The Oxen relates to a West Country legend: that, on the anniversary of Christ’s Nativity, each Christmas Day, farm animals kneel in their stalls in homage.
“Ulalume” focuses on the narrator’s loss of his beloved due to her death. Poe originally wrote the poem as an elocution piece and, as such, the poem is known for its focus on sound.
Poe praised “The Sleeper” as a “superior” poem. He wrote to an admirer: “In the higher qualities of poetry, it is better than ‘The Raven’—but there is not one man in a million who could be brought to agree with me in this opinion.
Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre.
James Hogg was a Scottish poet, novelist and essayist who wrote in both Scots and English. As a young man he worked as a shepherd and farmhand, and was largely self-educated through reading.
