The Poetic Principle
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"The Poetic Principle" is an essay by Edgar Allan Poe, written near the end of his life and published posthumously in 1850 (Poe died in 1849). It is a work of literary criticism, and one of the most complete (but still far from being truly complete) discussions of Poe's literary theory. It is based on a series of lectures Poe had given on literary theory late in his life.
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[edit] Synopsis
The essay argues that a poem should be written "for a poem's sake" and that the ultimate goal of art is aesthetic. He also argues against the concept of a long poem, saying that an epic, if it is to be worth anything, must instead be structured as a collection of shorter pieces, each of which is not too long to be read in a single sitting.
The essay critiques, sometimes rather sharply, the works of other poets of his time. His most common complaint is against didacticism, which he calls a "heresy". Though Poe is referring to poetry here, it is believed that Poe's philosophy against didacticism extends to fiction.[1]
[edit] Origins
The essay was based on a lecture that Poe gave in Providence, Rhode Island at the Franklin Lyceum. The lecture reportedly drew an audience of 2000 people.[2]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Kagle, Steven E. "The Corpse Within Us" as collected in Poe and His Times: The Artist and His Milieu, edited by Benjamin Franklin Fisher IV. Baltimore: The Edgar Allan Poe Society, Inc., 1990. p. 104 ISBN 0961644923
- ^ Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York: Harper Perennial, 1992. p. 384 ISBN 0050923318
[edit] External links
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