The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1897-07-15
WAS FOE A pLAoIAR1srp

An interesting article in the Forum by
Mr.. Joel Benton will shed new light
on the almost forgotten ChiverS-POe
controversy of so years ago. Thomas
Holley Chivers was a minor poet some
what in vogue half a century ago. OF
his poetry Mr.. Benton says that lit is
mainly trash
Now and then, however, he struck a
note quite above this dead and wide
pervading commonplace; and whenever
he did, the verses brought forth We're
apt to suggest the mechanism and flaw
or of Poe.
He not only said at various times
that Poe had borrowed largely from
him, but he put the transaction in much
holder terms. The charge of fragrant
plagiarism of himself by Poe, in respect
even of THE Raven" and "Annabel
Lee was not withheld, but was vio-
lently advanced by Chivers. Nor was
he alone in making this charge. Some
of his friends took it up and repeated 1T
with a vehemence and an ability
worthy of most sacred cause.
a few Snatches from some of Chivers'
best poems are given. most of which an
tedate Poe's period of literary activity
and, a Mr.. Benton remarks, mot few
have the Poe aftatus and melody SO
strongly inherent in them that even the
nOn-critical reader could not mistake
their related quality
1t seems that in the latter part of 1853
Chivers under a non de plume in the
Waverly Magazine, charged Poe with
fragrant plagiarism.
Chivers quotes from his own book.
1.-THE Lost Pleiad,'' the following lines
from the poem ITO allegro in Heaven"
published a few years before THE Ra-
ven'' appeared, which, he asserts, show
the intelligent reader the true and only
source from which Poe obtained his
style in that poem:-
Holy angels now are bending to re-
ceive thy soul ascending
Up to Heaven to joys unending, and
to bliss which is divine;
w I, 10 &c f06
der deaths dark wings now shading
Three with gloom which is pervading
this poor broken heart of mine!
And as God doth lift the spirit up to
Heaven there to inherit
Those rewards which it doth merit,
such as none have reaped before;
Thy dear father will tomorrow lay thy
body with deep sorrow,
In the grave which is so narrow, there
to rest fOreVermOre."
Thereupon a fierce controversy was
waged, and for months the relative
merits of the question were discussed
with great Vehemence by a number of
writer's.
Some upheld the charge made by
Chivers, while others belittled his as
sumption and enthroned Poe on the
pinnacle of poetic genius Mr.. Benton
reviews the whole controversy; but as
to what conclusion can be deduced from
the facts he cites, Mr.. Benton very
naively remarks that each reader Will
be certain to make his own. No critic
will doubt that to Poe belonged the
wonderful magic and mastery of this
species of the song. If to him who says
thing best, the thing belongs,
no one will hesitate to decide that Poe
is entitled to the bays which crown
him. 1t is fact that, with all the con-
temporary airing of the subject, it is
Poe's celebrity and not Chivers' that re-
mains. The finer instinct and touch are
what the world takes account of. Chi
vers, except at rare intervals, did not
,,-rI, 10 old
tude. He put no boundary between
what was grotesque and what was in
spired He was too short breathed to
stay poised on the heights, and was but
accidentally poetic