Edgar Allan Poe
Macabre, dark, foreboding; these adjectives are often used to describe the works of Edgar Allan Poe. While this is true of many of his more notable works, like “The Raven” and “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Poe wrote other less ominous poems and stories as well. This Reading Set includes passages for many of Poe’s most famous works, as well as some lesser-known treasures.
In this passage from Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Pit and the Pendulum,” the narrator has been convicted during the Spanish Inquisition of an unnamed crime and sentenced to death. He is tied on the floor, and a large sharp blade is swinging back and forth towards his body. …
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This passage is from the opening of The Fall of the House of Usher. The narrator has just arrived at the home of his childhood friend Roderick Usher. It is a description of Usher’s house. A tarn is a mountain lake. ———————————– Shaking off from my spirit what must have…
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Edgar Allan Poe’s 1842 short story The Oval Portrait presents a story within a story. The narrator has been hurt. He and his servant find shelter in an abandoned mansion for the night. The narrator is resting in one of the bedrooms which is filled with paintings. One of the…
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Edgar Allan Poe wrote Annabel Lee in 1849. Many scholars believe this sad poem refers to the death of his wife, Virginia, in 1847 at the age of 24. —————————————— It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom…
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This passage is the opening stanzas of Edgar Allan Poe’s 1845 poem “The Raven.” Perhaps his most famous work, “The Raven” is about grief, mystery, and lost love. ———————————– Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore-…
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