The Bells, poem by Edgar Allan Poe

THE BELLS (Excerpt)
by Edgar Allan Poe

Hear the sledges with the bells—
Silver bells!

What a world of merriment their melody foretells!

How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,

In the icy air of night!

While the stars that oversprinkle

All the heavens, seem to twinkle

With a crystalline delight;

Keeping time, time, time,

In a sort of Runic rhyme,

To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells

From the bells, bells, bells, bells,

Bells, bells, bells—
From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.

Read “The Bells” by Edgar Allan Poe in its entirety at eapoe.org.

Thoughts on the short story

“A short story must have a single mood and every sentence must build towards it.” EDGAR ALLAN POE

“My short stories are like soft shadows I have set out in the world, faint footprints I have left. I remember exactly where I set down each and every one of them, and how I felt when I did. Short stories are like guideposts to my heart…”  HARUKI MURAKAMI

“With a novel, which takes perhaps years to write, the author is not the same man he was at the end of the book as he was at the beginning. It is not only that his characters have developed–he has developed with them, and this nearly always gives a sense of roughness to the work: a novel can seldom have the sense of perfection which you find in Chekhov’s story, ‘The Lady with the Dog.’” GRAHAM GREENE

“When well told, a story captured the subtle movement of change. If a novel was a map of a country, a story was the bright silver pin that marked the crossroads.” ANN PATCHETT

Charles Bukowski’s Poetry Dominates Kindle Bestseller List

While checking out the top-ten Poetry Bestseller list on for Amazon Kindle books, I was both happy and surprised to learn that Charles Bukowski‘s works occupy 4 of the 10 spots on the list.

#3 You Get So Alone at Times 

#5 Love Is a Dog from Hell

#7 Run with the Hunted: A Charles Bukowski Reader

#10 What Matters Most Is How Well You Walk Through the Fire

And Buk’s books are selling for just $1.99 each! (If you don’t have a Kindle, you can download free reading aps for your computer at this link.)

The other author well represented on the list is Edgar Allan Poe, who occupies the #1 and #8 spots. Shakespeare also makes at appearance at #2.

Check out the list at this Amazon.com.

Evening Star, Poem by Edgar Allan Poe, Read by Robert De Niro

EVENING STAR
by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

‘Twas noontide of summer,

And mid-time of night;

And stars, in their orbits,

Shone pale, thro’ the light

Of the brighter, cold moon,

‘Mid planets her slaves,

Herself in the Heavens,

Her beam on the waves.

I gazed awhile

On her cold smile;

Too cold- too cold for me-

There pass’d, as a shroud,

A fleecy cloud,

And I turned away to thee,

Proud Evening Star,

In thy glory afar,

And dearer thy beam shall be;

For joy to my heart

Is the proud part

Thou bearest in Heaven at night,

And more I admire

Thy distant fire,

Than that colder, lowly light.

###

In the photo above, Robert De Niro reads from GREAT TALES AND POEMS OF EDGAR ALLAN POE, a 432-page mass market paperback edition released by Simon & Schuster in 2007. The book is available at bargain prices at Amazon.com.

If you’re in the mood for Poe (and I won’t ask why — but it’s always a good time to read a great writer), you can find a treasure trove of his prose and poetry for free in a variety of formats at Gutenberg.org.

Jan. 19th Happy Birthday, Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe, born on January 19, 1809, lived a short, eventful, productive life — leaving this world at just 40 years old. Poet, editor, literary critic, publisher, short story writer, playwright, journalist, essayist — and inventor of the modern detective story — Edgar Allan Poe was one of the all-time great stylists and innovators. And we wish you a happy 204th birthday, Mr. Poe — and a happy afterlife forevermore.

Illustration: Final stanza of “The Raven” in Edgar Allan Poe’s handwriting

Thoughts About the Short Story Form

QUOTES FROM SELECTED WRITERS ABOUT THE SHORT STORY…

“A short story must have a single mood and every sentence must build towards it.” EDGAR ALLAN POE

“My short stories are like soft shadows I have set out in the world, faint footprints I have left. I remember exactly where I set down each and every one of them, and how I felt when I did. Short stories are like guideposts to my heart…”  HARUKI MURAKAMI

“With a novel, which takes perhaps years to write, the author is not the same man he was at the end of the book as he was at the beginning. It is not only that his characters have developed–he has developed with them, and this nearly always gives a sense of roughness to the work: a novel can seldom have the sense of perfection which you find in Chekhov’s story, ‘The Lady with the Dog.’” GRAHAM GREENE

“When well told, a story captured the subtle movement of change. If a novel was a map of a country, a story was the bright silver pin that marked the crossroads.” ANN PATCHETT

After Christmas with Edgar Allan Poe

Credit: New Yorker cartoon by Edward Frascino

Edgar Allan Poe Comments on the Comma

“The writer who neglects punctuation, or mispunctuates, is liable to be misunderstood. …For the want of merely a comma, it often occurs that an axiom appears a paradox, or that a sarcasm is converted into a sermonoid.” EDGAR ALLAN POE

Photo: Heather L. Shannon, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Thoughts on the Story Story by E.A. Poe

A short story must have a single mood and every sentence must build toward it.” EDGAR ALLAN POE

Photo: Midnight Digital, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED