St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1901-06-19
Poe Fifty Years After.

Like Lanier, another Southern singer
those career offers almost as many
oathetic Incidents, Poe was endowed bv
nature with a keen appreciation of
rbvthm and music. He was prominent
l., a melodist and, what is more, the
,;,elody of his verse has not been equalled
IN The history of American literature, and
&c not surpassed by any British poet.
Rn+ as has been already stated, his reg.
;ster was not wide. Within a limited
raroe he could and did achieve remark
able results, as in the refrain of "The
Rells" or "The Raven" The musical
effect of the ballad of either of these
noems was, up to the time of their publ
cation, unequalled, and it has not been
surpassed since. Poe, with a few choice
words, like Paganini with his simple
violin, produced spell which was truly
marvellous. 1t is said of the great musl-
c;an that such was his control of his in
stru1nent and such his perfection of
technique, that in every part of musical
Europe, even with his very first notes, he
held vast audiences spell bound. 1t may
he said of Poe, that such was his intui-
tive sense OF beauty, and such the melody
of his verse, that he arrested the reluc.
tant attention of the reading public of
the two English,speaking nations, and
by his haunting music cast a glamour
over their poets which none OF them,
after repeated efforts, has ever since
succeeded in producing. Mr.. Gosse tells
us that Poe has proved himself to be the
Piper OF Hamelin to all later English
poets, of whom there ishardly one whose
verse music does not show traces of his
influence. Surely, it is no small distinc-
ton thus to have stamped the impress of
ones own genius for melodious verse
upon the succeeding generation of
English poets, and that, too, of the Vic
torian era.
Poe is sometimes called a poet of one
poem, and the criticism is not altogether
unjust For to the world at large he is
generally known as the author of "The
Raven think Mr.. Stedmau comes
nearer the truth, however, when in an
epigrammatic sentence, he SAYS: "Poe
was not a single.poem poet, but a poet
of a single mood" The theme is the
same in almost all his poems, namely,
ruin. This is the burden of his song this
the one poetic subject that always
kindled his imagination. To be sure,
the treatment varies, as might be ex-
pected but the inspiration of his poetry
is almost invariably drawn from this
one source. "Israte" furnishes an ex
Ception, but it is an exception which
proves the rule.
This is Poe's greatest limitation; and
a serious Limitation it is. 1t undermines
the foundation Of his charm to being re-
garded great poet, in the sense that
English poets like Milton, Dryden. By
ron, Wordsworth, Tennyson, and many
others that might be named are entitled
to rank as great poets. Poe in my
Judgment is an artist in verse, great
artist, indeed, but hardly a great poet.
1t is true that he possesses Originality
in the treatment of themes. perennial
charm, exquisite finish in execution, and
distinction Of individual mauner'-ele-
ments OF poetical greatness as set forth
by an eminent English essayist and critic
but he lacks, it seems to me, one of the
qualifications needed to entitle him to
rank with the great poets. His fatal
defect is his narrowness of range
Prof. Edwin w. Bowen in the Forum.