The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-10-10
EDGAR A. POE.
HOW "rHE RAyEE" WAS WRITTEN.

In discussion of the mental condition OF
Edgar A. Poe, in Scribner for October, under
the title of "a Mad Man of Letters" Mr. E.
G. Fairfield gives the following conflicting
. accounts of the composition of "The Raven
Il Another fact that seems to witness to his
epileptic condition is constituted by the habi
tual lying that marked the latter and best
known part OF his career. One instance must
illustrate the many. / sh Ill take it for granted
that the general reader is familiar with that
remarkable analytic paper in which he de-
scribes the composition of "The Raven" and
the plan upon which it was constructed.
American literature contains nothing cleverel
in its way, and its cleverness is manifold en-
lhanced when it is understood that it is simply
and unequivocally fiction, as the actual cir
cumstances under which the poem was written
conclusively show.
Poe then occupied a cottage at Fordham-a
kind of poets nook, just out Of hearing of the
busy hum Of the city. He had walked all the
way from New York that afternoon, and, hav.
ing taken cup of tea, went out in the even.
ing and wandered about for an hour or more.
His beloved Virginia was sick almost unto
dexth; he was without money to procure the
necessary medicines He was out until about
10 o'clock. When he went in he sat down at
his writing table and dashed off "The Ra.
her considera' ion the same night, and it was
printed substantially as it was written.
This account of the origin Of the poem was
communicated to me in the fall of 1865 by a
gentleman who protested to be indebted to
Mrs. GLENN for the facts as he stated them
and in the course Of saunter in the South,
in the summer of 1867, I took occasion to
verify his story by an interview with that
aged lady. Let me now drop Mrs. GLENN
version of O paragraph to consider another,
resting upon the testimony of Colonel du
Sole, who was intimate with Poe at this
period, and concurred in by other literary
contemporaries who used to meet him of a
midday for budget of gossip and glass OF
ale at Sandy Wesh's cellar in Ann street.
Du Sole says that the poem was produced
stanzs by stauza al small intervals, and sub
mitted by Poe piecemeal to the criticism and
emendation of his intimates, who suggested
various alterations and substitutions. Poe
adopted many OF them. Du Sole quotes
particular instances of phrase that were in
corporated at his suggestion, and thus "The
Raven" was kind Ct joint stock aff.r, in
which many minds held small shares Of intel
lectual capital. At length, when the last
stone had been placed in position and passed
upon, the structure was vot ed conn lete.
The reconcili alton OF these conflicting YER
sions lies, possible, in the hypothesis that he
wrote the poem substantially, as stated by
Mrs. GLENN, and atterward, with the shrewd
idea of stimulating expectation little, or by
way Of subtle and delicate aattery, submitted
it to his friends stanza by stanza, adopting
such emendations and substituiions of phrase
as tickled his ear or suited bis fancy. Such
alterations would scarcely affect the general
tenor of the text, as Mrs. GLENN first heard it,
and, considering the length of the poem, ap-
pear to have been very few and of small i'm
portance, granting all that Col du Sole
claims. Besides, it was like him to amuse
himself in this way, hoaxing his friends, and
then laughing in his sleeve at them.