I'm doing a research paper and think I'm going to use poe's use of time in his stories and how time brings death and can't be escaped. I know that his "To Science" sonnet and "The devil in the belfry" are good examples, but if you can think of anymore poems or short stories that relate this, I would appreciate it. Also how would you describe the way he relates time and death. I'm having a hard time wording it smoothly. Thanks.

-- Anonymous, August 20, 2003

Answers

Probably the best of Poe's texts evoking what you need could be his poem "A Dream within a Dream" (1849), and his tale/sketch "The Island of the Fay" (1841), though many other ones are treating well on the same subject. Both easily available in common printed editions of Poe's works. On line, at www.eapoe.org. Good luck. Yours sincerely, Raven's Shade (Belgium).

-- Anonymous, August 21, 2003

A large subject but if you especially focus on how the demarcation of time is an intergral partof the story : "The masque of the red death", "The Pit and the Pendulum", "The Tell-Tale Heart" where the hours, the timepieces measure doom in heartbeats and midnight especially is the hour of choice. Also "The Descent into the Maelstrom" These stories put into popular play the more profound and personal ideas of his poetry. There is really no escape from the power of time by either art or rational ingenuity though Poe labors brilliantly at both. In the Pit story the man is rescued after complete despair. In The maelstrom the man loses his brother and ages prematurely. Try "Eureka" Poe's mystical science work for some larger ideas about cosmic time..

-- Anonymous, August 21, 2003