Evening star., 1926-04-16
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES e. TRACEWELL.

for the poems sake, and to acknowl
edge such to have been our design,
would be 10 confess ourselves radically
wa nting In the true poetic dignity and
force-but the simple fact In that
would we but permit ourselves 10 look
into our own souls we should imme
diately there discover that under the
sun there neither exists nor ca exist
any work more thoroughly dignified,
more supremely noble. than this very
poem, this poem per Sc. this poem
which Ia poem and nothing more.
this poem written solely for the poem 3
| sake
Having thus stated his thesis Poe
says that. with az deep a reverence
Tor the True as ever inspired the
bosom OF man (which was not exactly
true, because Of the very limitation
OF his natureI, he would nevertheless
limit. in some measure, it's modes Of
Incubation. He would limit 10 enforce
them
The dema nds OF Truth are severe.
She has no particular sympathy with
the flowers Of poetry. "All that which
is so Indispensable in Song is pre-
ciseiy all that with which she has
nothing whatever to do. II is but
making her haunting paradox to
wreathe her in gems and flowers.
In enforcing truth We need
severity rather than effiorescence Of
language. We must be simple. pre-.
else, terse. We must be cool calm
unirn pa ssioned. In word, we must
be In that mood which. as nearly as
possible Is the exact converse Of the
poetical.
dOes not perceive the radical and
dtnapnnno hot
ftl and poetical modes OF incuIca ton. ="
Poe divides The world OF mind. as he
calls 1t, into three distinctions, Pure
Intellect, Taste and Moral Sense.
Just a. the Intellect concerns itself
with Truth. SO Taste informs us OF
the Beautiful. while the Moral Sense
is regardful OF Duty" he asserts.
lt by no means follows, however
Poe continues. that the Indictments Of
passion, or the preCepts of duty, or
even the lessons of truth may not be
introduced into a poem. and with 8d-
vantage las he himself did in THE
Raven'D. FOR they may subserve in
cidentally. in various ways. the gen
eral purpose OF the work; but the true
artist will always contrive to tone
| them down in proper subjection to
and the real essence OF the poem"
The true desire for beauty, on the
part of the poet, who represents ma n.
kind. is but wild effort to reach
the Beauty above" Poe tells us. The
struggle 10 apprehend the superna |
loneliness this struggle. on the part
OF souls fittingiy constituted-has g
given TO the world all that which It
tthe worldD has ever been enabled at
once TO understand and to feel as
poetic"
He reca pituiates, as follows: Il
would define. in brief. the Poetry Of
words as The Rhythmical Creation
OF Beauty. Its sole arbiter 10 Taste.
With the Intellect or with the Con.
science IL has only collateral rela tions.
Unless, incidentally. it has no concern
whatever either with Duty or with
| Truth
1t was not long after Poe had spoke n
these words that he was dead-so
they may be regarded as his final
! statement on q matter dear to his
heart
He thus threw into relief. once and
for all. various funda mental states of
mind, which. in all proba bility, time
shall never change.
SO II is not so long a jump as it
seems from 1s45 to 1925.