XII. 1 fancy sad soul Am. W. R.; B. J.; 1845. XIV. 2 Seraphim whose angels whose faint Am. W. R.; B. J.; 1845. 5 Quaff, oh Let me Am. W. R. XVIII. 3 demon's | demon Am. W. R.; B. J. NOTES. "Evening Mirror," Jan. 24, 1845: "We are permitted to copy, from the second number of The American Review,' the following remarkable poem by Edgar Poe. In our opinion it is the most effective single example of 'fugitive poetry' ever published in this country, and unsurpassed in English poetry for subtle conception, masterly ingenuity of versification, and consistent sustaining of imaginative lift and pokerishness.' It is one of those 'dainties bred in a book,' which we feed on. It will stick to the memory of everybody who reads it." "American Whig Review," February, 1845: "The following lines from a correspondent, besides the deep quaint strain of the sentiment, and the curious introduction of some ludicrous touches amidst the serious and impressive, as was doubtless intended by the author, — appear to us one of the most felicitous specimens of unique rhyming which has for some time met our eye. The resources of English rhythm for varieties of melody, measure, and sound, producing corresponding diversities of effect, have been thoroughly studied, much more perceived, by very few poets in the language. While the classic tongues, especially the Greek, possess, by power of accent, several advantages for versification over our own, chiefly through greater abundance of spondaic feet, we have other and very great advantages of sound by the modern usage of rhyme. Alliteration is nearly the only effect of that kind which the ancients had in common with us. It will be seen that much of the melody of 'The Raven' arises from alliteration, and the studious use of similar sounds in unusual places. In regard to its measure, it may be noted that, if all the verses were like the second, they might properly be placed merely in short lines, producing a not uncommon form; but the presence in all the others of one line — mostly the second in the verse which flows continuously, with only an aspirate pause in the middle, like that before the short line in the Sapphic Adonic, while the fifth has at the middle pause no similarity of sound with any part beside, gives the versification an entirely different effect. We could wish the capacities of our noble language, in prosody, were better understood.” Inspection of the above readings shows the poem in four states: first, as originally issued, Jan. 29, 1845; second, as revised in the "Broadway Journal," i. 6, Feb. 8, 1845; third, as revised in the edition of 1845; fourth, as revised in the Lorimer Graham copy of that edition, in Poe's MS. The earliest date assigned to the composition or draft of the poem is the summer of 1842. Dr. William Elliot Griffis, in the "Home Journal," Nov. 5, 1884, says that Poe was, in the summer of 1842, at the Barhyte trout-ponds, Saratoga Springs, New York, and mentioned the poem "to be called 'The Raven"" to Mrs. Barhyte, who was a contributor to the New York "Mirror." The next summer Poe was again at the same resort; and a conversation between him and a lad about the bird in the poem is reported by Dr. Griffis, who adds that Mrs. Barhyte was shown the draft. This lady died in April, 1844. These statements seem to be derived from Mr. Barhyte's recollection of what his wife said. Dr. Griffis sent this account in manuscript to the present writer; but it was not embodied in the biography of Poe, then being prepared, because it was thought best to admit into that volume only such new facts as were supported by contemporary documents. The next earliest date for the poem is given by Mr. Rosenbach in the "American," Feb. 26, 1887. “I read 'The Raven' long before it was published, and was in Mr. George R. Graham's office when the poem was offered to him. Poe said that his wife and Mrs. Clemm were starving, and that he was in very pressing need of the money. I carried him fifteen dollars contributed by Mr. Graham, Mr. Godey, Mr. McMichael, and others, who condemned the poem, but gave the money as a charity." This was before Poe's removal to New York, and places the date of composition certainly as early as the winter of 1843-44. Other accounts of the poem, before publication, were given by F. G. Fairfield in the "Scribner's," October, 1875, as follows: "Poe then occupied a cottage at Fordham, — a kind of poet's nook, just out of hearing of the busy hum of the city. He had walked all the way from New York that afternoon, and, having taken a cup of tea, went out in the evening and wandered about for an hour or more. His beloved Virginia was sick almost unto death; he was without money to procure the necessary medicines. He was out until about ten o'clock. When he went in he sat down at his writing-table and dashed off The Raven.' He submitted it to Mrs. Clemm for her consideration the same night, and it was printed substantially as it was written. "This account of the origin of the poem was com ་ནཱ་ municated to me in the fall of 1865, by a gentleman who professed to be indebted to Mrs. Clemm for th facts as he stated them; and in the course of a saunte in the South, in the summer of 1867, I took occasion to verify his story by an interview with that aged lady. Let me now drop Mrs. Clemm's version for a paragraph to consider another, resting upon the testimony of Colonel Du Solle, who was intimate with Poe at this period, and concurred in by other literary contemporaries who used to meet him of a midday for a budget of gossip and a glass of ale at Sandy Welsh's cellar in Ann Street. "Du Solle says that the poem was produced stanza by stanza at small intervals, and submitted by Poe piecemeal to the criticism and emendation of his intimates, who suggested various alterations and substitutions. Poe adopted many of them. Du Solle quotes particular instances of phrases that were incorporated at his suggestion, and thus The Raven' was a kind of joint-stock affair in which many minds held small shares of intellectual capital. At length, when the last stone had been placed in position and passed upon, the structure was voted complete." Poe was in the habit of declaiming his compositions, when intoxicated, in liquor saloons. An unimportant account of his offering the poem to Mr. Holley of the "American Whig Review" is given in "The South," November, 1875, quoted in Ingram, "The Raven," p. 24. Mr. Ingram also quotes from what is clearly a hoax, a letter signed J. Shaver, dated New Orleans, July 29, 1870, and quoting from an alleged letter, Poe to Daniels, Sept. 29, 1849, in which Poe is made to confess that the poem was written by Samuel Fenwick, and that he signed his own name to it and sent it for publication when intoxicated, Mr. Fen #ick being then dead. The present writer would not "ave thought it necessary to include this story, if it had Not already found its way into books. The letter, which was published in the "New Orleans Times,” and now lies before us, there is no occasion to reprint. ་ The commentary on the poem by Poe, in "The Philosophy of Composition," and passim, in the critical papers, need only be referred to. The obligation to Mrs. Browning's "Lady Geraldine's Courtship" is obvious, but does not affect the true originality of the poem; that to Pike's 'Isadore' is wholly illusory, there being a dozen poems by contemporaneous minor authors in respect to which an equally good case can be made out. Indeed, some of them really thought that Poe had plagiarized" fame from their verses. A monograph, "The Raven," London, 1885, by Mr. J. H. Ingram, to which reference has been made above, contains several translations, parodies, etc., and gives an account of the genesis, history, and bibliography of the poem. 66 THE BRIDAL BALLAD The Bridal Ballad. "Southern Literary Messenger," January, 1837; Philadelphia "Saturday Evening Post," July 31, 1841; 1845; "Broadway Journal," ii. 4. Song of The Newly Wedded. Philadelphia "Saturday Museum," March 4, 1843. TEXT. 1845. Lorimer Graham copy. Other readings: I. 3 Insert after: and many a rood of land S. L. M. II. 1 He has loved me long and well S. L. M. 2 But And; first | omit S. L. M. 4 as like B. J. |