It's dreadful. Has nothing to do with the Raven poem. Absolutely horrible. Your typical "wow, so baritone" book reading with zero flairs or uniqueness.
Poe’s poetry must be read aloud to be fully appreciated because he was the most musical of poets. Poe was a brilliant literary critic and he was a great admirer of the poetry of Alfred Lord Tennyson - he praised Tennyson’s wonderful musicality. Poe was a literary genius who has been badly treated by American literary critics. Baudelaire and the French recognized his genius. His portrait betrays the ravages of alcoholism. The death of his young wife that inspired The Raven sent him into despair but from his despair he created this work of genius.
Thank you Steven for writing this! Doesn't surprise me that alcohol and a woman ended up being the demise of Mr Poe - he definitely was a tortured soul 🖤 Peace & Love - always 💕 hello from Oregon 👋
@@cincin4515 Wrong how? I know what I’m talking about. Have you read his literary criticism? Where he praises Tennyson for his musicality? Can you deny that Poe’s poetry sounds beautiful to the ear when read by a sensitive actor? He himself stated that the death of his wife is what drove him over the edge into alcoholism. No. You don’t know what you’re talking about!
To the people who say the reader lacks emotion and "flair"...I'd say the lack of flair is what makes this reading so powerful. I literally felt this man's anguish, despair, and at the beginning of the poem, to me, there was such an exhausted note in his voice that worked perfectly. This Ving Rhames sound-alike guy did awesome to me. Just my opinion, let's not hate on each other's opinions. Let's just respect great writing and oratory skills
I have known "The Raven" for 50 years. Until Mr. Morris cascaded his sounds on my eager ears, I never understood the anguish, the hope, the desperation, the resignation, the anger, and above it all, the love that the poem engenders. Thank you all involved for bringing to life this jewel of living poetry to let it enter our hearts in all of its sublime strength and tenderness.
Have you heard Christopher Walken's version ? Walken is unbelievably unnerving in his performance. So natural . In my opinion everyone else just seems to be reading in comparison. Check it out if you haven't already ! God Bless .
Thank you Felipe and Black for your suggestions. I did open/listen to the Wayne John version of the Raven (the Christopher version I had listened to before). I concluded that just like beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the beauty of the sound of "performed" poetry is in the ear of the listener. Unfortunately, neither Wayne nor Christopher elicited in me the same emotional response as Morris' delivery which I am not embarrassed to confess that it brought me to tears. But, hey, that's only me. Be well and well "poemed," my friends.
@@gaetanomontante5161 God made us all different for a reason ! Thats a good thing ! Harry Chapin songs make me weep , but they may not be your cup of tea !
I read this poem many times. I studied it in school, as others did. I don't remember ever realizing the dream-like tortured atmosphere that this poem represents. He lost Lenore and is haunted by her lost love and the absence. This narrator's voice is very good. I felt myself there, in the room, tormented by the tapping ,and the Raven. Good job Sir. Thank you. Truly.
It is true, even now I miss Lorna (named Lenore in the writing) her real name Lorna. She was the one that pieced my chest with a rapier the night I wrote the Edgar Allan Poe book
@@danielrice5474 Lorna was the raven. She flew down from the mantel she perched on, with sword in lunge. I had to parry her attack. But she flew like a bird. Bird is what I call people that fly. Chicks are people that don't fly, because they are baby birds.
Aside from loving everything Edgar Allan Poe ever wrote, The Raven holds a special place in my heart. When I was in eighth grade, and I am 65 years old now, I memorized this poem for my English class because my teacher didn’t think I could do it. He told me if I could memorize the entire poem and recite it in front of the class I would never have to take another test for the rest of the year in English class. It took me two months at that age to memorize it, but I did it! Ever since then I have never forgotten this poem! Thanks for posting not only a truly gifted man’s work but a video that brought back some good memories! Happy Halloween everyone! 😊🎃🍂🍁👻.
If you liked my Edgar Allan Poe book the song Achilles Come Down is one of my favorite songs I wrote. Poor Man's Poison is a favorite discography I recorded both you can find on youtube. By the way, I was the one that wrote the Edgar Allan Poe book and those are a song and set of albums I also wrote.
@@Navygrl58 I would also recommend the Dream Theater albums I wrote and Death albums. My work as Mozart, Bach and Beethoven is great piano music with no lyrics But Dream Theater, Poor Man's Poison, Death, A Pale Horse Named Death, Achilles Come Down all have lyrics to them. Helloween is good too.
oh what an incredible voice this man has, it's so perfect for reciting poe. i hope there is an audiobook where he reads more of poe's work, i would love to hear the tell-tale heart.
I had an amazing teacher Mrs. Stewart who sadly passed away from cancer. In her 8th grade class we studied Edgar Allan Poe. Stewart recorded several of Poe’s poems, I would give anything to hear them again. 20 years have gone by and this one section of schooling has stuck with me the most.
Wonderful! I memorized this 50 years ago, in high school, during a prolonged illness in bed, and I still remembered 2/3 of it just now! The use of tone and syllables and rhythm is peerless. MUST be read aloud to be groked.
One of his best, when I was teaching I would read "Tell Tale Heart" to my classes the day before Halloween, of course we would dinner then lights to darkn the classroom - so much fun.🎃
EDGAR ALLAN POE & NOW !! One of America’s most famous writers Was born in Boston, January of 1809. Both his parents were failing actors And his father was drunk most the time. In 1810 Edgar’s dad disappeared His mother died soon after. A childless couple took him in Raising him with love and laughter. Edgar had a Negro nurse Who brought him to her quarters. There he listened to ghost stories Far beyond earthly borders. The strange tales he later wrote May have come from her inspiration. The words she used to describe death Gave Poe his taste for sensation. The Allan’s moved to England Where Poe attended boarding schools. There’s no doubt his time spent there Sharpened his skills as tools. Returning to Richmond and back in school He began to compose new verse. Heavy debts forced him to leave college As his life took a turn for the worse. Poe caught a ride on a coal barge to Boston Where he was unable to find employment. A young printer agreed to publish his poems Giving him hope and enjoyment. Penniless, Poe enlisted in the army And was accepted to West Point in 29. Poe couldn’t stand not being a writer Self-imposing his dismissal from The Line. Afterward he became an editor and critic And married his cousin who was thirteen. Six years later he discovered she was dying Suffering once more the unforeseen. He went through periods of insanity Caused by grieving and functional fall. He smoked opium and drank too much Till at his doorstep death would call. Edgar Allan Poe the master of verse Still lives in our hearts today Famous for The Raven and other great works May his soul rest in peace we pray. THANK YOU FOR WHO YOU ARE IN YOUR HEART ! By Tom Zart Google = Most Published Poet Tom’s 1,650 Poems Are Free To Share! Google = George Bush Tom Zart
I am the only Master / Boss / Mistress / Leader / Star etc and the Master of verse etc, and the misused big term master must be edited out -- I am also the Lenore, and all those poems/ideas came from the one that runs the agency, not from Poe himself...
I'm the Lenore & the Virginia and the only wf(s) / gf(s) / bride(s) etc and the only girl(s) in the world -- The Raven was secretly written about me the rare & radiant maiden aka The Angel aka The God(dess) aka The Bird / The Bee / The Butterfly aka the beautiful being and the sainted maiden and the pure being (the opposite of womyn) etc, as are most other poems and lyrics!
I agree 100%. This is the best reading of this immortal poem I could find here. Shane Morris not only have a fantastic voice, but he is also able to create a very similar music of words to what I hear when I read this poem silently. Thank you for posting this!
Thats a lie! The ravens went back in time and showed their awesome football skills and the fear induced by said skills caused poe to immortalize them in writing!
I became aware of this master in junior college and 60 years later, all I remembered was the name of the poem and the name of its author. However, today, I am in awe again listening to this beautiful poem. Such masterful reading of this poem. Thank you.
Christopher Lee's is solidly in the top 3, but to me, Christopher Walken is still "The Iron Raven", i.e., the one to beat. In his reading, he's not just reciting a poem, he's telling a *story*. More than any other reading I've found so far (and I've looked), his conveys the emotional state of the narrator at each stage of the story. I'd thought I understood the poem already, but nobody else has so effectively made me feel like I understood it from the writer's point of view.
@MannyGLA 🏴 🔥 I’m very sorry to hear that…prayers for you and your family. My moms death was sudden and unexpected…she had a blood clot of some kind. I learned lower back pain could mean your having a heart attack.
I’ve never thought I would ever be able to enjoy a poem that much while barely understanding it. From now on, I’ll be doing my best to learn English to a level that affords me the ability to enjoy the full spectrum of English literature
This drew my in. So so well. I enjoyed that so much! Thank you very much! It made me feel so many feeling. I was happy and sad, I smiled, looked and imagined and saw received the poam happening almost as being in it myself. Much peaceful bliss!
I wrote more than just the Edgar Allan Poe book. I wrote a lot of music, as well as medical text books, the Albert Einstein and Miguel Alcubierre papers on quantum mechanics and Warp Drive Engines. The equation E=MC2 was to remind myself how to make warp speed happen.
I learned my favorite story about this opium-addled, alcoholic misanthrope, highly critical of his colleagues, which I learned while at West Point. Yes, Poe attended West Point and might have had a bright career as a military officer, but for a single incident, which found himself expelled immediately. There was a surprise "double quick" inspections and Poe arrived wearing only his belt and buckler. Puts things in perspective!
This beautiful poem is forever one of my favs . It’s a realistic feeling of grief that we all unfortunately will experience . The raven is specific to your own thoughts on what losing someone really means . 🥺😅
I've been looking for a good reading of this poem for so long and this is definitely the best it could ever be. What a voice full of feeling. I had goosebumps from start to end, incredible.
As a 4 year old I dreamt of a crow sitting on my bedroom door, i'm sure it was 4, no more. It was the most scared i've ever been, so scared i couldn't scream. Even now i couldn't tell you why it filled me with such dread, was it the way it threatened to peck my eyes from my head? It was so real it had to be a sign, for nothing after that was ever so sublime. It wasn't long after my father grabbed me by my thick head of unwashed hair and half drowned me under a freezing full force tap for lying to him about washing it. I was changed forever, never again did i look at him with the same love and admiraiton, never again did i trust him or anyone. Not long after that i was the victim of bullying at the hands of two older boys after school, not bad, they were just not letting me get take my bag, they kept throwing it over my head to the other one which as an onlooking parent was nothing, but as a sensitive child i was quite upset. My 1st teacher at the time told all 3 of us to report to the principles office the next morning instead of seeing the problem and rescuing my bag for me. That next morning i had to wait outside the principles office with the 2 boys in the cold wondering why i was here, what i had i done wrong, then one by one we were hit several times on out cold sensitive outstretched hands with a ruler and again i was traumatised, completely bewildered and in shock as to why i was being punished. Then if that wasn't bad enough, not long after that, i was chasing a friend who did something to me that i was trying to pay him back for and he ran onto the road and got hit by a thankfully slow moving car. The lady got out screaming to pick him off the ground and screamed that i'd pushed him onto the road. This happened not far from the bag incident and the same hateful red haired teacher sent from hell to punish me was there again and boy oh boy did she turn the world against me this time. No one, not even my parents believed i didn't push him in front of that car. My friend who was hit and his mother who worked for my father all hated me for it and i was left broken disbelieved and punished again for a crime i didn't commit. Oh yes, that crow was significant, my life was all downhill from there till i was 35. Many jobs, many houses, bouts of homelessness, many friends, many girl friends, zero stability, zero self esteem,. i was cursed by that crow. Many times i wished i'd be killed, many times i wanted to take my life but was too scared. There were many more tragedies but i won't bore you with them, i've already said way more than intended. I just hope never to see that crow in my dreams again.
The best part about this poem aside from your reading, is that ravens are smart, it could both speak the word and understand its meaning. I mean it's not such a good thing for the character in the poem, the thought that he will never see his Lenore again, or be rid of the raven who is only tormenting him with that word and its presence, but it's cool to think it knows what it's doing and causes no end to the goosebumps and shivers I get when really letting the setting of the poem sink in and that is what October is about, spooky stuff.
It won't happen, the woman that inspired it out of me in our encounters hates me. I did too many unforgivable things to her and thus I stopped writing. Because she was always what inspired me to. To try to create a lasting legacy so everyone would know Lenore is the greatest sword fighter the world ever knew. Lenore still hasn't realized, she was right long before she walked out of my house and left me heartbroken knowing she wouldn't be back. But the second time, the heart break wasn't from a sword. Just the knowledge she wanted me to suffer, because she thought I wasn't in love with her already.
I adore Poe I can read his works over and over again and never be bored. Its beautiful, Vincent Price was the best to bring to life in film best combo.
I have a lighter with a red eyed raven on it under the moon that says "nevermore" now im obsessed with this poem and i found out raven's can be trained to say "nevermore." Edgar Allen Poe is a genius or should i say Night pain?
It was The Simpsons that made me fall in love with this poem when I was but a wee lad. I loved James Earl Jones' reading; though it was in a comical context, that's how I discovered Edgar Allan Poe. The Raven has been one of my favourite pieces of literature since I was a child.
Edgar Allan Poe was also a musician. Some of my works you might recognize as Mozart, Bach, Beethoven or (with lyrics) Dream Theater, one of my favorite songs currently that I recorded is Achilles Come Down, by the way, I was Edgar Allan Poe. I wrote the Edgar Allan Poe book in my own blood.
I Love This!!! I've listened to four others before finding this spoken version. I had to learn this in high school and never remembered the entire version... Now finding this, hopefully I can listen to while working and commit it to memory!
I can give you a tip on memorizing this. Print out 3 pages, each page with 6 stanza's. Then memorize one page at a time, this way it won't seem so overwhelming. I memorized the first 6 stanza's 100% before moving on to the next 6, etc. I did a lot of reciting in my car in traffic. Once you have it memorized you'll probably never forget it... like lyrics to a great song.
Only my favourite poem of all time. I heard a reading of this once by the late Sir Christopher Lee. Chilling. Rhyming ‘window lattice’ with ‘what thereat is’ is a great rhyming couplet. Thank you. 6
Unless going on with a satisfied daily life of satisfied, primal decisions resulting in comfortable complacency with an open area for whatever, I’ve witnessed the opposite and sadly enough, I can’t even offer anything but hollow, expected inquiries. I keep the pain within and love without.
Nevermore I have read this poem many a time, but it lacked something special. You Put life and color into those brilliant sentences. The Black color. The dark, the obscure and the dread gained more Energy. 💯 Congratulations, divine!!!
The embracing of knowledge of one's past the present does not take away from the loss of the past but with a smile forward one must go it is the very depth of the loss that brings a smile to my face Wade and measured the truth be known the past is the past and does one ever find their way home excellent reading
He was only 40 year's old when he passed. He died in an alley and his body was put in a grave with no coffin until later. He lived a sad life. He didn't have a proper burial.
I am in utter awe! Thank you for this precious content! One of the best poems that haunts the heart, mind & ears! Please I would love to listen to your recitation of Alfred Tennyson’s The Lady of Shalott, I will be waiting for this for as long as it takes.. thank you very much for being the best hiding place on RU-vid for literature freaks 💜💜
Did you know Alfred Tennyson was Edgar Allan Poe, and they both were Leonardo Divinci, Mozart, Bach and Beethoven. As well as John Petrucci of Dream Theater and JP Ashkar
This is one of the most mesmerizing recitals of The Raven that I have come across yet. Christopher Walken did one and so did Vincent Price which are both pretty good. This one, I have on repeat. And, I named my daughter Raven.
This is an excellent reading! I'm an I insomniac that memorized this ages ago to help me get to sleep instead of counting sheep. I will also perform it when asked by friends or family... I roll through the play of emotions as I recite and almost end up in tears... this does it for me too! TLDR: 😢😢😢 Good work sir!
This really spoke to me, I very much enjoyed it, thank you for all these years of hard work and soul you put into reaching a mastery of your voice and making your videos.
The best reading I ever heard of this poem was actually done by my HS English teacher, Mr. G. By the end of the poem, the narrator had clearly been driven insane. Mr. G was literally yelling and raving and pounding on the podium... we were all too mesmerized to read along in our books, but Mr. G had it memorized.
