Edgar Allen Poe

Yesterday was A. A. Milne's birthday.

Who doesn't love Winnie the Pooh and his gentle nonsensical views?

But today is Edgar Allen Poe's birthday,

and most of us agree

he would  have little in common with the cuddly and charming Pooh.

However, despite the morose sentiments expressed in poems like "The Raven"

or "Annabel Lee," Edgar Allen Poe

did have a sense of humor and whimsy.

photo from google images

Here's a poem by Poe called "Epigram for Wall Street,"

which takes a light view of one's relationship to money:

I'll tell you a plan for gaining wealth,

Better than banking, trade or leases — 

Take a bank note and fold it up, 

And then you will find your money in creases! 

This wonderful plan, without danger or loss, 

Keeps your cash in your hands, where nothing can trouble it; 

And every time that you fold it across, 

'Tis as plain as the light of the day that you double it! 

I wonder if he'd be surprised that today's popular culture

associates him exclusively with the grim, the dark, and the macabre?

Nevermore!

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