, is differently interpreted by Reed. ―The Valley of
4
Tracklist of Lou Reed‘s ―The Raven‖: see Appendix 4.
73
Unrest‖, for instance, is a spoken song just as ―The Raven‖, but is interpreted more loosely:
―The Raven‖ has more direct references to the original poem. Also ―The Balloon‖ differs
more from its original ―The Balloon Hoax‖: this short story is reduced to an a capella song of
merely two stanzas.
A second part of songs are original works of Lou Reed, including ―The Bed‖ and ―Perfect
Day‖, which were re-elaborated for this album. A third part are new songs which have only
thematic references to Poe‘s works. ―The Broadway Song‖, for instance, which is sung by the
actor Steve Buscemi: ―Good old Poe don‘t he make you cry? / Ain‘t it great the way he writes
about the mysteries of life‖ (Booklet). Also ―Burning Embers‖ refers to Poe and his works: in
the lyrics, the words ―Lenore‖ and ―Tell-Tale Heart‖ are present (Booklet).
A last part of songs deals with the existential questions essential to Reed‘s and Poe‘s
character, and introduces the listener to the album. For instance, ―Guilty‖ is a song that deals
with the guilt after the liberation of repressed desires. The vintage rock song ―Edgar Allan
Poe‖, however, is a general introduction to the album: “Leave your expectations at home /
And listen to the stories of Edgar Allan Poe / We give you the soliloquy the raven at the door /
flaming pits the moving walls no equilibrium / No ballast, no bombast / The unvarnished truth
we‘ve got‖ (Booklet).
5.3.6. Conclusion
―The Raven‖ by Lou Reed is in almost every aspect very similar to the original poem by
Edgar Allan Poe, very largely because Reed opted for the lines of his setting to be spoken,
thereby placing the stress on the linguistic material, which consequently reflects the musical
elements to a greater extent. In the comparison of Reed‘s lyrics with Poe‘s original poem, for
instance, the words of the musical setting of ―The Raven‖ are almost the same as in the
74
original. However, this is only the case on a superficial level. After analyzing the lyrics, some
differences can be noticed.
The fact that this musical adaptation is a spoken song causes some changes in the
structural musical principle of repetition and variation. There are more forms of variation,
because the stress lays on the words. Obviously, there are also instances of repetition, but less
extensive than in Poe‘s poem and more sophisticated.
A second element emphasizing the spoken aspect of Lou Reed‘s adaptation is rhythm: the
literary rhythm plays a greater role in this setting than the musical rhythm. The role of music
is minimized and the trochaic octameter, together with the rhymes and the alliterations form
the rhythm of the song. One remarkable thing, however, that can be attributed to the musical
rhythm is the contrast between the pace of Dafoe‘s voice and that of the musical instruments,
which stresses the bitter mood of the setting.
Another element that lays the stress of Reed‘s musical setting on the words, is the melody.
The literary melody is bound to the rhythmical pattern and divides the song into verse and
chorus, which can easily be compared with that of the poem. The melody of the musical notes,
which is dominated by that of the linguistic material, is played by the cello. Also the climactic
construction, together with its musical aspect of indefiniteness, is mainly perceptible through
the linguistic material and Dafoe‘s voice.
This construction also signals the mood of the setting, which most clearly shows the
difference between Poe‘s poem and Reed‘s musical adaptation of ―The Raven‖: for it is not
melacholy that dominates the song, but bitterness and anger. This mood is formed mainly
with the words, together with the characteristics of the narrator‘s voice: words that express his
anger are pronounced with a raised and often accelerated voice.
75
In fact, Reed‘s musical setting of ―The Raven‖ can be taken as a poem with a musical
accompaniment, with the musical instruments guiding the listener through the work, but the
literary material still being that to which most of the musical elements are applied.
76
5.4. Second Modern Musical Setting: The Alan Parsons Project and
“The Raven”
5.4.1. Structural Musical Principle of Repetition and Variation
Repetition and variation are apparent in both the lyrics and the music of The Alan Parsons
Project‘s setting of ―The Raven‖; this is particularly the case with the music, which is given
more emphasis.
The presence of musical elements in the lyrics is largely adopted from Edgar Allan Poe. A
first case of repetition is noticeable in the use of a refrain, which divides the song into two
separate parts. The first refrain is: ―Nevermore / Thus quoth the raven nevermore‖; the second:
―Quoth the raven, nevermore / Thus quoth the raven / nevermore‖ (Booklet).5 As in Poe‘s
poem, the refrain includes the keyword nevermore, which is the response of the visiting raven.
The importance of this word is stressed in the second refrain, at the end of the song, where
nevermore is repeated fifteen times to emphasize the climax. In a literary work, this would be
practically impossible, because a writer could not simply repeat the same word in one line
without variation. This clearly demonstrates the limit to which repetition can be used in prose,
but also in poetry: a reader would be irritated to have to read the same word over and over
again. In a musical seting, however, it is possible to keep the audience interested by means of
intonation switches, volume changes or variations in the length of the words (Charmenz 146147).
Another case of repetition in the linguistic material can be found just before the actual
refrain. Before the first refrain is: ―That I shall hear for evermore‖, which, as ―And I must
hear for evermore‖, is repeated before the second refrain (Booklet). It is certain that these
lines do not belong to the actual refrain, because they are separated from it by a guitar solo.
This case of repetition, with the word evermore, and the refrain with the word nevermore, are
5
Lyrics of The Alan Parsons Project‘s ―The Raven‖: See Appendix 5.
77
a help to set the mood of this musical adaptation of ―The Raven‖. As already demonstrated,
the o sound is melancholic and therefore, together with the repetitions, important for the
development of the mood. These repetitions stress the importance of the words and make the
dominating mood more obvious for the listener.
In the previous musical setting and the original poem by Poe, these instances of repetition
are preceded by variations on the theme of the grieving student who questions the raven. Here,
however, the narrator does not questions the bird directly, but simply tells his story.
Consequently, one cannot actually speak of variation between the two parts of the song,
because there is no actual theme. There is nevertheless an instance of repetition and variation
within the second part of The Alan Parsons Project‘s song itself: the first and the fifth lines
begin with and and the three lines in between begin with the word no. Repeating the same
word at the beginning of successive lines is an examples of anaphora, a literary device that is
in this case applied for musical reasons: ―And still the raven remains in my room / No matter
how much I implore / No words can soothe him / No prayer remove him / And I must hear for
evermore‖ (Booklet my italics). The repetition of the word no stresses the rejection of the
raven to leave the narrator and makes it clear to the audience that this is an important element
in the story of The Alan Parsons Project‘s setting of ―The Raven‖.
It is not surprising that the music of the song should contain many examples of variation
and repetition, given the emphasis placed on it. Indeed, the music breaks down into several
structures that are repeated throughout the song. Within these parts, there is then room for
variation.
The larger parts that are repeated are the two verses, the refrain and the musical breaks in
between. In addition to the repetitions, variation within the verses is provided by the drums
and the vocoder, which set in the first verse the electronic framework for the song, and the
guitar and piano, which form in the second verse the rock-and-roll theme. There is place for
78
musical variation even within the first verse of the setting. For the first 24‘‘, the only
instrument playing is the bass drum setting the beat; from the twenty-fifth second onwards it
is joined by the cymbals. As regards the refrain, variation is achieved by a contrast of volume
and colour: when, the first time round, Alan Parsons speaks the word nevermore, his voice is
very soft and there is no musical accompaniment. This contrast attracts the attention of the
listener and stresses the word nevermore, which helps to set the mood of the piece. In the
second time round, however, voice and instrumental accompaniment are very loud and
forceful. This bombastic part is another way to attract the attention of the listener and has as
its purpose to introduce the climactic point of the song.
In spite of its short length this song contains many instances of repetition and variation,
both in the lyrics and in the music. However, the device of repetition and variation is more
obvious in the music, which dominates the literary features and the entire composition
(Charmenz 146-147).
5.4.2. Traditional Musical Elements: Rhythm, Melody and Establishment of
Mood
a) Rhythm
In its setting of ―The Raven‖, The Alan Parsons Project made a greater effort at fitting
Poe‘s words into a musical framework than Lou Reed. The consequence of this is that musical
rhythm – one of the most essential elements in music – takes precedence over literary rhythm.
This does not mean that the linguistic material does not have any rhythm: the words follow a
metrical pattern, but it is not the trochaic octameter that dominates the original poem (Hertz
19-22). The group has adapted the words to a new metrical pattern, formed by two
pentameters followed by an octameter. An example of this combination is seen in the first
lines: ―The clock struck midnight / And through my sleeping / I heard a tapping at my door‖
79
(Booklet). In the first stanza of the song, there are four such combinations. In the second
stanza, there are only two, which means that the stanzas are not of equal length.
The metre, the different types of rhyme and the use of alliteration all play an important
role in shaping the rhythm of Edgar Allan Poe‘s original poem and Lou Reed‘s version of
―The Raven‖, but loose their significance in The Alan Parsons Project‘s setting (Hertz 19-22).
In this last setting, the literary rhythm is dominated by the musical rhythm. Musical
rhythm itself can be defined in a number of ways. In its simpliest form, firstly, it is
determined by the duration of the notes. This duration is precisely determined by means of
musical time, which, in musical notation, is indicated as a mathematical ratio of so many
beats to the bar: one, two, three, etc. The difficulty of locating a score of this setting leaves a
little uncertainty about the musical time here, but it appears to be 4/4, i.e. four quarter-note
beats to the bar, otherwise known as common time, the most generally used in music (Brown,
―Literature and Music‖ 254-255).
A second way in which musical rhythm can be determined is, according to Schneider,
through pace or tempo: this indicates whether a piece of music has to be performed fast or
slow and also suggests which mood should dominate. In ―The Raven‖ by The Alan Parsons
Project, the tapping of an electronic instrument indicates a rather slow, dreamy tempo, which
is complementary to the melancholic mood. This tempo is continued throughout the first
stanza, with the effect that the listener clearly experiences the dominating mood. Towards the
end of the second stanza, the rhythm becomes more of a rock-and-roll one, entirely different
from that at the beginning of the song (Alvarez 6). This rhythm symbolizes the climactic
signal:
To my amazement
There stood a raven
Whose shadow hung above my door
80
Then through the silence
It spoke that one word
That I shall hear forever more. (Booklet)
b) Melody and Climax
Unlike Edgar Allan Poe‘s original version and Lou Reed‘s musical setting, the main
melody of the setting of ―The Raven‖ by The Alan Parsons Project is not bound to the literary
rhythm, but rather to the musical rhythm, i.e. 4/4 time.
This does not mean that there is no melody in the linguistic material; melodic linguistic
material is just not as essential as in the original and in Reed‘s version. Here, in The Alan
Parsons Project‘s setting, the linguistic material is broken down into two verses and a refrain,
the literary rhythm of the verses being totally different to that of the refrain. The verses
consist of groups of two pentameters and an octameter, but this particular construction
changes in the refrain; the second time around, indeed, the refrain consists of just two
octameters. The transitions from verse to refrain are additionally underlined by the musical
breaks, one of which occurs between 52‘‘ and 1‘02‘‘.
However, the melody lies mainly with the musical instruments and, according to
Schneider, can be divided into phrases on the basis of their intensity. Taking the first phrase,
which ends at 25‘‘with the words: ―And so I turned inside once more‖, all that is heard is the
decisive tapping of the bass drum, together with the sound of the vocoder (Booklet).
Moreover, the last word of the phrase, more, is lengthened which stresses again the
melancholic o sound. In the second phrase, Parsons‘s voice becomes more clear and bass
drum is joined by other instruments of the drum battery. Also the end of this phrase stresses
the melancholic mood by lengthening the o sound: ―That I shall hear forever more‖ (Booklet).
The climax, which is an important element in the construction of the melody, takes shape
in the refrain which contains the keyword nevermore. The first time round, however, this
81
word forms only a minor climax: the voice is very soft and no instruments are heard, seeming
to suggest a climax completely different from what the desperate cry of the narrator would
suggest. This minor climax is an excellent example of the indefinite quality of music: the
indecisiveness of the climax‘s character and the development of the setting (Charmenz 159160).
In this setting, the cue for the last climactic ascent is given with the speaking of the final
words of the second verse: ―And I must hear for evermore‖: this ascent lasts from 2‘22 till
2‘28‘‘ (Booklet). The major climax follows in the repeat of the refrain, with the word
nevermore. This time round, the refrain is sung very loud and expressively and, in concert
with the music, imposes the climax on the listener. This construction of the climax also helps
the comprehensibility of the mood: as in Poe‘s poem, the word nevermore is used as a
keyword and is the final confirmation of the melancholic mood.
c) Construction of the Mood
The primary mood of this setting of ―The Raven‖ is clearly demonstrated by the music,
where almost every element contributes to the construction of it.
For the first verse, there is an electronic tone, which is played by a simple bass drum and
the vocoder, and which helps to create an ideal framework for the piece; it is a setting of a
high-tech new age. The electronic sound is particularly apt because of its significance in our
modern age; it is only natural, then, that it should be used to underline the importance of the
musical elements in this modern reinterpretation of Poe‘s ―The Raven‖. Its use to frame the
beginning of the song is a modern twist and is misleading for the listener, since it does not set
the dominating mood, which remains the same as in Poe‘s poem: i.e. melancholic. The first
time the refrain is heard, for example, one senses melancholy and mystery very intensely
through the calm voice. Moreover, the lack of instruments in the first refrain stresses this
softness (Alvarez 6).
82
Another musical element that contributed to the development of this dominating
melancholic mood is the pace of the instruments: the slow tapping of the electronic instrument
suggests a melancholic mood, which is stressed by the continuation of this tapping troughout
the entire first stanza.
The construction of the musical melody, which divides the song into phrases on the basis
of their intensity, is the last element that helps to form the dominating mood: these phrases all
end with a word containing the lengthened melancholic o sound: more, door, forever more
and implore. Furthermore, these words occur in the lighter moments of the song, which is a
typical characteristic of a musical construction of the mood. In the first verse, for instance,
Alan Parsons sings:
And so I turned inside once more
To my amazement
There stood a raven
Whose shadow hung above my door ( Booklet my italics).
A last element that helps to construct the prevailing mood is the keyword nevermore. This
word is placed at the end of the refrain and is repeated extensively at the end of the song,
which stresses the importance of it (Charmenz 149-159). This ending also forms the final
climax, whose construction confirms a last time the dominating mood.
Demonstrably, thus, this group selected its linguistic material to serve the musical purpose,
similarly to Poe in his poem and Lou Reed in his musical setting.
5.4.3. Poe as Source of Inspiration
The album Tales of Mystery and Imagination that includes the song ―The Raven‖ is a
concept album designed to pay tribute to the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe. According to
the official website of The Alan Parsons Project, the making of this tribute album and thus the
musical setting of ―The Raven‖ was an original idea of Eric Woolfson, who has been inspired
83
throughout his career by the life and works of Edgar Poe. It was Woolfson who, with Alan
Parsons, formed the group The Alan Parsons Project. His intention with the songs was to
evoke a macabre mood similar to that of a horror film. The prompting for this and his
fascination for Edgar Allan Poe are rooted in his childhood, when many films came out that
were inspired by the works of Poe.
The Alan Parsons Project‘s musical interpretation of ―The Raven‖ is essentially that of a
rock song, mixed with a number of features of the burgeoning electronic age. For example,
the setting employs a digital vocoder, which is an electronic device that modifies sound
signals. This vocoder was fitting for the Project‘s remake of Poe‘s ―The Raven‖, because it
could produce the similar sound of the caw of the bird. Moreover, the album was released in
the 1970s and its distorted sound was suited to an age when hallucinogenic environments
were an integral part of the new pop culture (Alvarez 5). These electronic features dominated
the literary qualities of the song, and resulted in the original poem being completely reorganized and elaborated on. The Alan Parsons Project did not simply put the most popular
American poem to music, but they reinterpreted it entirely to achieve a good symbiosis
between the literary and the musical elements.
5.4.4. Difference in Content
The content of Edgar Allan Poe‘s ―The Raven‖ underwent serious modification in this
setting because The Alan Parsons Project gave priority to the essential musical elements.
Instead of subtly rewriting and adapting the original poem to their own interpretation, as Lou
Reed did, Woolfson and Parsons composed a wholly different text. In terms of length alone,
the song‘s lyrics omit several elements of the original poem and cover only twenty-one short
lines, compared to the eighteen stanzas of Poe‘s text. Moreover, several elements have been
changed or omitted from the content of the stanzas. For instance, The Alan Parsons Project
84
has slightly altered the narrator‘s state from the original one of flitting in and out of sleep into
one almost of being in a dream (Alvarez 6):
The clock struck midnight
And through my sleeping
I heard a tapping at my door
I looked but nothing lay in the darkness
And so I turned inside once more. (Booklet)
It seems as if only the beginning and end of the original story are kept: the entering of the
raven into the narrator‘s chamber and the final realization that the bird will never leave the
narrator. In the first stanza, one can hear the raven entering: ―To my amazement / There stood
a raven‖, and in the second stanza the audience realizes that nothing can remove the raven
from the narrator‘s life: ―And still the raven remains in my room / (…) / no prayer remove
him (Booklet).
Several paragraphs are reduced to two stanzas with a refrain, in which the essential is told.
The song lyrics have the line: ―I looked but nothing lay in the darkness‖ (Booklet), which
refers to the fourth paragraph of the original poem: ―Darkness there, and nothing more‖ (Poe
―The Raven‖ 2). Three lines further comes: ―There stood a raven / Whose shadow hang above
my door‖ (Booklet), which is already referring to the seventh paragraph of the original, where
the raven makes his entrance: ―Purched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door‖
(Poe ―The Raven‖ 3). Nothing is said about the narrator‘s lost beloved or about his grief for
this woman.
To a certain extent, The Alan Parsons Project has made a totally new interpretation of
Poe‘s ―The Raven‖, only to make it fit for a musical setting. However, some of the most
essential and prominent features of the poem are preserved: the feeling of desperation that is
85
suggested in the story, is not lost, as evidenced in the last stanza of The Alan Parsons
Project‘s song, which suggests the lack of hope (Alvarez 7):
And still the raven remains in my room
No matter how much I implore
No words can soothe him
No prayer remove him
And I must hear for evermore
Quoth the raven, nevermore
Thus quoth the raven Nevermore. (Booklet)
5.4.5. The Alan Parsons Project’s other Musical Settings of Poe’s Works
The Alan Parsons Project had with its concept album ―Tales of Mystery and Imagination‖
Edgar Allan Poe as central starting point. Several short stories and poems were set to music.6
According to Mike Degagne‘s article, this group tried to create for every song a specific
atmosphere by means of diverse musical instruments such as a guitar, synthesizer, drums,
vocoder and even a glockenspiel: the thumping of the drums, for instance, imitated the
heartbeat in the musical setting of ―The Tell-Tale Heart‖.
Every song in Tales of Mystery and Imagination has its own character, which can be
illustrated with the musical setting of ―Dream within a Dream‖: this musical composition is
purely instrumental. Another very clear illustration is the musical setting of ―The Fall of the
House of Usher‖. This poem of Edgar Allan Poe is interpreted as a five-part rock symphony,
including the prelude, arrival, intermezzo, pavane and fall. Moreover, the prelude of this
symphony was based upon an already existing musical setting of this particular poem: ―La
6
Tracklist of The Alan Parsons Project‘s ―Tales of Mystery and Imagination‖: see Appendix 6.
86
Chute de la Maison Usher‖ of the classic composer and Poe-enthusiast Claude Debussy
(Trezise 297).
This is not the only album where The Alan Parsons Project has made use of Poe‘s works.
Also in the album The Turn of a Friendly Card, an instrumental song is entitled after Poe‘s
poem ―The Gold Bug‖.
5.4.6. Conclusion
The musical adaptation of ―The Raven‖ by The Alan Parsons Project differs in many ways
from Poe‘s poem and Lou Reed‘s setting. These differences stem from the fact that this group
puts the stress on achieveing its aims through the music itself; the linguistic material of their
composition is of only minor importance. This becomes already clear looking at the content of
The Alan Parsons Project‘s song. The lyrics of this musical setting include some serious
modifications: it counts only two stanzas and two refrains. This does not mean, however, that
the original poem is totally lost: Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson have preserved the essential
features of the original poem. With the keyword nevermore, for example, it preserves the
essence of the original refrain.
The musical elements that were applied to the linguistic material, are now fully applied to
the musical score, as normally should be the case. The stress on the song‘s musicality resulted,
for instance, in many cases of repetition and variation, despite the length of the musical
adaptation. The musical section is divided into several different parts that are repeated
throughout the song and in these divisions there is room for variation. Also in the literary
section, this structural musical principle is noticeable: for example, in the use of the refrain.
However, they are less extensive than in the musical section and are taken largely from Poe‘s
original ―The Raven‖.
87
Also in the analysis of the song‘s rhythm, it is clear that the musical part is more
important than the literary part. The dominating musical rhythm is formed by the musical time
4/4. This does not mean, however, that the linguistic material is without any rhythm: the
words follow a certain metrical pattern, which is different from Poe‘s metrical pattern.
A third element that is dominated by the musical part, is melody: the intensity of the
music divides the melody into phrases. Above this, the linguistic material carries a melody,
but it is not as essential as in the musical adaptation of Lou Reed or as in Poe‘s original poem.
It only helps, interacting with the musical melody, to divide the song into the two verses and
the refrain. In these refrains, the climax is formed. In the first refrain this is a minor climax,
however. The major climax is formed in the second with the word nevermore.
A last element that is most obviously demonstrated in the musical section of the
adaptation is the construction of the mood. The calm voice and the sound of the piano gives
the song a melancholic mood, just as in the two other versions of ―The Raven‖. Looking at the
literary part, it is the keyword nevermore with its extensive repetitions that helps to form this
particular mood.
The setting that is the subject of the second case study is a fully fledged musical
composition. In it, The Alan Parsons Project has tried to accomplish Poe‘s dream of uniting
literature with music: in adapting his poem, The Project has made an effort to apply the
musical elements employed by Poe to an actual musical setting.
88
6. Conclusions
In this research study, the general aim was to examine the musical elements of Edgar
Allan Poe‘s ―The Raven‖ and to compare these with the two settings of the case studies. A
preliminary literary study underpinned this inquiry and was taken as the basis for the
development of a theoretical musical framework, which provided a review of the different
musical elements. Examining these musical elements within the context of the two case
studies produced sufficient evidence for a coherent number of conclusions to be drawn. The
findings necessarily remain general, due partly to difficulties in tracking down source material,
such as the musical scores of the two settings.
Studying Poe‘s ―The Raven‖ revealed that it contains several musical elements. The first
musical element Poe applied was the structural principle of repetition and variation. A
traditional author would claim that the number of repetitions in a literary work has to be
limited. Being a poet, however, Poe was of a different opinion and used a musical refrain in
―The Raven‖ and even applied the musical form of theme and variation. A second element
Poe used was musical rhythm. Generally, in literature, the rhythm of the words is normally
not so distinctive as in ―The Raven‖, where Poe used rhyme and alliterative pattern to
increase the importance of this musical element.
Moreover, Poe tried to introduce melody, which is normally bound to the rhythmical
pattern, and the typical indefiniteness of music into his work. To imbue this indefiniteness
into his poem, he also constructed the mood of the work along musical lines. His aim in using
these different elements was to bring his poem a step closer to music.
The musical elements were examined within the context of the two case studies. Both case
studies are modern settings of the original poem: the first one ―The Raven‖ by Lou Reed, the
second ―The Raven‖ by The Alan Parsons Project. The first element examined in both
instances was the structural musical principle of repetition and variation. This principle was
89
present mainly in Reed‘s linguistic material, but was strikingly more subtly employed than in
Poe‘s original poem and often extended to several variations. These variations were needed
by Reed to keep his audience interested. A second element studied in Lou Reed‘s ―The
Raven‖ was rhythm, which was determined mainly by the literary metre. As in Poe‘s poem,
other literary elements were also used to bring rhythm into the composition, more particularly
the techniques of rhyme pattern and alliteration.
Examination of the third element in Reed‘s setting revealed that the leading melody was
shaped in the text rather than in the musical score, being linked to the rhythmic material of the
words. The climax, which is a part of melody, formed no exception to this, the linguistic
material being the main indicator of the climactic point. The fourth and last element examined
was the musical construction of mood, being set particularly in the lyrics. The nature of this
mood was one of the rare elements that differed from Poe‘s poem: the former melancholy is
turned into bitterness. This slight difference in mood changes almost the entire interpretation
of the setting.
Examination of the first element in respect of the setting of The Alan Parsons Project
showed this setting differing to a great extent from Lou Reed‘s. Repetition and variation were
more distinctly present in the music of the song than in the lyrics. This was underlined by the
other elements, including rhythm. In this setting, rhythm is formed by the musical time and
the tempo, and not by the literary metre. This implied that the leading melody, too, was more
bound to the musical time than to the literary metre. The literary metre helped only to make a
distinction between verse and refrain, but did not play any role further in the construction of
the dominant melody or in the construction of the climax. All this, including the construction
of the mood, can be deduced from the music.
Several conclusions can be drawn from these results. Examination of the musical elements
in Poe‘s ―The Raven‖ and comparison of how they are handled there and in the settings of the
90
two case studies allow the conclusion that Poe is definitely a musical poet. He applied the
musical elements in an apt and intelligent manner, in order to bring the literature and music a
step closer together. Throughout the years, many musicians have acknowledged Poe‘s musical
bent and he has been an important source of inspiration. Not only classical composers, but
also modern musicians from diverse genres have taken inspiration from him, and especially
his poem ―The Raven‖. One of the reasons why Poe inspired such a great variety of musical
forms is because his works offer a wide range of different tones and plots: from the
humouristic and sarcastic to the dramatic and morbid .
The musical elements of Poe‘s ―The Raven‖ can be adapted in several ways to an actual
musical setting, again demonstrating the richness of Poe‘s musical bent. Diverse musicians
have each been able to draw something out of the poem, as the two settings of the case studies
show. The first setting was that by Lou Reed, who understood the musical qualities of ―The
Raven‖, but also wanted to retain the literary aspect. He made a spoken song out of the poem,
and thereby ensured that the musical elements were applied to the linguistic material. Reed
only made one change of considerable importance in his interpretation of the poem, and that
is the character of the setting‘s mood: the melancholy of the narrator is turned into bitterness,
because the angelic image he had of his beloved is broken into pieces.
In the setting of The Alan Parsons Project, Poe‘s musical elements are almost entirely
integrated into the actual music. Parsons and Woolfson held to the original intention of the
musical elements, but applied those elements mainly to the music. The group also retained the
most prominent elements of the story, such as the dominating melancholic mood. However,
one visible change is the content of the lyrics: the original eighteen stanzas of Poe‘s poem are
reduced to only two stanzas. Moreover, there is no mentioning of a beloved or the name
Lenore; the only part of the original story retained by The Alan Parsons Project, is the
entering of the raven and the despair of the narrator that this bird will never leave him again.
91
Some caution concerning the results of the study is necessary, however. The investigation
into the wider use of the musical elements employed by Poe is based on only a limited
number of musical settings of this famous poem. A broader and more detailed inquiry into the
musical bent he evidences in ―The Raven‖ would require study of more than two musical
settings of the poem.
92
List of Works Cited
―Absolute Music.‖ Harvard Dictionary of Music. 4th ed. 2003.
Agathodaimon. Booklet. ―Les Posédes.‖ Higher Art of Rebellion. Nuclear Blast, 1999.
Alvarez, Guido. ―Poe Appropriation Analysis.‖ Docstoc. 25 Oct. 2008. 7 April 2009.
<http://www.docstoc.com/docs/4293581/raven-analysis>.
Brown, Calvin S. ―Literature and Music. A Develping Field of Study.‖ Cupers And Weisstein
253-258.
Brown, Calvin S. Music and Literature: A Comparison of the Arts. Athens: U of Georgia P,
1948.
Brown, Calvin S. ―Musico-Literary Research in the last two decades [1950-1970].‖ Cupers
and Weisstein 201-234.
Brown, Calvin D. ―Theme and Variations as a Literary Form.‖ Essays on Form: Literature
and Music. Ed. Nancy Cluck, ed. Provo (Utah): Brigham Young UP, 1981. 70-82.
Brown, Calvin S. ―The Poetic Use of Musical Forms.‖ Cupers and Weisstein 145-160.
Carlson, Eric W., ed. A Companion to Poe Studies. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1996.
---, ed. The Recognition of Edgar Allan Poe. Michigan: U of Michigan P, 1966.
Charmenz, Lenhart. Musical Influence on American Poetry. Georgia: Georgia U, 1956.
―Climax.‖ Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica. 17 July
2009 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/204113/feminine-rhyme>.
Cluck, Nancy Anne, Introduction. Essays on Form: Literature and Music. By Cluck, ed. Provo
(Utah): Brigham Young UP, 1981. 1-10.
Cluck, Nancy Anne, Preface. Essays on Form: Literature and Music. By Cluck, ed. Provo
(Utah): Brigham Young UP, 1981. vii-viii.
Cooke, P. Pendleton. ―Edgar A. Poe.‖ Carlson, Recognition 21-28.
93
Cupers, Jean-Louis, and Ulrich Weisstein, eds. Word and Music Studies: Musico-Poetics in
Perspective: Calvin S. Brown in Memoriam. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2000.
Degagne, Mike. ―Review: Tales of Mystery and Imagination.‖ Allmusic. 2009. 7 July 2009.
<http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:d9fqxqe5ldte>.
Deming, Mark. ―Review: ‗The Raven‘.‖ Allmusic. 2009. 7 July 2009.
<http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:y7de4j676way>.
Evans, May Garrettson. Music and Edgar Allan Poe: A Bibliographical Study. Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins Press, 1939.
Fagin, N. Bryllion. The Histrionic Mr. Poe. Baltimore: The John Hopkins Press, 1949.
―Feminine Rhyme.‖ Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica. 4 Apr.
2009 < http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/204113/feminine-rhyme>.
Fisher, Benjamin F. ―Poe and the Gothic Tradition.‖ Hayes 72-91.
Giordano, Robert. ―A short biography of Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849).‖
27 June 2005. 8 March 2009 <http://www.poestories.com/biography.php>.
Hayes, Kevin J., ed. The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe. Cambridge: Cambridge
UP, 2002.
Hertz, David Michael. ―The Composer‘s Musico-Literary Experience. Reflections on Song
Writing.‖ Cupers and Weisstein 17-24.
Huxley, Aldous Leonard. ―Vulgarity in Literature.‖ Carlson, Recognition 160-167.
Ingham, Michael. ―Pound and Music.‖ The Cambridge Companion to Ezra Pound. Ed. Ira
Bruce Nadel. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999.
Kennedy, Gerald J., Introduction. A Historical Guide to Edgar Allan Poe. By Kennedy, ed.
Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001. 3-17.
Kopley, Richard and Kevin J. Hayes. ―Two Verse Masterworks: ‗The Raven‘ and ‗Ulalume‘.‖
Hayes 191-203.
94
Los Tipitos Official Website. 2009. Los Tipitos 16 July 2009 <http://tipitoweb.com.ar/>.
Magistrale, Tony. Student Companion ot Edgar Allan Poe. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2001.
Mankowitz, Wolf. The Extraordinary Mr. Poe: a Biography of Edgar Allan Poe. London:
Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1978.
MC Lars Official Website. 2009. MC Lars 16 July 2009 <http://mclars.com/>.
Meyers, Jeffrey. Poe: His Life and Legacy. New York: Cooper Square Publishers Inc.,
2000.
Neimeyer, Mark. ―Poe and popular Culture‖. Hayes 205-224.
Nevermore. Booklet. ―This Godless Endeavor.‖ This Godless Endeavor. Century Media, 2005.
Nox Arcana Official Website. 2009. Nox Arcana 16 July 2009 <http://www.noxarcana.com>.
Peeples, Scott. The Afterlife of Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Camden House, 2004.
Piette, Isabelle. Littérature et musique : contribution à une orientation théorique 1970-1985.
Namur : Presses universitaires de Namur, 1987.
Poe, Edgar Allan. ―The Philosophy of Composition.‖ Edgar Allan Poe: Poems and Essays.
Comp. Andrew Lang. London: Dent & Sons, 1972. 163-177.
Poe, Edgar Allan ―The Poetic Principle.‖ Edgar Allan Poe: Poems and Essays. Comp. Andrew
Lang. London: Dent & Sons, 1972. 91-112.
Poe, Edgar Allan. ―The Rationale of Verse.‖ Edgar Allan Poe: Poems and Essays. Comp.
Andrew Lang. London: Dent & Sons, 1972. 113-163.
Poe, Edgar Allan. ―The Raven.‖ Edgar Allan Poe: Poems and Essays. Comp. Andrew Lang.
London: Dent & Sons, 1972. 1-6.
Pollin, Burton R. ―Poe in Art, Music, Opera and Dance.‖ Carlson A Companion 495-517.
Polonsky, Rachel. ―Poe‘s aesthetic theory.‖ Hayes 42-56.
Reed, Lou. The Raven. Warner Bros. Records Inc., 2003.
---. Booklet. ―The Raven.‖ The Raven. Warner Bros. Records Inc., 2003.
95
Reilly, John E. ―Poe in Literature and Popular Culture.‖ Carlson, A Companion 471-493.
Scher, Steven Paul. ―Comparing Literature and Music: Current Trends and Prospects in
Critical Theory and Methodology.‖ Word and Music Studies: Essays on Literature and
Music (1967-2004) by Steven Paul Scher. Eds. Walter Bernhart and Werner Wolf.
Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2004.
Scher, Steven Paul. Literatur und Musik: ein Handbuch zur Theorie und Praxis eines
komparatistischen Grenzgebietes. Berlin: Schmidt, 1984.
Schneider, Elaine. ―The Four Elements of Music: Melody Harmony, Rhythm, and
Dynamics.‖ Essortment. 2002. 5 March 2009.
<http://www.essortment.com/all/elementsmusic_rllc.htm>.
Shelley, Percy Byssche. The poetical Works of Percy Byssche Shelley. London, 1865.
Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: mournful and never-ending Remembrance. New York:
HarperPerennial, 1991.
Symons, Julian. The Tell-Tale Heart: the Life and Works of Edgar Allan Poe. London:
Faber & Faber, 1978.
The Alan Parsons Project. Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Abbey Road, 1976.
---. Booklet. ―The Raven.‖ Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Abbey Road, 1976.
---. ―The Gold Bug.‖ The Turn of a Friendly Card. Arista, 1980.
The Alan Parsons Project Official Website. 2009. The Alan Parsons Project 7 March 2009
<http://www.the-alan-parsons-project.com>.
Thorpe, Dwayne. ―The Poems: 1836-1849.‖ Carlson A Companion 89-109.
Trezise, Simon, ed. Cambridge Companion to Debussy. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2003.
Van de Kamp, Bert. ―Lou Reed kruipt in de huid van Edgar Allan Poe.‖ Oor May 2003:
42-45.
96
Vines, Louis Davis, Introduction. Poe abroad: Influence, Reputation, Affinities. By Vines, ed.
Iowa: U of Iowa P, 1999. 1-5.
Whitman, Walt. ―Edgar Poe‘s Significance.‖ Carlson, Recognition 73-76.
Yeats, William Butler. ―Letter to W.T. Horton.‖ Carlson, Recognition 76-77.
97
Appendices
Appendix 1: ―The Philosophy of Composition‖, Edgar Allan Poe.
Appendix 2: ―The Raven‖, Edgar Allan Poe.
Appendix 3: Lyrics ―The Raven‖, Lou Reed.
Appendix 4: Tracklist ―The Raven‖, Lou Reed.
Appendix 5: Lyrics ―The Raven‖, The Alan Parsons Project.
Appendix 6: Tracklist ―Tales of Mystery and Imagination‖, The Alan Parsons Project.
98
Appendix 1: “The Philosophy of Composition”, Edgar Allan Poe
CHARLES DICKENS, in a note now lying before me, alluding to an examination I
once made of the mechanism of "Barnaby Rudge," says- "By the way, are you aware that
Godwin wrote his 'Caleb Williams' backwards? He first involved his hero in a web of
difficulties, forming the second volume, and then, for the first, cast about him for some mode
of accounting for what had been done."
I cannot think this the precise mode of procedure on the part of Godwin- and indeed
what he himself acknowledges, is not altogether in accordance with Mr. Dickens' idea- but the
author of "Caleb Williams" was too good an artist not to perceive the advantage derivable
from at least a somewhat similar process. Nothing is more clear than that every plot, worth the
name, must be elaborated to its denouement before anything be attempted with the pen. It is
only with the denouement constantly in view that we can give a plot its indispensable air of
consequence, or causation, by making the incidents, and especially the tone at all points, tend
to the development of the intention.
There is a radical error, I think, in the usual mode of constructing a story. Either
history affords a thesis- or one is suggested by an incident of the day- or, at best, the author
sets himself to work in the combination of striking events to form merely the basis of his
narrative-designing, generally, to fill in with description, dialogue, or autorial comment,
whatever crevices of fact, or action, may, from page to page, render themselves apparent.
I prefer commencing with the consideration of an effect. Keeping originality always in
view- for he is false to himself who ventures to dispense with so obvious and so easily
attainable a source of interest- I say to myself, in the first place, "Of the innumerable effects,
or impressions, of which the heart, the intellect, or (more generally) the soul is susceptible,
what one shall I, on the present occasion, select?" Having chosen a novel, first, and secondly a
vivid effect, I consider whether it can be best wrought by incident or tone- whether by
99
ordinary incidents and peculiar tone, or the converse, or by peculiarity both of incident and
tone- afterward looking about me (or rather within) for such combinations of event, or tone, as
shall best aid me in the construction of the effect.
I have often thought how interesting a magazine paper might be written by any author
who would- that is to say, who could- detail, step by step, the processes by which any one of
his compositions attained its ultimate point of completion. Why such a paper has never been
given to the world, I am much at a loss to say- but, perhaps, the autorial vanity has had more
to do with the omission than any one other cause. Most writers- poets in especial- prefer
having it understood that they compose by a species of fine frenzy- an ecstatic intuition- and
would positively shudder at letting the public take a peep behind the scenes, at the elaborate
and vacillating crudities of thought- at the true purposes seized only at the last moment- at the
innumerable glimpses of idea that arrived not at the maturity of full view- at the fully-matured
fancies discarded in despair as unmanageable- at the cautious selections and rejections- at the
painful erasures and interpolations- in a word, at the wheels and pinions- the tackle for sceneshifting- the step-ladders, and demon-traps- the cock's feathers, the red paint and the black
patches, which, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, constitute the properties of the literary
histrio.
I am aware, on the other hand, that the case is by no means common, in which an
author is at all in condition to retrace the steps by which his conclusions have been attained.
In general, suggestions, having arisen pell-mell are pursued and forgotten in a similar manner.
For my own part, I have neither sympathy with the repugnance alluded to, nor, at any time,
the least difficulty in recalling to mind the progressive steps of any of my compositions, and,
since the interest of an analysis or reconstruction, such as I have considered a desideratum, is
quite independent of any real or fancied interest in the thing analysed, it will not be regarded
as a breach of decorum on my part to show the modus operandi by which some one of my
100
own works was put together. I select 'The Raven' as most generally known. It is my design to
render it manifest that no one point in its composition is referable either to accident or
intuition- that the work proceeded step by step, to its completion, with the precision and rigid
consequence of a mathematical problem.
Let us dismiss, as irrelevant to the poem, per se, the circumstance- or say the
necessity- which, in the first place, gave rise to the intention of composing a poem that should
suit at once the popular and the critical taste.
We commence, then, with this intention.
The initial consideration was that of extent. If any literary work is too long to be read
at one sitting, we must be content to dispense with the immensely important effect derivable
from unity of impression- for, if two sittings be required, the affairs of the world interfere, and
everything like totality is at once destroyed. But since, ceteris paribus, no poet can afford to
dispense with anything that may advance his design, it but remains to be seen whether there is,
in extent, any advantage to counterbalance the loss of unity which attends it. Here I say no, at
once. What we term a long poem is, in fact, merely a succession of brief ones- that is to say,
of brief poetical effects. It is needless to demonstrate that a poem is such only inasmuch as it
intensely excites, by elevating the soul; and all intense excitements are, through a psychal
necessity, brief. For this reason, at least, one-half of the "Paradise Lost" is essentially prose- a
succession of poetical excitements interspersed, inevitably, with corresponding depressionsthe whole being deprived, through the extremeness of its length, of the vastly important
artistic element, totality, or unity of effect.
It appears evident, then, that there is a distinct limit, as regards length, to all works of
literary art- the limit of a single sitting- and that, although in certain classes of prose
composition, such as "Robinson Crusoe" (demanding no unity), this limit may be
advantageously overpassed, it can never properly be overpassed in a poem. Within this limit,
101
the extent of a poem may be made to bear mathematical relation to its merit- in other words,
to the excitement or elevation-again, in other words, to the degree of the true poetical effect
which it is capable of inducing; for it is clear that the brevity must be in direct ratio of the
intensity of the intended effect- this, with one proviso- that a certain degree of duration is
absolutely requisite for the production of any effect at all.
Holding in view these considerations, as well as that degree of excitement which I
deemed not above the popular, while not below the critical taste, I reached at once what I
conceived the proper length for my intended poem- a length of about one hundred lines. It is,
in fact, a hundred and eight.
My next thought concerned the choice of an impression, or effect, to be conveyed: and
here I may as well observe that throughout the construction, I kept steadily in view the design
of rendering the work universally appreciable. I should be carried too far out of my immediate
topic were I to demonstrate a point upon which I have repeatedly insisted, and which, with the
poetical, stands not in the slightest need of demonstration- the point, I mean, that Beauty is the
sole legitimate province of the poem. A few words, however, in elucidation of my real
meaning, which some of my friends have evinced a disposition to misrepresent. That pleasure
which is at once the most intense, the most elevating, and the most pure is, I believe, found in
the contemplation of the beautiful. When, indeed, men speak of Beauty, they mean, precisely,
not a quality, as is supposed, but an effect- they refer, in short, just to that intense and pure
elevation of soul- not of intellect, or of heart- upon which I have commented, and which is
experienced in consequence of contemplating the "beautiful." Now I designate Beauty as the
province of the poem, merely because it is an obvious rule of Art that effects should be made
to spring from direct causes- that objects should be attained through means best adapted for
their attainment- no one as yet having been weak enough to deny that the peculiar elevation
alluded to is most readily attained in the poem. Now the object Truth, or the satisfaction of the
102
intellect, and the object Passion, or the excitement of the heart, are, although attainable to a
certain extent in poetry, far more readily attainable in prose. Truth, in fact, demands a
precision, and Passion, a homeliness (the truly passionate will comprehend me), which are
absolutely antagonistic to that Beauty which, I maintain, is the excitement or pleasurable
elevation of the soul. It by no means follows, from anything here said, that passion, or even
truth, may not be introduced, and even profitably introduced, into a poem for they may serve
in elucidation, or aid the general effect, as do discords in music, by contrast- but the true artist
will always contrive, first, to tone them into proper subservience to the predominant aim, and,
secondly, to enveil them, as far as possible, in that Beauty which is the atmosphere and the
essence of the poem.
Regarding, then, Beauty as my province, my next question referred to the tone of its
highest manifestation- and all experience has shown that this tone is one of sadness. Beauty of
whatever kind in its supreme development invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears.
Melancholy is thus the most legitimate of all the poetical tones.
The length, the province, and the tone, being thus determined, I betook myself to
ordinary induction, with the view of obtaining some artistic piquancy which might serve me
as a key-note in the construction of the poem- some pivot upon which the whole structure
might turn. In carefully thinking over all the usual artistic effects- or more properly points, in
the theatrical sense- I did not fail to perceive immediately that no one had been so universally
employed as that of the refrain. The universality of its employment sufficed to assure me of its
intrinsic value, and spared me the necessity of submitting it to analysis. I considered it,
however, with regard to its susceptibility of improvement, and soon saw it to be in a primitive
condition. As commonly used, the refrain, or burden, not only is limited to lyric verse, but
depends for its impression upon the force of monotone- both in sound and thought. The
pleasure is deduced solely from the sense of identity- of repetition. I resolved to diversify, and
103
so heighten the effect, by adhering in general to the monotone of sound, while I continually
varied that of thought: that is to say, I determined to produce continuously novel effects, by
the variation of the application of the refrain- the refrain itself remaining for the most part,
unvaried.
These points being settled, I next bethought me of the nature of my refrain. Since its
application was to be repeatedly varied it was clear that the refrain itself must be brief, for
there would have been an insurmountable difficulty in frequent variations of application in
any sentence of length. In proportion to the brevity of the sentence would, of course, be the
facility of the variation. This led me at once to a single word as the best refrain.
The question now arose as to the character of the word. Having made up my mind to a
refrain, the division of the poem into stanzas was of course a corollary, the refrain forming the
close to each stanza. That such a close, to have force, must be sonorous and susceptible of
protracted emphasis, admitted no doubt, and these considerations inevitably led me to the long
o as the most sonorous vowel in connection with r as the most producible consonant.
The sound of the refrain being thus determined, it became necessary to select a word
embodying this sound, and at the same time in the fullest possible keeping with that
melancholy which I had pre-determined as the tone of the poem. In such a search it would
have been absolutely impossible to overlook the word "Nevermore." In fact it was the very
first which presented itself.
The next desideratum was a pretext for the continuous use of the one word
"nevermore." In observing the difficulty which I had at once found in inventing a sufficiently
plausible reason for its continuous repetition, I did not fail to perceive that this difficulty arose
solely from the preassumption that the word was to be so continuously or monotonously
spoken by a human being- I did not fail to perceive, in short, that the difficulty lay in the
reconciliation of this monotony with the exercise of reason on the part of the creature
104
repeating the word. Here, then, immediately arose the idea of a non-reasoning creature
capable of speech, and very naturally, a parrot, in the first instance, suggested itself, but was
superseded forthwith by a Raven as equally capable of speech, and infinitely more in keeping
with the intended tone.
I had now gone so far as the conception of a Raven, the bird of ill-omen,
monotonously repeating the one word "Nevermore" at the conclusion of each stanza in a
poem of melancholy tone, and in length about one hundred lines. Now, never losing sight of
the object- supremeness or perfection at all points, I asked myself- "Of all melancholy topics
what, according to the universal understanding of mankind, is the most melancholy?" Death,
was the obvious reply. "And when," I said, "is this most melancholy of topics most poetical?"
From what I have already explained at some length the answer here also is obvious- "When it
most closely allies itself to Beauty: the death then of a beautiful woman is unquestionably the
most poetical topic in the world, and equally is it beyond doubt that the lips best suited for
such topic are those of a bereaved lover."
I had now to combine the two ideas of a lover lamenting his deceased mistress and a
Raven continuously repeating the word "Nevermore." I had to combine these, bearing in mind
my design of varying at every turn the application of the word repeated, but the only
intelligible mode of such combination is that of imagining the Raven employing the word in
answer to the queries of the lover. And here it was that I saw at once the opportunity afforded
for the effect on which I had been depending, that is to say, the effect of the variation of
application. I saw that I could make the first query propounded by the lover- the first query to
which the Raven should reply "Nevermore"- that I could make this first query a commonplace
one, the second less so, the third still less, and so on, until at length the lover, startled from his
original nonchalance by the melancholy character of the word itself, by its frequent repetition,
and by a consideration of the ominous reputation of the fowl that uttered it, is at length
105
excited to superstition, and wildly propounds queries of a far different character- queries
whose solution he has passionately at heart- propounds them half in superstition and half in
that species of despair which delights in self-torture- propounds them not altogether because
he believes in the prophetic or demoniac character of the bird (which reason assures him is
merely repeating a lesson learned by rote), but because he experiences a frenzied pleasure in
so modelling his questions as to receive from the expected "Nevermore" the most delicious
because the most intolerable of sorrows. Perceiving the opportunity thus afforded me, or,
more strictly, thus forced upon me in the progress of the construction, I first established in my
mind the climax or concluding query- that query to which "Nevermore" should be in the last
place an answer- that query in reply to which this word "Nevermore" should involve the
utmost conceivable amount of sorrow and despair.
Here then the poem may be said to have had its beginning- at the end where all works
of art should begin- for it was here at this point of my preconsiderations that I first put pen to
paper in the composition of the stanza:
"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! prophet still if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us- by that God we both adore,
Tell this soul with sorrow laden, if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name LenoreClasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."
Quoth the Raven- "Nevermore."
I composed this stanza, at this point, first that, by establishing the climax, I might the
better vary and graduate, as regards seriousness and importance, the preceding queries of the
lover, and secondly, that I might definitely settle the rhythm, the metre, and the length and
general arrangement of the stanza, as well as graduate the stanzas which were to precede, so
that none of them might surpass this in rhythmical effect. Had I been able in the subsequent
106
composition to construct more vigorous stanzas I should without scruple have purposely
enfeebled them so as not to interfere with the climacteric effect.
And here I may as well say a few words of the versification. My first object (as usual)
was originality. The extent to which this has been neglected in versification is one of the most
unaccountable things in the world. Admitting that there is little possibility of variety in mere
rhythm, it is still clear that the possible varieties of metre and stanza are absolutely infinite,
and yet, for centuries, no man, in verse, has ever done, or ever seemed to think of doing, an
original thing. The fact is that originality (unless in minds of very unusual force) is by no
means a matter, as some suppose, of impulse or intuition. In general, to be found, it must be
elaborately sought, and although a positive merit of the highest class, demands in its
attainment less of invention than negation.
Of course I pretend to no originality in either the rhythm or metre of the "Raven." The
former is trochaic- the latter is octametre acatalectic, alternating with heptametre catalectic
repeated in the refrain of the fifth verse, and terminating with tetrametre catalectic. Less
pedantically the feet employed throughout (trochees) consist of a long syllable followed by a
short, the first line of the stanza consists of eight of these feet, the second of seven and a half
(in effect two-thirds), the third of eight, the fourth of seven and a half, the fifth the same, the
sixth three and a half. Now, each of these lines taken individually has been employed before,
and what originality the "Raven" has, is in their combination into stanza; nothing even
remotely approaching this has ever been attempted. The effect of this originality of
combination is aided by other unusual and some altogether novel effects, arising from an
extension of the application of the principles of rhyme and alliteration.
The next point to be considered was the mode of bringing together the lover and the
Raven- and the first branch of this consideration was the locale. For this the most natural
suggestion might seem to be a forest, or the fields- but it has always appeared to me that a
107
close circumscription of space is absolutely necessary to the effect of insulated incident- it has
the force of a frame to a picture. It has an indisputable moral power in keeping concentrated
the attention, and, of course, must not be confounded with mere unity of place.
I determined, then, to place the lover in his chamber- in a chamber rendered sacred to
him by memories of her who had frequented it. The room is represented as richly furnishedthis in mere pursuance of the ideas I have already explained on the subject of Beauty, as the
sole true poetical thesis.
The locale being thus determined, I had now to introduce the bird- and the thought of
introducing him through the window was inevitable. The idea of making the lover suppose, in
the first instance, that the flapping of the wings of the bird against the shutter, is a "tapping" at
the door, originated in a wish to increase, by prolonging, the reader's curiosity, and in a desire
to admit the incidental effect arising from the lover's throwing open the door, finding all dark,
and thence adopting the half-fancy that it was the spirit of his mistress that knocked.
I made the night tempestuous, first to account for the Raven's seeking admission, and
secondly, for the effect of contrast with the (physical) serenity within the chamber.
I made the bird alight on the bust of Pallas, also for the effect of contrast between the marble
and the plumage- it being understood that the bust was absolutely suggested by the bird- the
bust of Pallas being chosen, first, as most in keeping with the scholarship of the lover, and
secondly, for the sonorousness of the word, Pallas, itself.
About the middle of the poem, also, I have availed myself of the force of contrast,
with a view of deepening the ultimate impression. For example, an air of the fantasticapproaching as nearly to the ludicrous as was admissible- is given to the Raven's entrance. He
comes in "with many a flirt and flutter."
Not the least obeisance made he- not a moment stopped or stayed he,
But with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door.
108
In the two stanzas which follow, the design is more obviously carried out: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 no
craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shoreTell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore?"
Quoth the Raven- "Nevermore."
Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning- little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber doorBird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as "Nevermore."
The effect of the denouement being thus provided for, I immediately drop the fantastic
for a tone of the most profound seriousness- this tone commencing in the stanza directly
following the one last quoted, with the line,
But the Raven, sitting lonely on that placid bust, spoke only, etc.
From this epoch the lover no longer jests- no longer sees anything even of the fantastic
in the Raven's demeanour. He speaks of him as a "grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and
ominous bird of yore," and feels the "fiery eyes" burning into his "bosom's core." This
revolution of thought, or fancy, on the lover's part, is intended to induce a similar one on the
part of the reader- to bring the mind into a proper frame for the denouement- which is now
brought about as rapidly and as directly as possible.
109
With the denouement proper- with the Raven's reply, "Nevermore," to the lover's final
demand if he shall meet his mistress in another world- the poem, in its obvious phase, that of
a simple narrative, may be said to have its completion. So far, everything is within the limits
of the accountable- of the real. A raven, having learned by rote the single word "Nevermore,"
and having escaped from the custody of its owner, is driven at midnight, through the violence
of a storm, to seek admission at a window from which a light still gleams- the chamberwindow of a student, occupied half in poring over a volume, half in dreaming of a beloved
mistress deceased. The casement being thrown open at the fluttering of the bird's wings, the
bird itself perches on the most convenient seat out of the immediate reach of the student, who
amused by the incident and the oddity of the visitor's demeanour, demands of it, in jest and
without looking for a reply, its name. The raven addressed, answers with its customary word,
"Nevermore"- a word which finds immediate echo in the melancholy heart of the student, who,
giving utterance aloud to certain thoughts suggested by the occasion, is again startled by the
fowl's repetition of "Nevermore." The student now guesses the state of the case, but is
impelled, as I have before explained, by the human thirst for self-torture, and in part by
superstition, to propound such queries to the bird as will bring him, the lover, the most of the
luxury of sorrow, through the anticipated answer, "Nevermore." With the indulgence, to the
extreme, of this self-torture, the narration, in what I have termed its first or obvious phase, has
a natural termination, and so far there has been no overstepping of the limits of the real.
But in subjects so handled, however skillfully, or with however vivid an array of
incident, there is always a certain hardness or nakedness which repels the artistical eye. Two
things are invariably required- first, some amount of complexity, or more properly, adaptation;
and, secondly, some amount of suggestiveness- some under-current, however indefinite, of
meaning. It is this latter, in especial, which imparts to a work of art so much of that richness
(to borrow from colloquy a forcible term), which we are too fond of confounding with the
110
ideal. It is the excess of the suggested meaning- it is the rendering this the upper instead of the
under-current of the theme- which turns into prose (and that of the very flattest kind), the socalled poetry of the so-called transcendentalists.
Holding these opinions, I added the two concluding stanzas of the poem- their
suggestiveness being thus made to pervade all the narrative which has preceded them. The
under-current of meaning is rendered first apparent in the line"Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my
door!"
Quoth the Raven "Nevermore!"
It will be observed that the words, "from out my heart," involve the first metaphorical
expression in the poem. They, with the answer, "Nevermore," dispose the mind to seek a
moral in all that has been previously narrated. The reader begins now to regard the Raven as
emblematical- but it is not until the very last line of the very last stanza that the intention of
making him emblematical of Mournful and never ending Remembrance is permitted distinctly
to be seen:
And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting,
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon that is dreaming,
And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted- nevermore.
111
Appendix 2: “The Raven”, 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 visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door –
Only this, and nothing more.'
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore –
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore –
Nameless here for evermore.
And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
`'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door –
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; This it is, and nothing more,'
Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
`Sir,' said I, `or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
112
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you' - here I opened wide the door; Darkness there, and nothing more.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, `Lenore!'
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, `Lenore!'
Merely this and nothing more.
Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
`Surely,' said I, `surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore –
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; 'Tis the wind and nothing more!'
Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door –
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door –
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.
113
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 no 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.'
Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning - little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human beingµ
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door –
Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as `Nevermore.'
But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only,
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered - not a feather then he fluttered –
Till I scarcely more than muttered `Other friends have flown before –
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.'
Then the bird said, `Nevermore.'
Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
`Doubtless,' said I, `what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore –
114
Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore
Of "Never-nevermore."'
But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore –
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking `Nevermore.'
This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!
Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
`Wretch,' I cried, `thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he has sent thee
Respite - respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'
`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! –
115
Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted –
On this home by horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore –
Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'
`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore –
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore –
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named Lenore?'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'
`Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!' I shrieked upstarting –
`Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'
And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
116
Shall be lifted - nevermore!
117
Appendix 3: Lyrics “The Raven”, Lou Reed
Once upon a midnight dreary
as 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."
Muttering I got up weakly
always I've had trouble sleeping
stumbling upright my mind racing
furtive thoughts flowing once more
I, there hoping for some sunrise
happiness would be a surprise
loneliness no longer a prize
rapping at my chamber door
seeking out the clever bore
lost in dreams forever more
only this and nothing more
118
Hovering my pulse was racing
stale tobacco my lips tasting
scotch sitting upon my basin
remnants of the night before
came again
infernal tapping on the door
in my mind jabbing
is it in or outside rapping
calling out to me once more
the fit and fury of Lenore
nameless here forever more
And the silken sad uncertain
rustling of the purple curtain
thrilled me, filled me
with fantastic terrors never felt before
so that now, oh wind, stood breathing
hoping yet to calm my breathing
"'Tis some visitor entreating
entrance at my chamber door
some lost visitor entreating
entrance at my chamber door
this it is, and nothing more."
Deep into the darkness peering
119
long I stood there
wondering fearing
doubting dreaming fantasies
no mortal dared to dream before
but the silence was unbroken
and the stillness gave no token
and the only word there spoken
was the whispered name, "Lenore."
this I thought
and out loud whispered from my lips
the foul name festered
echoing itself
merely this, and nothing more
Back into my chamber turning
every nerve within me burning
when once again I heard a tapping
somewhat louder than before
"surely," said I
surely that is something at my iron staircase
open the door to see what threat is
open the window, free the shutters
let us this mystery explore
oh, bursting heart be still this once
and let this mystery explore
120
it is the wind and nothing more
Just one epithet I muttered as inside
I gagged and shuddered
when with manly flirt and flutter
in there flew a stately raven
sleek and ravenous as any foe
not the least obeisance made he
not a minutes gesture towards me
of recognition or politeness
but perched above my chamber door
this fowl and salivating visage
insinuating with its knowledge
perched above my chamber door
silent sat and staring
nothing more
Askance, askew
the self's sad fancy smiles at you I swear
at this savage viscous countenance it wears
Though you show here shorn and shaven
and I admit myself forlorn and craven
ghastly grim and ancient raven
wandering from the opiate shores
tell me what thy lordly name is
121
that you are not nightmare sewage
some dire powder drink or inhalation
framed from flames of downtown lore
quotes the raven, "nevermore."
And the raven sitting lonely
staring sickly at my male sex only
that one word
as if his soul in that one word
he did outpour, "pathetic."
nothing farther than he uttered
not a feather then he fluttered
till finally was I that muttered as I stared
dully at the floor
"other friends have flown and left me
flown as each and every hope has flown before
as you no doubt will fore the morrow."
but the bird said, "never, more."
Then I felt the air grow denser
perfumed from some unseen incense
as though accepting angelic intrusion
when in fact I felt collusion
before the guise of false memories respite
respite through the haze of cocaine's glory
122
I smoke and smoke the blue vial's glory
to forget
at once
the base Lenore
quoth the raven, "nevermore."
"Prophet," said I, "thing of evil
prophet still, if bird or devil
by that heaven that bend above us
by that God we both ignore
tell this soul with sorrow laden
willful and destructive intent
how had lapsed a pure heart lady
to the greediest of needs
sweaty arrogant dickless liar
who ascribed to nothing higher
than a jab from prick to needle
straight to betrayal and disgrace
the conscience showing not a trace."
quoth the raven, "nevermore."
"Be that word our sign of parting
bird or fiend," I yelled upstarting
"get thee back into the tempest
into the smoke filled bottle's shore
123
leave no black plume as a token
of the slime thy soul hath spoken
leave my loneliness unbroken
quit as those have quit before
take the talon from my heart
and see that I can care no more
whatever mattered came before
I vanish with the dead Lenore."
quoth the raven, "nevermore."
But the raven, never flitting
still is sitting silent sitting
above a painting silent painting
of the forever silenced whore
and his eyes have all the seeming
of a demon's that is dreaming
and the lamplight over him
streaming throws his shadow to the floor
I love she who hates me more
I love she who hates me more
and my soul shall not be lifted from that shadow
nevermore
124
Appendix 4: Tracklist “The Raven”, Lou Reed
1. Overture
2. Edgar Allan Poe
3. Call On Me (with Laurie Anderson)
4. The Valley Of Unrest
5. A Thousand Departed Friends
6. Change
7. The Bed
8. Perfect Day
9. The Raven (Willen Dafoe)
10. Balloon
11. Broadway Song (Steve Buscemi)
12. Blind Rage
13. Burning Embers
14. Vanishing Act
15. Guilty (Ornette Coleman on sax)
16. I Wanna Know (The Pit And The Pendulum) (with The Blind Boys Of Alabama)
17. Science Of The Mind
18. Hop Frog (David Bowie)
19. Tripitena's Speech
20. Who Am I? (Tripitena's Song)
21. Guardian Angel
125
Appendix 5: Lyrics “The Raven”, The Alan Parsons Project
The clock struck midnight
And through my sleeping
I heard a tapping at my door
I looked but nothing lay in the darkness
And so I turned inside once more
To my amazement
There stood a raven
Whose shadow hung above my door
Then through the silence
It spoke that one word
That I shall hear forever more
Nevermore
Thus quoth the raven, nevermore
And still the raven remains in my room
No matter how much I implore
No words can soothe him
No prayer remove him
And I must hear for evermore
Quoth the raven, nevermore
Thus quoth the raven
Nevermore
126
Appendix 6: Tracklist “Tales of Mystery and Imagination”, Alan Parsons
Project
1. Dream Within a Dream Instrumental
2. The Raven
3. The Tale-Tale Heart
4. The Cask of Amontillado
5. (The System of) Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether
6. Fall of the House of Usher: Prelude Instrumental
7. Fall of the House of Usher: Arrival Instrumental
8. Fall of the House of Usher: Intermezzo Instrumental
9. Fall of the House of Usher: Pavane Instrumental
10. Fall of the House of Usher: Fall Instrumental
11. To One in Paradise