January 19, 1809 - October 7, 1849
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| "Three Little Poe - ettes"
Thanks to Antoinette & Igor for the Poe - themed Whimsy! |
“All religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of
fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry.”
“If you wish to forget anything on the spot,
make a note that this thing is to be remembered.”
“I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat.”
*****************
Compare this line from Poe . . .
“Every poem should remind the reader
that they are going to die.”
with this one from Thomas Pynchon . . .
"When we speak of 'seriousness' in fiction, ultimately we are talking about an attitude toward death -- how characters may act in its presence, for example, or how they handle it when it isn't so immediate. Everybody know this, but the subject is hardly ever brought up with younger writers, possibly because given to anyone at the apprentice age, such advice is widely felt to be effort wasted." (p 146)
quoted by David Shields
in his amazing book:
The Thing About Life is That One Day You'll Be Dead
Compare this line from Poe . . .
“A short story must have a single mood
and every sentence must build towards it.”
with this anecdote from Annie Dillard . . .
Dillard tells the story of a fellow
writer who was asked by a student:
"Do you think I could be a writer?"
"Well," the writer said, "do you like sentences?"
~ The Writing Life (1989)
*****************
black cats, and ravens, and Halloween . . .
but also Christmas and Valentine's Day!
We wish your days had been longer upon this earth.
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