Poe! Poe! Poe!

The play begins as Poe is dying. As he struggles with death, he recounts his melancholy life. The author has skillfully blended tragic scenes with fantasy and comedy. Poe felt that the only true, worthy subject of literature was the melancholy examination of the death of a beautiful woman—depicted here in the gruesome death of his young wife and the poem which resulted, "Annabel Lee." Although everyone today agrees that Poe is one of America's greatest authors, he found little recognition in his lifetime until the publishing of "The Raven" not long before he died. Among the many touching scenes in this play is the one between Poe and his most loyal editor, Graham, in which Poe is ridiculed and humiliated. Then we hear Poe recite "The Raven" with defiance and passion. The play ends where it began—at Poe's death. It is not a quiet death, but rather a final defiant excerpt from "The Literary Life of Thingum Bob, Esq.," in which Poe reveals the meaning of his life: "Through joy, through sorrow, through it all—I wrote!