Notes on Edgar Allan Poe

From the NAAL introduction to Edgar Allan Poe (p. 1509):

“[Poe] thought poetry should appeal only to the sense of beauty, not truth; informational poetry, poetry of ideas, or any sort of didactic poetry was illegitimate.  Holding that the true poetic emotion was a vague sensory state, he set himself against realistic details in poetry, although the prose tale, with truth as one object, could profit from the discrete use of specifics.  Both poems and tales should be short enough to be read in one sitting; otherwise the unity of effect would be dissipated.”

• For further discussion of beauty vs. truth, of poetry vs. prose, read Poe’s “Philosophy of Composition” – see my notes on the essay.
   
• Another key concept here is “verisimilitude” – “the quality of appearing to be true or real; something that has the appearance of being true or real.”  Two other definitions: “the semblance of truth; the degree to which a work creates the appearance of truth.”  The word “verisimilitude” is a favorite with Poe, who used it in the sense of presenting details, however farfetched, in such a way as to give the impression of truth.
   
• The third key concept here is Poe’s “Single Effect Theory” – see also “The Philosophy of Composition.”