St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1908-07-18

Be untruthful, unfaithful, unKind; |
darken the lives Of all who live under |
your shadow, rob yourself Of joy, take
peace from age, live unsought for, die
unmourned-and remaining sober, you
will escape the curse of mems pity
and be spoken of as a worthy person.
When Maarten Martens visited
New York city last summer to attend
the peace conference one of the first
things he touched on in an interview
Tin the New York Times) on literary
matters was the subject of Poe. He
said:
Can you tell me where Poe is
buried? I scarcely expected the an
swer l have been inquiring for ever.
since I landed. He is buried some
where, isn't he? and he is your great
est writer, isn't he? The greatest in
| terest attaches, if one might judge
from the controversy which RACES to
this day, to the cause and manner Of
his death, but apparently no one
knows or cares where his body lies or
can direct the foreign pilgrim with
er to repair to render his need
| of reverence"
Mr.. Stedman's judgment is t,-us con-
| firmed-indeed, mere than confirmed,
it is strongly emphasized by Mr.. Maar-
tens, who places Poe at the head Of
American men of letters. Let us
now listen to a voice from England;
that of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who
said of Poe in a recent article in an
English (Cassell's) magazine:
Il have said that look upon Poe
as the worlds supreme short story
writer. His nearest rival, I should
say, was Maupassant. The great Nor
man never rose to the extreme force
and originality of the American, but
he had natural power, an Unborn in
stinct towards the right way of max
ing his effects, which mark him as a
great master. He produced stories be-
cause it was in him to do so as nat
urally and as perfectly as an apple
tree produces apples. What fine,
sensitive, artistic touch it is! How
easily and delicately the points are
made!"
Poe was proud of being a Virginian.
In 1S41 he wrote to friend in Balti-
more: Il am a Virginian-at least
l call myself one, for have resided
all my life, until within the last few
years, at Richmond"
Another writer, Mr.. Charles L.
Moore, invites attention to Poe's
merits as "tone-painter," in an arti,
Gle in the Dial. Most epics and great
works of fiction, he thinks, have nc
trace of tone-the region of tone be,
ing the drama, the lyric and the prose
story. Hamlet begins with tone
picture, the scene on the platform at
Elsinore, hardly equaled in Shake
speare. Continuing Mr. Moore says:
with, of course, other immense in,
: feriorities, Poe cannot come into com
parison with Shakespeare in variety
of tone. Shakespeare's different
pieces are keyed to all the notes OF
color, from ebon black to the purest
: gold of sunlight. Poe keeps in the
J main in the dark side of the spectrum
/ But within his range there are great
differences in shade and always abso
; lutte certainty of effect. Consider the
, varieties of tone in the grave, sombel
colors of The Fall of the House Of
{ Usher the restless brilliancy of The
/ Masque of the Red DEATH and the
r sober, ordered daylight of 'Landor's
} Cottage;' or the range between the in
tangible shadows of 'Ulalume, the rich
, gloom of the Raven and the facetet
, sparkle of The Haunted Palace As
the modern world of letters has main