The Raven (Christopher Lee) 

He could read the entire alphabet to your parents and it would still be awesome.

Poo, lacks drama and emotion

But he didn't.. he read "the raven" and it was fantastic! 😃

I so honor this man. He was freewillingly trying to help Finland by being a pilot in second ww2.

Did you know he did death metal albums? Check it out “Charlemagne the ides of March” it’s pretty good

*violin burst into flames*

*VIOLENT VIOLIN NOISES*

*ANGRY CELLO NOISES*

*agressive blurs of hand as violin spontaneously combusts*

Hahaha

@@kentknightofcaelin4537 Look up Vincent Price's version. He was one of the best for performing Poe of his time.

I was gonna say I prefer Vincent Price, you beat me to it.

You should hear Christopher Walken do it before saying that. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-R7G_fZYv8Mg.html There's one small but huge detail that Lee gets better, though: @0:37 "Ah, distinctly I remember..." -- the important word is "Ah". It doesn't matter how "distinctly" you remember it; what matters is how deeply you *sigh* when you think of it. Most readings barely even say the "Ah", and put all that line's emphasis on the second syllable of "disTINCTly". But Lee gives "Ahhhhhhhh" an entire breath, almost making it a separate line, with "distinctly I remember" practically an afterthought. And then again, "She shall press\ ahhhhhhhh\ nevermore."

Vincent Price acted it out and John Astin did a wonderful recitation.

James Earl Jones did a good job too

Amara i haven’t found anything sounding more beautiful than this indeed

Got to admit the musical stings become tired pretty quickly *every* time the Raven speaks. It was dramatic the first time but after that it loses all effect.

Amara! For real!

Legit Bliss hearing while cozy in bed during a storm... 💝

It's weird how we're listening to 2 dead men tell tales, and could be reading comments from dead people.

That's an amazing sentence. Original? Or if not; source please. Namaste

I’m 14 and that’s deep

To quote Batman Begins: "One day you catch yourself wishing that the one you loved had never existed...so you'd be spared your pain."

@Ligeia D.Aurevilly Juliet was almost 14, Romeo is speculated to be 16 but no older than 18

It's a qoute from the showers by Dylan Sindaliar

Skill issue

@@SuperAngel32 I'm not sure what you mean

@@elizabethjones2084 You don't know what I mean? Sounds like a skill issue, I'm just keeping it 100 with you Liz

He was a legend

Yes, sometimes I also think of what a big privilege we enjoy to live here and now. But still I think it is hell.

Old days were the golden ones!!!

I hope you let them know just how profound an impact that left on you. If not reach out and let them know. :) I'm sure they will appreciate it.

Genius!

👏👏👏

BALTIMORE - 1967 "What fresh Hell can this be ?" Dottie asked of the crisp twilight. The feeble lamplight cast grotesque shadows onto the frosty pavement beside an oddly dressed fellow half-sitting, half-draped across the wrought iron of a park bench before her. The barren tree behind him seemed to loom above the bench as if trying to engulf him. It taunted with leafless, bony fingers while a large raven among its crooked arms cocked its gleaming head as it eyed her approach. It cawed once and remained perched in the branches, the reddish of its eye the only color in this odd landscape. The man, whose head had been tilted toward the night sky, eyes closed, roused himself and blinked several times, finally fixing his dark gaze upon her for a long moment before he spoke. “What fresh Hell, indeed, Madam? Though it scarcely looks the part, I tell you it is more Purgatory than Hell.” His voice was pleasant and smooth with a whisky edge. “I have gone round and round these endless paths and my feet return me here to this bench where I took my final breath, no matter how often my feet traverse their endless black and winding madness.” Final breath? She took a moment to digest the strange scene, the man’s odd, formal way of speaking, his insane words. The surrounding gloam belied the time of day unless they’d left her asleep over her gin for too long. “But I was just dozing at my table. My usual assignation at the Algonquin . . . Oh fudge, I’m having a bad dream.” “Bad? Oh yes, I’m afraid it is, but it is no dream, madam, I assure you.” She blinked at him as he looked her up and down. Piercing, intelligent eyes took in her appearance, an eyebrow raising at her stockings and her just-above-the-knee hem. How odd? I’m wearing a dress I bought for Eddie. Didn’t I throw this out years ago after our divorce? What is happening? I need to wake up . . . The pale gentleman’s gaze at length reached and held her eyes once again and intoned, *“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”* Dorothy laughed and gesturing to the air around her with a long cigarette she didn’t remember lighting. “And the darling man quotes Edgar Allan Poe, too, how delightful!” “Quotes Poe? Quotes him?! My dear lady, I am Edgar Allan Poe. One does not quote oneself without risking being called a dullard. But you are correct, it is a line from my work. From where do you know my prose, though? I did not think that piece widely read.” A thoughtful look passed across his face and without waiting for an answer he continued “You speak with a . . . New York? accent, your dress . . . provocative to say the least, and your shorn hair! Madam! Quite an assail for the eyes you do present. Forgive my forward appraisal of your person, but you are indeed a vision in that undergarment, if it can even serve as such? Did you just arrive to Baltimore from the Continent? Or perhaps my death-soaked bench is no longer located where I imagined it to be? I believe I have been here overlong . . .” He touched his fingertips to his forehead with an accompanying pained look. “Did you tell me your name, my dear? I confuse easily in death.” -So begins the love story, in death, of Mrs. Dorothy Parker and Edgar Allan Poe. -RRogers

FUCK YOU BALTIMORE!

Wish i could give more than one thumbs up😄😄😄👍👍👍

It really kills me

Also, makes me appreciate Eminem. Could even Poe rhyme so many words with "orange"??

My favourite rhyme is "Escargo" with "my car go" :)

Tauno Kekkonen, I agree. If anyone could, it would be Poe. Him Eminiem and Biggie. Wordsmiths

lol

Wow! What an anecdote!

My bf is also named after this poem lol His first name is Raven Lucille Gaia [not putting last names.] He is trans and HE is perfect!!~~~

Such a touching comment.

Beautiful story.

AND THE PASSION SHALL BE PAINTED NEVERMORE

Your words are also a work of art 🎨.

Very much so.

So true

This artwork is made to withstand the test of time.

Edgar says thank you and raises his glass of absinthe to you

🖤🖤🖤

Dramatic music hits as soon as you done saying never more.

And soldier too, his acting also came from his time in England's service during WWII

I made it go from 999 to 1k 😎🙏🏽

Only I am the great being like Chip -- that's also why The Raven is so well-written, because it was secretly written about me the Lenore / The Angel / The God(dess) aka The Saint / The Sainted Maiden aka the rare & radiant maiden aka the adorable being and the lovable being and the pure being (the opposite of womyn) and, the oIdman that runs the agency planted those big ideas for me, as he was waiting for me (he made all lyrics and movies/videos secretly about me, as he included secret references to me in almost all lyrics/poems and movies/videos etc) and, there's methodical writing in The Raven that only agents are taught, which shows it's a mirror for the oIdman's secret thoughts about me & Chip aka the real-life Devil and the story he decided for us!

🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇

I disagree it's terrible

True Lee really sells a widower in extreme mourning and this raven how its this demonic presence and pain fuses to this sad man's life 😔

“Nevermore”

Why?

I was crying.

@@dazbeal5438 Because it's sad. the line is saying that the speaker has no friends, they all left him, so he expects even a hallucination to abandon him.

I'm imagining myself as a Seraphim flying around holding the censer

*Last Online: 7 years ago*

"Take thy beak from out my heart" is my favorite line. He is in so much pain...

Especially since ravens seldom sterilize their beaks.

@@MalcolmBrenner there's few natural ways rotten meat aka 'v1rru53z' can get into your bloodstream and the beak of a raven is one of them...

@@MalcolmBrenner how would they sterilize their beaks

From himself and attachment to love , lust and Life ...😢

Loss and grief might be the most horror filled emotions many people, including me, have felt.

You know that Christopher Lee had letters From Tolkien with permission to play gandalf IF The books were adapted to the liking of his estate.. also Sir Lee served in WW2 as SAS just as Tolkien WW 1 The horror they Saw And Sir Lee was Sir Lee before becoming an actor because of what he'd done in war???

Listen to James Earl Jones reading this (elsewhere on YT) and apply that maxim. Christopher Lee did a great job on this, but James Earl Jones whispered this poem like a madman possessed.

We must listen to this beautiful and Haunting poem at Halloween. 🎃🎃🎃🎃

A beautiful yet grim reminder that the pain of losing a loved one will never fully heal.

@@flargarbason1740 "That wound will never fully heal, he will carry it the rest of his life."

'Twice the black plume, double the sleepless nights'

"Good! Two times zero is still zero."

*Music plays motif* bom DUUUUNNN

Good one, dude

666th likes

That's one of my favourite stanzas. It's heartbreaking

*cue dramatic music*

Or maybe, "is there a way to be healed?"

​@@iiFox11 This is more accurate

Nevermore.

+Adamguy2003 Better than the SIMPSON"S version from one of their early TREE HOUSE OF HORROR Halloween episodes.

+Adamguy2003 I can't decide between Christopher lee and Vincent Price versions. They're both so perfect.

+Adamguy2003 When I read it as a teen, I must have misread it, as I thought it was creepy. Here I am, a grown man, and Sir Christopher Lee (RIP) made me tear up a bit.

+Adamguy2003 The world truly is a less metal place without him.

Bender711 Amen.

Sad, lonely, and very dark!

I agree with you he lost his mom wife his dad left his family he was a dark boy

Ah...but witness the Beauty that arose from such a forlorn life! Great genius is often shrouded in tragedy and darkness.

Scarlett O'hara See: Vincent Van Gogh, Kurt Cobain, Ernest Hemingway.

FunnyVideoMaker77 god please remove kurt cobain from a list of such incredible and timeless talent

Where did you publish it ?

That's exactly correct. The only terror is that of loneliness and irretrievable loss.

I sense anxiety and paranoia.

I caught skitzo vibes

I published under Music Spoke. A women's choir in Ohio premiered it. :)

lol

Me too!!

Not a comparison I ever would have thought of, but I can understand the train of thought.

No

@@Duck_Dodgers It also brings to mind Bob Dylan and Murder Most Foul... although Poe 'takes the cake' for rhyme.

My favroite poem so far...

Probably because they both begin: "Once upon a..." and because both are untouchable masterpieces, beautifully written.

Courtney, when my mother went through chemotherapy this poem got me through it.

Somewhat it did seem heartbreaking than horrifying to me too

Poe's loss of mother and father before he knew them, his separation from his brother and sister; regret for a life filled with loss and alcohol abuse; and the self pity of a bitterly wounded man, is to be found in all his stories and poems. The Tell Tale Heart for example. In the Fall of the House of Usher, he foretells his own end as he sees it coming. "I feel that the period will sooner or later arrive when I must abandon life and reason together, in some struggle with the grim phantasm, FEAR." - Roderick Usher.

Perhaps that’s the “Scary” element in the story. A Love lost to him and the Raven reminding him that there is no solace for him regarding his lost Lenore.

@@17Watman The lost bottle of fabric conditioner...

Armyy💜😁

Armyyyyyyy!!!😆

Me: ( As a Seraphim flying around)

"NEVERMORE." This...and nothing more. 😈

I guess it's his specialty

You think this is good, check out the music he’s done too!

You should check out the other sith lord's reading of The Raven

Has Anyone see the Raven in your Nightmares? Anyone?

As well as a wizard and a vampire

Wow, such honor and luck.

When a person is knighted and becomes a 'SIR' The title goes with the first name not the family or surname. Saying Sir Lee is incorrect and I can only hope that you either called him Sir Christopher or Sir, but not Sir Lee. It would have shown your ignorance.

@@PetroicaRodinogaster264 thank you for the correction, I have edited my comment

@@Peace-tw5wn Yes you usually refer to people with their current titles, then optionally note that they weren't carrying those at the time. If anything the thing you want to be noting is the lack of mentioning the late Sir Christopher Lee. Unless the comment was originally written before his death. Even then what do you mean with except, except what?

@@PetroicaRodinogaster264 thanx sir3882

He read out the audiobook for Tolkien's The Children of Húrin, and it's fantastic.

+TheLightofAniu Say what?

Aye, he read out The Children of Húrin by JRR Tolkien for audiobook.

+John Langerhan Sounds good, but he died on June 7, 2015. So sad, so sad.

+John Langerhan That'd be to awesome

😆 clever.. 👍

mymidnightmistery really made me laugh

hahaha lmao

Here's your like... And there's the door ----->

Violinist at the chamber door: dude let me inside it's freaking December and it's cold as shit!

Death Metal Band, you say... O_O

He was truly a renaissance man!

...und eine dieser Sprachen war Deutsch. ^^^ --- --- --- ...and one of these languages was german. ^^ I know of at least two movies he dubbed in german: "The Last Unicorn" (King Haggard, and yes, the german voice, too. He did it for free, just for fun) and "Valhalla", a danish cartoon (Thor, god of thunder, and Allfather Odin).

He also recorded 2 metal albums called ''Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross'' and ''Charlemagne:Omens of Death'',which made him the oldest performer in metal,he was 90 years old when the second album came out.

If i May add a fact: when Peter Jackson was talking with Christopher Lee about the Scene where saruman gets stabbed by grima wormtongue and how He should sound, Lee responded: i know how a man Sounds when He gets stabbed in the Back. (Not exactly what he Said But along those lines).

Nick Jones R. I. P.

Don't forget Mr Sender. That was a villain worthy of his talent. Hahaha

... Lord Summerisle.

and tree beard

@@AngelMartinez-im2kl John Rhys-Davies voiced Treebeard.

It is because of my 8th grade English Lit teacher, way back in 1996, that I return to this poem yearly. On Halloween day he blacked out the entire classroom, moved all the desks into a circle, and perched himself on a metal stool in the middle of the room. Beside him on a table sat a few lit candles with enough light to illuminate his face and the page. There he gave a dramatic reading of The Raven which captured the attention of even the most difficult student. He too held our interest. He then read the Tell-Tale Heart and I was hooked!

MegaMementoMori *clapping as a single tear rolls down my cheek*

Beautiful poem!

Thanks guys :)

MegaMementoMori ...Jesus. Beautiful work mate

MegaMementoMori this is incredible i don't know and deserves much more appreciation then a RU-vid comment section also do you write poetry because if not i think you would be very good at it and please message me if you want me to give you my opinion on something you wrote

Agreed!!!

And I am sure Peter Cushing is piping in!

I can see it now, Poe sitting in his chamber, with a bust of palace above the chamber door, and Christopher Lee goes tapping, as of someone gently wrapping, wrapping on Poe's chamber door. Poe flung wide the door and says to Lee. "My good sir, that reading you did of the Raven, on that RU-vid thing, was devine"

Nevermore

Poe wasnt the best human being so I highly doubt they would’ve gotten together.

Absolutely, the music really enhances the words and performance

@@TechnicalHotDogI wonder can I listen to the music alone that’s how good it is I need a name

@@dariaaa4752 IIRC it's only available on the "Edgar Allan Poe - Visionen" album, serving as a music bed under the The Raven poem (both this English version recited by Christopher Lee and a German one recited by Ulrich Pleitgen). However, you could try to separate the music from Lee's voice with the help of an AI tool.

Try listening to "The Raven" in a cemetery at night.

@Josh Patterson Lol i recommend you watch verdi's requiem after this video(the hole opera),or watching steven hawkings black hole statement,you will have a conceptual "extasis". And actually watch stratovarius father time video to have even more "extasis" and to cheer up again,for the friends,persons,lost in your forever space and nevermore. Or just watch Gnossiene 1,2,3 to be more sad...

Chello? Awwww 🥺

***Cello

Close you're eyes and imagine a ww1 battlefield.

398 people. 398 people saw nothing wrong with this.

My boy, my best friend, died September 2019. For some reason I got a raven tattoo for him, and that day, I realized that raven backwards is NEVAR. Never. NEVERMORE 😓

Really? It's been 167 years! ;-D

Not him, Lee I thought it was painfully obvious who I was talking about

Twiggymaster666 It was. I added a smiley winking face to show I was joking. ;-)

Will Bianchi sorry sometimes I forget you have to be literal on RU-vid sometimes

We will never come to terms with losing the beautiful, amazing Christopher Lee. And nobody can ever be what he was. His talent was sublime.

+James Haynes Beautiful.

Dafuq 😂😂😂😂

***** If you were addressing me, then your comment is invalid as nothing here had to do with my affiliation with poetry.

James Haynes a wonderful and beautiful thing said of Sir Christopher

James Haynes perfect.

Ishtiaque Ahmed same

lololololololol

Underrated comment

Silento

Once upon a midnight dreary as I spit this weak and weary

NO WE DON'T NO WE DON'T!!!!!!!!

Yes. Did you cry also?

@@TheSweetAlyssum no

That raven is his depression. It claims he will never get over his sorrow. And at the end he accepts that he will never be free from it. Boo hoo!

if i remember correctly poe actually DID lose the love of his life didn't he? 0,o

@@beowulfiow he did

@@scornbass1552 You shouldn't mock what you don't understand

@@codycrawford7842 I just explained it in three lines, ye intellectual.

TheKrokomaster you feel what Poe and many of us felt then. A kindred spirit to be sure. If you've had a bunch of bad stuff happen this hits harder

Never were truer words said

He's about as old as a legend too. XD Just saying.

Mert Sirin Well, hate to be that guy but... he's no longer a living legend

did you have to say that? really?

And they love shiny objects. My Aunts Raven used to steal the silver on her dining room table! Kim

@@williamkimmel6487 smarter than any dog too, possibly smarter than most politicians, certainly more honest, ravens will eat yer eyeballs, politicos would sell you spectacles afterwards

Even though not as often their mimic is a lot cleaner and less metallic sounding than a parrot

And Sir Christopher Lee got the inflection dang near perfect, making him actually sound like a raven saying "nevermore." Check our Falconry & Me's videos with her raven, Fable. They really do sound like this.

@@melissanichols784 Ah, so nice to see another Fable fan here.

I think he is asking if they will meet in Heaven and the bird says nevermore and thats why he gets upset with the raven....i am 41 and in 9th grade we had to do our own interpretation of the poem and I got an a plus lol. My favorite poem of all time!

He’s asking if there’s a healing balm for his broken heart. It’s based off a Bible verse.

@@kayah723 yeah, apparently The Balm of Gilead is an African spiritual song too, so Poe was really broad with his references in this one, like always.

@@tamimyacqub4669 I think it's pretty clear he was thinking of the Bible and not something from Africa

"Balm of Gilead was a rare perfume used medicinally, that was mentioned in the Bible, and named for the region of Gilead, where it was produced. The expression stems from William Tyndale's language in the King James Bible of 1611, and has come to signify a universal cure in figurative speech."

The mascot had 3 different names at one point. Edgar. Allen. and Poe. I think it's just Edgar now tho

As a Ravens fan, maybe I'm a bit biased, but I honestly believe that this is the coolest and most unique source for a team name out of all 32 NFL teams. Like sure it's easy enough to name a team after a fierce animal (Bears, Eagles, Lions, Bengals), State industry (Steelers, Packers) or a historical character (Patriots, 49ers, Cowboys). But the Ravens? We're named after one of the darkest and most famous poems of gothic and horror writer, Edgar Allen Poe. I love it 😂

Such a conformist.

Lamar Jackson wanted just one win more. Quoth the Tannehill: Nevermore.

Wow, I didn't know that, thanks!

As a father myself, I cannot imagine your grief. May you find solace friend .

So sorry for your pain ❤

Hullo I have left a comment, would you please comment on my theory re the poems intention as you say you have studied him.With thanks.

Jack, I've loved Christopher Lee since I was a kid at the drive-in in the 60s, watching the Hammer Dracula films.

@@TheSaltydog07 good times.

The saddest thing is that Poe only made $9 off this poem

clearly you haven't heard wap by cardi B

i come quick with hanging from each hand, bags of clanging jars of jam eggs and bread i said to you sir "Hold the Door"

This comment didn't get enough appreciation

Hodor

Alright.. Cheers

*EAT MY SHORTS*

Winston Brittain had no idea. Awesome stuff

Winston Brittain I could've sworn Tolkien never wanted the books made into movies? I know he sold the rights to do so to a company he assumed would never have the chance or ability.

Man, Lee was such a legend. What a life he had.

593 disgustingly sad people.

692 souls

711 fools burnt by ignorance 😶

727, unknowing souls

Am I mistaken or this poem is a mnenominc device for learning the first 740 digits of pi?

I'm sorry for your loss. RIP

Enjoy your horrifying and awesome nightmare that will surely follow! =D

Or rather, POV: the Count of Serrano, Dooku reads off some poetry.

I Hated that, took me out of it every time, it's unnecessarily funny

@@celliasmaridius what did you expect him to do? speak like darth vader or something? he was using the voice that actual ravens speak in

We've still got Morgan Freeman