Chances are you’re already familiar with the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Widely regarded as a figurehead of American literature, his writing has left a deep impact on contemporary culture.
Allusions to his writing are everywhere, from Netflix’s popular series Wednesday (season 2 is expected out next year!) to Teya & Salena’s incredibly catchy hit “Who The Hell Is Edgar?,” Austria’s 2023 entry to the Eurovision Song Contest. Poe’s fingerprints on our world are indelible, and his mysterious death continues to intrigue armchair detectives over 150 years later.
But what you might not know is that the famed short-story writer was also a prolific poet who wrote about universal themes like grief, alienation, and love. Here are ten of the best poems by Edgar Allan Poe for the next time you’re feeling moody.
10. “For Annie”
This poem is an ode mourning the loss of the narrator’s beloved. The titular Annie in the poem has been a faithful companion to the narrator, and upon her death, the speaker is anguished by the finality of her loss. Through vivid language, Poe uses a singular narrative of grief to ask larger questions about how we cope with the pain of mourning.
9. “Silence”
An extremely unsettling look at quietude, this poem imagines silence as a suffocating, all-encompassing presence. At its core, it’s about existential dread and discomfort with the larger questions of just what it means to be human.
8. “Alone”
Perhaps Poe’s most profound treatment of isolation, this poem is about the pain of being different from others. “From childhood’s hour I have not been / As others were,” it begins. Although being a creative visionary has its upsides, alienation is certainly not one of them.
By giving voice to the distance he feels between himself and others, the narrator provides a look into the psyche of someone who is both blessed and cursed with a unique worldview.
7. “The City In The Sea”
“A City by the Sea” is, as far as I’m concerned, one of Poe’s most unnerving and creepy poems. It depicts a dilapidated urban landscape full of “time-eaten towers” and “shadowy long-forgotten bowers” that were once grandiose and opulent.
The city, however, has been slowly overpowered by the sea and its relentless tides, exploring the timeless conflict of man versus nature. In this poem, nature ultimately wins, as the passage of time leads to the inevitable decline of civilization. While the poem is arguably an exploration of impermanence, it could easily be interpreted through a contemporary lens as an indictment of climate change.
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6. “A Dream Within A Dream”
Published in 1849, “A Dream Within A Dream” challenges our notions of reality. “All that we see or seem / Is but a dream within a dream,” the narrator claims, distraught over his inability to grasp a concrete sense of truth. The uncertain boundary between dream and reality is an uncomfortable concept to ponder, and Poe’s narrator is barely able to grapple with his sense of disillusionment.
Describing his attempt to hold a fistful of sand, he is distraught by his powerlessness to stop its flow from his hand: “yet how they creep / Through my fingers to the deep, / While I weep — while I weep!”
5. “The Bells”
Using onomatopoeia to play with the sounds of bells, this poem captures the different meanings a bell toll can have, from joyful celebration to heartbroken mourning. But beyond the surface, these differences in tone reflect the wider spectrum of emotion. Through the simple metaphor of bell chimes, Poe captures the breadth of the human experience.
4. “Lenore”
Another one of Poe’s elegies, “Lenore” uses repetition to highlight the seemingly inescapable grief that one feels after the death of a loved one. The speaker’s lament over losing Lenore reflects deeper feelings of sorrow and hauntingly captures the enduring heartache of mourning.
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3. “El Dorado”
“El Dorado” is a poem about one knight’s search for an earthly paradise in the city of Eldorado. First published in 1849, it recounts the knight’s quest as he grows old and fails to find the oasis he so desperately seeks. As the poem continues, the knight meets a “pilgrim shadow” who tells him that, to find Eldorado, he must ride “Over the Mountains / Of the Moon, / Down the Valley of the Shadow,” implying that the elusive paradise is beyond the realm of human mortality.
The poem also serves as a reminder that earthly delights such as material wealth are fleeting, and that true satisfaction comes from something deeper.
2. “Annabel Lee”
The final complete poem composed before Poe’s death, “Annabel Lee” continues to explore Poe’s favorite themes of beauty, love, and death. In the poem, the narrator falls deeply in love with a young woman “in a kingdom by the sea.” Their love is so intense, however, that it evokes the jealous wrath of angels, who bring about Annabel’s untimely death. The heartbroken speaker is left to ponder the enduring power of their love, even in the face of death.
This poem is also notable for its influence on the writer Vladimir Nabokov, who references it heavily in his 1955 tragic novel Lolita. The working title for the novel was even, at one point, Kingdom by the Sea.
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1. “The Raven”
Undoubtedly, “The Raven” is Poe’s most famous poem, and I’d bet good money you’re familiar with the phrase, “nevermore.” Or maybe you’ve seen The Simpsons‘ well-known 1990 adaptation of the story. In case you haven’t yet read it, though, “The Raven” is an unforgettable poem about a man who goes slowly insane after the loss of his beloved. The repetition in the poem creates an eerie atmosphere that will surely give you chills. I challenge you to read this poem and look at a raven the same way again.
