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O C T O B E R 1 8 5 9
The Poetical Works of Edgar A. Poe
This pocket edition of the Poetical Works of Edgar A. Poe is illustrated with a
very much idealized portrait of the author. The poems are introduced by an
original memoir, which, without eulogy or anathema, gives a clear and succinct
account of that singular and wayward genius. The copies of verses are many in
number, and most of them are chiefly remarkable for their art, rather than for
their power of awakening either pleasing or profound emotion. It is one poem
alone which makes an edition of these works emphatically called for. That poem,
it is nearly superfluous to mention, is "The Raven," and truly it is
unforgetable. In this weird and wonderful creation, art holds equal dominion
with feeling. The form not only never yields to the sweep of the thought, but
that thought, touching and fearful as is its tone, is made to turn and double
fantastically, almost playfully, in many of the lines. The croak of the raven
is taken up and moulded into rhyme by a nimble, if not a mocking spirit; and,
fascinating as is the rhythmic movement of the verse, it appears like the
dancing of the daughter of Herodias. This looks incongruous; and so do the
words of the fool which Shakespeare has intermingled with the agonies and
imprecations of Lear. In the tragedy, this is held to be a consummate stroke of
art, and certainly the reader is grateful for the relief. Had Poe a similar
design? Closely analyzed, this song seems the very ecstasy of fancy; as if the
haunting apparition inspired the poet more than it appalled the man. We can
call to mind no one who had ever played with an inexplicable horror more
daintily or more impressively; and, whether premeditated or spontaneous, it is
an epitome of the life of the writer, for the marked traits of his character
are there, and almost the prevailing expression of his countenance.
The Atlantic Monthly; October, 1859; Volume
4, No. 24;
page 522.
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