Early a.m. tap,
Gentle rap on window pane.
Ever, nevermore.
Recently in the wee hours of the morning I
awakened to the rapping, more like tapping
on my window pane. When using the words
rap or tap in reference to a rhythmic noise
my mind always conjures up Edgar Alan
Poe's, The Raven. That morning was no
exception. I pictured a large, black bird
outside of my bedroom window, gently intruding
into my state of slumber with a light tap. You all
must know the poem, probably first read
in junior high or high school. Here's the
famous opening stanza:
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door-
Only this, and nothing more."
Written in 1845, The Raven became an immediate success and
helped launch Poe's writing life, although financial success
followed nevermore. Poe went on to publish "The Philosophy
of Composition" the following year, where he attempted to
elucidate his writing process in rather methodical terms;
somewhat shattering the mystery and intrigue of the beautiful
and haunting Lenore and the ominous bird of "Nevermore".
Length, Method, Unity of Effect, are the three central
elements of Poe's philosophy of writing. Keep
it short (easily digestible in one sitting), be deliberate and
methodical(no mystery to this business) and have your
ending worked out in advance (a foundation, of sorts, upon
which a poetic structure is built). Put them all together and
voila, "A poem that should suit at once the popular and the
critical taste." Perhaps, Edgar. But the imagery; the stormy
night, the tortured lover, the rapping, the tapping, the ever-
present bird answering each sad question with, "Nevermore."
It's inspired. The picture is indelibly inscribed in my brain,
evermore. Read the poem again for the first time and
prepare your imagination for the next rainy day.
