# Happy Birthday, Mr. Poe! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 19, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-mr-poe/388603 "2007-01-19T18:22:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-mr-poe/388603/1 "2007-01-19T18:22:18Z")
Today is the anniversary of the birth of one of America’s greatest poets and short story writers. Edgar Allan Poe invented the horror story and the detective story as we know them. I lift a glass of rum in his memory. “The Cask of Amontillado” is one of my favorite Poe stories. I found this on YouTube, a young artist’s tribute to one of Poe’s most memorable stories–and a song it inspired. A wonderful combination of music and animation: [The Cask of Amontillado](http://youtube.com/watch?v=LBC7Rown13Q) ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-mr-poe/388603/2 "2007-01-19T18:31:50Z")
And let us not forget the classic _Murders in the Rieux Morgue_. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-mr-poe/388603/3 "2007-01-19T18:32:35Z")
[QUOTE=Chez Guevara] And let us not forget the classic _Murders in the Rieux Morgue_. [/QUOTE] I’m sending an orangutan to visit you. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-mr-poe/388603/4 "2007-01-19T18:37:11Z")
His grave is in Baltimore. For some odd reason, every year on his birthday, an “unknown visitor” leaves a bottle of cognac and roses on his grave. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-mr-poe/388603/5 "2007-01-19T20:07:06Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] His grave is in Baltimore. For some odd reason, every year on his birthday, an “unknown visitor” leaves a bottle of cognac and roses on his grave. [/QUOTE] [58th year on the trot](http://dwb.heraldonline.com/24hour/weird/story/3476882p-12714606c.html) . Pretty cool story, and I can’t help but think Poe would have approved. ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-mr-poe/388603/6 "2007-01-19T20:26:32Z")
[QUOTE=Dr. Rieux] I lift a glass of rum in his memory. [/QUOTE] Rum? _“Filled with mingled cream and amber; I will drain that glass again; Such hilarious visions clamber; Through the chamber of my brain; Quaintest thoughts, queerest fancies; Come to life and fade away. What care I how time advances? I am drinking ale today.”_ Now there’s a Poe-tion worth drinking! ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-mr-poe/388603/7 "2007-01-19T21:33:42Z")
What a wonderful video, Dr. Rieux! And thanks for this tribute thread. I love Poe. It was his work that first impressed upon me the utter power of aesthetics. Happy Birthday, sir! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-mr-poe/388603/8 "2007-01-19T21:55:25Z")
He’s one of my favorite poets; I have “The Raven” memorized, and used to know “Annabelle Lee” as well. And some of his short stories were decent: “The Cask of Amontillado” and “Manuscript Found in a Bottle” come to mind. But his influence on the mystery story is, I think, greatly overrated. “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” serves mostly as an example of how _not_ to write a mystery story. The solution to the mystery depends entirely on information not presented to the reader until the revalation of the culprit, and it’s furthermore information that would, in fact, have been immediately apparent and noticeable to any investigator on the scene. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-mr-poe/388603/9 "2007-01-19T22:15:18Z")
I got into Poe, oddly enough, by reading one of the Paul Theroux travel books. Theroux was reading The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym on whichever journey he was on, and I bought a copy and really liked it. Shortly afterwards I got a Complete Poe from a second-hand shop for a pound or two and devoured it. Some of it is a bit _does shaky hand thing_ but I like the mans style. Ended up leading me on to some not so good stuff (Lovecraft) and some eternal favourites (MR James). ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-mr-poe/388603/10 "2007-01-19T22:50:50Z")
I can not let pass this chance to mention a classic Poe inspired 404 error (Scroll down for the graphic): [http://www.grumpyfish.com/404/Archives/archive-102005.html](http://www.grumpyfish.com/404/Archives/archive-102005.html) > [@](#): > > \*“Once upon a midnight dreary, > while I websurfed, weak and weary, > Over many a strange and spurious website of hot chicks galore, > While I clicked my fav’rite bookmark, > suddenly there came a warning, > And my heart was filled with mourning, > mourning for my dear amour. > ‘Tis not possible, I muttered, > give me back my cheap hardcore! — > > Quoth the server, “404″.”\* ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-mr-poe/388603/11 "2007-01-20T00:37:45Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] …his influence on the mystery story is, I think, greatly overrated. “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” serves mostly as an example of how _not_ to write a mystery story. The solution to the mystery depends entirely on information not presented to the reader until the revalation of the culprit, and it’s furthermore information that would, in fact, have been immediately apparent and noticeable to any investigator on the scene. [/QUOTE] What about The Purloined Letter? I seem to recall Alfred informing a young Bruce Wayne that it was rather significant in the realm of detective fiction. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-mr-poe/388603/12 "2007-01-20T00:40:25Z")
[QUOTE=Plynck] Rum? [/QUOTE] From what we know of Edgar, he would not have minded very much with what spirits you toasted him. But his shade may be soothed that we lift our glasses to him still – even if probably melancholy that he could not be celebrated while he was around --, and that the yearly visitor to the Westminster Hall Cemetery carries out a rite so unlike our own unpoetic age. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-mr-poe/388603/13 "2007-01-20T01:02:30Z")
[QUOTE=GIGObuster] I can not let pass this chance to mention a classic Poe inspired 404 error (Scroll down for the graphic): [http://www.grumpyfish.com/404/Archives/archive-102005.html](http://www.grumpyfish.com/404/Archives/archive-102005.html) [/QUOTE] That’s great! Thanks for sharting that, Gigo! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Meaty\_Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/53a042/32.png) [@Meaty\_Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meaty_Ogre)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-mr-poe/388603/14 "2007-01-20T01:04:44Z")
As a teenager, “Annabel Lee” was the first poem that ever made me think poetry wasn’t all unintelligible claptrap. It spawned my interest in reading things other than comic books. "But our love it was stronger by far than the love Of those who were older than we– Of many far wiser than we- And neither the angels in Heaven above, Nor the demons down under the sea, Can ever dissever my soul from the soul Of the beautiful Annabel Lee:-- " Happy birthday indeed! ---
**Author:** ![Bogeyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3e96dc/32.png) [@Bogeyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bogeyman)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2007, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-mr-poe/388603/15 "2007-01-22T10:09:39Z")
The song that’s playing with the video linked in the OP, btw, is a track on _Tales of Mystery and Imagination_ by The Alan Parsons Project. The whole album is inspired by Poe. _The Tell-Tale Heart_ is my other favourite track on that one. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2007, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-mr-poe/388603/16 "2007-01-22T15:39:32Z")
That’s how I came across it–I was searching for another APP video (“Prime Time”). I bought the \*Tales of Mystery and Imagination \* album back in '76, after reading a review in Rolling Stone. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2007, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-mr-poe/388603/17 "2007-01-22T16:05:37Z")
[QUOTE=heraldonline] He said this year’s crowd was large but well behaved, unlike last year when **watchers tried to interfere with the tribute**. Jerome said he would no longer describe the visitor or what he was wearing because of last year’s unruly spectators. [/QUOTE] They tried to interfere with the ritual last year?!! :eek: :eek: :eek: Do tell! Does anyone know the details of what happened? The Purloined Letter _is_ an important work, it shows how we can overanalyze, and be looking everywhere but where we need to look, which is right under our noses. As for the Murders in the Rue Morgue, isn’t a bit of animal hair found somewhere on the scene? I believe there are clues that would let you figure out what happened by certain leaps of fancy, (Not really any harder than that logic puzzle that has you figure out which passengers, and train employees share the same names based on some cryptic clues though, IIRC.) but it has been a while since I’ve read the story. Hmmm, off to read it! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2007, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-mr-poe/388603/18 "2007-01-22T16:39:15Z")
The Fall of the House of Usher was always my favorite Poe story - but Amontillado is great. Next time someone pisses me off, I’ll brick them up inside a wall as a tribute to Poe. Nemo me impune lacessit. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-mr-poe/388603/19 "2007-01-22T19:27:34Z")
[QUOTE=Zabali\_Clawbane] They tried to interfere with the ritual last year?!! :eek: :eek: :eek: Do tell! Does anyone know the details of what happened? [/QUOTE] From an AP article on 1/19/2006: > [@](#): > > Some of the 25 spectators drawn to a tiny, locked graveyard in downtown Baltimore for the ceremony climbed over the walls of the site and were “running all over the place trying to find out how the guy gets in,” according to Jeff Jerome, the most faithful viewer of the event. > > Jerome, curator of the Poe House and Museum, said early Thursday he had to chase people out of the graveyard, fearing they would interfere with the mystery visitor’s ceremony. > > “In letting people know about this tribute, I’ve been contributing to these people’s desire to catch this guy,” Jerome said. “It’s such a touching tribute, and it’s been disrupted by the actions of a few people trying to interfere and expose this guy.” ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2007, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-mr-poe/388603/20 "2007-01-22T19:29:37Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] The Fall of the House of Usher was always my favorite Poe story - but Amontillado is great. Next time someone pisses me off, I’ll brick them up inside a wall as a tribute to Poe. Nemo me impune lacessit. [/QUOTE] “For the love of God, **Marley**!” 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-birthday-mr-poe/388603.md?page=2)