The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1881-01-15

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follow impatience caused by his peculiarities.
He was of the conventional type of unconven-
tional genius-before practical era of litera-
ture had discovered, proclaimed and proved
that straight course is quickest, and that the
deviating and capricious exercise of power is
in so much to the delay and detriment of its
progress. And yet again, much allowance is
to be made for the greatly increased ease and
respect now accorded to the literary man; and
we may thank our days that person whose
work belongs to letters need not prove his
position by any conspicuous feats of eccen-
tricity, but may pursue his daily labors in re-
spectacle and business-like fashion. Whether
it was particularly worth while for Mr.. Stod-
dard to bring forward the shade of Ed
gar Poe from its kindred shadows to
set him in to-day's frank sunlight
was for Mr.. Stoddard to decide and no man
else AT least, we may say, the biography is
written with the depth of sympathy and the
full richness of vocabulary, the dignity and
warmth of his strong and polished manner.
He supplements with the trained force of his
own genius the wandering and wilful gift of
his subject. He harmonizes the sweet bells
tangled into such chimes as in free and whole
some air they might have sounded. The liv-
ing writer gives of his life to the dead, and
raises him before our eyes a pathetic ghost
with some hints of angelic semblance. 1t is
not that Mr.. Stoddard-whose sight is at once
keen and powerful-condones the faults or be-
lieves the talent fiawless, of Edgar Poe; it is
simply that seeing what bitter blame has
grown like weeds about this mans grave, he
sets himself to pluck them away with kindly
and pious hand. 1t is gentle Office; and yet
the plain fact remains that Edgar Poe's writ
ings must plead their own case. His stories
chilled the blood of the readers of his
time; but we, who are used to the SEN
sations of Wilkie Collins. the inge-
nuites of Jules Verne, find les to
enjoy and more of physical disgust in
Edgar Poe's tales. 1t is the raw ma
terial of horror that he offers the read
or, not the high tragic terror which is leglti-
mate material of art, and not even the finest
quality of cleverness in constructing myste-
ries Yet it were idle to deny the proofs of
genius in such tale as the Gold Bug, by far
his best work; and certain traits of inspiration
are to be seen in the phosphorescent wander
ing light of some of his other stories. AS
poet his art was beneath criticism, whatever
may be said for his sentiment-which had the
fatal element Of self consciousness and great
disposition to diffuse itself in jingle. OF course
it should be remembered that his preposterous
metrical feats were experiments he had not
the superb models of the music of verse
with which Norris Swinburne, Ten
how
decade but the ear that could tolerate the
crazy refrains, the empty clangor, the useless
and clumsy reiterations of his verse, much
more invent them, was not musical ear His
verse was parallel with the music of Ashan-
tee and Congo. And if his passion were so
powerful as the exaggerated pitch of his words
would signify-how shall we account for the
slowness, the utter cessation, while he repeats
unimportant phrases to satisfy some mental
metrical superstition, as useless as DR.. John
sons fancy for stopping to touch fenceposts on
the way? Edgar Poe's best poem, The Bells,
deserves credit as an early step in the path
since so brilliantly pursued by English poets,
the mutual way of sound and sense; but it is
something too obvious in its effect, and the
means by which it is wrought. Here and
there in his work is a line made up of the inn
agination of genius but the next may be fairly
comic in its rapid descent from the poetic lev.
| ell. AS a critic, Poe was often interesting
sometimes just, but not to be depended upon
| cal work was at its best-a sure proof of share
| ofthe true literary gift; but he was not discrim
| mating. Tt is refreshing hear him reprov
II ;nbo 81 III fnr I,
| revolving picture or image;" and one wishes
| that this conviction had been applied to his
| own work. And this critique of r. III. Horne's
| "Orion" contains a curious and convincing
proof of the plentiful lack of music in the crit
| ical soul of Edgar Poe, which it may not be
| too far stretching the text to say-perhaps rem
| dered him ripe for the sanguinary horrors of
| some of his literary Deeds
| Sometimes (says Poe in this criticism) lin.
| deed, very often-we encounter q purposeess
| oddness or foreignness of speech. For exam
| pie, at page Is:
LAS in Dodona once ere driven thence
Be Zeus for that Rexergon burnt some oaks
Mr.. Home will find it impossible to assign a
| good reason for not here using because.
| Whether Mr.. Horne took up the glove sc
cavalierly thrown down by his critic, is moi
/ iOCOluVu-uue eAO OOiulOdi uioOoIuc VI VIZ
| phrase "Be Zeus, because will be its own re
| ply.
There is no occasion to speak here of the
mingled good and evil, already the matter Of
much proftless and sometimes cruel discus
sion, of Edgar Poe's life. That rests in hi:
grave and in Heavens merciful judgment. II
| is only needful to acknowledge the obligations
to Mr.. R. H. Stoddard for an admirable bio
| graphical sketch, at once discriminating and
charitable, just and generous. 1t is work like
Mr.. Stoddards that dignifes and make
healthful the literature of our times: it can af
ford to give of its plenty to men who had les;
| luck and less merit.
Ballads and Other Verses. By James T
Fields. Boston; Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
Portland: Loring, Short & Harmony Mr.
Fields has done so many good turns to literar.
people in the course of his long and successful
career in his publishing house, that it will b,
natural and easy for them to welcome cordial
ly the appearance of his book of poems. Ant
oven had reviewers any disposition to deal un
gently with his work, that delicious lesson Il
faultfnders (and let the critics see to 1t tina
their title be set free from the secondary mean
ing of fault-fnder which certain fierce folk o
their fraternity have attached to it) the deli
cious lesson, not too often to be studied, Th
Owl Critic. 1t is capital satire, theme, man
ner, metre and refrain are all fortunate. l
ought to be printed in gold lettering and huns
over every reviewers table. 1t is not har,
thing to say Of Mr.. Fields other humorous po
ems, that this one is the best His seriou.
verse is graceful and sincere. His Ballad o
the Tempest is simple and genuine. Youth
Song is very lovely in music and metre; an,
there is subtle tunefulness in Perdita Moon
rise at Sea is an extremely clear and vivi
word of the faith of childhood. A Poor Man
Epitaph is striking in its honest and health
tone. The debonair, sub-humorous key @
Pinks is very happy. The White-Throate'
Sparrow and In Springtime have both sent
ment and atmosphere. 1t may fairly be said
that Mr.. Fields instinct of the successful pull
Usher was not at fault to print these poems.
Knight Templarism Illustrated, &C., Chicago
Ezra A. Cook. This is an expose of the Counc
and Commandery degrees of Masonry issued il
the interests of Anti Masonic society. In tn
preface the author claims that he has var
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