The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-07-31
From the Nashville Banner.

From the Nashville Banner.
kkY EONAINIE." the Jingle that
Riley wrote when quite
- young man, counterfeiting Poe,
has been revived since his death, and Is
being given more attention than its mef-
it's warrant. 1t was altogether d1f1er-
ent from anything Riley ever wrote ana
quite foreign to the manner of verse
in which his chief excellence lay. 1t was
but a cheap imitation Of Poe
The revival Is not on account OF the
merits of the verse, but because the hoax
it perpetrated as an incident in Riley
life has a news value following his
death.
The counterfeit didn't deceive the truly
discerning; that was duly evidenced by
some of the comment made at the tlme'
The Indianapolis News has devoteo
much space to Riley Renaissance since
the poets death, much of it of an inter-
esting character. One such article de-
voted to THE Leonainie Hoax" gives the
comment made by some American news
papers at the time. William Cullen Bry-
ant then still alive, said editorially In
the New York Evening Post:
To get drunk was one of Poe's hap-
it's, to leave an inn without paying his
bill a thing not at all impossible to him.
and to write poem on the fly leaf OF a
book was a natural thing for any emo
tional poet to do. The trouble Is In the
poem itself 1t is so manifestly the work
of a man much lower in the scale of in
%hoD 1uSneCte0
Poe of being, even when he was drunk.
The poem effectually sets at rest what
ever suspicion there may have been that
the author had the material out Of which
a poet is made in his composition.
This comment reveals some Of the an
tipathy, possibly animosity, felt towards
Poo by contemporary poets of the New
England school, but Bryant had suff-
Gent penetration and literary judgment
| to know that the poem was not up tc
Foes standard.
criticisms reproduced in the article in the
Indianapolis News are the following:
Boston Transcript: If Poe really die
write it, it is consolation to think that
he is dead.
Nashville American: If the spirit of Ed
gar Allan Poe wanders, he will surely
pay his respects to the scalp of the In
diana man who brought it out.
This was in the latter months of 1877
Mr.. H. M. Doak had about that time
come from the Clarksville Tobacco Leaf
to the Nashville American. where his edi
torial writing was attracting attention
and this apt criticism credited to tht
American was likely from him. His pow
ers of literary discrimination are still oc
casionally put in evidence.
The article in the News discloses thu
spirit in which Riley wrote this rhyme
and printed 1t as lately discovered pro
duction from Poe. He was then quite {
young man. wasting his talents on thu
desert air as local editor of a small
town paper in Indiana. He and a coteri'
Of friends engaged in the old discussion
| always a live topic with young writers
whether publishers are governed more b!
the name Of the writer or the merit o
tho matter they accept. The story II
the indianapolis News says:
| On the occasion of one of these meet
ings, when Myers. as was his wont, hat
read some passage from Shakespeare ans
Richards had dwelt somewhat at length
on the work OF various painters. Rile.
drew from his pocket the copy Of a new
poem he had only recently composed