Edgar Allan Poe: The Raven (Narrated by Christopher Walken)

[missingyou90s]

who thinks vincent price would have rocked this out

[Obiwankenobistarfish]

@missingyou90s

He did rock this out.

[missingyou90s]

@Obiwankenobistarfish it's ok

[missingyou90s]

@Obiwankenobistarfish could have been better

[missingyou90s]

happy birthday edgar

[NeurologicalNerd]

This is scary as hell when you're all alone... *NBD... freaking the fuck out, be back later...*

[kimmy121397]

whoever dislikes this poem shall be condemned to the lake of fire Johnnie 5:25

it's in the gangsta bible

[LifeLesStabber]

listen to this alone in a dark room it'll scare you

[Dekcc]

those sound effects are so fucking annoying.

[d87labonne]

i really dont have a big vocabulary it is really sad because i am a straight A student

[TheCaramelised]

serious goosebumbs. just the music in one of the middle stanzas was unfitting in my opinion

[santafebnsf]

STAY BACK EXCALIBUR2007, I SAID STAY BACK

[steveoh2395]

Pretty good.....but needs more cowbell

[GineeeerNinjaaaa]

this is art

[amers963]

After I had read this poem I had come to the realization that I had a very limited vocabulary. -_-

[GiannhsDeathMetal]

@amers963 where are you from? :P

[dracker78]

this is some sad sh!t its like hes morening saying that lenore is angelic yet the raven says nevermore

[TheOmniscientAtheist]

if we had done this @ school instead of ww1 poetry - i would av Astared (instead if B scrape)

[TheRightOne13]

This reminds me of The Dead Zone. #win

[TheRightOne13]

This reminds me of The Dead Zone. #win

[Blamepandora85]

I'm hearing cowbells.

[zjfox43]

The funny thing, I have the same middle name as him and I have been to both cities, Baltimore and Philadelphia. I grew up in Maryland close to P.A. This is my favorite poem. I think more people need to know, though, that his poem is NOT about a bird coming to a guy's door but a metaphor about losing his young love, Lenore.

[NotSoSuperTV]

@zjfox43 Allan isn't his middle name it's his foster families last name :P

[Tanglenose98]

The guitar stinks. >.<

[GDS4VR]

HELP SAVE THE POE HOUSE IN BALTIMORE

[corius737]

This is a terrible reading, no flow at all and no feeling, It goes quicker and the rhymes are in time. U have to read it many many times before u can read it aloud correctly< I Believe.

[minecraft2400]

its funny because IM RELATED TO EDGAR ALLAN POE

[Tanglenose98]

@minecraft2400 LUCKY. *jealousy* Lol.

[tedyorino]

what the shit is up with the guitar!

[mearthhito]

*is proudly RELATED to poe*

[Fossialfang]

I LOVE THIS POEM! Edger Allen Poe is an amazing poem righter. Thumbs up if u agree!

[zTo]

@Fossialfang Edger Allen Poe *was* an amazing poem *writer*... I agree!

[SarahAkiraFerriera]

I have this book! I sleep with hugging her. <33

[ericstankyleluver98]

this is such an amazing poem i love it so much but the guitar just annoys me

[TheKuyashii]

wow! this was great!:3 i like this poem,but I'm from germany and if it's only a speaker I often lose the sence of one or two sentences! I'm very happy about the Lyrics, 'cause at german there are no one... I like Edgar Allan Poe, because I think, he really likes to write and he loves it to scare other people... and he did it:3 Is The Raven Nevermore not pretty scary?!=3 I don't wanna hear this poem at a dark night! I would search this raven the whole night! =3 (hope my english was not too bad)

[MYOWNWITCHKING]

Nothing Compared To Lisa :P

[Gin033]

@MYOWNWITCHKING hi, which Lisa? cCan you please tell me xDD

[MYOWNWITCHKING]

@Gin033 Is There More Than One Lisa :D , Lisa Simpson , In Tree House Of Horror in season 2 ;)

[22lovehearts]

I know every word of this off by heart. It's fun muttering this under my breath as it plays in the backgroung. My dad thinks I'm mental, hahaha.

[bobber922]

I'm related to Edgar Allen Poe !!!!!!

[yourworstnightmare51]

Somewhere at this very moment, there is a raven watching, listening to this video (as to how it learned to navigate the web or even gain access to a computer is beyond me... they're very smart birds, you know) and as the poem ends, it says to itself quite thoughtfully: "Okay... maybe just ONCE more..." and proceeds to hit the replay button.

That's right:

Not even the birds are safe from the haunting literary genius that is Edgar Allan Poe.

[WildWhiteDignity]

don't like guitar

[Mclovin171]

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December, and each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.

...Wow...

[AllisonA36]

can somebody explain this to me, i don't quite get it.

[yourworstnightmare51]

@AllisonA36

But you do. Poe defined poetry as "the rhythmical creation of Beauty". Beauty is something every one of us understands, even if  we have no words to describe it. When we do, and we desire this understanding for others, the result is poetry. I my mind, the "meaning" of the poem is nonexistent except for what one personally finds the it to mean. No doubt the great artist said it best: "With me poetry has not been a purpose, but a passion."

In other words: Sit back, relax, and enjoy:)

[AllisonA36]

@yourworstnightmare51 oh wow, your right. thank you.

[hotrodyoda1]

this poem needs something more, what this poem needs... Is more cowbell.

[carlostejam]

WOW!!!



[avsamu]

YOU ARE AN OLD PERVERT, MY FRIEND!

[maryarden11]

@avsamu are you talking about E.A.P or Christopher Walken?

[bubywashere]

I said art sure no craven ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore – tell me what thy lordly name is on this night plutonian shore!’

Quoth the raven ‘nevermore’ Much I marveled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly.

[KxK96]

7:58 my fav part. :D

[SanGuevara]

Christopher Walken is a superb actor, but I had reservations that his New York accent would stifle Poe's legendary poem. I'm glad I was wrong. ^_^

[hallallullia]

He's scary realy scary

[hallallullia]

He seems sleepy

[hallallullia]

Are You Lot Geeks

[ImtheHeirofSlytherin]

Dare I say the background noises made this in the slightest bit frightening, though I thoroughly enjoyed this poem, it's one of my favourites next to "Ulalume".

[xXElena1648Xx]

OH MY FRICKIN GOODNESSSS!!!!!!! WHY THE FRICKIN HELL DID THEY HAVE TO PUT GUITAR IN THISS!!!! IM GONNA PUNCH SOMEONE!!!!!! :(

[dltanner99]

Horror novel  see video book trailer

[carlosbulk]

Seriously the thunder is so annoying cant they just make it with just the narration and nothing else

[PsychoCircusMonkey]

needs more cowbell

[urielwirthful]

In all honesty, I am only just coming into the world of poetry, so at the present time, I can only think I completely understand this poem. It all made perfect sense, surprisingly, until the last paragraph.I had to play that last paragraph a couple times because I just needed to feel like I got the ending. I think I did but i'm not 100% sure.

[sb358]

Beautiful! I adore the work of this man!

[istvanbeast]

Idiots, you can't understand this.....its not fu..kn hard rock

[xBrookielynnxrawrx]

this is absoloutley beautiful! i love edgar allan poe <3

[qz90]

Christopher Walken is flawless! Perfect narration for the Raven! but does that guitar at 2.40 piss anyone else off?? It's interupting the almighty Walken!!

[40ozToFreedom89]

@qz90

yes! although, if it was an acoustic guitar and was a little quieter...that would have been great

[6filthy66]

@qz90 not realy personaly I like it .

[suspectideserviciu]

@qz90 :Trully,that guitar shouldn't be there...Anyway,a great poem,a masterpiece,undoubtelly,and the voice of Christopher Walken matches perfectly with it!

[BlackRoseInPain]

9 ppl heard a knocking on their chamber door

[UnicornsEATlollipops]

This is my favorite poem by Edgar Allen Poe.. Oh nevermore! :)

[DjuraHedonism]

it always gives me the chills.

[magoulianitissa]

Wonderful!! I loved it! Thank you.

[mangwhich]

I really like this poem and this specific narration of the poem. Especially towards the end, sorry James Earl Jones, but I prefer this narration

[jefthereaper]

i love this poeme! (raven is my fav animal)

[PandaKittyh]

Christopher Walken is awesome.

[Msjrward]

chilling

[TheFriedLiverAttack]

rapeing rapeing raping your virtue in vine

[unfaithfulx]

Beautiful.

[hakkunnammattatta]

this is my favorite narration, the other ones are so boring!

no need for the Psychedelic guitar though :)

[urielwirthful]

@hakkunnammattatta that's prolly the best way to describe it. Psychedelic.

[renatodiva]

Briliant work! Just amazing!

[SuperHunt88]

this might actually be my favourite thing ever

[paraniodchris2]

that was quite terrorfying

[blackbone330]

dang he only made like 14$ off this poem even tho EVERYONE LOVED IT BACK THEN. they were all terrified of it back then thye even had nightmares about it...

For me the metaphores and vocab and old age talk are so rich in this poem for me to grasp at the moment

[EarlofFremantle]

I don't know if it has already been pointed out (I can't be bothered looking through all the posts) but unfortuneately the guitar is in the original recording... so it can't (easily) be edited out...

[iloveaustrailiawomen]

the guitar ruined it, perhaps oyu should fix it? Quoth the author, Nevermore! lol

[JordanJ39]

@iloveaustrailiawomen Quote. can people please learn how to spell that? its pissing me off, how does it even sound like quoth?

[Blumaga25]

@JordanJ39 The original poem definitely says Quoth..

[JordanJ39]

@Blumaga25 yeah but that was over 100 years ago, the english language has changed alot. and Walken Reads it as Quote

[JordanJ39]

@SuperLoveyou5 it just sounded like quote to me, and every other version i have heard has listed the lyrics as quote

[SuperLoveyou5]

@JordanJ39 The English language has changed, but the words of the poem haven't...or are you suggesting that we should rewrite every piece of literature to put it into modern English?! And Walken clearly says "quoth"...

[urielwirthful]

@SuperLoveyou5 so many historical societies get their hands on a historical home and the turn it into a museum. editing the original layout and feel of the place. i wish they would just leave it as is. how can you call it a history museum if the history has been altered?

[urielwirthful]

@JordanJ39 quote and quoth are both words. basically meaning the same thing. not many people say 'quoth' nowadays. probably because it maketh them feeleth a bit weird ... eth.

[urielwirthful]

@iloveaustrailiawomen that's poetic genius right there, mate. haha

[EineVampyrDesGrauens]

splendid!

[alexoscar23]

brilliant

[MikeHawk95]

lol i'm using this poem in an assignment at school! lol i have to read the whole thing to the class!

[mamaredify]

walken has reached the peak of his creep...dig it the most!!!

[TheHUSH77]

i memorized about half of this poem, its amazing..love it

[diana351]

$16 was a lot in his times

[addancserpant]

Yes $16 would have been equal to roughly 2 months or more pay today.

[TheToasterTV]

@addancserpant Yeah But they Should Have Paid him, like $20 or something.

[colormestupid798]

what THE FUCKS with the guitar? entirely threw off my groove.

[Ipetratz]

ruined it.

[Sidneytheweirdo95]

Ikr! i was like gettin like in the mood of the creepyness and like then the random guitar came out of nowhere and it was reely pointless it sounded like santana or something lol

[urielwirthful]

@Sidneytheweirdo95 hahaha it's epic when more than 5 people talk about the same thing.

[javierich0]

best narration of the raven genious!

[no1joke]

OMG! i was entraped by word and sound, by such a brilliant author O.@ such as Edger Allan Poe x

[Kmanflyaway]

Christopher walken is a fuckin genius

[poopalicker]

WOW

[drunkgoat]

ahh too bad. The guitar definitely ruined it for me as well.

[DarkBass72]

The Raven... Edgar Allan Poe's best work too bad it only made him $16. Eh could have been worse.

[BillHicksPsilocybin]

Yea, he could have made $15.

[urielwirthful]

@DarkBass72 yeah I heard that somewhere too. i didn't know if i should believe it or not. I also heard that on 'Six Centuries of verse,' many poets only made pennies on the dollar for their works.

[surfinbrant]

Edgar Allen Pwned.

[veritasaxe]

EPIC!!!

[kusanomono]

omg this is the sickest thing when your HI

[Brogel]

Walken AND Poe? Godly.

[Floorsnarl]

Walken is unbelievably good. He takes this poem through the roof! And the background music...

[comedygonewrong2395]

Man I love this poem. The narrater was great too!

[greengirl1001]

this is really good but its a little scary...

[kingoskingst]

i went on a feild trip to his house in philadelphia it was beauitful empty a little but beauitful.

[sk8blackout98]

LUCKY! dude this dude is like the bomb

[popaddict]

I love this poem. The words are so beautifully and perfectly placed.

Anyone know where I could find the audio for this narration?

[mikenike7923]

beutiful

[TearsAreLikeArsenic]

this = Winsauce

[boorens18]

chilling

[MotherFlower666]

Christopher Walken did a really wonderful job with this,

if the raven should nevermore leave the bust above his door I can only assume that he should die

[urielwirthful]

@MotherFlower666 a part of me wonders, since the raven was a metaphor, if it was all an illusion for the guy in the poem.

[wd1601]

that piece of dumbshit said it wrong!!!!

its sumone came rapping a gental tapping, tapping and my chamber door!

haha what a dumbass

[kingoskingst]

you dont what real poems are back then this is a good peom you dont like it then go back to watch movies then

[wd1601]

i wasnt saying i dont like it, but the way that he says it and all the back ground stuff i dont like, i acually like this poem a lot

[ccorn77]

hahahahahahahahaah does anyone else find this fucking hysterical?

hahahahahahaa

the raven, he quoted, never more, and i stabbed him in the face with a sodering iron

hahahahahahahahahahah

[LittleDeathPoem]

your an a** its a beautiful poem!

[urielwirthful]

@ccorn77 hmm... most were saying this needed more cowbell but you say it needs a sodering iron right in the face? LoL

[OenKnows]

The guitar really threw the whole mood off for me, was really into it until I started hearing an electric guitar kind of throws you out of the time frame of understanding in which this was actually written.

[urielwirthful]

@OenKnows i keep seeing comments about the guitar. I was reading the poem while hearing it so the guitar didn't really bother me. Though I did wonder 'wth?' that may bring the poem into the 20th or 21st century but it wasn't meant to be.

[jimazzi]

No activity or comment responses as I have a new account. No longer the rustyghoul, it's jimazzi now if any of you lovely individuals are curious :) p.s. I appreciate all of your feedback and the guitar in the background does maim the ambience slightly, but alas I still enjoy it. The visuals are my own, the audio is not.

Once again, Thank you. Peace x

[urielwirthful]

@jimazzi I wish I would have known that, I just sent you two replies to your old account LoL

[igaveubl00d]

FUL OF WIN

[lucifugue]

i didn't like this not one bit

it sounds as if it were acted

not read as a poem i hated that

the guy killed the beautiful rhythm

when read correctly it seems to flow on its own

sorry to all those of you who like it but i truly hated it

cheers anyway :)

[enidric]

I agree with you, but I reckon I'd have said it a little nicer to please the fans.

[goingdowninredbank]

best version i have ever heard of this, and it's one of my favorites by poe. he got the "still is sitting" part exactly right: many read it as though depressed, lamenting that the raven is sitting, but walken got annoyed, almost insanely, which is perfect. creepy, and captured the mood. five starts.

[philipstephenbird]

lol @ cowbell

[Bechuille]

I love this poem but I scarcely believe this is his best work in my opinion "The Bell" is his best

[Macrotodon]

maybe Kinski could have done it ...

[2blue2the2iguanna2]

YES YES YES YES YES THAAAATS IT!

[CosmoHunter24]

I love the way Christopher Walken reads it, however, I wish the volume of the music were lower or on mute - it takes away from the essence of the poem reading.

[lemonluver99]

what was up with the guitar noises at 2:41?

[PageHendrixEddie]

lol..true. its annoying

[kloroxgirl]

You're video is good i love this poem, did you add in the backround the wind and other sound effects or was it part of the original recording with christopher walken? Where ever they came from they where great!!! It added a intensity to the allready intense poem, just great!

[franmendes]

Walken + The Raven = Win!

[kbutler2012]

This poem needs more cowbell!

[legostarwars77]

my mom doesnt like edgar allen poe she thinks he is evil

[SubZeroMK103178]

your mom is stupid

[Chimesgirl]

Christopher Walken has such a enchanting and haunting voice. perfectly reading alond the infamous Poe's The Raven. It makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end.

[DrLilo]

Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait... That's the bad guy from Wayne's World 2.

[foggyleg12]

Thanks for posting this. It's really well done.

Had a tiny bit of trouble focusing on the poem in one part when the background guitar and C. W.'s voice seemed to be competing for my attention.

However, I'm very pleased that you have posted something rare on youtube, an entertaining video of intellectual value. It keeps the little grey cells working.

This is one of my favorites now.

[Schizter]

I dont want to take anything away from Mr. Walken, he is fantastic, but it may seem cliche; I would love to hear this poem read by Morgan Freeman. But Ill take Walken any day.

[paintingsina83]

how creepy. I've read that it's poe's birthday today and I didn't knew that. (He has birthday the same month as me yay) But the creepy thing is that it's his birthday today, which I didn't know and today I just started reading the book The Poe shadow by Michael Pearl. What are the odds for that? lol...

ps: christopher walken has such a cool voice.

[mylesworthe]

365/1

[BTLemming]

D'oH, you beat me to it! =)

[meshgiath]

Happy birthday Poe

[przemekgrabowski]

happy 200th birthday, wherever you are

[lisababy85]

Happy Birthday Edgar!! I saw at the post office they have stamps with him on it! I can't wait. I am going to definitly buy one.

[GhostsXXInXTheXXSnow]

I love this poem so much I have all of poes stories and peoms and his 200th birthday is tomorrow and its my dads birthday!

[Morholt07]

It brilliant. Any1 know where to get this recording?

[gregaperkin]

A true work of genius, read with such feeling by Christopher Walken who lends a meaning to it that is missing from many other readings I have heard.

[darknessexsist1124]

this is the most beautiful poem ever writen

[rolo6rolo]

I love this poem!! Since the first time i've heard it at the age of 6...though i didn't understand everything in the poem, still it feld thrilling!!

[allooo]

there's not one hair on my body lying down right now.

[mariozeldasonic]

dear god

me and my friends were joking about christopher walken narrating the poem not 3 days ago, and i go on the internet and ACTUALLY FIND IT. THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS.

[rustyghoul]

no problemo amigo :D