In tonight’s episode we again feature the writing of Edgar Allan Poe; this time his most famous poem, The Raven. First published in 1845, The Raven enjoyed great popular and critical success, certainly Poe’s most well-known work. He was paid a whole nine dollars by the publisher of the piece. 

Poe experienced great loss during his difficult lifetime; his mother and step-mother both had died of tuberculosis and during the writing of The Raven his young wife Virginia was diagnosed with the illness. By 1847 she had succumbed. Her death drove Poe into a deep depression and his drinking increased. By 1849 Poe was dead at forty years of age. The cause of his death still remains a mystery.

Get ready and make sure you set the scene. Listen late at night. Pour a brandy. Turn out all the lights. Do I hear a tapping?