Pecularities Of Writing Style Of Edgar Allan Poe

“During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know not how it was --but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit.” (Poe, “The Fall of the House of Usher”). This is an example of Edgar Allan Poe’s writing style, he has a unique and dark way of writing. His mysterious style of writing appeals to emotion and drama. Poe’s most impressionable works of fiction are gothic. His stories tend to have the same recurring theme of either death, lost love or both. For example, the short story “The Cask of Amontillado” begins with a first person narrator who speaks of his plan to kill Fortunato. The narrator states, “The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. You, who so well know know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat.” (Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado” 1). Poe has a talent of taking gothic stories of mystery and terror and mixing them with variations of a romantic story by shifting emphasis from surface suspense and plot pattern to his symbolic play in language and various meanings of words. Poe uses a subtle motivation of characters and serious themes to shift his readers towards an evil point of view. This is an example of the unique techniques Poe uses that makes him a famed writer and poet.

Some of Edgar Allan Poe’s inspiration came from a women who lived in England named Elizabeth Barrett . Poe dedicated another a few of his pieces including “The Raven” to Elizabeth because he had admired “Lady Geraldine’s Courtship” so much. “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. Shall be lifted—nevermore!” (Poe, “The Raven”). “The Raven” is an example of one of Poe’s darker and more melancholy pieces. His poem “Annabel Lee” is also dark but more rhythmic and repetitive. “I was a child and she was a child, in this kingdom by the sea, but we loved with a love that was more than love— I and my Annabel Lee— With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven, Coveted her and me.” (Poe, “Annabel Lee” 7-12). This stanza is a great example of how Poe’s work can seem happy at first glance because of how rhythmic it is but actually it is dark and sad. Edgar Allan Poe was wonderful writer who a unique and dark writing style.