The brooding, ominous tone of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” is masterfully conveyed by illustrator Ryan Price in his moody illustrations that visually interpret the classic tale. It’s not just the overall look of the black-on-tan, shadow-filled art that expresses a sense of growing dread. The horror is in the details, too: images of the lost Lenore that hint at a dark demise, and the Raven’s ominous presence, growing more dark and forbidding as the narrator grows more frantic, suggesting that the bird represents a haunted conscience. There is a literal haunting as well when the speaker is visited by the ghost of Lenore, whose raven-black hair sweeps back like the bird’s wing. A brief essay on Edgar Allen Poe, and on Ryan Price and his interpretation of the poem, conclude another exciting KCP Visions in Poetry publication. (Age 11 and older)

Visions in Poetry is an exciting and unique series of classic poems illustrated by outstanding contemporary artists in stunning hardcover editions.

The fifth book in the series, Edgar Allan Poe's ?The Raven,? delves into the hidden horrors of the human psyche. Originally published in 1845, the poem is narrated by a melancholy scholar brooding over Lenore, a woman he loved who is now lost to him. One bleak December at midnight, a raven with fiery eyes visits the scholar and perches above his chamber door. Struggling to understand the meaning of the word his winged visitant repeats --- ?Nevermore!? --- the narrator descends by stages into madness.

Illustrator Ryan Price's exquisitely grim illustrations suggest a background story shaped by the narrator's guilt, embodied in the terrifying figure of the raven. Price's drypoint technique, with its rich blacks and feathery lines, perfectly captures the nightmarish atmosphere of this unforgettable poem.