This chapbook is Daniel Shields third published credit Raising the Seams: Nine Tales of Murder and the Macabre and Firewoman (both published by Mystery Writers Press).
Seasons: A Series Of Poems Based On The Life and Death Of Edgar Allan Poe are 33 poems based on the life and death of Edgar Allan Poe -- a great concept that is well executed. The poems follow the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter – and but also follow Poe the different seasons in his life: from his days as a student at the University of Virginia (February – December 1826) in “Life in the University:”
“But
the admiration would not last
The debts would take over
The debts would force him out
Leaving nothing behind but a memory
And a trail of debts”
to his gambling and other debts in “Debt”:
“Debt
follows you whereever you go
It does not forget
Nor forgive
Debtors go to prison
Even worse
Debtors are hanged”
to the drinking in “Wine or Song?”:
“It
goes down smooth
Like notes on a piano
Soft
Melodious
Leaves you wanting more”
to the writing of Poe’s many short stories, poems and essays in “On Writing:”
“Some
use the knife,
others the pen.
The results is the same.”
and finally the writer’s death
in “End:”
“It
ended in Baltimore
A life.
His life – it ended in that city.
Sick, delirious,
Wearing someone else’s clothing”
The
poems in Seasons not only shows what
a dark genius Poe was, but also shows
how he suffered great hardship and privation
during his short life. The poems like
Poe’s are dark and lyrical with
a haunting melody of the macabre. Highly
recommended.
Rating: *** 1/2
Information:
$6.00 US (Chapbook)
Available from Foothills Publishing
Reviewed
by Michael McCarty
Contributing Editor
A Series of Poems Based on the Life
and Death of Edgar Allan Poe
Written by: Daniel Shields
Published by: Foothills Publishing
