Edgar Allan Poe
American · 19th century
Master of gothic horror and psychological suspense. Known for The Raven, The Tell-Tale Heart, and poetry exploring loss, madness, and death.
Connection to Taylor Swift
A touchstone for Taylor’s gothic register and her ear for sound. Uncle Jerry and Angela hear The Raven behind evermore, which shares the poem’s titular word and its open window, and behind the rolling, alliterative bridge of How Did It End?. Poe’s onomatopoeic “The Bells” is offered as a parallel to the bell-like intro of So Long, London, and Uncle Jerry cites Annabel Lee and Ulalume as further examples of the rolling rhyme he hears in her writing.
Notable Works
- The Raven, The Tell-Tale Heart, Annabel Lee
Appears in the Archive
Context within the Archive
The Raven
Angela & Uncle Jerry identify The Raven as a key reference for the song. Uncle Jerry notes that the word 'evermore' appears in Poe's poem, that the Raven enters through an open window (echoing the open window in the song's chorus), and that the speaker of The Raven may be having the same kind of internal dialogue, the Raven lands on a bust of Pallas Athena (goddess of wisdom/the mind), suggesting the speaker may be conversing with himself, just as the song's speaker may be conversing with herself. Uncle Jerry initially considered fairy tales as a framing but quickly confirmed The Raven as the stronger connection after reading the first verse's 'gray November' atmosphere.
The Raven
“Say it once again with feeling How the death rattle breathing Silenced as the soul was leaving The deflation of our dreaming Leaving me bereft and reeling My beloved ghost and me Sitting in a tree D-Y-I-N-G”
Angela & Uncle Jerry identify the bridge's rolling rhyme, alliterative elements, and sustained sound patterns as reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe's work, specifically naming The Raven. Uncle Jerry notes that Poe 'does understand how to use poetics and he does know what assonance and rhyme and alliteration and all those things work,' and that the bridge shares this quality of beautiful sound when read aloud.
The Bells
“So (So) long (Long), London (London)”
Uncle Jerry compares the bell-like sounds in the intro of So Long, London to Edgar Allan Poe's poem 'The Bells,' which uses onomatopoeia and repetition to replicate the sound of bells. He quotes from the poem ('the tintinnabulation that so musically swells') and notes that both works use sound devices to create a cascading, ringing effect. After hearing the song, Uncle Jerry confirms the bell-like quality and quotes Poe again in his reaction.