Poe's Quarrel with Boston Writers

James Russell Lowell
A Fable for Critics: A Glance at a Few of Our Literary Progenies
New York: G. P. Putnam, 1848

In this satirical appraisal, Lowell comments on the work of contemporary American writers, including Poe, Longfellow, Hawthorne, Emerson, Bryant, Whittier, Holmes, Cooper, and Irving. By this time in the evolution of their relationship, Lowell could not separate his evaluation of Poe from Poe's rough, if often accurate, treatment of Longfellow. In his earlier biographical sketch, Lowell called Poe a "genius." Here he is less positive: "There comes Poe, with his raven, like Barnaby Rudge, / Three-fifths of him genius and two-fifths sheer fudge..."

Boston Public Library, Rare Books & Manuscripts