Edgar Allan Poe―just hearing his name conjures up ghostly whispers and the rustle of raven wings, doesn’t it? His words, they’re like a cold breeze in a dark room, timeless in their ability to unsettle and mesmerize. So, here’s my little homage to the master of the macabre: I’ve paired ten of his chilling quotes with Odion Redon’s dreamlike, almost otherworldly artwork. It’s a Symbolist-Gothic fusion that feels like a match made in, well, a beautifully eerie dimension. Ready to get those shivers? Let’s begin.
1. “You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.”
― “A Dream Within a Dream”
2. “From childhood’s hour I have not been
As others were – I have not seen
As others saw – I could not bring
My passions from a common spring –
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow – I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone –
And all I lov’d – I lov’d alone –”
― “Alone”
3. “I was never really insane except upon occasions when my heart was touched.”
― Letter to Maria Clemm
4. “I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with
a love that was more than love–
I and my Annabel Lee–
With a love that
the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.”
― “Annabel Lee”
5. “Deep into that darkness peering,
long I stood there, wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams
no mortal ever dared to dream before.”
― “The Raven”
6. “The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?”
― The Premature Burial
7. “Because I feel that, in the Heavens above,
The angels, whispering to one another,
Can find, among their burning terms of love,
None so devotional as that of Mother.”
― “To My Mother”
8. “Thou wast that all to me, love,
For which my soul did pine—
A green isle in the sea, love,
A fountain and a shrine,
All wreathed with fairy fruits and flowers,
And all the flowers were mine.”
― “To One in Paradise”
9. “Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see.”
― The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether
10. “They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.”
― Eleonora
And that’s a wrap on the hauntingly beautiful words of Edgar Allan Poe! Got a favorite quote? Drop a comment below and feel free to share on your socials (just don’t forget to give The Rockle a shoutout).
And for more darkly romantic inspo, check out: