Musical Elements in Edgar Allan Poe's

126 Pages·2010·0.62 MB·English

by  Klaas De Mesmaeker

GHENT UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF ARTS AND PHILOSOPHY

Master‘s Dissertation:
Musical Elements in Edgar Allan Poe‘s ―The Raven‖: A Literary Study

EVIE HEMERIJCKX
MASTER OF COMPARATIVE MODERN LITERATURE

PROMOTOR: PROF. DR. Vander Motten
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LITERATURE

ACADEMIC YEAR 2008 - 2009
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface ....................................................................................................................................... 3
1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 4
1.1. Research Questions .................................................................................................... 6
1.2. Research Method ........................................................................................................ 7
2. General Introduction to Edgar Allan Poe: Biography, Popularity and Music .......... 9
2.1. Biography of Edgar Allan Poe ................................................................................... 9
2.2. Edgar Allan Poe and ―The Raven‖ in Popular Culture ............................................ 11
2.2.1. Edgar Allan Poe‘s Popularity ........................................................................... 11
2.2.2. Modern Popularity of Edgar Allan Poe ............................................................ 12
2.3. Edgar Allan Poe and Music ...................................................................................... 17
2.3.1. Poe‘s Fascination for Music ............................................................................. 17
2.3.2. Poe as an Inspiration for Musicians ................................................................. 20
2.4. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 25
3. The Literary Composition of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” ................................. 26
3.1. Edgar Allan Poe‘s Literary Theory in ―The Philosophy of Composition‖ .............. 26
3.2. Influences from other Literary Works ...................................................................... 27
3.3. Striking Literary Elements in Poe‘s ―The Raven‖ ................................................... 30
3.4. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 34
4. Two Arts in Tandem: Literature and Music ............................................................... 35
4.1. A Historical Survey of Musico-Literary Studies ...................................................... 35
4.2. A General Study of the Close Relationship between Literature and Music ............. 38
4.2.1. Similarities between Literature and Music ....................................................... 38
4.2.2. Dissimilarities between Literature and Music .................................................. 40
4.3. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 44
5. Musicality and “The Raven” ......................................................................................... 46
5.1. Musical Framework .................................................................................................. 46
5.2. Analysis of the Musical Elements in Edgar Allan Poe‘s ―The Raven‖ ................... 49
5.2.1. Adaptation of Literary Elements for Musical Purposes ................................... 49
5.2.2. Imitation of the Structural Musical Principle of Repetition and Variation ...... 52
5.2.3. Imitation of Traditional Musical Elements ...................................................... 53
5.2.4. Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 59
5.3. First Modern Musical Setting: Lou Reed and ―The Raven‖ .................................... 61
5.3.1. Structural Musical Principle of Repetition and Variation ................................ 61
5.3.2. Traditional Musical Elements: Rhythm, Melody and Establishment of Mood 64
5.3.3. Poe as Source of Inspiration ............................................................................. 69
5.3.4. Difference in Content ....................................................................................... 70
5.3.5. Lou Reed‘s other Musical Settings of Poe‘s Works ........................................ 72
5.3.6. Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 73
5.4. Second Modern Musical Setting: The Alan Parsons Project and ―The Raven‖ ....... 76
5.4.1. Structural Musical Principle of Repetition and Variation ................................ 76
5.4.2. Traditional Musical Elements: Rhythm, Melody and Establishment of Mood 78
5.4.3. Poe as Source of Inspiration ............................................................................. 82
5.4.4. Difference in Content ....................................................................................... 83
5.4.5. The Alan Parsons Project‘s other Musical Settings of Poe‘s Works ............... 85
5.4.6. Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 86
6. Conclusions ..................................................................................................................... 88
List of Works Cited ................................................................................................................ 92
Appendices .............................................................................................................................. 97
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Preface
I would like to take this opportunity to thank a number of people. First of all, Prof. dr. J.P.
Vander Motten, who, although the subject of my dissertation does not immediately lie within
his field of study, was prepared to undertake the task of being my promotor. During the past
academic year, he has provided me with firm direction and support.
Naturally, a special thanks also goes to my parents, not only for giving me the chance to
follow these interesting studies, but also for always being there for me to fall back on for
advice.
A final word of thanks goes to my sister, brothers and my friend Klaas for their moral
support and encouraging words.
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1. Introduction

Edgar Allan Poe is known almost universally. Considered as one of America‘s great
authors, he wrote such popular short stories as ―The Tell-Tale Heart‖ and ―The Fall of the
House of Usher‖, as well as the famous poem ―The Raven‖. Popular from its first publication
in 1845, ―The Raven‖ is still a favourite among Americans, even today.
Though Poe is now known mainly as having been a writer and a poet, in his day he was
also known as an ambitious literary critic and editor. Had he lived today, he would be one of
the richest man of letters alive. However, living in the nineteenth century and being one of the
first in America to try to earn a living only through his writings, he endured hard times in both
his personal and his career. His struggles are reflected throughout his work.
―Who has not been influenced by Poe?‖, Joyce Carol Oates once asked (Vines
Introduction 2). It seems like Poe is spread through all cultural areas: many critics, for
instance, see Poe as an important contributor to the genre of horror. He inspired many writers,
including the French symbolists Mallarmé and Baudelaire – known as ‗the cursed poets‘.
Especially Baudelaire was fascinated by Poe: he was the first translator of Poe‘s works into
French and introduced him into European literature (Vines Introduction 1). Another inspired
author was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who created the detective Sherlock Holmes (Kopley and
Hayes 196). This particular author even stated in 1908 that all detective fiction writers, in one
way or another, are indebted to Poe: ―Each may find some little development of his own, but
his main art must trace back to those admirable stories of Monsieur Dupin, so wonderful in
their masterful force, their reticence, their quick dramatic point‖ (qtd. in Peeples 139).
His influence, though, is not limited to the literary field, as his vivid imagination has also
been an inspiration for many painters, among them the Belgian surrealist René Magritte
(Meyers 333). In this thesis, the focus is specifically on the relationship between Edgar Allan
Poe and music.
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As yet, few studies of this relationship have been made. Nevertheless, Poe himself was
quite convinced of the positive influence of music on literature and in several essays
suggested that there should be a closer connection between the two arts: in the essay ―The
Poetic Principle‖, for example, he argued why music should be connected with poetry:
Contenting myself with the certainty that Music, in its various modes of metre, rhythm,
and rhyme, is of so vast a moment in Poetry as never to be wisely rejected […] We are
often made to feel, with a shivering delight, that from an earthly harp are stricken
notes which cannot have been unfamiliar to the angels. And thus there can be little
doubt that in the union of Poetry with Music in its popular sense, we shall find the
widest field for the Poetic development. (Poe ―The Poetic Principle‖ 98-99)
This thesis, thus, is an attempt to add something meaningful to the literature on the subject.
Firstly, there is a theoretical analysis of Poe‘s poem ―The Raven‖ and an exploration of
the aspects relating to music. Secondly, in a more practically oriented section, the musical
elements of ―The Raven‖ are compared with two musical settings of the poem. The entire
study itself breaks down into several parts.
In a first part, the literary features of ―The Raven‖ are set out, so that the general
composition of the poem can be grasped. In a second, the musical elements that Poe applied
to ―The Raven‖ are examined, including rhyme schemes, rhythm and melody. In a third part,
two pieces of music are taken as case studies, with a view to a practical examination of the
musical elements of ―The Raven‖ and how they are interpreted by real musicians. The first
musical example is a composition by Lou Reed, who set the poem as a spoken song. The
second musical example is a composition by the group The Alan Parsons Project, which set
the poem as an electronical rock song. Using these two different musical compositions, the
attempt is made to explain how ―The Raven‖ is composed in musical terms and how these
two songs, each in its own specific way, have adopted and elaborated the general musical
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elements that are present in Poe‘s literary work. Finally, several conclusions are drawn from
all this and answers given to the research questions postulated.
1.1. Research Questions
In this thesis, the two main subjects are the poem ―The Raven‖ by Edgar Allan Poe and
the musical elements it displays. In other words, the main focus is the interaction between
music and poetry, which is examined in detail by means of two musical case studies. The two
central research themes of this thesis are:

1. Examination of the musical elements of the poem “The Raven”
2. Examination of the musical settings of “The Raven”, on the basis of two case
studies

These themes permit several research questions to be formulated, which will be examined,
supplementary to the first two questions.
The first research theme specifically handles Poe‘s poem ―The Raven‖. In this part, the
questions deal for the greater part with Poe trying to bring music into his poetry: how did he
apply musical elements to his literary work? How did he adopt the rhyme scheme to his intent
in musical terms? How did his use of alliteration affect the musical elements in ―The Raven‖?
The second research theme deals with the two chosen musical settings of Poe‘s ―The
Raven‖. The supplementary questions to this theme are about the musical elements Poe used
in his poem and how they are applied in the context of a real musical setting. Some of these
questions are: how do the two settings make separate use of the structural principle repetition
and variation? Is there any difference between them? How did the two composers concerned
incorporate the musical elements used in Poe‘s ―The Raven‖? A last question connected with
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this second research theme, concerns the interpretative aspect of the musical adaptations: the
two songs will be compared with the original poem to see if there are any differences in
content and if the two composers had the same conception of the poem.
Before the musical analysis of the poem and the two settings, however, the question will
be answered whether the musical elements were intended by Poe. In other words, a context
around his musicality will be formed: his popularity, his interest in music, the different
musical settings of his work, etc.
There are also several aspects that fall outside the scope of this thesis: for instance, the
impact of Poe‘s popularity on commercial society. It is almost impossible to present a study
of Poe‘s worldwide influence within a limited thesis of approximately 25000 words. In
addition, the reciprocal influence between Poe and music is examined, but not his influence
on other of the arts, such as painting or literature, or indeed the cinema, as that requires a
different approach and different methods of research.

1.2. Research Method
This thesis sets out to answer the stated research questions by means of a literary analysis.
First of all, it is necessary to look at the life and popularity of Edgar Allan Poe in general and
the composition of his poem ―The Raven‖ in literary terms. Without any notion of his life, a
relevant aspect is missed when studying his works. Furthermore, examining the general
composition and the literary qualities of ―The Raven‖ is important to obtain an overall idea of
Poe‘s intentions and working method. Otherwise, without this general examination, it would
be impossible to grasp the musical elements of the poem. During the search for relevant
material, a thorough analysis of available documents, essays, websites and books has been
made.
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A second step in the research was the development of a theoretical framework, apt for the
musical analysis of the two musical compositions. Constructing this framework, the most
important musical elements were examined and taken as parameters for the two case studies.
For this part, recourse was had to scientific publications and websites.
In a final step, the musical framework developed was applied to the two case studies.
Information was taken from audio material, websites, music magazines and essays.
The focus of this thesis on literary material has a specific disadvantage: mainly secondary
sources had to be used, as it was virtually impossible to interview privileged witnesses. In
addition, it is important to add that the aim of this thesis is to provide a general idea of Poe‘s
use of musical elements. As stated above, few studies have been devoted to this subject,
which is why it was thought more useful to give a comprehensive general overview of this
difficult matter than to give details not based on reliable sources.
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2. General Introduction to Edgar Allan Poe: Biography,
Popularity and Music
2.1. Biography of Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809, the child of David and
Elizabeth Poe. He had one brother and sister: Henry and Rosalie. His mother Elizabeth died in
1811, when he was only two years old. She had separated from her husband and taken the
three children with her, leaving them behind as orphans after her death. The three children
were separated and Edgar was taken in by Mr. and Mrs. John Allan of Richmond. Never
legally adopted, Poe took Allan‘s name for his middle name. John Allan was a successful
merchant, which translated into a good education for the young Edgar, who grew up in good
surroundings and went to top-class schools. When he was seventeen years old, Poe went to
the University of Virginia. At university, his drinking problem first manifested itself and he
quickly ran into debt. John Allan refused to pay them, resulting in Poe leaving school less
than a year later. During his stay at university, Poe wrote a number of short stories, but little is
known of these early works.
After his adventure at the University of Virginia, Poe found himself penniless and without
a job. All that was left to him was to join the U.S. Army, which he did in 1827 in Boston
under an assumed name, Edgar A. Perry. In 1830, he entered West Point as a cadet,
attempting to obtain some financial support from John Allan. When this plan failed, he looked
to gain his release and in 1831 was discharged for intentional neglect of his duties. After this
experience, he left for New York City, where he had some poetry published. According to
Roberto Giordano‘s biography, he also offered some stories to a number of magazines, but
they were all rejected. In 1835, after years of struggling, he finally found a job as an editor, as
a result of a contest he had won with his short story, ―The Manuscript Found in a Bottle‖.
This represented the start of a career on the staff of various magazines, among others the
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Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond (1835-37), Burton's Gentleman's Magazine in
Philadelphia (1839-40), and Graham's Magazine (1842-43). During these years, he wrote
some of his most popular stories, such as ―The Fall of the House of Usher‖, ―The Murders in
the Rue Morgue‖ and ―The Gold Bug‖.
It was during this period that Poe married his cousin, Virginia, who was fourteen years
younger. Unfortunately, he did not find happiness in marriage either: for most of their married
life, she was invalid and eventually died of tuberculosis. It is thought that ―The Raven‖ dates
from the time of her illness.
When, in 1844, Virginia‘s health weakened, they moved together with Poe‘s aunt to the
country, just outside New York City, where they found accommodation at the farm house of
the Brennans, a hospitable Irish family. This stay represented a short period of peace for Poe,
during which he finished his poem ―The Raven‖. Back in New York, he found employment at
the Evening Mirror, the magazine in which ―The Raven‖ was published in January 1845
under Poe‘s pseudonym, Quarles. The poem was such a great success that the editor of the
Evening Mirror, Mr. Willis, reprinted it, this time including the author‘s name together with
an introduction to the poem. In spite of his popularity, however, Poe still suffered financial
problems: due to the lack of any copyright laws, anyone could copy and publish the poem
without paying a dime to Poe himself (Mankowitz 173-181). In his biography of Poe,
Giordano underlined the irony of Poe not having an easy life, pointing out that he would
probably have been one of the richest authors in the world had he lived now.
The final period of Poe‘s life saw him writing some of his other popular poems: ―The
Bells‖, ―Ulalume‖ and ―Annabel Lee‖, as well as the ambitious ―Eureka‖. On 3 October 1849,
Poe died in the hospital of Baltimore, four days after he was found in a delirious condition.