1848 Daguerreotype of Edgar Allan Poe at 39, a year before his death (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
As humans, we constantly seek connections with other humans and we have always told stories to each other, sometimes simply to make sense of the world around us. Over the thousands of years, we see the same images emerging again and again. It is almost as if they are branded in our collective consciousness. Often, one particular author, artist, actor, composer or film maker does something so spectacular with one of these images that it haunts us until we are creative with it ourselves. Look into your own creativity and see if you can spot when this has happened to you.
Edgar Allan Poe Museum (Richmond, Virginia) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In my children’s book Will Blyton and The Stinking Shadow, I have an evil shapeshifter called Ravensmite. He changes from a huge raven into a gothic looking teenage boy at will. I discussed the use of the raven with a wonderful person and writer, Maria Thermann who also uses ravens in Willow the Vampire and The Sacred Grove. Maria suggested that we had probably been subconsciously inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”. She was absolutely correct. Edgar Allan Poe had inspired me to create a character, although I had not realised it until Maria pointed it out to me.
Cover for “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe as illustrated by Gustave Dore (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Raven is a narrative poem which has a gothic atmosphere. A talking raven makes a midnight visit to a mourning lover. Here is a marvellous video of an animated Poe reciting “The Raven.” It is done by the very talented poetryreincarnations .
Here’s your challenge – watch the video and use it as a springboard to create something yourself. Happy writing, acting, painting, composing or filming.
Related articles
- EDGAR ALLAN POE BIOGRAPHY! “The Raven” (“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary'”) (greatkat.wordpress.com)
- The Raven Optical Illusion (moillusions.com)
- The facts in the case of E. Poe (chicagoreader.com)
- “The Raven”: Edgar Allan Poe as Byronic Hero (joannaparypinski.com)
- Shopping for the Bookworm: Edgar Allan Poe Edition (onetrackmuse.com)
- John Cusack explains why Edgar Allan Poe created everything you love [The Raven] (io9.com)
loonyliterature 
As usual a great post! I love to unpick the threads of a writer’s inspiration – thanks for sharing! A great poem, isn’t it?!
Do you know ‘The Twa Corbies’? http://www.twocrows.co.uk/twa_corbies.html
Hello, thank you. I don’t know The Twa Corbies but I am now going to follow the link which you so generously left for me. Thank you.
Thanks for that – another wonderful poem. I will bookmark that one.
I haven’t watched the video…our web speed is less than a third of a mg and trying to watch anything stream is more painful than watching paint dry! But I wanted you to know that actually, much of what you’ve written here and in your book has been totally inspirational! Just thought I’d tell you! Happy writing to you too! x
Thank you so much. What a shame about the video because it is an absolute corker. Remind me next time you come over. Keep inspired.