I’ve written before about the Vampire Literary Canon—some of the most popular works that cemented the vampire’s place as literature’s favorite monster. But before vampires worked their way into novels (like Bram Stoker’s Dracula), novellas (like J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla), or even short stories (like Polidori’s “The Vampyre”), many of the earliest appearances of these creatures in Western literature occurred in poetry. Below are a few of my favorite examples of early vampire poems:
It is now September, and I know for many of you that means it’s time to go back to school. It’s become a yearly tradition for me to put together a reading list of Gothic works you may encounter on your English syllabus. So far, I’ve done my initial Back to School Reading List of Gothic novels, a Short Story Edition, and a Drama Edition. Now it’s time to tackle poetry! Here are a few of the darker poems you may come across in class: Continue reading Back to School Reading List: Poetry Edition
Last year, I wrote up a list of five death- and graveyard-themed poems to ponder as you enjoy a solitary stroll through someone’s final resting place. Now that graveyard picnic season has come once again, I figured it was time to add to this list. When researching for my previous post, I discovered that the tradition of graveyard poetry was far more robust than I had previously realized, and I kept finding more poems that I wanted to share. As before, my collection contains works by a few of the pre-Romantic “Graveyard Poets,” as well as a couple of poems by later Romantic poets. Enjoy!
There’s something about goths, graveyards, and poetry that just seem to go together. Well, part of that is because, long before there were any goths, a number of poets frequented graveyards, viewing them as the ideal setting for melancholy contemplation. This trend was popularized in the eighteenth century by a group of pre-Romantic English writers who became known as the Graveyard Poets. The tradition was continued by the Romantics, who have had a significant influence on popular gothic aesthetic and sentiment, and it has since been revisited by many writers into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Below are five of my favorite poems that were written or take place in a graveyard:
Who says love poems need to be all rainbows and sunshine? Sometimes death and decay can be just as romantic. If you’re tired of sappy hallmark cards and sickly sweet phrases written on candy, consider sharing some of these creepy classics with your loved ones.
One of the many stereotypes of the gothic subculture involves reading poetry and brooding in a corner. While the brooding isn’t entirely necessary, poetry is a great way to indulge in your daily dose of darkness. Here are just a few of my absolute favorite gothic poems:
1) “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe
The works of Edgar Allan Poe were some of my first gateways into the realm of gothic literature. Poe is regarded as a leading patriarch in the American gothic tradition. He helped to popularize the genres of both horror and mystery with his numerous short stories. But for me, the true gothic beauty of Poe resides chiefly in his poetry. Now, I’m sure you’re all familiar with “The Raven,” so I figured I’d introduce you to one of my other favorite poems of his. “Annabel Lee” is a hauntingly beautiful poem about two of Poe’s favorite things: a beautiful woman and death. In fact, many of Poe’s poems and stories involve the death of a beautiful woman, perhaps influenced by the early death of his young wife, Virginia. “Annabel Lee” tells the story of a man and woman who were so in love that the angels in heaven grew jealous and took the woman away. The poem has an ethereal cadence that works beautifully put to music, as in this electro dance cover by one of my favorite musicians, Psyche Corporation:
You can also read it for yourself here.
