Poe's Quarrel with Boston Writers

Edgar Allan Poe
"Review of Twice-Told Tales"
Graham's Magazine, May 1842
[Full text]

In his 1837 (unsigned) review of this collection, Longfellow describes Hawthorne as an upbeat, Romantic visionary: "The book, though in prose, is written nevertheless by a poet. He looks upon all things in the spirit of love, and with lively sympathies. ... The true poet is a friendly man. ... To his eye all things are beautiful and holy." We should give Poe credit for seeing and celebrating a less sunny side to these short stories. In his first review of this collection, he observed that the "tone is singularly effective – wild, plaintive, thoughtful, and in full accordance with his themes." Not quite Melville's "NO! in thunder," but a serious advance beyond Longfellow's sense that what we get in Hawthorne is "pleasant philosophy, and ... quiet humor."

Boston Public Library, Research Library Collection