Dark, Dreadful, Dead, and Poetic

Ah, poetry. I never thought of myself as much of a poetry fan until I started viewing the recent videos of staff members reading their favorite poems for National Poetry Month. As I laughed my way through Sister For Sale and the Crocodile's Toothache I realized I have always liked poetry, just not the sweet, sappy stuff. Dark and dreadful - that's my style. So it should come as no surprise that Edgar Allen Poe is among my favorite poets, with The Raven leading the pack. There's just something about that bird croaking out "Nevermore" that gets to me. Plus, it's midnight and dreary, and the poet is weak and weary, and it's in bleak December, and there are dying embers, and ... well, you get the idea. Years ago I saw John Astin perform his one man show of Edgar Allen Poe out at Fermi Labs (on a foggy night, of course) and since then I've been fascinated by The Raven and Annabelle Lee (and "her tomb by the side of the sea.")

Another wonderfully haunting series of poems, recited by the dead in the local cemetery, can be found in Edgar Lee Masters Spoon River Anthology. Again, it was a production at the Des Plaines Theater Guild that brought that poem to life for me as I watched the characters rise from their graves to tell their life (and death) stories.

So take a look at our Poetry Theater under Plaintalk and celebrate National Poetry Month!

Oh, and by the way.. what's your favorite kind of poetry?

Posted by Linda K.