Book Club - November

 

To finish off October, I read some Poe poems.

The City in the Sea

Death has reared a throne and looks down upon a city, a town, in which "No rays from the holy Heaven come down."  Light comes from a "lurid" sea but there are no winds, no ripples.  Until the end, fiery waves, and Hell rises.

The Conqueror Worm

Angels sit in a theater to watch mimes perform and chase a phantom.  But then they're eaten by "a blood-red thing that writhes from out," and the curtain falls.  Seems to say that life is just an act of chasing and dying, "the play is the tragedy "Man" and its hero the Conqueror Worm."

The Sleeper

Poe himself thought this poem was better than "The Raven" but knew not many would agree with him.

It is about Irene, who sleeps in beauty and in death.

I'm realizing for the first time how much I enjoy his rhythm.  It had been so long since I even read "The Raven" that I kind of forgot his poetic style.

So now I'll be getting back into The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - finishing up Life, the Universe and Everything.

Happy Reading!!