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Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven”

Students of “Lenore” should definitely be directed to Poe’s later and arguably more famous poem, “The Raven.” Aside from being authored by the same poet, there is an intriguing way in which “Lenore” anticipates “The Raven.” For one thing, the name Lenore becomes important for the later poem. For another thing, the key phrase of the later poem, “Nevermore,” has its first appearance in the third line of “Lenore”: “weep now or never more?”

Edgar Allan Poe, “Annabel Lee”

Like many of Poe’s works, both “Annabel Lee” and “Lenore” share a preoccupation with a young woman’s premature death.

Poe’s Short Stories

It seems intrinsically of interest to link the stories to the poems. Poe, of course, was well known for both his verse and his stories, but today he’s specially regarded as one of the chief architects of the modern short story. Readers will find in the stories a similar preoccupation with death, regret, and longing.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter

Poe admired Hawthorne and reviewed his work favorably. Like Poe’s poem, Hawthorne’s novel presents a blend of psychological insight and concern about supernatural interventions (e.g., the “evil eye”).

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