THIS IS AMERICA - Halloween and Edgar Allan Poe

THIS IS AMERICA -October 28, 2002: Halloween and Edgar Allan Poe

By Carolyn Weaver¹

VOICE ONE:

October Thirty-First is Halloween. It is an unofficial holiday that celebrates the
frightening and strange. We celebrate with a report about a nineteenth-century
American writer. His stories were some of the most frightening and strange ever
written. I'm Shirley Griffith.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Doug Johnson. The writer Edgar Allan Poe is our report today on the VOA
Special English program THIS IS AMERICA.

((SCARY MUSIC))
VOICE ONE:

Halloween is mostly a holiday for children, who like to be frightened. Yet many
grown people observe Halloween, too. Those who love the writings of Edgar Allan
Poe think Halloween is the best time of year to celebrate them. Poe is most famous
for his stories and poems of strangeness, mystery, and terror.

He wrote about people buried while still alive. About insanity² and death. About
dreams that become real ... or reality that seems like a dream.

VOICE TWO:

Edgar Allan Poe died in the city of Baltimore in Eighteen-Forty-Nine. Now, in that city, an unusual party takes
place every Halloween.
In the dark of night, visitors go to the church ground where Poe is buried. Everything is quiet. Then a voice calls

out. It is Poe! (pause) No, it is just an actor, reading Poe's work.
((Scary MUSIC BRIDGE)
)
VOICE ONE:
Reading stories was one of the most important forms of enjoyment³ in Edgar Allan Poe's time. Poe created many

of these "short" stories. They appeared in different publications.
Horror stories already were popular when Poe began writing. Critics say he wrote the perfect horror story.
Poe also wrote detective stories. These were mysteries about crimes, such as murder. The mysteries are solved by

an investigator⁴ called a detective. He or she is able to find important, hidden meanings in facts.
The horror and detective stories Poe created remain extremely popular in books and movies.
VOICE TWO:
Edgar Allan Poe's work is not easy to read. His language is difficult to understand today. And most of his writing

describes very unpleasant situations and events.
His story "The Pit and the Pendulum," for example, is about the mental torture of a prisoner. Each time the


prisoner saves himself from death, a new and more horrible form of death threatens him.

Another story is "The Masque of the Red Death." In it, a terrible disease -- the Red Death -- has killed half the
population of a country.

The ruler of the country shuts his castle against the disease. He and his wealthy friends are inside. They pass the
time by having parties. They believe the Red Death will not find them. But it does.

((MUSIC))

VOICE ONE:

Edgar Poe was born in Eighteen-Oh-Nine. His parents were actors. At that time, actors were not accepted by the
best society. Edgar was a baby when his father left the family. He was two years old when his mother died. He
was taken into the home of a wealthy businessman, John Allan. He then received his new name -- Edgar Allan
Poe.

John Allan never officially made Edgar his son. In fact, he came to dislike him strongly.

As a young man, Edgar attended the University of Virginia. He was a good student. But he liked to drink alcohol
and play card games for money. Edgar was not a good player. He lost money he did not have. John Allan refused
to pay Edgar's gambling⁵ losses. So, Edgar left the university. He began working as a writer and editor for
monthly magazines.

VOICE TWO:

Edgar Allan Poe worked hard. He became a successful editor. Yet he was not well-paid or well-known. His life
was difficult. He was poor, and he was troubled by sicknesses of the body and mind.

Poe suffered from depression. He feared he was insane. He drank alcohol to escape his fears. The alcohol had a
very bad effect on him.

VOICE ONE:

At the age of twenty-seven, he married Virginia Clemm. She was the daughter of his father's sister. She was only
thirteen years old. For a time, it seemed that Poe would find some happiness. But his wife was sick for most of
their marriage. She died in Eighteen-Forty-Seven. Poe died two years later, at the age of forty. He was found
dead in Baltimore after days of heavy drinking.

((MUSIC))

VOICE TWO:

Through all his crises, Edgar Allan Poe produced many stories, poems, and works of criticism. Some of his
stories won prizes. Yet he did not become famous until Eighteen-Forty-Five. That was when his poem "The
Raven⁶" was published.

There is no question that Poe suffered from emotional problems in his life. One critic said Poe's spirit was torn.
He said Poe's stories were often about his own divided nature. Each person in the story showed a different side of
the writer.

There is a question, however, about Poe's importance. Some critics say he was one of America's best writers.
Others disagree.

VOICE ONE:

Critic Vincent Buranelli says Poe discovered a new artistic⁷ universe. It is a universe of dreams. It is a place where
the line between reality and unreality is extremely thin.


Even those who praise Poe agree that there are many difficulties in his work. These difficulties place Poe's
writing outside the main body of American literature. Most American writing is realistic. Poe's interests and way
of writing were not realistic at all.

Poe's work has been praised most in France. He had a great influence on many French writers, including the poets
Charles-Pierre Baudelaire and Stephane Mallarme.

VOICE TWO:
Poe's best-known poem is "The Raven." Some people love it. They say it is like music. Others hate it. They say it
sounds forced and unnatural⁸ -- like bad music.

"The Raven" is about a man whose great love, Lenore, has died. She is gone forever. But the man cannot accept
that all happiness is gone. He sits alone among his books late at night. He hears a noise at the window. Here is the
beginning of the poem:

ANNOUNCER:
Once upon a midnight dreary⁹, while I pondered,
weak and weary
Over many a quaint¹⁰ and curious volume of for-
gotten lore¹¹ -
-
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.
"
VOICE TWO:
The man looks out the window and sees only blackness.
ANNOUNCER:
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.
VOICE TWO:
But there is something at the window. It is a large black bird -- a raven. It comes into the room like the spirit of

death and hopelessness. The raven can speak just one word: 'nevermore' -- meaning 'never again'. We know the

raven will never leave the man's room.

ANNOUNCER:

But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid¹³ bust¹⁴,

spoke¹² only

That one word, as if his soul in that one word he

did outpour.

Nothing farther than he uttered -- not a feather

then he fluttered -
-

Till I scarcely more than muttered, "Other friends

have flown before
-

On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes

have flown before.
"

Then the bird said, "Nevermore.
"

VOICE ONE:
This program was written by Carolyn Weaver. It was produced by Lawan Davis. Our poetry reader was Shep
O'Neal. I'm Shirley Griffith.

VOICE TWO:
And I'm Doug Johnson. Join us again next week for another report about life in the United States on the VOA
Special English program THIS IS AMERICA.

 

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1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 insanity   

n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐

参考例句：

• In his defense he alleged temporary insanity.他伪称一时精神错乱，为自己辩解。
• He remained in his cell,and this visit only increased the belief in his insanity.他依旧还是住在他的地牢里，这次视察只是更加使人相信他是个疯子了。

3 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

4 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

5 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

6 raven   

n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的

参考例句：

• We know the raven will never leave the man's room.我们知道了乌鸦再也不会离开那个男人的房间。
• Her charming face was framed with raven hair.她迷人的脸上垂落着乌亮的黑发。

7 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

8 unnatural   

adj.不自然的；反常的

参考例句：

• Did her behaviour seem unnatural in any way?她有任何反常表现吗？
• She has an unnatural smile on her face.她脸上挂着做作的微笑。

9 dreary   

adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的

参考例句：

• They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
• She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。

10 quaint   

adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的

参考例句：

• There were many small lanes in the quaint village.在这古香古色的村庄里，有很多小巷。
• They still keep some quaint old customs.他们仍然保留着一些稀奇古怪的旧风俗。

11 lore   

n.传说；学问，经验，知识

参考例句：

• I will seek and question him of his lore.我倒要找上他，向他讨教他的渊博的学问。
• Early peoples passed on plant and animal lore through legend.早期人类通过传说传递有关植物和动物的知识。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 placid   

adj.安静的，平和的

参考例句：

• He had been leading a placid life for the past eight years.八年来他一直过着平静的生活。
• You should be in a placid mood and have a heart-to- heart talk with her.你应该心平气和的好好和她谈谈心。

14 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。