lOO PROCEEDINGS MANCHESTER INSTITUTE 



but his ear, his sense of propriety and fitness in the use of lan- 

 guage was inexorable. The conflict of the two was torture and 

 wore him out with its fierceness. He cared greatly to satisfy 

 himself, and w^as, in truth, unwearied in polishing and repolish- 

 ing what he had written. An instinct that is not content with 

 first suggestions, easy solutions, but alters and realters, striving 

 toward the more perfect expression, this is the master key in all 

 art. This distinguishes the artist. Poe does not allow the 

 painstaking to become too apparent. He conceals the effort, 

 but the more you read of his work the more surely it is there. 

 His self-restraint, his literary conscienciousness compelled his 

 fertile imagination to become his slave and servant. 



(c) The third high quality in Poe's style is his sense of mu- 

 sic and rhythm. This was very keen. No English writer has 

 possessed it in higher degree, unless it be Swinburne. The very 

 titles of his tales and poems are a witness. They were invented 

 and chosen by reason of their liquid spell, their flute-like quali- 

 ty. "Eleonora," " Ulalume," "Eenore." Take such a phrase 

 as "Night's Plutonian shore." It does not mean very much. 

 It will not bear analysis, but the mere concord of syllables is 

 undeniably pleasant ; it lingers on the ear ; it imprints itself on 

 the mind. English is not in itself a musical tongue, its harmo- 

 nies have to be sought for. But Poe wrought and fashioned 

 them with skill, by a sure and native instinct. That instinct is 

 not merely for the soft and soothing elements of language. Poe 

 knew how to use the flashlight of vivid, piercing, nerve-tingling 

 words. I^ike all true musicians, he understood the value of 

 contrasts and discords, the crash and thunder hidden in the vo- 

 cal sounds of speech. He rated, perhaps too highly, the effect 

 of iteration on the ear, was fascinated by devices of alliteration 

 and refrain. 



Poe is not a writer to whom we turn for inspiration. He does 

 not stir or even touch the deeper being of humanity. He has no 

 message to the strenuous life. But he will keep his place, and 

 it seems likely to be a permanent place in English letters. 



We do not always care for, we do not alwaj^s need the seer and 

 the prophet. Sometimes the mind craves the artist's service, 



