It is the perfect time of year to revisit Edgar Allen Poe and remember how amazing poetry can be when it is read by someone with both an ability to breathe life into words and a certain je ne sais quoi about their voice. So please, take a moment – take eight minutes – of this weekend, and listen to Academy Award winner Christopher Walken read one of Poe’s most famous works, “The Raven“.

Now that you’ve spent what you will look back on tomorrow night and remember as the most pleasurable 8 minutes of your weekend, what will you do with yourself? Will this lead you down a path of Poe where you spend the first truly autumnal weekend (at least on the East Coast) and curl up with his collected works so that you can feel the true terror of “The Tell-Tale Heart”? Or will you stay inside and hide from the heat (at least on the West Coast from what I hear) and blast the air conditioner with a full slate of Christopher Walken queued up on your Netflix? Either way, I think that you’re in for a truly pleasurable experience.

“The Raven” was first published in 1845, and unlike the work of many artists, actually brought Edgar Allen Poe quite a bit of fame (though no fortune) in his lifetime. It tells the story of a talking raven who witnesses, and chronicles, the descent into madness of a lovelorn man. While poetry may not figure into your idea of popular culture, it’s hard to deny the long lasting effects of Poe’s contributions to the art. Both “The Raven” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” are among the most well-known poems of all time. They have become engrained on our psyche which is perhaps the best judgement of success in the end.

Tell me what you will spend your weekend doing now that you’ve given 8 minutes of it to Edgar Allen Poe and Christopher Walken in the comments below!

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Image Credit: Vanity Fair/Mark Seliger