, 1870-07-31
AUTHORSHIP OF 1.-THE RAVEN"


It is scarcely possible that the pretended
letter from Edgar A. Poe, denying the au-
thorship OF ''The Raven, and attributing
it to aIr. Samuel Fenwick, can be gen.
uiue; and, even if it were authentic, It
is eontradictcd by so many independent
statements by the same person that, MS
there il no other witness but Poe in the
ctssc, We prefer to take the elaborate state
ments which he must haye made when
sober TO IN informal letter Which he might
have written, if at all, when drunk In
the first place, it Is au intellectual isnpas-
sibility that any man could write so lnys-
tic elaborate, mud finished q poem
as 1.-THE Raven" with such novel and
original rersidcation us it displays
its as to send it to a friend for correction,
with permission to the friend to publish it
III his own na,ne. Again: Il this were
true, there would be no particular basencas
in publishing the poem in his own name,
for which man Of Poe's moral character
ueed apologize Yet, the author OF the
forgery deems it necessary to make Poe
sion to publish it in his own name, and
that be did not publish it because of TINT
permission, but because le was drunk and
did not know what he was doing. Again:
Next to the beauty Of Poe'a 'Raven," is his
analysis Of the mode in which he conceived
aud wrote The Raven" He says, in this
elaborate essay, which IS one Of the most
brilliant prose essays in the English Ian
guage, that he began with the refrain,
"Nevcrmore." He conceived several words
which might be used as sounding refrain
at the end Of every stouza, and could think
Of rone so sonoroas and impressive as
"Neverno1e." The word being Of so}anan
meaning, cast the tone of the poom, which,
he thought, must be sad, to CORE.
sponi. Also, as it admitted Of many
rhymes with words of an endless variety uI
meaning, II occurred 10 him TINT he naigh1
easily give the poem jingling versiica
tion with frequent rhymes. His ne1
point was how to conceive of some person
echo, beast, or bird, as being supposed Il
repeat this word, or cry that couespondet
IL it, So as to render it coherent, as q re
fzs.in at tho end of every verse. He frs
thought of the parrot; bnt this dessroye,
i :Lc solcmuity. The raven YVES black
therefore II bird of mourning, IN,
lad been saught to speak. But to whom
/ would the reiteration by the raven of S
+ dismal word as 'sncve1more" be appre
+ pirate. Only to one upon whom grie
e had fuNen THAT was uttss,y irreparable. n
, inan can ever have restored to him Iii
! 'first ove"-the lost maiden OF his you'll
C ful dreams AL subsequent loves are of
u different character. This thought sugscs
o cd to him
, tThc rare anu radiant maiden
Whom the angels natne Lenorc.r
Finally ca.ue the thought of how, al
y under what circumstances the bird con1
's without violence, be supposed to I
~ peat the word :. Hs1es1nore
ID the despairiug lover, and with this saggt
:" ton the essential thought of the poem v
ae complete. This analysis is Interesting,
W showing that one Of the most tentler poet
H. If the English language Was written up
~ the theory Of finding sense TO ft the souu
u Nuw, it is scarcely conceivable that Poe,
o. s,narting under the shame of having stol
OH dead poets honors, aud betrayed de
on friends trust as this pretended letter in
ne Gates. should have increased his shame
~ an elaborate series Of falschootls cxplnini
ne aud analyzing the mode in which no W.T.
'A ii. True, his very explanation seems Fl
LII tastic und unnatural. Bnt eli that Poe
. w4s fantastic and unnatural. O.
isaycn in its versi6catiou, is such
cn l4sc1n MS the author Of Tho Bells d
are :. '.Anuabel. Les" would he much more Ii
ID lx than Mr.. Sasnnel Fenwick to write,
al its weird conceptions it fully agrees VI
na al tho works Of the unhappy poet
ue short, upon Mr.. Poe's own testimony,
an rect and indirect, even admitting the 6
So uineness of this letter, il would lie easie
NY !,elicye Tint Poe was Intoxicated when
ea- wrote the letter, than he did not VI
alS ''T1e Raven"
.as-
est RARITEs OF RusK1H.
SIN. Mr.. Ruskin, the representative of E
g is lish critical e1quisitoness, has been deli
Fsas ing some lectures ou tic fne arts, be
ish. the University Of Oxford. Instead Of
lust dents of art, I,is audience is describet
lil'~ "a whispering and sinpering con
,ro- cation of critical bonneta-born tn
lar. ce1leutalists, who arc never
he ready to admire n phrase j
rio. .,a<letl with ctithcts and bciewel1esl viii
} dv .'tcrations MS when they do not unders.
hur = word Of it." Upon this enchanting
SIN enchanted audience AIr. Rnskin's attanu
uch :runsccndentAlisni fell with a sense of
sept :iut1s rapture, like that with which an
aaid who could uerer
1cm. on,prehcnd Old Uundred list
muse nss half i'll pain, aud half in tr
aad a. % her first opera. Mr.. Kuskin gracio
satic informed these Oxford bellies, of sweei
~ ! .nd upwards, that, Education, in its d
bes1 est sense, is not the equalizer but the
what - . ~ .trr1 s1:h;r =: -: