Have you heard of Edgar Allan Poe? Practice your English by reading this classic poem.
- Listen to a reading from Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”.
- First, try listening without reading the transcript. After that, listen again to check for any words you might’ve missed.
- You’ll also find a quiz at the end!
Transcript:
Once again, the season has changed, the weather has gotten colder, and Halloween is just around the corner. To celebrate, today we’ll be reading a poem from one of history’s most mysterious and terrifying writers, Edgar Allan Poe.
Who was Edgar Allan Poe?
Before we begin, let’s learn a bit about Edgar Allan Poe. Poe was born in 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. The misery and tragedy that were major themes in Poe’s writing were reflected in his real life. In 1810, his father left the family and the next year his mother died of tuberculosis. Poe was then looked after by the Allan family and had a difficult relationship with his adoptive father, John Allan.
Without having financial support, he was forced to leave the University of Virginia and joined the military until he was able to start his writing career. In 1836, Poe married his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm. Tragedy visited him once again, as young Virginia died in 1836 of the same disease that killed Poe’s mother, tuberculosis. After his wife’s death, Poe became increasingly unstable. He died at the age of 40. The cause of his death was unclear, some believe it was his alcoholism, others disease, while some even thought, murder.
The themes of death and pain that Poe is famous for can be seen in one of his most well-known poems, “The Raven”. Today I’ll be reading the first 5 stanzas from the poem. “Stanzas” are groups of lines within a poem, like a “paragraph” in an essay. After each stanza, I will stop to explain useful vocabulary and summarize the section. Let’s begin.
The Raven
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 someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”Dreary midnight – sad
Pondered weak and weary – thought about when he was tired
In this first stanza on a dark night a man is awoken from his sleep by the sound of someone knocking on his door. Now, let’s continue with the poem…Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books- surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Nameless here for evermore.Bleak December – cold, miserable
Radiant maiden – beautiful young woman
Here we learn that it was a cold December when the man was reading to take his mind off his sadness after his lover, Lenore, had died. Let’s continue.And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
“’Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door—
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;—
This it is and nothing more.”Rustling of the curtain– the sound of the cloth/fabric moving
Entreating entrance – to ask to enter
In this stanza, the sound of the curtains moving in his house causes the man to become scared and he starts to tell himself that it is simply a visitor knocking on his door. Let’s see what happens next…Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
“Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you”—here I opened wide the door;—
Darkness there and nothing more.Your forgiveness I implore – ask for forgiveness
That I scarce was sure – I was barely certain
Now the man has finally come to answer the door. He opens it. And no one is there, only darkness. Let’s see what happens now…Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?”
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, “Lenore!”—
Merely this and nothing more.Into the darkness peering – looking
Mortal – a human, someone who can die, not a god
Stillness gave no token – the silence gave no sign
Merely this – Only/just this..
Now the man looks out his door and sees nothing but darkness. He whispers the name of his dead lover, “Lenore”? But only the echo of his own voice answers back. Who do you think was outside of his door? The ghost of Lenore? Or something more frightening?
“Lenore?”
Well I’ll leave it to you to finish the rest. You can find the rest of the poem online and discover who was knocking on the door. Until next time!
Vocabulary
Check out the vocabulary below to help you as you listen along. Read the full poem at The Poetry Foundation.
- stanza – n. a “paragraph” of a poem
- dreary – adj. sad, bland, dull
- to ponder – v. to think
- weary – adj. tired
- bleak – adj. cold, miserable
- radiant – adj. beautiful, bright
- maiden – n. young woman
- to rustle – v. to make a sound from the movement of cloth, paper, or leaves
- to entreat – v. to ask someone to do something
- to implore – v. to beg, to request
- scarcely – adv. barely, hardly
- to peer – v. to look at with difficulty
- mortal – n. a human, someone that can die
- token – n. a sign or symbol
- merely – adv. only or simply, just
- to surcease – v. to come to an end, stop
