Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and American literature as a whole, and he was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story.
Poe is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre and is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.
Spirits of the Dead
Thy soul shall find
itself alone ‘Mid dark
thoughts of the grey tomb-
stone -- Not one, of all the
crowd, to pry Into thine hour of
secrecy: Be silent in that solitude
Which is not loneliness
for then The spirits of the
dead who stood In life before thee
are again In death around thee --
and their will Shall then overshadow thee: be
still For the night -- tho' clear shall frown And
the stars shall look not down, From their high thrones in the Heaven,
With light like Hope to mortals given But their red orbs, without
beam, To thy weariness shall seem As a burning and a
fever Which would cling to thee for ever : Now are
thoughts thou shalt not banish -- Now
are visions ne'er to vanish -- From
thy spirit shall they pass No
more -- like dew-drop from
the grass: The breeze -- the
breath of God -- is still -- And
the mist upon the hill Shadowy
-- shadowy -- yet unbroken, as a symbol
and a token -- How it hangs upon
the trees, A mystery of
mysteries! --
