I didn't know there would be a quiz ...

As we wrap up our Big Read on Edgar Allan Poe here is a quiz from the Christian Science Monitor to see how much you learned about Poe: How Well Do You Know One of Literatures Spookiest Authors?

As Big Read is meant to be a fun project, the quiz is optional. We would be interested to know what you learned about Poe through this project, so please leave a comment telling us what you learned this month.

Rescheduled Rescheduled Event

New Hampshire Institute of Art just announced:

 

We are very sad to report we are once again postponing our POE + CO event due to weather. 

Please DO come visit the Vault Gallery to view the “Grip the Raven”

show featuring Illustration student artwork.  

Stay tuned for more news of our next Creative Writing event,

at NOON on Friday, November 16.

In the meantime, NEVER say NEVERMORE!!!

Rescheduled Events

Because of last week's storm, several Big Read events could not go on as planned. Here are a couple that have been rescheduled for this week.
 

Poe Live(s)

A dramatic reading of various works by Poe, performed and written by members of the Rivier University Community. Additionally, short exerpts of student work written in the style of Poe will be read.

Event Location: Rivier University, Regina Library, Nashua, NH 03060

NEW Date: Tue, Nov. 6, 2012,  

Time: 7:00pm 

 

Poe &  Co.

Creative Writing students at New Hampshire Institute of Art will submit Poe-related (macabre) short stories or poems that will be selected by faculty to be read/performed at Teti Library, Fuller Hall. Additional readers will read excerpts from Poe, and there will be a special reading from faculty member Tim Horvath.

Event Location: NH Institute of Art, Manchester, NH 03101

NEW Date: Wed., Nov. 7, 2012
Time: 6:30pm

Poems: The Bells

I.

               HEAR the sledges with the bells —
                     Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
           How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
                 In the icy air of night!
           While the stars that oversprinkle
           All the heavens, seem to twinkle
                 With a crystalline delight;
              Keeping time, time, time,
              In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells
      From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
                     Bells, bells, bells —
   From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.
 

II.

               Hear the mellow wedding-bells
                     Golden bells!
What a world of happiness their harmony foretells!
           Through the balmy air of night
           How they ring out their delight! —
                 From the molten-golden notes,
                     And all in tune,
                 What a liquid ditty floats
      To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats
                     On the moon!
             Oh, from out the sounding cells,
What a gush of euphony voluminously wells!
                     How it swells!
                     How it dwells
                 On the Future! — how it tells
                 Of the rapture that impels
             To the swinging and the ringing
                 Of the bells, bells, bells —
      Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
                     Bells, bells, bells —
   To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!
 

III.

               Hear the loud alarum bells —
                     Brazen bells!
What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells!
           In the startled ear of night
           How they scream out their affright!
               Too much horrified to speak,
               They can only shriek, shriek,
                  Out of tune,
In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire,
In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire,
                  Leaping higher, higher, higher,
                  With a desperate desire,
               And a resolute endeavor
               Now — now to sit, or never,
           By the side of the pale-faced moon.
                  Oh, the bells, bells, bells!
                  What a tale their terror tells
                     Of Despair!  [column 2:]
        How they clang, and clash, and roar!
        What a horror they outpour
On the bosom of the palpitating air!
           Yet the ear, it fully knows,
                 By the twanging
                 And the clanging,
            How the danger ebbs and flows;
        Yet [[Yes]], the ear distinctly tells,
              In the jangling
              And the wrangling,
        How the danger sinks and swells,
By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells —
              Of the bells —
      Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
                     Bells, bells, bells —
   In the clamour and the clangour of the bells!
 

IV.

               Hear the tolling of the bells —
                     Iron bells!
What a world of solemn thought their monody compels!
        In the silence of the night,
        How we shiver with affright
    At the melancholy menace of their tone!
            For every sound that floats
            From the rust within their throats
                    Is a groan.
                And the people — ah, the people —
                They that dwell up in the steeple,
                    All alone,
            And who, tolling, tolling, tolling,
                In that muffled monotone,
            Feel a glory in so rolling
                On the human heart a stone —
        They are neither man nor woman —
        They are neither brute nor human —
                    They are Ghouls: —
            And their king it is who tolls: —
            And he rolls, rolls, rolls, rolls,
                     Rolls
                A pæan from the bells!
            And his merry bosom swells
                With the pæan of the bells!
            And he dances, and he yells;
        Keeping time, time, time,
        In a sort of Runic rhyme,
                To the pæan of the bells —
                     Of the bells: —
        Keeping time, time, time,
        In a sort of Runic rhyme,
                To the throbbing of the bells —
            Of the bells, bells, bells —
                To the sobbing of the bells: —
        Keeping time, time, time,
            As he knells, knells, knells,
        In a happy Runic rhyme,
                To the rolling of the bells —
            Of the bells, bells, bells: —
                To the tolling of the bells —
      Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
                     Bells, bells, bells —
   To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.

This version of the poem appeared in the November 1849 issue of Sartain's Union Magazine. 

Events: November 5

Teen Book Group (Gr. 7 and up)

Graphic Classics: Edgar Allan Poe & Selections from Poe's Short Stories/Poems. Teens will discuss a selection of Poe's short stories/poems and their use in the new format of the graphic novel. Teens will be asked to come to the meeting with artwork or a poem reflecting their reading of Poe.

Event Location: Barrington Public Library, Barrington, NH 03825

Date: Mon, Nov 5, 2012, Time: 3:30pm – 4:30pm

KCL Book Club

Love to read? Get excited about books? Or,wish you loved to read and get excited about books? Either way the Kingston Community Library Book Club is the place for you- we will share your love of books or get you excited about books! Fun, laid, back, no pressure. And we have food!! GPS users, enter 56 Church Street, Kingston to find us. Please note start time is 6:45 p.m.

Event Location: Kingston Community Library, Kingston, NH 03848

Date: Mon, Nov 5, 2012, Time: 6:30pm – 8:00pm

  November 5, 2012 is the final day of our Big Read NH. We hope you have enjoyed all our events!

Tales: The Pit and the Pendulum

 “The Pit and thePendulum”   

(originally published 1842-1843 in The Gift: A Christmas and New Year’s Present)

A man being tortured by the Spanish Inquisition narrates his experience from his agonizingly sensitive and increasingly horrified point of view. Will he be able to endure the torture until the end—or will he be compelled to jump into the Pit, and bring about his death himself?

Summary written by Taylor Colegrove, May 2011. Title links to the full text of the story.

Events: November 2

Peterborough Town Library Book Discussion

Regular monthly book discussion featuring Poe this month to coincide with Big Read.

Event Location: Peterborough Town Library, Peterborough, NH 03458

Date: Fri, Nov 2, 2012, Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm

Nightfall with Edgar Allan Poe

A series of Poe's works adapted for the stage and preformed by students in the Salem High School Drama club. The production will include the following Poe works: The Raven, Fall of House of Usher, Pit and Pendulum, Tell-tale Heart, Cask of Amontilado. The Cask was adapted for the stage by student Kyle Hamlin.

Event Location: Salem High School, Salem, NH 03079

Date: Fri, Nov 2, 2012 – Sat, Nov 3, 2012, Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm

  For a list of all the upcoming events visit our events listing. 

Tales: Mesmeric Revelation

“Mesmeric Revelation”  

(originally published August 1844 in Columbia Magazine)

A dying man is put under hypnosis in a last attempt to glean insights of the afterlife and to remove his skepticism about the immortality of his soul. The result is a difficult and metaphysical, but beautifully written, interview between the man and his hypnotizer, and a revelation which may not reside exactly where you would expect.

Summary written by Taylor Colegrove, May 2011. Title links to the full text of the story.

Partner: Pease Public Library

Pease Public Library, originally constructed in 1990-91 with funds donated by Charlotte Pease, was expanded and renovated in 2011.  It provides recreational and informational material to patrons of all ages and backgrounds.  The library is partnering with Plymouth Public Library and the Young Ladies Library Association for this year's Big Read.