I made this video in an attempt to demonstrate The Raven at the pacing that Edgar Allen Poe suggested in "The Philosophy of Composition" (though I do add a tetrameter of strumming between each verse that was not mentioned by Poe; for anyone interested, I have made a second video with no musical accompaniment wherein I read with no space between the end of the tetrameter and the beginning of the next octameter, which sounds very frantic indeed, and which, in my opinion, was probably Poe's intention and personal style of delivery). Many people (including some people who post edits on Wikipedia, apparently) tell themselves that Poe was exaggerating or joking about his rigorously logical breakdown of his poem. I do not agree with those people. I have read the essay front to back, and every sentence is a perfectly reasonable statement about the process by which Poe created The Raven (though I could certainly see how the language would be difficult to digest for some readers). One of the comments he makes -- apparently either ignored or misunderstood by most people who read his poem -- follows: "Of course, I pretend to no originality in either the rhythm or meter of the 'Raven'. The former is trochaic -- the latter is octameter acatalectic, alternating with heptameter catalectic repeated in the refrain of the fifth verse, and terminating with tetrameter catalectic." According to Wikipedia, Edgar Allen Poe simply "claimed" that this was the meter. Sure, this is true, but let's not pretend that there isn't a connotation of skepticism associated with that phrasing. "Well he claimed that he went to the mall -- maybe he didn't though, I'm not sure." I'm not entirely sure how this skepticism is justified, but I feel that part of the problem lies in the fact that people can't imagine how you might get 8, 7.5, 8, 7.5, 3.5 feet out of the poem as Poe wrote it. I certainly don't play with perfect rhythm, but I do land the vast majority of the words very close to the correct beat in this video -- closer than the majority of famous readers (I'm looking at you, James Earl Jones and Christopher Walken). Most people add several feet of pauses after each line, which is just absurd. The line is complete after 8 feet. You're supposed to just keep reading. The whole poem is rather fast. There is a sense of frustrated, sad, insane urgency throughout the poem until the speaker reveals that the truth of his never-ending and intolerable loss (embodied by The Raven) will never leave him, and that his soul is lifeless in the shadow of the truth. Here is a visual representation of (at least one) way in which this poem could have been read *exactly* as Poe said it was supposed to be read (I will take several of the most unusual lines in the poem as examples; the first letter of each stressed syllable is capitalized; in an "acatalectic" line -- i.e., the first and third lines of every stanza -- there will be an unstressed syllable after the final stressed syllable; in the "catalectic" lines, 2, 4, 5 and 6, the line is meant to end *exactly* on the seventh stressed beat (this is the meaning of "heptameter catalectic"); this provides a pause between many of the lines in which anticipation builds for the next line, and in which Poe frequently inserts parentheticals; I think of "catalexy" as "down a word" to help me remember that you have one less syllable in a cata- (down) -lectic (word) phrase; acatalexy is thus *not* missing a syllable; -I implies that the word "I" is unstressed): octameter acatalectic Once uPon a Midnight Dreary While-I Pondered Weak and Weary O + P + M + D + W + P + W + W = 8; 8 + unstressed = acatalectic. heptameter catalectic over Many a Quaint and Curious Volume Of forGotten Lore M + Q + C + V + O + G + L = 7; 7 + end-of-line = catalectic. tetrameter catalectic Nameless Here for EverMore N + H + E + M = 4; 4 + end-of-line = catalectic. octameter acatalectic Surely Said-I Surely That-is Something At my Window Lattice S + S + S + T + S + A + W + L = 8; -ice = acatalectic. heptameter catalectic let me See then What thereat Is And this MysteRy exPlore S + W + I + A + M + R + P = 7; no more syllables = catalectic heptameter catalectic ghastly Grim and Ancient Raven Wandering From the Nightly Shore G + A + R + W + F + N + S = 7; no more syllables = catalectic heptameter catalectic: on the Pallid Bust of Pallas Just aBove my Chamber Door P + B + P + J + B + C + D = 7; catalectic You can fit every line of the poem precisely to Poe's "claimed" scheme if you make an honest effort. I promise. As I said, this recording isn't perfect; I just wanted to put this idea out there for people who don't know what a stylish rock song this really was. Hopefully some more talented musician hears what I meant to do and posts a video that more perfectly expresses the intended rhythm of this poem. Or, failing that, hopefully I'm more musically inclined someday. Enjoy. :)

• published: 30 Apr 2015
• views: 0