Evening star., 1926-04-15

Is, Poe then took UP his Raven
and proceeded to pull 1t TO pieces.
The initial consideration, he says,
was that Of extent. His theory was
that there is no such thing as a long
poem, that true poem must be short,
but not too short. So he selected 1OS
lines as the proper length for The
| Raven"
Then he decided that Beauty is the
sole legitimate province Of the poem. y
! as his second step. and. for his third.
that "all experience has shown that
| this tone (of its highest manifesto
| tion) Is one Of sadness"
| The length Q0S lines), the province
Cbeauty) and the tone (sadness) being
thus chosen, Poe tried to determine
some artistic piquancy which might
serve as q keynote" and decided upon
| that of the refrain as his fourth step.
| His fifth was to select a single word
as the best refrain. AS to the char
acter Of this word: 1t was to be at
J the end Of each stanZa, and there
| fore must be sonorous and suscepti-
| BILE of protracted emphasis. This de.
| termination Of sound was his sixth
| step.
| His seventh was to actually select
such q word, and one that would be
in the fullest keeping with the melan.
| CnOIy WHICH ne LlItQ pTeucIcEIIllIlSO DIS
the tone of the poem.
I'm such search IL would have
been absolutely impossible" Poe
blandly tells US, Ito overlook the word
'nevermore.' In fact. 1t was the very
first which presented itself" (Which
was very accommodating of never
more" to be sureD
| The eighth step was to find pre-
| text for the continuous use Of the
word. The idea of monotony brought
| up that of bird. first a parrot and
then a raven, the latter better in
keeping with the tone. This eighth
Of death as the most melancholy
| topic, and then on to the tenth,
| in the choice Of the death OF a beau
| tiful woman as "the most poetical
| topic in the world"
| y = X y
"r had now to combine the two
ideas, of @ lover lamenting his de-
ceased mistress and raven continu-
ously repeating the word Never
| more" Poe tells u.s. His eleventh
| step was to make the raven say the
word In answer to the queries Of the
| lover.
The twelfth was 10 select n climax:
Here then the poem may be said
| to have its beginning-at the END,
where all works Of art should begin
for it was here. at this point OF my
preconsideration. that first put pen
to paper in the composition OF the
| stanZa:
Prophet" said I, Ching. OF evil prophet
still II bird or devill
| By that heaven that bends above uS-by
| that God we both adore,
| Tell this soul, with eorrow laden. II within
| the distant Aidenn.
/ 70 shall clasp q sainted maiden whom the
Clasp q rare and radiant maiden whom the
angels name Lenore.
| ouoth the raven "Severmo!e."
Thus, at the very crix Poe fails tc
tell how he did it! He just does it
that is nll--but to go on with his
thirteenth point: lie makes the locale
the lovers chamber. His fourteenth
| step is to introduce the raven, and to
| make the night tempestuous. as his
| fifteenth move.
| His sixteenth step was to make the
bird light on the bust of Pallas. From
then on--according to POET was
merely a problem in mathematics.
There is a great deal more explana'
ton, but we have given enough To
show one thing
| That Edgar Allan Poe never in the
world composed The Raven" in the
| way he said he did!