In 1909, early cinematic auteur D.W. Griffith offered his seven-minute interpretation of Edgar Allan Poe composing his acclaimed and widely-read poem “The Raven.” In 2011, filmmaker Don Thiel offered his twelve-minute interpretation of an encounter between a writer named Poe, apparently young and not long out of the military, and a stately talking raven — an encounter that takes place not in the modern day, nor in the first half of the nineteenth century during which the real Poe lived, but in the winter of 1959, over a century after Poe died — and in a Hollywood room, no less.

Poe made his name on tales of mystery and imagination; Edgar Allan Poe’s the Raven adds another layer of mystery and imagination atop it all. The effort won the film several awards, including Best Short at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival.

This version of The Raven defines the more challenging words after each section of the poem. The poem can be read on many levels; on your first reading you may want to try to understand the literal meaning of the poem, rather than getting bogged down in symbolism or trying to define every individual word.

https://www.thoughtco.com/the-raven-for-esl-class-4084215

Edgar Allan Poe (1809 – 1849) – Havran (1845)
(přel. Vítězslav Nezval, 1927)

Jednou o půlnoci, maje horečku a rozjímaje
nad divnými svazky vědy prastaré a záslužné -
když jsem klímal v polospaní, ozvalo se znenadání
velmi jemné zaťukání na dvéře - a pak už ne.
„Je to návštěva, či zdání, bylo to tak nezvučné -
jednou jen a pak už ne.“

Ach, již při vzpomínce blednu! Myslím, že to bylo v lednu,
každý uhlík vrhal stín jen přede mne a dál už ne.
Toužil jsem po kuropění; - marně hledaje v svém čtení
ulehčení od hoře nad Lenorou - již poslušné
světice zvou Lenora - nad jménem dívky nadvzdušné,
jež byla mou a teď už ne.

Smutný šelest záclon vlaje z hedvábí a ohýbá je
s hrůzou - již jsem do té doby neznal ani přibližně;
abych skryl své polekání, říkal jsem si bez ustání:
„Je to host, jenž z nenadání zaklepal tak neslyšně -
pozdní host, jenž z nenadání zaklepal tak neslyšně -
jednou jen a pak již ne.“

http://www.oook.cz/poe/havran.html

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore –
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door –
“ ‘Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door –
Only this and nothing more.”

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; – vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow – sorrow for the lost Lenore –
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore –
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me – filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
“ ‘Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door –
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; –
This it is and nothing more.”