The Raven - narrated by James Earl Jones, Music Moonlight Sonata subtitles 

Moonlight Sonata + The Raven + James Earth Joined = Near perfection

The Raven is the greatest all-time poem ever written. And James Earl Jones is the man. Long Live James Earl Jones.

I can listen to this over and over and over again. Then all over again. Real poetry. So pure and so passionate. Nothing beats Poe!

I've heard several renditioins and all have a different flavor, but this man's voice just infuses my soul with a richness that few others can inspire.

"Join me and we shall rule the galaxy as father and son." "NEVERMORE!"

Sublime poem. Sublime voice. Sublime background music. Sublime images. Sublime blend of the four. Even the idiosincratyc repetition of "nevermore" at the end works. 8:03 minutes of artistic perfection. I wouldn't change a single second of it. (Made me miss my North American Literature classes at university...) Poe would have loved it. Congratulations.

This the best reading ive ever heard! So powerfull...

I really enjoyed the poem i read in the Ness County newspaper ,Oct.18,2012.The poem is about America being in trouble today,and written by Gayle Antenen,Bazine Kansas.Thanks Gayle.

This is wondrous, thank you for sharing this story with me. I love James Earl Jones and his deep bass voice very much.

Quoth the raven: "I am your father"

Poe+Beethoven+Jones=scarier than ANY horror movie in todays day and age.

we read about edger allen poe back in highschool. idk but something about his poems are just so mysterious and kind of frigtening. but i love it. ^^

ravens mate for life hold hands (claws). groom one another, and bring flowers to their beloved .......................~

just don't believe how perfectly the thing is!

How long shall I smoke till I get myself such a voice?

James Earl Jones' voice is perfect for this.

If you only knew the power of the dark side.

Wow, Edgar Allan Poe read by Darth Vader and Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata as background music. How the heck cold this get any better?

it is a good thing i don`t get to post empty bottles of wine over here ...just fell in "love",into "love" into pain. Possessiveness again,it all ends in death. Darkness there and nothing more.

gorgeous poem talking about loneliness in the darkest sense, i love this poem.

2 people will always give me chills: Christopher Lee and James Earl Jones.

Those are actually three mastepieces. Poem, music, and voice of Jame Earl Jones.

Poe+Beethoven+Darth Vader... Powerfull

I really like Zimmer, but Herrmann was a specialist when it came to songs and sounds that creep, spook, and unnerve. Seems like a great match, although I would be really interested in hearing a Zimmer take on it too.

nothing like a story from mufasa

cause people listen to the quick meter instead of the words written by Poe....I like this version.

'Tis some jedi rapping, tapping at my chamber door. Only this and nothing more.

Aaaahhh nada mejor que esta bella pieza de literatura ♥ I love it from beginning to end.

Poe is my one true love. I would give anything to have met him. I like to think that my writing is inspired by his true genius.

3-way brilliance. Favorite piece of poetry, one of my all-time favorite voices & the most beautiful piece o' piano there is (imo, anyway) Couldn't be happier :)

Damn. My favorite poem with my favorite classical piano piece playing in the background. Thumbs up !

If you read the complete works of Poe in chronological order you can see where he started to go crazy. By the time he wrote "The Raven" and "The Bells," he had completely lost it. I would love to find a way to combine the first couple verses and the last one with "Don't Fear The Reaper" to create a dramatized version of the poem for the local Burlesque show. The bridge in the song echoes Moonlight Sonata. It would be perfect.

James Earl Jones also narrated The Raven in the first Simpsons Tree-house of Terror special.

Poe+Beethoveen = nightmares that will scare the bejesus out of me.

This is what culture sounds like.

This gives me chills.

So Darth Vader/Mufasa is telling us of Poe's horrors and Beethoven is giving us the atmosphere.....COOOOOOOOOOOL

A Bernard Herrmann piece to this would be fantastic as well.

@Onewriterwriting Agree. my feeling is that they carry different emotions, and even if they did't I'm not sure the one would supplement the other. But I'm not against experimenting.

what a voice..

James Earl Jones's favorite poem! He loves Edgar Allen Poe! WOOHOO! I can't wait to meet you!! JEJ 4EVER!!

beautiful

My favorite poem and poet

the pictures are pretty funny way too emo but this narration + moonlight sonata is perfect

Just picturing Darth Vader reading this to Luke in hopes he'll join the Dark Side

YOU MY GOOD SIR, made my night

It's a mistical experience.

@LordSia13 Nope, it's the poem itself, I didn't touch the audio... Symbolists used to love repetitions..

Beautiful..

A very good reading. 'Almost' as good as Vincent Price for me, but the music, much as I love the Moonlight Sonata, pulls from the poem.

Me, too. Thanks for listening. Cheers.

Quoth the raven: "Remember who you are"

your voice is melodious and musical you are a good reader

Beautiful

much as I love James Earl Jones, I still think the Christopher Lee narration is better

He's got such a cool voice. He narrated the spoof of this story on The Simpsons too.

No, it is not. The musical piece in Donnie Darko is "Mad World" by Gary Jules, and this mucal piece is Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven. They may have a few notes in common, maybe that's why I like them both so much.

I just came from seeing the movie "the raven" w/john cusak, not bad at all.

Great job!!!Good work!!

i cry when i hear this poem it is soooo dramatic

Best version. Better than Vincent Price's even.

I found this again!!!

At the end with the triple nevermore i thought it was going to break into dubstep.

that was fantastic!

@Corwynbv Ah. More Modern "Art"? Like that statue in the Eastern Pavillion of the local University, which, at a closer look, consists of plastic trash cans, covered in black tarp and nylon ropes, which have then been heated so the whole thing melted into itself before hardening. Or, in the same hall, a 2x2 metre painting consisting of white dots on a white background placed in a series of perfectly symmetrical lines and rows. Or...

happy halloween everyone. :)

anyone that adds music to try and spice up a poem has no appreciation for this art form

Mufasa rocks!

@Corwynbv The poem itself has no repetition at the end of the word 'nevermore'. The audio here does sound like it is accidentally repeating, as opposed to James Earl Jones repeating it himself (if he had, it would be a lot better sounding than this).

Love this pome

Wow that's pretty cool man. I kinda prefer the 2nd one myself, nice

Nevermore

Nicely done :)

Mr. Mr. Jones, Lenora got a bad thing, going on :)

J E J has a deep, wonderful, and resonant voice, but I don't think it is quite suited to this kind of reading. His s is pronounced with a VERY sibilant hiss that detracts from the sonorities of the poem. Although J E J reads the ending magnificently, I'd suggest listening to Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, or Basil Rathbone reading this.

but we have the soothing voice of mufasa

NENNO HAI RAGIONE!!!

this is terrifying

Watched this high, at about a 4 out of 10. And OMG fucking intense.

Christopher Lee is a close second.

I know this poem backwards and forwards, and it poem doesn't repeat the word "nevermore" at the end like that. It's an audio problem.

To the last two posters above: Grow up!

It was really enjoyable to listen to, but I did get a little lost in the middle for a bit.

that was awsome who remembers the bart simpson version of this poem

Quoth the raven: 'I am your father'.

quoth the raven... nevermore

Needs more rainymood

I'll drink to that.

My favorite reading, and great music, maybe you should fix that end part though.

I think Bach would be more appropriate personally, otherwise great recording, except for the glitch at the end.

LeNOOOOOOOre!

No, I'm bloody well aware.

Quoth the Raven -"Nevermore"

Quoth the Raven: Baltimore!

MUFASA MUFASA MUFASA!

damn this is scary

@Corwynbv what do you mean it's the poem itself? cause if you mean in the actual poem it repeats nevermore at the end, you're very wrong (or my copy of edgar allen poes complete tales and poems is wrong). what ever, doesn't matter, what matters is the repeat at the end just sounds bad.

Well it didn't have to repeat "nevermore" at the end.

omfg why cant anyone just post the dam words NORMAL AND READABLE with him reading it. like seriously. wtf.

i am conflicting who has a better voice james earl jones or morgan freeman. please don't hate me ; _ ;