Evening star., 1926-04-30

AS a literary advertisement, 1t may
be interesting and profitable to con
slider 1t as related to his works. But,
as Hervey Allen says, 1T is the tunes
which he heard and reproduced which
alone make him important, and not
what kind OF a man he was as a
citizen or journalist or critic
we do. not consider 1t a matter Of
supreme importance to discuss the
structure Of the violin by whose cos
mic voice our souls have been
strangely stirred, fascinating though
that discussion might be in relation to
the magical effect produced. Then
why become unduly analytic in the
case Of Poe because his music OF the
sOul has filled and thrilled us with
emotions never felt before?
"As a matter Of fact. the psychic
analytic clinic over Poe's personality,
which has been going on for quite a
spell, now Is old stuff. There have
always been those to insist that the
brains OF geniuses are abnormal.
Long before Poe's time Dryden penned
the sweeping assertion that true wits
are sure to madness near allied and
in Shakespeare we find reference to
the poets eve in fine frenzy rolling
while James Russell Lowell. in A
Fable for Critics pictures Poe him
self as coming with his raven, like
demented Barnaby Rudge. three
fifths of him genius and two-fifths
sheer fudge
Let me add that think Mr.. Allen
is a fault so far as Poe Is concerned
| when he says that because America is
| an incurabiy moral country and the
home OF the happy and conventionally
minded . ii most admires as a
human being some character type
which approa ches the ideal of it's own
moral mediocrity.' and when further
on he declares that because of his
unique personality beyond the realm
OF morals. religious, political Poe
became to America that mysterious
and wholly Ito be e.condemned personal
ity-a purely individualistic person.
creative artist
Far from being a 'whOlly-to-be-con-
demned personality in his day Poe's
popula rty, owing largely to The
Raven The Bells 'Annabel Lee was
proba bly, greater than that OF any
American writer before or since. Only
, the popularity Of Byron equaled it.
And 1t lasted and became a cult
which is not entirely outgrowD even
know what it all meant. nearly 20
years after Poe's death. | was fasci.
| mated by The Raven as the black
haired. dark.eyed village elocntionist
reclined on the parlor sofa in the role
Of Poe's doleful hero. Subsequently.
In a number Of small towns as boy
! became more and more familiar with
| the purely individualistic person the
creative artist. known as Edgar ALA n
| Poe
| And everywhere, from the old red
schoolhouse on to Washington as a
| 17-vear-old stripping. it was the same
Poe recitdtions. Poe parOdies, dis.
russions of Poe's personality. Poe
worship on the part Of Callow girls
! and bows and quite following of con
| ventional men and women. in spite
Of their moral mediOcrity.
! So we have presented both sides OF
! the Poe question and will allow the
matter to rest, leaving to the reader
| the pleasure OF awarding the verdict
| to the side which he believes merits
the golden crown.
| In making this award each reader
| will be swayed by his own personal
beliefs upon the mai ior question at
issue whether or not great writing
necessa lily means moral writing.