certain of the critics, as Willis at the North and P. P. Cooke in the South, stood ever ready to sing his praises, while the New England school (with the exception of Lowell and a few others) were, on most points, arrayed against him. Since his death the pendulum has swung, slowly but steadily, towards a more favorable estimate; though there are still those who, with Mr. Brownell, can find little to commend in Poe beyond his artistry. Abroad, the estimate that has prevailed, especially in France, has been more favorable than that which has generally obtained in America. If an explanation be sought of this extraordinary diversity of opinion, it will be found mainly in the world-old difference among critics as to the province and aims of poetry, the traditional clash between those who insist on the inculcation of moral ideas as the chief business of poetry and those who adhere to the doctrine of art for art's sake.1 But it will be found in part in the fact that not a few of the critics—especially of the earlier critics . have allowed themselves to be influenced in their judgments by what they knew or believed themselves to know - about the irregularities of Poe's life and character; 2 and in part, also, by the fact that a number of the critics have based their judgments of Poe, as most laymen do to-day, on only a few of the poems, the betterknown Raven and Bells and Annabel Lee, ignoring such poems as Israfel, The City in the Sea, and The Sleeper, certainly as richly poetic as anything that Poe wrote. 1 With Poe believing as he did that the sole province of poetry is beauty (see the Letter to B- and The Poetic Principle) and fitting his practice so consistently to his creed, it was inevitable that many of the critics should align themselves sharply against him, and equally inevitable that some should come strongly to his defense. 2 Some, too, as Baudelaire, may have been influenced in the opposite direction by what they believed to be the injustice done Poe by Griswold and other early biographers. ABBREVIATIONS 1827: Tamerlane and Other Poems. By a Bostonian [Edgar A. Poe]. Boston, 1827. 1829: Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems. By Edgar A. Poe. Baltimore, 1829. 1831: Poems. By Edgar A. Poe. New York, 1831. 1845: The Raven and Other Poems. By Edgar A. Poe. New York, 1845. 1850: Poe's Poems in Vol. II of The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe, ed. Rufus W. Griswold, New York, 1850. A. W.R.: The American Whig Review (New York). B. G. M.: Burton's Gentleman's Magazine (Philadelphia). B.J.: The Broadway Journal (New York). B.M.: The Baltimore Museum. Brownell The chapter on Poe in W. C. Brownell's American Prose Masters, New York, 1909. Casket: The Philadelphia Casket. Critic: The Critic (London). Didier: The Life and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, ed. E. L. Didier, revised edition, New York, 1879. E. M.: The Evening Mirror (New York). G.L.B.: Godey's Lady's Book (Philadelphia). Graham's: Graham's Magazine (Philadelphia). Griswold: The Prose Writers of America, ed. Rufus W. Griswold, Philadelphia, 1847, 1849, etc. Harrison: The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, ed. James A. Harrison, New York [1902]. H.J.: The Home Journal (New York). Ingram: Edgar Allan Poe: His Life, Letters, and Opinions. By John H. Ingram, revised and enlarged edition, London, 1891. L.E.: The Literary Emporium (New York). Letters: Vol. XVII of Harrison's edition of Poe's works. L.M.: Leaflets of Memory (Philadelphia). L.W.: The Literary World (New York). Markham: The essay by Edwin Markham on "The Art and Genius of Poe" in Vol. I of the Cameo Edition of Poe's works, New York [1904]. M.M.: The Missionary Memorial (New York). Pioneer: The Pioneer (Boston). P.J.: The Daily Journal (Providence). P.P.A.: The Poets and Poetry of America, ed. Rufus W. Griswold, Philadelphia, 1842, 1847, 1848, 1850, etc. Richardson: The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, ed. C. F. Richardson, New York [1902]. Robertson: The chapter on Poe in J. M. Robertson's New Essays towards a Critical Method, London, 1897. Sat. C.: The Saturday Courier (Philadelphia). S.E.P.: The Saturday Evening Post (Philadelphia). S.M.: The Saturday Museum (Philadelphia). S.M.V.: The Saturday Morning Visiter (Baltimore). Stedman and Woodberry: The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, ed. E. C. Stedman and George E. Woodberry, Chicago, 1894-1895; revised edition, New York, 1914. Stoddard: The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, ed. R. H. Stoddard, New York, 1894. Tales (1840): Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque. By Edgar A. Poe. Philadelphia, 1840. Tales (1845): Tales. By Edgar A. Poe. New York, 1845. Tribune: The New York Tribune. U.M.: The Union Magazine (Philadelphia and New York). Weiss (Mrs.): The Home Life of Poe. By Mrs. S. A. Weiss. New York, 1907. Whig: The Richmond Whig. Whitty: The Complete Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, ed. J. H. Whitty, Boston, 1911. Woodberry: The Life of Edgar Allan Poe, revised edition. By George E. Woodberry, Boston, 1909. Yankee: The Boston Yankee and Literary Gazette. THE POEMS OF TEXT OF THE POEMS TAMERLANE Kind solace in a dying hour! Of Earth may shrive me of the sin I have no time to dote or dream: 5 The text of 1827, inasmuch as it exhibits radical variations from the text adopted here (that of 1845), is reproduced in the footnotes in its entirety. Following this the variants for the rest of the printed texts are given. Italics are used in the footnotes to indicate the verbal variations from the adopted text (except that in the case of variants already in italics, a heavyfaced type is used). A list of the different volumes and periodicals in which each of the poems originally appeared is given in the Notes at the end of the volume. TEXT OF 1827 I have sent for thee, holy friar; To shun the fate, with which to cope 8 deem: think (1831). 5 ΤΟ It is but agony of desire: If I can hope — oh, God! I can Its fount is holier more divine Know thou the secret of a spirit Bow'd from its wild pride into shame. Thy withering portion with the fame, I would not call thee fool, old man, IO 15 20 15 |