Comment from royowen

Excellent

It looks like the poem's enemies were repelled by heavenly evoked declaration! I found your authors notes really interesting, I think the pall of insanity seems to rest on all of us Dean, the question:- what is normal? Beautifully written, Dean, I enjoyed the goodies winning, I enjoyed the eloquent language woven through this good work! Good aabb rhyming, Well done, Dean, blessings, Roy.

 Comment Written 21-Sep-2014

Comment from Eric1

Exceptional

Hi Dean, or should I say,hello Master of the macabre! This is one of the best poems I have read in a long time my friend, every word is a delicious morsel, every line a delicious feast and the whole poem a veritable banquet! Poe was indeed an incredible writer and an even more incredible character, it is great that you have told us about this one chapter in his life in so perfect double rhyme, the description and imagery are perfection, the flow is beautiful and you my friend are a great poet!

 Comment Written 21-Sep-2014

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reply by the author on 21-Sep-2014

Thanks so much, Eric. You, sir, are too kind. Coming from a poet of your caliber, a poet whose work I deeply admire, I take this as the highest of compliments, my friend.

I'm really happy to know that you enjoyed this. I appreciate the exceptional six star rating, but even more, your very thoughtful comments.

Much obliged, my friend. :}

reply by Eric1 on 21-Sep-2014

I meant every word Dean!

Comment from kiwisteveh

Excellent

Who could fail to sympathise with Poe, the tortured genius? This hommage to the great man uses clever wordcraft to evoke some of the darkness that he revelled in and even some of the motifs and themes that we all know from his work.

Despite the similarity in spelling, I don't think you can rhyme sough with enough - the pronunciation is either 'so' or 'sou' (as in south)

Brilliant job on the internal rhyme in each line, though.

Steve

 Comment Written 21-Sep-2014

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reply by the author on 21-Sep-2014

Thanks, Steve, I'm glad you weighed in on this poem for me.

I based the rhyming on enough and sough not by the spelling, but by the definition and description of its definition.

Here it is as follows:


sough
[sou, suhf]

verb (used without object)

1.to make a rushing, rustling, or murmuring sound:
the wind soughing in the meadow.

2.Scot. and North England. to speak, especially to preach, in a whining, singsong voice.

So, as you can see, "suhf", the "h" giving the word a soft vowel sound, as it is pronounced here, does rhyme with enough. At lest according to Merriam Webster's dictionary it does. :}

Here is what Rhymer.com states. I just looked it up...

enough 41 End Rhymes

One-syllable words:

bluff buff cuff fluff gruff
huff luff muff puff rough
ruff scruff scuff slough sluff
snuff sough stuff tough tuff

So, I'm not for certain if there are two different pronunciations or not, Steve. The jury's still out, I guess.


I went ahead and made some changes to those lines, Steve, just in case. I think it will also eliminate any further confusion that may arise.

Thanks for drawing my attention to it.
Anyhow, thanks so much again for the excellent review. :}

Comment from DR DIP

Exceptional

Beautiful!Simply sublime.
I love double rhyme line and you do it so well!
I now know the story of Egar Alan Poe now!
thanks for sharing deano.
just one suggestion; in the first verse:

he lamplight burned into the night, his face was wracked by yawns.

Try as he might to get it right, he knew, soon came the dawn.

White wolf in murky moonlight's glow now howled upon the lawn,

he heard the sigh, knew time was nigh; it's song, so woebegone.

consider:

The lamplight burned into the night;face wracked by a yawn
Try as he might to get it right, he knew, soon came the dawn.

White wolf in murky moonlight's glow, now howled upon the lawn,

he heard the sigh, knew time was nigh; it's song, so woebegone.

in the verse:
His maiden fair, whose baleful stare, would find him, soon enough.

The spell she cast, 'twas not her last, the frigid breezes soughed,


consider:
His maiden fair, whose baleful stare, would find him, soon enough.

The spell she cast, 'twas not her last, the frigid breezes; tough

 Comment Written 21-Sep-2014

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reply by the author on 21-Sep-2014

Thanks so much for the wonderful rating, dipster, as well as your very thoughtful suggestions. I really appreciate them both, very much, and I will consider making some changes to those lines you've mentioned.

Thanks again, Dipster. Much obliged, mate! :D

Comment from Jay Squires

Excellent

I know you take your Poe seriously, Dean. I wonder how many here of Fan Story (especially those whose sole experience with your poetry is with this one) know how serious you are about him.

I see it as more than an infatuation though I would stop short at obsession.

One thing I will say is that you do know, respect and stand in awe of your Poe.

This is one of your best contributions to his lore I've found here.

Wrack on, sir, wrack on!

 Comment Written 21-Sep-2014

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reply by the author on 21-Sep-2014

Thanks so much, Jay, and I simply aspire to be as great a story teller and poet as he was one day. His sad life history is fascinating, and his life was filled with so much heartache and tragedy. It's a wonder he could even bring himself to write at all, to feel...anything at all.

Thanks so much for the excellent and thoughtful review, my friend. I sincerely appreciate it.

reply by Jay Squires on 21-Sep-2014

My pleasure, Dean. I have so much respect for your brilliance!

reply by the author on 21-Sep-2014

I'm far from brilliant, Jay. But I am able to easily get in tune with my thoughts and feelings, then put them down is words, in some form or another. It doesn't always work out, but I do try to get better each time. That's all we can do, right? :}

reply by Jay Squires on 21-Sep-2014

I think in describing what you do, you defined brilliance. Don't worry, if only one of us recognizes it, that's all it takes.

Comment from mfowler

Exceptional

I really enjoyed this one, Dean. I loved your creative take on Poe's haunting and his clever penned 'in the blood of Christ' retort which drove the woman and her minions back from whence they came. I thought you chose the perfect meter to keep the necessary pace in this. There is a slowness necessary because one can only write so fast with a quill pen, and an urgency brought on by feeling 'their presence close.' Such a cadence is difficult to achieve, but you have done it with aplomb. I though the occasional internal line rhymes gave the action a great surge at the times most necessary eg
Closed coffins groaned, just as they moaned, the rotting bodies moved,
Hell's minions can't form opinions, their will has been removed.
Your sense of the macabre and dramatic flair abounds throughout your language. Loved:
A spectral mist wrapped 'round his wrist and held his hand in check, his pen was halted, his mind, assaulted; he held on by a speck.

Overall, a damned good read.

SPAG: Of all Hells spawn..Hell's??

 Comment Written 21-Sep-2014

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reply by the author on 21-Sep-2014

Oh, thanks so very much, Mark, and I'm really glad that you liked this one. I was reading Poe's biography and this poem just came to me, sort of a "what if?" scenario.

My dang spell checker told me that Hell's was wrong. Actually, it is WhiteSmoke, an editor that helps detect punctuation errors and broken participles...that sort of thing. I'll look into it.

Thanks again for the six stars and very in depth assessment.

I sincerely appreciate it. :}

reply by mfowler on 21-Sep-2014

This should be on the front page, Dean. I never get up there, but when I see one that should be, I say so.

reply by the author on 21-Sep-2014

Well, I am very low on funny money, so I'm going to try and read and review a bit more to see if I can bump it up there. It'll take awhile, but I'll make some headway...I hope, LOL.

Thanks again, Mark.:}

reply by mfowler on 21-Sep-2014

Know the feeling. I still never get much higher than 50 funny cents. One day, I hope I can get something in the top few and see what it's like writing 100 replies LOL.

reply by the author on 21-Sep-2014

Ha ha, I hear you, Mark! it would be nice, wouldn't it? Or... would it? :D

reply by mfowler on 21-Sep-2014

One of those ,'be careful what you ask for' type experiences.

reply by the author on 21-Sep-2014

You got it!

Comment from GracieAnn

Excellent

Dean, the rich almost Elizabethan English is apropos for the subject matter. There seems to be a fine line between genius and insanity. The rhyme and meter is well written and keeps the interest of the reader to the end. :0 GracieAnn

 Comment Written 21-Sep-2014

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reply by the author on 21-Sep-2014

Thank you, GracieAnn. I sincerely appreciate your thoughts on the poem.

Comment from Jacqueline M Franklin

Excellent

Hi Dean,

One could not say he, as in Poe, was not a hunk. By today's standards he would probably be called a homely nerd. Having said that, the man had talent. 'The Raven' and 'Annabelle Lee'. Great work.

I like your 'New Age' Poe type of work. You always keep it fresh and edgy. But, please, Buckeye, don't go on any Poe like benders, or go crackers - OKAY? (*?*)

Great job!

Cheers & Blessings
Keep Smilin'.... Jax (*>*)

P.S. FYI::: Did you notice that the T - M - H letters in your title barely show through?

This rating does not count towards story rating or author rank.
The highest and the lowest rating are not included in calculations.

 Comment Written 21-Sep-2014

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reply by the author on 21-Sep-2014

Thanks, Jax, and no, I hadn't noticed that. I will try to fix that right away.

And I promise, I'll not go completely bonkers on you. No more than I already am, LOL.

Thanks for the review.

reply by Jacqueline M Franklin on 21-Sep-2014

WHEW!! What a relief! (*>*)