New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-11-25
. AUTHORS REVIEWS AND COMMENT
LITERARY CRITICISM
AND BOOK NEWS
Poe and Mrs. Whitman-The. Origins of Jefer-
sonian mocracy-Valentine Manuals
Revived-Other Reviews

an account. chiefly from original
sources. Of what must be regarded as
rather. Of what CORES ponded 10 such
AN episode. for, truth 20 TELL u was
the oygndc passion OF Poe's lie; or,
sadly lacking in the elements ooth o.
paeSion and Of grandeur.
We would not detract one scintIia
from the lustre Of poe's genius. But
like every other genius he had ms
limitations: which is after all merely
another way Of saying that he was
human. His lack of even a rudlmen-
tarv sense Of humor has often been
noted. 10 was one Of the most unior-
tunatc features of his strange cnarac-
ter. Such "a lack is always deploraoIe'
but in him it was disastrous. We can
readily believe that the possession OF a
sense Of humor would have saved MN
from much Of his unhappiness ana
from not q few of his calamiues. .
that deficiency we must add a lach OF
uassiou. save Of an artificial an q
purely Intellectual kind. The purity
of his writings has often beeH com
mented upon. In not line thal CANT
from his pcn is there even a sugseS ,
ton Of sensuality. But passion neeN
not be gross: and 10 was Poe's mlSioI-
tune TO be lacking in even the puIes.
Of human passion. His tales are nv
love tales. His poems are not love
poems ITO Helen" perhaps the I'M
est Of them all. is a work OF arr d
flau,less as Greek statue; ana as
cold "Annabel Lee" esteemed MS
supreme love lyric. is masterPleee
Of melodious mysticism, devoid OF
single drop of red, human blood.
The same characteristic prevails
throughout his wooing Of Mrs. " MT
man and his letters TO her In much
Of their pbraseologv they are love le'-
tiers. In spirit they are formal literary
compositions. marked in almost every
line with the writer's abnormal sen
,,a,,..;o,,eooes super - sensitiveness'
ecotism. and conscious or UNCONSCIOUS
nosing We may concede that he was
or thought himself, absolutely sincere
IN his professions Of alteration. CT ].
is imDossible to avoid feellng 'h"'
he was speculating upon some meIeih-
revcbosis Of that former Helen 10
whom his immortal early lyric was az
dressed. and something somewhat
stronger than a feeling that ne was
attracted to Mrs. Whitman largely pc
cause Of her admiration OF ms genius.
MARGARET Fuller, Anne Lynch ana o'Hei
gifted women he detected as near
less, unnatural, venomous' dlsnono
able set, with no guiding prlnclpIe Du'
self-esteem": no better, indeed Ih"H
Emerson. Claiming, Enghsh, Long
fellow. and the North American re
view" set. But here was a woman VINO
esteemed not herself but him, ana VINO
wrote poems in his praise
So he made love TO her IN the man
ner of ono who listens for applause a.
every well-turned period; and "heh,
having won her love, he broke heI
heart and all but destroyed her NE DIV
bis misconduct, and was hidden by her
indignant mother TO go away ana t lea'g
ber in peace. he detained TO iflehu'
Hear how | am insulted! IL Is a
lamentable picture Of the iatal IIal
ties of q genius. But II IS renewed 10y
the noble qualities Of its heroine WHO
exhibited an almost more tnan huHi",
pe+ience with his pervcrslues, ana
,,bo after he had left the scene De
Tended his memory with the spleHulN
LOYALTY of a great soul She almost re-
deemed the disgraceful lngram-Dldier-
Gill imbroglio, and did more than most
of her contemporaries TO save roe
memory from the venom oil loes anu
from the folly Of friends. ,
"Poe's Helen" is the fitting title OF
this eminently sympathetic and Jude,
ious little volume. There is more OF
Helen than Of Poe in il, and that Is
we'll. We have had much Of Poe both
t,-,e and false. but we have not MIN
erto had so satisfactory an account OF
the woman who came more nearly than
INV one else 70 being the good and
saving genius OF his ill-starred life. 1t
il nleasant to remember that she was
by no means the least OF that remark
able group Of gifted women and men
associated on the staff Of The Tribune,
and il is welcome and grateful
thing to have one Of her own sex pay
20 her memory this worthy tribute.
"To truer American existed TO
quote Emerson again, than Thoreau.
4 was perhaps not Mr.. Van Doren's
purpose, or at any rate his sole purpose
10 demonstrate that proposition; If in
deed II needs demonstration. lie does