The Raven, and The Philosophy of Composition

By Edgar Allan Poe

This essay was written by American writer Edgar Allan Poe in 1846 that elucidates a theory about how good writers write when they write well. He concludes that length, "unity of effect" and a logical method are important considerations for good writing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Good Press
• Release date: Nov 19, 2019
• ISBN: 4057664092052

Edgar Allan Poe

New York Times bestselling author Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University, with appointments at the Fuqua School of Business, the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, and the Department of Economics. He has also held a visiting professorship at MIT’s Media Lab. He has appeared on CNN and CNBC, and is a regular commentator on National Public Radio’s Marketplace. He lives in Durham, North Carolina, with his wife and two children.

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Edgar Allan Poe

The Raven, and The Philosophy of Composition

Published by Good Press, 2022

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EAN 4057664092052

Table of Contents

Foreword

The Philosophy of Composition

The Raven

Paul Elder and Company

San Francisco and New York

Foreword

Table of Contents

The initial intention of the publishers to present The Raven without preface, notes, or other extraneous matter that might detract from an undivided appreciation of the poem, has been somewhat modified by the introduction of Poe’s prose essay, The Philosophy of Composition. If any justification were necessary, it is to be found both in the unique literary interest of the essay, and in the fact that it is (or purports to be) a frank exposition of the modus operandi by which The Raven was written. It is felt that no other introduction could be more happily conceived or executed. Coming from Poe’s own hand, it directly avoids the charge of presumption; and written in Poe’s most felicitous style, it entirely escapes the defect—not uncommon in analytical treatises—of pedantry.

It is indeed possible, as some critics assert, that this supposed analysis is purely fictitious. If so, it becomes all the more distinctive as a marvelous bit of imaginative writing, and as such ranks equally with that wild snatch of melody, The Raven. But these same critics would lead us further to believe that The Raven itself is almost a literal translation of the work of a Persian poet. If they be again correct, Poe’s genius as seen in the creation of The Philosophy of Composition is far more startling than it has otherwise appeared; and robbed of his bay leaves in the realm of poetry, he is to be