1 O Í O / J l U l i A K AL.L.A1N TOt

',

ous vibration of the chain. The noíse lasted for several minutes, during which,that I rnight hearkcn to it with the rnore satisfaction, I ceased my labours andsat down upon the bonés. Wheri at last the cianking subsideni, I resurned thetrowel, and finished without int«;rriiption the fifth, the sixth, and the seventhtier, The wall was now nearly uptm a leveí with my breast. I agai n paused, íiindholding the flambeaux over the niason-work, threw a few feehle rays upon t'tiefigure within.

A succession of loutl and shrill screams, bursting suddenfy. fi-om the throaíof the chained fonn, seemed to thrust me violendy back. For a brief momentI hfcsiitated, I tretnbled. Unsheanhing my rapier, I began to gropc with it aboutthe. itecess; but the thought of an instant reassured me. I placcd my hímndupem the solid fabric of the catsucombs and fdt satisfied. l reapproached thewáll.. I replied to the yells of him who clamoured. I re-echoed, I aided, I sur-passed them in volume and in Sitrength. I díd this, and the clamourer gn;wstill.

It was now midnight, and my ilask was drawíing to a cílose. l had cotnpletedthe eighth, the ninth and the tuailh tier. I ha,d finished a porfiou of the líisland lhe elevonth; there remaineiil bui a single iitone to be fitted and plasleredin. I slruggled with its weighl; I [ilaced i( partially in its destined posilion. Buinow (here cume froni oul the niclie a low Iniigh that erectwl lhe hairs uponiny licnd. It was smcoecded by a sa<l voice, which I had d i l f i t u l ly in recogniz-ing ns t l t i i i of lho iiobh- 1'orliiiioio. 'lhe voice said—

"Ha! ha! ha! - he! he! hf! a very goodjoke, indeed—an excellent jest. Wewill linve ni imy a rich laugh alioul il at lhe palazzo—he! he! he!—over our\viiio - l i í 1 ! h*'! IKÍÍ '*

" I lhe Amoiililludo!" I said."He! he! lu-!-- he! he! ht;!—yes, the Arnonlillaclo. But is it not gettíng laite?

Will not lliey be awaiting us at the palazzo-—th* Lady Portunato and the rest?l,el us !><• gone."

jfe*» ( said, "lei us be gone.""For the lave of Goa, Múntresor!""Vês," l said, "for the love of God!"But to these words I hearkened in vain for-í» reply. I grew irnpatient. I caUed

aloiid—"Foirtunato!"No answer. I caJletl agaín—"Fortunato!"Mo answer still, l thrust: a torch through the remaining apeiture and Ict it

fali within. There carne forth in return only a jingling of the bells. My heartgre*v sick; it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it só. I hastenedto make an end of my labour. I forced the last stone into its position; I plas-tered it up. Against the new masonry I re-erected the old rampart of bonés.For the half of a century no mortal hás distuitbed them. In pact: requiescní!f

4. May he rest in pea«! (Ulin),,• 'l

• .!

The Philosophy of Coimposition'

Charles Dickens, in a.note2 now lying before me, alluding l < > an examinatiois I once made of the mechanism of "Barnaby Rudge," s a y s " H y lhe wsiy,are you awate that Goclwin wrtite his 'Culeb Williams' baclcwflraf? l i e l i r^ linvolved his hero in a web of diíficulties, forming the secotld volume, andthen, for the first, cast about hlm for some mode of account.ing for what íiadbeeu done."3

l cannot tíiink this the precise mode of procedure on the purt of Godwiri—and indeed what lie himself acknowledges, is not altúgether in accordancewith M r. Dickens' idea—but the author of "Caleb Williams" was too good anartisit not to perceive the advaníage derivable frotn at least ti somewhat stwi-lar process. Nothing is more clemr than that ewery plot, wotth lhe narne, mus!be elaborated to íts â&runtémertf before âny thing be atiempted with the pen.It is only with the dénouement constantly in view that we can give a plot itsindispensable ai r of consequente, or causation, by tiialdngthe incidents, íincespecially the tone at ali pointíi, tend to the developtnent of the intentinn

There is a radical error, I think, in the usual mode of cnnstructing a storyEithet- history affords a thesis—or one is suggested by an incident of l:h(day—-or, at best» the author setí; himself to work in the comhinaiion of strikingevents to fonn rnerely the basis of his narrativa—designingj generally, (<fill in with descrijption, dialogue, or autoria! eomment, whatever crevices ofaet:, or action, may, from page to page, render themselves uppareni.

Í prefer commencíng with tine consideration of an effect. Keeping originality uhvays in view—for he is false to himself who ventures to dispense with s<obvtous and só esisily attainable a source of intercst—I ssiy to rnystflf, in thifirsl place, "Of the innumerable effects, or impressions, ofwhieh the heartthe intellect, or (more generally) the soul is stisceptible, what one shall I , 01the present occusJon, select?" Havíng chosen a novel, first, and secondly :vivid effect, l consícler whether ít can best be wrought by incident or torve—whether by ordin ary incidents and peculiar tone, or the converse, or by peculiarity both of incident and tone—afterwaird looking ahout me (or ralhewíthin) for such combinatiom of event, or tone, as shall best aid me in thcorislruction of the effect.

I have often thought how interesting a magazine paper iriighl he writtein bany author who would—that is to say, who could—detail,, step by step, thprocesses by whích any one of Siis composití<:ms attained its uitimate point ccompletíon. Whji such a paper hás never becrx give n to th<; world, I am rimeat íi loss to say—-but, perhaps, lhe autorial vanity hás had more to dó \vithi th

l. 'lrti« title ineans sosiiieíKing like 'The Theory ofWHiiling." l*oe wrotc lhe work 115 a I^cturt: iint hopes

í'iMipítalixing cih the KIJCCCSS of'The Ravi:n." Foryus ia Kis reviews Poc ha.íl campaígned ITcar delíb-rtile artístry r«ther tknn uncontrolled c:ntusíons,nd "I"hír I'hik)soph)' of Composítion" nausit be

ias part of íhitl rarnpaígn ruther thíin a fac-iiccoiinl of how l"Vie ivrote 'The Raven." In a

<:r of AugUlH ('t 18-46, Pí>e collcd the eisay his-!il s|)t;cli]i<;n of ;inuljsis."The text hertí h thutof

IWst printing, in (7mJiíii«'i Magazmit (April

2. Dsíed March 6, 1842, and prinlíd in llve I'grim iitiítion of Dickens't Letters 3. HJíi- 07.3. Wíjliam Godwin mul«s Ithls clalm in Mi 18;prefltíre to Calei WMianu (lir«< puhliíhed in 1.7!)'As £lú<mnt»y Hmlge was heting neriulived iin 58-4Põe piiblistiecl an analyiiiij of the novel lllat tdiMi

, fied the murdetcr uníl ClOTGCtty preJU:ted tlnr euing,4. riu,1 fingi revtílatioil iiliowlng t l i - ' outcomie,untyitoig, of the ploí. f'ri:*m âénoiter (I7reiuti),untie.."

618 / EDGAR AL.LAN PÕE

rnission than any one other cause. Most writers—poets in especial—prefertaving it understood that they còmposc by a species of Une frenzy5—ancstatic intuition—and would positively shudder at letting the public take aieep behind the ' scenes, at lhe elabora te and vacillating crudities ofhought— at the tiruc purposes scizcd only ut libe last moment—«t the innu-nerablc iUmpMI of idea lliat arrivcd not ai the maturity of Full víew—at lheully matured funcics discarded in despair as uininanagcablc-—at the cautiouselectioni and rAJOCtlotlt—at lhe painiul crasurcs and intwpolations—-in avonl, ai the wliccls and pinions—the lackli; for scene-shifting—the step-addcrs anil demcm-lraps—-the t-ock's fcathers, the red paint and the blaclcIBtctwi) wliicli , in nincly-ninc cases out of the hundred, constitutc the prop-rrtics «l lhe l i lcniry histrio,1'

l -nu avvare, on lhe othcr harid, that the case is by no tneans common, invhk:h an atithoriis at ali in contlition to retracc the steps by whích bis con-Imioiis liave bccn iillained. In general, suggestions, having nriscn pell-mell,

n•<• |tursncd aiul íorgoHcn in a similar manner. " .Por niy own pari, l havc neitber sympathy with the rcpugnance alludcd to,

ior, nl any time, tlic least difficulty in recalling to mind the progressivo steps>f n i iy of iny compositíons; and, since the interest of an analysis, or recon->l . i ia<: l i» i i , such as I havc corisidered a desíderatutn,'' is quite independem oimy real or fancícd interest in tfrie thing analyzed, it wili not be regarded i;is alirnich of decorum on my part to show the modus operandi8 by which somem u* <it iny own works was put together. I select "The Raven," as the most gen-cia l l ly known. It iis my desigti to render it rnunife$t that no one point in itsi;inuposi(ion is referrible either to accident oir intuition—that the work pro-ri'txk'd, (ilep by íitep, >to its completion with the precisioti and rigid conse-qiKMice of a rnatliicmatical problem. • . • ' • •

l,et us disrníss, as irrclevant to the põem per se, the circumstance—or sayl lie neccssity—which, in the first place, gave rise to the íntention of ooní-poiing a põem tliat should suit at once the popular and the criticai taste. >

Wc commencc, then, with tljis intentíon, ''l! lie inii ial consideration wai> that of extent, If any liteirary work is too long

to be read at one sitting, wc rmist be content to dispense with the immenseiyíinportant effect derivable froin unity of impression—for, if two sittings beri'(|uii'cd, the iiffnirs of lho worid inlerfcre, and cvcry thing like totality is atoncc dciilroyed. Hul since, ceiem paribus,'1 no poet can íifford to dispense,with any ihing « l > a t inay adviince bis design, it but remains to be seen'whethcr thcrc is, ín exlenl, any advanlage to c:ount:erbalani:.e the loss of tiutity^which allcnds ít. l lere l say no, at once. Wh a t we term a long põem is, in IFactyrnurely a SUCCeifion of brief omes—tlial is Io say, of brief poetical effects. 'Itis needlcss to dcmonsl rate that u poern is su<:h, only inasmuch as it intenselyexcites, by elevating, lhe soul; cind ali intensc cxcitements u;re, thrpugh ãpsyy.chal necessity, brief. For ihis n:ason, at least one half of the "Paradise "

m rM

•m®

?i, í*il!iake$p>eare's Mídsumrnfr Ntglu's Dream3.1.Í2, in Theseuss dksicription of thc; poítf.: "Thcspoct*s eye, in a fine íWnzy rolling, / Doth glancçíroTiii íieaven to earth, ifvnm earth to heciviin /AndBS ínrtaginalion botíies Iwrth / lliie forms oí thíngsiiiikmown, |.he poet's pen / Tucns them to *hapest

nnd (íivcs to airy nothÍTi^ /A local habíUtion and %^ijiimn."

6. Anliist (Latin).' . .7. Stimething to bc desiãtiwi (Latín).8^ Mtthod of proce<lvjre ÍLaUn),-'9. Odier things bemgcqual (Latin). r.1. Tlm; twelve-book blattik-verse epic by John Mitjlton, wliich contains some 3 0.500 lincs, more tha|t;la Ruiiulred times as ttiany lincs tis Põe consiciéredfdcsiniíjle in 9 põem.

Tl l l i l ' l l l l . O S O I M I Y orCOMPOSi lTION / 1 6 1 9

is essentíally prose—r-a succéssion of poetical exciternents interspersed,inevitably, wfth corresponding dépressions—the whole being d<íprived,through the'extremeness of its lengthj ofthe vastly important artistíc elcinent,totalíty, or unity, ofeffect:.r ; , . ; • ' • . . . . . .' ; > I t appearsi ewdentj then, that there is a distinct limit,, as regards length, to

ali works of liiterary art—tliè limit of a: single sitting—and that, aUhough incertain classes of prose composition, sucJi as "Robinson Crusoe,"2 (dernand-ing no unity,-) this limit may be advantageously overpassed, it can ncver prop-erly be overpassed in a põem. Within this fimit, the ext<.-nt of a põem rnay bernade to beat mathematical relatíon to its merit—in other words, to thcííxcitement or elevation—again in other wwds, to the degree of the true poet-ical effect which ít is capable of inducing; for it is clear that the brevity mujitIIKB in dírèct ratio of the intensity of the intended effectc-—thi$, with one pro-vi s ò—that a certairi degree éf duration is absolutely pequisite for the pro-duction'of any effect at ali. •>/' '• . .> • : ••. . " i• • '. • : ; • ••

Holding in view these coinsíderations, a;s well as that degree of excitéinentwhich I deemed not above the popular, while not below the criticai, laste, Iireached at on<:c what I conc:ei%d the proper length for my intende J põem—a length of about one hundred lines. It is, in fact, a hundred ahd eíght.

My'ne\ thaught conce;rncdrthe choíce-uf an>impressiona or effect, to beeonveyed: arid here I may as well' observe tfiat, throughout the construction,l: kept steadíly in view the design of rendering the work Mmvehally apprçcia-ble. l should be carried. too Far out of rriy immediate topic were I to dernon-jtrate a point upon which I have repeatedly insisted, and which, wilth thepfletical, stands not in the slightest need of demonstratíon—the point, l imean,tíkat-Beauty is the sole legitíniiate province of the poern, Afew words, hoirvever,

;ín elucidátion of my real meaníng, which some of my friends have evinced adiísposition to ínisrepresent.-That pleasuré which is:at once the most intense,thè'mqist elevalingv and the most puré, is,-1 belíeve, found in the conternpla-tiion of the beautiful. When, índeed^men speak of Beauty, they mean, pre-icísely, not a quality, as is sup|>osed, but an «ffect^-they reler, in short, just tothat;intense and puré elevation 'of-.sorti—«t *of íntellect, or-of heart—upon,w3iich J have commented, and which is'experienced in consequence olr con-.teimplatíng "the beautiful.'' Now >I desigiiaJte Beauty as the province of the

» POEMTI, merely bccause it is an obvious rule <>f Art that effects should be^rnadef i ito spring from cl:irect'causes~-líhat objects' sltould1 be attained itlirough means

jítost adaptedifor their attainment—^no one as yet having b<:en weak enough to!!;ftny that the peculiar elevation alluded to, is •most rawfiíj"attained ín the:: p>ern; Now the object, Trutli, or the satisfaction of the íntellect, and theífebject; Passion, orthe excitement of the hèart, are, althoiiigh attainable, to a': ;c(Mtain' extent, itijpoetry, far.iiriore readíly attainable in prose. Truth, .in fact,

l dí;mands a precision, and Passion, a homeliness (the tnily pussionate will com-!''^rehend me) which are absolutely antagonistic to that Beauty which, I raain-^tain, is the exciletnent, or pleasurable eleVaitíon, of the souí. It by no meansfollpws fròm any thing here said, that passion, or even truth, may not be íntro-jaiiced, and even profitably introduced, into-a põem—-for they may serve ín elu-feiiiátion, or aíd the general effect, as do díscords jn music, by contrast—but|ÍrÉt true artist will always contríve, first, to tone them into proper subservicncef e t ó y . !-• - - . . , •• . . ; .- , . . .

-s novel of shipwreck in thc Caribbcan (1719) . ' - • ' • .-' i- ' • -

.,

•

.

.

to the predominam t aitn, and, secondly, to enveil them, as far as possible, inthal Beauty which is the atmospherc and the essence of the põem.

Regarding, them, Beauty as niy province, my next question referred to thetone of its highest manifestatiori—and ali experience hás shown that this toneis one of sadness. Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme developmeint,invaríably excites the sensitivo soul to tears. Melancholy is thus the rnostlegitímate of ali the poetical tones.

The length, the province, and the tone, beiing thus determined, I betookmyself to ordinaty induction, with the víew of obtaining some artísllícpiquaricy which naight serve me as a key-note in the construction of thepoern—some pivoll upon which the whole structure might turn. In carefullythirilking over ali the usual artistic effects—o:r more propeiiy poiwts, in thetheatrical sense—II did" not fail to perceive immediately that no one had beensó Htniversally employed as thal: eif the refrain. The universality of its employ-ihertt sufficesl to assim; me of its irstrinsic value, and spared me the necessiityof submittinjj; it to analysis. I consíderedl it, however, with regard to its suis-ceptibility of improvement, and :çoon saw it to be in a primitive condition. Ascom:monly used, the refrain, or tiurden, not omily is limited Io lyric verse, I>utdepends for its impression upon the force of nnonotone—bota in sound andthought. The pleasure is deduccd solely from líhe sensti of icllentity—of repe-tition. I resolved to diversify, and só vastly heighten, the effect, hy adhering,in general, to the monotone of sound, whlfe I continuai!)/ varied that ofthought: that is to say, I deterrmned to produee continuously novel effects,by the variation of the applicatioii of the refrain—the refrain iitself remaining,for filie most part, unvaried. l

These points being settled, I next bethought me of the nature of my refrain,Since its appiicatikm was to be «ipeatedly varied, it was clear that tht! refrainitsdl: must be brief, for there would have been an insurmountable difficultyin frequent variations of application in any sentence of length. In proportionto the brevity of the sentence, would, of course, be the facility of the varía^tion. This led me at once to a sirigle word as the best refrain. .•; i

The question now arose as to the character of the word. Having made nprny rnind to a refrain, the divisioln of the poçjri into stanzas was, of course, acoroHary: the refrain forming the dose to each stanza. That such a close, Iohave force, must be sonorous and susceptible of protracted emphasis, admiit-ted no doubt; and «hese considerations inevitably led me to the long o as themosl sonorous vowel, in connectiion with r as the most produeible consonanti

The sound of the refrain beiiiig thus deterniined, it became riecessary toselect a word embodying this sound, and at the same time ir» the fullest pos-slble keeping with ilhat melancholy which I hacl predetermintid as the tone ofthe põem. In such a search it woiuld have been absolutely impossible to overvlook llu; word "Nevermore." In fact, it was the very first which presented itself.

Tkf next desideratum was a pretext for the continuous use of the one word"nevermore." In observing the diffículty which I at once fouriid in inventing asufficienlly plausible reason for il:s continuous irepetition, I díd not fail to per-ceive that this difficulty arose solely from the pre-assumption. that the woidwas to be só Contirtuously or monotonouiily spoken by a huntan being—^1 íJíkl •not fail to perceive, in short, that the difficulty lay in the reconciliation of this jmonotony with the exercise of reason on the part of the crcature repeating :the word. Here, then, irnmediatelly arose thejiJ<!a of a H0n-reasoning creattue

capable of speech; and, very naturally, a parrot, in the íírst instance, snggesleiit&elf, but was superseded forthwith by a Raven, as equally capable of speechand infínitely more in kecping with the intended tone.'>! l! had nowgone só farás the conception of a Raven-—the birdof ill omen—monotonously repeating the txne word, "Neveraaore," at lhe conclusion oeat:h stanza, in a põem of melancholy tone, and in length about one huridreilines. Now, neveir losing sight of the object swpremettess, or perfection, at u!pâints, I asked myself—"Of ali melancholy topícs, what, according to the universai understanding of mankind, is the most melancholy?" Death—was t ! i >obvious reply. "And when," I siaicl, "is this rmost melancholy of topics rnospoetical?" From what I have already explained at some length, the answeibete also, ia obviou»—"When it most closely allíes itself to Reauty: the deatbthen, of a beautillul womsln is, unquestionably, the inost poética) topic in th<world—and equally is it beyond doubt that the lips best suíited for such toplaré<those of a beireuved lover."f': I had now to combine the two ideas, of a Icwer lamenting hís deceased jnistrass and a Raven continuously repeating the word "Nevermore"—I had ticombine these, bearing in mind my design of varying, at every turn, the írpplication of the word repeated; bmt the only int:c:lligible model of such combinatioin is that of itnagining the Raven employíng the word in answer to thqueries of the lover. And here il was that l savu ai once lhe opportunity affortleifoir lhe effect on which I had been depesding—lhat is to say, the effect of ílnvariation ofapplicatMn. I saw that I could ma Ice the first query propouníled blhe. lover—the first query to which the Raven should reply "Nevermore"—lhaI could make this first query a commonplaee one—che second less só—ththird still less, and só on—until at length the: lover, startled from his originanottchalance by the melancholy character of the word itsslf— -by its frequerirepetition—- and by a considerailion of the oininous repntalion of th« fowl lhauttered it—is at length excited to superstition, and wildly propounds qu<;rteof a far different character—queríes whosc solution he bas passionately aheart-—propounds them half in superstition and. half in that. species of des;paiwhich delights in self-torture—propounds them not altògethflr becaiisr hbcJieves in the jsrophetic or demoniac character of tht: bird (which, rcusoiassures him, is merely repeating a lesson learned by rote) but because he ejqieriisnces a phrenziied pleasure in só modeling his questiona as to receivc fronthe: expected "Nevermore" the most delicious because the most íntolerable osenrow, Perceiving the opportunity thus affordecl me-—or, more strictly, ihnforced upon me in the progress of the construction—I first establíshed in wiinithe clímax, or concluding querjf~that to which "Nevermore" should be in thlusl: place an answer—that in reply to which this word "Nevermore" shoulim/olve the utmost conceivable amount of sorrow and despair.

.: ''Here then the põem may be said to have its beginning—at the end, whci! ali works of art should beigin—-for it was here, at this point o( my preconsidl erations, that I first put pen to paper irl the composition of the stan/n:

l. "Prophet," said I, "thing of evill prophet still il bird nr dcvil!By that henvcn that bendls above us—I»y that God vv<: both adore,

|i j- . ' ' Tell this souil with sorrow laden, if within. the distanl Aidenn,It shall clasip a sainted uiaiden whom tlie angell nume Lenore—

5;"' Clasp a rare and radiant míiideii wliom the ungels nininc Lenore."m^- Quoth the rã vê n "Nevermore."

1622 / l i l J C . A K Al . l .AN V U f.

í lI CQmposed this stanza, at this point, first that, by establishing t lie climax,

I mighl tln.vbel.ler vary..and graduâtc, as regards serk»usness:and {rnportance,'the prcccdinlg qúcrics of lhe iover-—and, secondly, that l might dèlinitely set-,tlc the rhylihm, the metre, ártd the lengthrand general arrangerriunt of thestanza—as well as gradunte the stánzaíi which were to precedesse that noneof lhem might sin-pass iJhis iri rhythmkaleffect. Had I been ablé, intthe sub-soijucnt coniposition, to construct mdirc vigorous stanzas, I should, tvvithoutscruple, have purposely enfeebled them, só as not to interfere withlthe cli~,macteric effect.í ' • • . • • . . " , . . , • • > • • ' „ j . . . , ! • ' • . . . .

And hcre I may as-well say a few words of the versífication. My first object(as usual) was originality, The exterit to which this hás been neglécted, ín ver-sification, És! one of the mós t únaccoujltable things in the world. Admíttinglliat there isilittle possibjlity of variety in rnere rhythm, ít is stíll clcar that thepossible varie ties of metre and stanza are absolutely infinite—and yetf/or cen-turies, no man, in verse, hás cverdone, araversecmed to ihink'Ofdonig, an orig-inal ihing, The fact is, originality (unless in minds cif ver)' unusual torce) isby no mesms a tnatter, as; some suppose, of: impulse orirituitiort. In general,1

to be foúridj it fnust be elaborately spught, and although a positive meritoEthe highesl: class, demands in its attainimerit less of invention than negatioru

Of coursuj, I pretend to no originality in either the rhythm or Itietre of the"Raven." Tljc fórmer ís lírochaic—the latter is octainetèr^acatalectic, alter-nating withjheptameter catalectic repeated in the refrain of the fif th versejand íerminatirig vrith tetrameter calalectíc. Les;> pedantically-—the feetemployed l;Hrou'ghout (trochees) eonsiht of a long syllable followedí by a short;the fifst líne of the stanja consisti of eight of these feet—the secbnd of severiand a haif (in effect two-thirds)—the thírd of eight—-lhe fouith bfsdven anda half—^thç' fifth the sanie—the sixth íhree and a híilf. Nove, ekc.li of .theselines, takenliriclividually, hás been empJoyedíbefore, and what originality the"Raven" hás, is in thcit comlrínaticm. into stanza; nothing even remotelyapproaching this comhmation hás evi;r been attempted. The effect of thisoriginality of combination ís aided by other unusual, and some altogethetnovel effects, arising from an extension of the application of. the principies ofrhyme and alliteration. : . . | l . ,: •)(!;

The ncxt poínt to be considered was the mode. of bringíngítogether the|Iover anti the Raven—and the first branch of this consideration was thialocale. For tinis the mos(. natural suggestion mightseem to be a foirest, .or theFields—bui: it hás always appearetl to me that a close circumscriptitm oj space.is absolutely neccssary to the effect of insulated inc:ident:^-it hás the force;of a frame to a picture, 11 hás an indisputable moral power-in keeping1 corí-ícentrated l:he attention, and, of course, mu,st not be confoundéd wíth mere;unity of píace. .. • i / l í í j -

I determíned, then, toplace the Iover in his chamber—in a chamber .réri-|clered sacre^d to him by nncmories of her who had frequented i t j Tlhe roomMrepresented as richly fuinished—^thís in m.ere pursuance of the id.easi! havftjialready ex]>lained on the subject of Bieauty, as the sole true pdeltícal thesiá'

The locale being tnus deterniined, il had now to introduce the bird—and;

the thoughç of introducing htm through the window, was inevitabk.The idèajof maldng ihe Jovcr suppose, in the íirst instance, that the flappáng of thjjj,wings of tlic bird againsil: the shutter, is a "tappiiig" at the door, 'originated ín.ia wish to increase, by prolonging, the reader's curíosity, and in n desire W;|

THE P H I L O S O P H Y OF COMPOSITION /,: 1623

admit the incidental effect arising from the lovefs throwing open the. door,findíng ali dark, and tlhence adoptirng the half-fancy that it was the spirit ofh i s mistress that knoeked. : '• . . • - . • •

l made the night ternpéstuous,; first, to account fortlie Raven's seekingadinissittn, and secondly, for the effect of contrast with the (physical) seren-ity withín the chamber. i < ;

I made the bird alight on the buSt: of Palias,3 also for the effect of contrastbetween the marble and the plumage;—it being understood that the bust wasabsolutely suggested by the biid—fthe bust of Palias being chosien, first, asmost iri keeping with the scholaíship of the Iover, and, secondly, for thesonorousness of the word, Palias, itself. ;

About the middle of f he põem, also, I ha vê availed myself of the force of con-trast, with a view of deepeníng the «Itirnate impression. For example, an air ofthe fantastic—approadiíng as neaf-ly to the ludicrous.as was aclmissíble—isgiven to the Raveft's entrance. He comes ín "with marjy a flirt and flutter." >'•

Not the least obeisance made he—-not a momenu stopped or stayed he,But with mien oflord or íají^perchedabove my charnbérdoor.

In the two stanstas which follow, íhe design is more obviously carried our.?— i

•' Then this ebony bird béguiling niy sad fancy into smilíngBy the grave and stern decarutn <y the countenance U ivore,| ;"Though thy crest be tliam andshaven thou," I ssiid, "art sure no craven,II: '' Ghastly grim and ancíerit Raven vvsindering fronj the nightly shore-^|: :Tell me what thy lordly name is ojn the. Nights Plutonian shore!" !| - ; " . . • Quoth the Raven "Nevermore." '• | -l • ! 1 " ' •; ' •^ j ^ r , ( . .»^ ™ . . , . : ,

| - Much I marvelled thi$ ungainly fcnvl-to hear discourse só plaínly, i •;! tiThough its answer little meaning—little relevancy bore; . i . . • ' '!' (For we cannot help agreíeing that;rio living humau being :| . s

Everyet, was bleased with seeing bird above his chatnher door—•... .-••,.. '• ' • - • • ' < • • • ;Bird or fcosf upon the sculptured ínat above his dutmber.âoor, ; . . í "

With such name as "Neverrriure." . ,,í

The effect of the dénttuemerit being thus provided for, I immediately dropthe'fantastic for a tone of the most profound seriousness:;-^thís tone cotn-ínehcing in the-stanza directly follówing the one last quoted, with the lirie,

í But the Raven, sitting lonely ón that placid bust, spoke only; etc.

From tfuis epoch the Iover no longer jests—no longer sees any thing'eveni of the fantastic ín the Raven's demeanor. He speaks of him as a "grim,i ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore," and feels the "fier)' eyes"burning into his "bosoni's core." This revolution of thought, or fancy, on the

! lover's part, is íntended to inducé a similar one on the part of the ireader—to;: bring the mind into a proper frame for the dénouement—whkh is "now|j brought. about as rapidly and as directly as possible,íl nWíth the dénouemenl proper-—with the Raven's reply, "Nevermore," toji lhe lovers final demand if he shall meet his mistres:s íri another world—thejlpoeni, in iits obvious phuse, that of ia simple narrative, may be said to havel < "' ;

f3. Bailas Atiien i, the Greek god4<:ss of wisdorn and ííie arís.

its Completion. Só f a r, every thing is within the lirnits of the accountablé—v*£ • • 'lhe real, A raven, baving learned by rote the single word "Nevermore," and jhaviing escaped f rum tlie custody of its ovvner, is driven, at miidníght, throughlthe violence of a storm, to seek acitmission at a window from whlch a light still !gleains—the chamber-window oí a student, occupied half :in poring over a Jvolume, half in dreaming «f a beloved mistress deceased. The casernent beiugthrofyn open at the fluttering of the bird's wings, the bird itself perches onthe most convenient seat out of the immedi,ai;e reach of the student, wliojamuseci by the incident and the oddity of the visher's deme.mor, demands ofit, in jest and without looking Cor a reply, its name. The raven addresscd',answers with its cnistomary woird, "Nevermore"—a word wliich funis irnme-diate echo in the melancholy heart of the student, who, içivíng u t te rumrcaloiul to certain tluoughts suggested by the occasion, is again startled hy l liefowls repetition of "Nevermore," The studeril: now guesses the stale of lhecase, bui is impelled, as I have brfore explained, by tlie h i m i ; i n thirst foi sdf-torture, and in part by superslitiion, to propound such queries to thi! bird ;r>w i l l l i r ing him, tlie lover, the most of the luxury of sorrow, through the anliic-ipaled íinswer "Nevermore." Willh (the indulgence, to tbe utmosl extreme, ofl l i i s sdf-torture, lhe narration, in what l have terméd its first or obviousplniso, híis n natural lermination, and só far lhere hás been no oversteppiaj»< i l 11 u' l imi ls of the real.

I tu i in snhjccts só handléd, however skilfully; orvvith however vivid ananayol ir i icidi- i i t , tbcrc is alvvays a certain hardness or nakedness, which repels theartís.tica! eye. Two lliings are invariably requínid—first, some amount of coitn-plexity, or more properly, adaptation; and, seeondly, some atnount of sugges-tiveaCM—tome under current, however índeíinite of meaning. It is this lalter,in earpecUl, which, impai is to a work of art só much of that rickness (to bor-row (rom COJloquy a lorcible termn) which we are too fond of confounding withthtf ideal. It is thtí excess of the suggested meaning—it is the rendering thisthe upper ihsteail ol the under current of the theme—which turns into prose(and that of the very Ilattest kind) the só called poetry of the só called tríin-scendcritalists.

í Holding these opinions, I added the two cdncluding stanzas of the poenu—their suggestiveiii£:ss being thus made to pervude ali the narrative which hásprecedeu them. 'lhe under-curtent of meaning is rendered íirst apparent inthe lines—

"Ifake thy beak from ouC my heart, and take thy forrn from off my door!"Quoth the Raven "Nevermore!"

It: will be observed that the words, "from out rny heart," involve the firstmetaphorical expressíon in the põem. They, with the answer, "Nevermore/'dispose the mino* to seek a moral in ali that hás been previously narrated. THereader begins now to regard thie Raven as emblemática!—but it is not iintilthe very last line of the very last stanza, that the intention of making liiniernblematical ofMournftd and Never-ending Remembrance is pennitted «lis-tinctly to be seeru:: , !

1 > iAnd the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting, ,. , |On the pallicl bust of Palias just above my chamber door;And his eyes have ali the seeming of a dennon's that is drcaming, '•?

l I I : E fOBTIC r i t )N<nr i . . i !

•.yM.And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the flooir;|}i'i And my soulfrom out that shadow that lies íloating on lhe floor

Shall be lifted—-nevermore.

t

l

184

From 'The Poetic Principie1

i ' In spealdng of tlie Poetic Principie, I have nodesígn to b« either thorough <'profound. While discussing, very much at nindom, the MUMltiality «l what v'cii.ll Poetry, my principal purpose will be to eiite for considcraiion, some lew itliose niinor Gnglish or American pocms which best suíil my own tastc, iwliích, upon my own fancy, hwve left the most delinile improssion. I5y "min'pofcms" l mean, of course, poems oflittle leingth. And he«-ir, in t l ie beginninpcrmil me to sny n fc-w words in n-gard to a soiinewhat peculiar principie, whicwhcl l ic r r ightful ly or wrongfnlly, lias àlways; had its iiilhit-ncc in my own crioles l imii teof lhe põem, l ImM l ln i l a longpoem does not rxisl. I i n a i n t a i n t hlhe phrasr, "a Umg põem," is simplv •' Uai CflntndlCtion in lerins.

I i i < - c < l s ra i rHy nbscivc l l m l u pociti dfii-rvc'. lis l i l l c imly inasliuicli nsescilos, by eU-vnl inu li»' soul. Tlie va l i i f ol lhe põem is in lb<" ralio ol l l i i ís i'lvíiling,cxcitcincnl. Hul n l l cxri leni i- i iH a i f , i l i rmigh a psycbnl necossity, Ira' j jent . That de((«fe of r x r i l i - m r n l vvhli:h w m i l i l c n l i l l i - a poetn Io bc' só cilllai íhll, cannot lie suslaiiu-d l l i i o i i g l i o n l a (Dinposition < i l any great li-ngtAf te r the lapse o f h a l f a n liour, ai lhe very »umost , i t (lags—lails—a revulsí«nsucs—and ihcn lhe põem is, in eflV< l, uiiid in facl, no longer such.

Tbcre are, no douhl, ma i ty who hiivi- I V i i i i i d dilTic-ull;/ in rcconciling tcriticai d ic lu i t i t h a t lhe "1'arinlise l ,ost" is U i lie dcvimlly íidniircd ihroughovvith the absolulc imposs ih i l i ly ol i n a i n l m i n i n g foi i l , i lur ing MruSfll, lamount of ei i l l i i is iasin wl i i fh l l u i l c r i l i ca l d i c l u n i WOIlId i lemand. 'l his gnvcork, in fac l , i s tobe rcgardcd ;is pocliral, n i l l y when, lo*tngflghl ol l l > . ' i l virequisite in ali works of An , Uni ly , we vícw il merely as a sciics ol nthpoems. If, to piresci-ve its U n t t y i ls t i t l a l i l v o( 'c f lV<' l o r iu ip icss ion wi- nit (as would be necessary) ai u s,iiigl<- : i i l l i i i ) j ; , l b < - resull is l) i i l a consta»! a l ination ol excilemenl and dcptcssion. Al l c r <i passage i»J wbal we Í66I toIrue poetry, therc follows, i rn -v i l a l i ly , a paxia^c of pla l i l iu le which no c r i l ipre-judgment u-an force os M) m l i n i i r ; bui if, upon complcling the work,

. i-ead il again, o rn i l l ing l lie l i r i t booli l l u i l is to say, COmnwncilig wi thíiecond—wc shiill h r. sniprisnl ai now liiuling llial admiiablc which wc bclcondemned l l h i i t ( lauinablc whicli wc hud [ircviously só much a ( l i n i i < ' < lfollows from ali i h i s iha l l l i r u l t i m a l c , ajURrcgalc, or abisolulc effccl < i f «•the best epic imdcr lho sim, is a n u l l i t y : anil th is is prccisely lhe l a v l .

In rcgaril to lhe Iliad, wc have, if not positive proof, ai Icasl very good i•son for helicvingit intonded as a series of llyrics; bui, graniing lhe epic in llion, l can say only tha t the work is based in an imperlccl scnsc ol a r l .rnodern e])ic Is, of the stipposititious ancient model, bui. 1111 inconsicleralc

l . PCH! iliíliV(;n;tI l l i i í i «:s u Icclure spvei'iil c i rnas in lhe liisl two ycnrs ofliis lifc/IHif I rxl is l rom Silrtimúuúnel (Oclober 1850).