If anyone who has been mentioned in this thread is overrated, its Edgar Allen Poe. At least as a poet.
Er, no.
EA Poe - Alone
"From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then- in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life- was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,
From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view."
You might not get it, but the unique truth Poe uncovers here, for me, makes this my favourite poem ever. Poe is in my only over-rated by people who, generally, aren't familiar with all his works, if you see what I mean.
Burton, however, has indeed done some stinkers. I still stand by saying the quality of his output is generally declining. His first short, Vincent, was pure brilliance. For those commenting on Burtons mastery of colour: well, he was originally an animator.
