criticism.
Life experience
A gifted but tormented man, no great author in American literary circles had a more tragic life than Poe.
A miserable childhood: born in Boston, both parents died within three years after his birth, taken into the home of John Allan in Virginia, had an unhappy relationship with his foster father.
An unhappy youth: at 17 went to the University of Virginia but did not finish, an appointment to West Point but was dismissed less than a year later.
Life experience
• Emerson: “the jingle man” (noisy) • Mark Twain: His prose is unreadable. • Whitman: admit Poe’s genius, but it was “its narrow
range and unhealthy, lurid quality” (terrible) • George Bernard Shaw: “the greatest journalistic
• 凡尔纳：“他肯定会有模仿者，有人会试图 超越他，有人会试图发展他的风格，但许 多自以为已经超过他的人其实永远也不可 能与他相提并论。”
• 肖伯纳：“它们不仅仅是一篇篇小说，而完
Short Stories
• 1. Horror Fiction （死亡恐怖小说） • The Fall of the House of Usher • The Masque of the Red Death • Ligeia • The Black Cat • The Cask of Amontillado • The Tell-Tale Heart
Annabel Lee
This is one of the best American love poems.
The theme is eternal love.
Using simple diction, subtle rhetoric to reveal the immortal subject – love.
• A struggling life: in 1833, became an editor of Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond, lost the position because of excessive drinking and an inability to meet deadlines, managed to regain the job in 1835, at 27, married his 13 year-old cousin.
It was many and many a year ago，
•
In a kingdom by the sea，
Annabel Lee
.
By Allen Poe
Life experience Comments on Poe Poe’s works The analysis of Annabel Lee
1809---1849
• Father of modern short story. • Father of detective story. • Father of psychoanalytic
• A bitter and mysterious death: in 1847, wife died of tuberculosis, in 1849, died in mysterious circumstances.
“我经常沉湎杯中物，但喝
酒并没使我，并
非追求乐趣 ，而是竭力逃
避令人痛苦 的回忆，逃避
无法忍受的 孤寂，逃避迫
限。”
在眼前的大
Comments on Poe
• Edgar Allan Poe is the most controversial and the most misunderstood literary figure in the history of American literature.
• 2. Detective Novel （推理侦探小说） • Murders in the Rue Morgue • The Purloined Letter • The Gold Bug • 3. Science Fiction （科幻小说） • 4. Satirical Novel（幽默讽刺小说）
critic of his time” • His poetry is “exquisitely refined”. • His tales are “complete works of art”.
• 柯南道尔：“一名侦探小说家只能沿这条不 宽的主道而行，所以他时时都会发现前方 有坡的脚印。如果他偶尔能设法偏离主道 ，独辟蹊径，那他就可以感到心满意足了 。”
1 The Raven 《乌鸦》 2 Annabel Lee 《安娜贝尔丽》 3 The Sleeper 《睡美人》 4 A Dream Within a Dream 《梦中梦》 5 The Bells 《钟》 6 Sonnet – To Science 《十四行诗--致科
学》
7 To Helen 《献给海伦》 8 The City in the Sea 《海中的城市》