The Raven Redux & Other Poems

Introduction

A spirit as ancient as the earth itself roamed the lands. Throughout history and spanning across cultures, it has many different names, many different forms. It has touched over a hundred billion lives — both collectively and personally. This spirit is present today all throughout the world, and it is even glorified in mainstream media. 

The name of this being does not matter. It is an awful creature that haunts and disturbs. It will stay long past the point of madness. Once it has chosen its next victim, no one can banish it. Even the strongest grow weak when touched by this ancient life. 

The legendary American writer, Edgar Allan Poe, faced this very same spirit. It bothered him deeply, often times causing spontaneous and sporadic behavior. Of course, he would occasionally find peace, but it was only temporary. Happiness was never permanent, always a fleeting emotion, and when a happy moment occurred, it was short lived. 

He struggled with many losses in his life: from his mother and father dying when he was young, his brother passing away in his mid-twenties and his wife dying a slow, painful death. The spirit would never leave him alone. Perhaps near the end, when it caused him to lose his final lover — rumored to be the famed Annabell Lee, his childhood sweetheart — it was the final straw that caused his spiral toward death. 

To understand Poe's troubled and tragic state of mind, you must take a journey into the heart of his madness. I invite you to first revisit and examine Poe's greatest poetic work, The Raven.

Afterward, when you read The Raven Redux, you will glimpse into the mind of a madman and truly see how powerful this spirit can be. And as you continue to flip through the pages of this book, you will read some of the darkest poetry ever written. 

To bring out the darkest of human emotions, I commissioned a New York-based artist to draw illustrations that were selectively paired with my poems. The drawings were inverted and graphically enhanced to establish the eerie white on black effect. 

Soon, you will see this unique presentation with the retinas of your own eyes. Prepare yourself, because you are about to plunge fully into a pit of darkness, where the evil spirit dwells. 

I pose a single question to you.

Will you survive the presence of this ancient spirit?

Gravely yours,
Alexander Bentley
13th Oct. 2017