Thepoeticprinciple

Preliminary,Poeestablishesthat a long poemdoesnot exist.Imaintainthatthephrase,along

poem,issimplyaflatcontradictionin terms. Hegoesinto thispointbysaying:apoemdeserves its
title only as it excites, by elevating the soul. The value of the poem is in the ratio of thiselevating
excitement.But all excitementsare,througha physical necessity,transient. Thatdegreeofexcitement
whichwouldentitlea poemto be socalledatall,cannotbesustainedthroughoutacompositionofany
great length It flags fail a revulsion ensues andthenthepoem is,ineffectandin fact, no longer
such. From his analysis of Paradise Lost and The Iliad, he establishes the criteria of unityofthe
poem asanessentialone,directlyrelatedto itlengthandpoeticvalue,thislatterrelatedtotheconcept
of sustained effortand sustainedeffect: It istobehopedthatcommonsense,inthetimetocome,will
preferdeciding upon aworkof art ratherbytheimpressionitmakesbytheeffectitproducesthanby
the time it took to impress the effect, or by the amount of sustained effort which had to be found
necessaryineffectingtheimpression.

On the other hand, Poealsoestablishesthat apoem may be improperlybrief.Unduebrevity

degenerates mere epigrammatism. A very short poem, while now and then producing a brilliant or
vivid,neverproducesaprofoundorenduringeffect.

Regarding to the didactic function of poetry, Poe argues: It has been assumed, tacitly and
avowedly, directly and indirectly, that the ultimate object ofallPoetryisTruth.Everypoem,should
inculcate amoral, andbythismoralisthepoeticalmerit oftheworktobejudged(...)butthe simple
fact is that would permit ourselves to look intoourownsoulsweshouldimmediatelytherediscover
that under the sun there neither exists nor can exist any work more thoroughly dignified, more
supremely noble,than thisverypoem,this poemperse,thispoemwhichisapoemandnothingmore,
thispoemwrittensolelyforthepoemssake

Apoemisalsoapoemwhenreachasenseofimmortality.

Importance ofmusicinpoetry:Itisinmusicperhapsthatthesoulmostnearlyattainsthegreat
endforwhich,wheninspiredbythePoeticSentimentitstrugglesthecreationofsupernalBeauty

To recapitulate then: I would define, in brief, the Poetry of words as The Rhythmical
CreationofBeauty.ItssolearbierisTaste. WiththeIntellect orwiththeConscienceithasonly
collateralrelation.Unlessincidentally,itasnoconcernwhatevereitherwithDutyorTruth