Category: Edgar Allan Poe

If a Poem Hasn’t Ripped Apart Your Soul, You Haven’t Experienced Poetry

Edgar Allan Poe? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: A hyperbolic statement about poetry has been credited to the major literary figure Edgar Allan Poe:

If a poem hasn’t ripped apart your soul, you haven’t experienced poetry.

Could this possibly be a genuine remark from Poe?

Quote Investigator: QI has found no substantive evidence that Edgar Allan Poe who died in 1849 wrote or said this statement. The attribution probably entered circulation via a known misquotation mechanism called ‘naming confusion’.

There is an account on Twitter called @Edgar_Allan_Poe that uses the handle “Edgar Allan Poe”. On May 7, 2014 the account tweeted the following. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:[1]Tweet, From: Edgar Allan Poe @Edgar_Allan_Poe, Time: 9:25 AM, Date: May 7, 2014, Text: If a poem hasn’t ripped apart your soul; you haven’t experienced poetry. (Accessed on twitter.com on … Continue reading

If a poem hasn’t ripped apart your soul; you haven’t experienced poetry.

The tweet received more than 1,300 likes and more than 1,400 retweets by June 2021. Some who saw the tweet assumed that the statement had been crafted by the famous horror author, and propagated it with that attribution.

Yet, it is unlikely that the twitter account was being operated by the undead spirit of Poe; hence, the master of the macabre probably did not originate this quotation. Instead, the person behind the account @Edgar_Allan_Poe probably constructed it.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading If a Poem Hasn’t Ripped Apart Your Soul, You Haven’t Experienced Poetry

References

References
↑1 Tweet, From: Edgar Allan Poe @Edgar_Allan_Poe, Time: 9:25 AM, Date: May 7, 2014, Text: If a poem hasn’t ripped apart your soul; you haven’t experienced poetry. (Accessed on twitter.com on June 11, 2021) link

The Lunatics Have Taken Charge of the Asylum

Edgar Allan Poe? Richard Rowland? Terry Ramsaye? Laurence Stallings? H. L. Mencken? William Gibbs McAdoo? Jack Oakie? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: The leaders of a group often face a variety of criticisms. Harsh detractors employ a vivid metaphor from the domain of mental health. Here are two examples:

  1. The lunatics have taken over the asylum.
  2. The inmates are in charge of the asylum.

This barb has often been aimed at Hollywood. Would you please explore the provenance of this expression?

Quote Investigator: The earliest match for this metaphor known to QI appeared in the 1926 book “A Million and One Nights: A History of the Motion Picture Through 1925” by Terry Ramsaye. The statement was applied to the upstart movie studio United Artists and its four founders: prominent film director D. W. Griffith, popular comic actor Charlie Chaplin, well-known star Mary Pickford, and matinee idol Douglas Fairbanks. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:[1]1964 (1926 Copyright), A Million and One Nights: A History of the Motion Picture Through 1925 by Terry Ramsaye, Chapter 79: Mary, McAdoo and Monte Carlo, Quote Page 795, Simon and Schuster, New York. … Continue reading

The classic comment of the occasion came from Richard Rowland, then head of Metro Pictures Corporation. He received the interesting tidings from Arthur James, press and intelligence agent of Metro. Rowland meditated on the significance of the new move for almost a full second.

“So,” he remarked, “the lunatics have taken charge of the asylum.”

It should be added, lest there be an assumption that the comment sprang from snobbery, that Rowland has been philosopher enough to classify himself as “one of the accidentally successful.”

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading The Lunatics Have Taken Charge of the Asylum

References

References
↑1 1964 (1926 Copyright), A Million and One Nights: A History of the Motion Picture Through 1925 by Terry Ramsaye, Chapter 79: Mary, McAdoo and Monte Carlo, Quote Page 795, Simon and Schuster, New York. (Verified with scans)

The Enormous Multiplication of Books in Every Branch of Knowledge is One of the Greatest Evils of This Age

Edgar Allan Poe? Alfred Smee? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: The number of new books has increased vertiginously in recent years, but even in the nineteenth century critics lamented an oversupply. Did the major literary figure Edgar Allan Poe complain that the proliferation of books was “one of the greatest evils” of his age?

Quote Investigator: Edgar Allan Poe was an early employee of the “Southern Literary Messenger” of Richmond, Virginia. In 1836 he wrote a review of a legal tome titled “Reports of Cases Decided in the High Court of Chancery of Maryland”, and his first sentence provided a harsh assessment:[1]1836 October, Southern Literary Messenger, Volume 2, Number 11, Bland’s Chancery Reports (Book Review of “Reports of Cases Decided in the High Court of Chancery of Maryland” by … Continue reading

We cannot perceive any sufficient reason for the publication of this book.

Poe’s piece included a provocative general statement on this topic. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:

Now, the enormous multiplication of books in every branch of knowledge is one of the greatest evils of this age; since it presents one of the most serious obstacles to the acquisition of correct information, by throwing in the reader’s way piles of lumber, in which he must painfully grope for the scraps of useful matter, peradventure interspersed. In no department have the complaints of this evil been louder or more just, than in the law.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order. Continue reading The Enormous Multiplication of Books in Every Branch of Knowledge is One of the Greatest Evils of This Age

References

References
↑1 1836 October, Southern Literary Messenger, Volume 2, Number 11, Bland’s Chancery Reports (Book Review of “Reports of Cases Decided in the High Court of Chancery of Maryland” by Theodorick Bland) Quote Page 731, Column 2, Publisher and Proprietor T. H. White, Richmond, Virginia. (Google Books Full View) link

Believe Nothing You Hear, and Only One Half That You See

Edgar Allan Poe? Dinah Craik? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: The following hyperbolic proverb encouraging skepticism has been credited to the master of mystery and the macabre Edgar Allan Poe:

Believe half of what you see and nothing of what you hear.

Did Poe craft this saying?

Quote Investigator: The short story “The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether” by Edgar Allan Poe appeared in the November 1845 issue of “Graham’s Magazine”. The tale was set in a private hospital for the mentally ill, and the adage was spoken by the nominal head of the institution. Emphasis added by QI:[1]1845 November, Graham’s Magazine (Graham’s American Monthly Magazine of Literature and Art), Volume 28, Number 5, The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether by Edgar Allan Poe, Start Page … Continue reading

“You are young yet, my friend,” replied my host, “but the time will arrive when you will learn to judge for yourself of what is going on in the world, without trusting to the gossip of others. Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see.

This was the earliest strong match known to QI. Hence, Poe is the leading candidate for coiner of this expression although the phrasing differed slightly from the popular modern versions.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading Believe Nothing You Hear, and Only One Half That You See

References

References
↑1 1845 November, Graham’s Magazine (Graham’s American Monthly Magazine of Literature and Art), Volume 28, Number 5, The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether by Edgar Allan Poe, Start Page 193, Quote Page 194, Column 2, George R. Graham & Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (HathiTrust Full View) link

All Religion, My Friend, Is Simply Evolved Out of Chicanery, Fear, Greed, Imagination and Poetry

Edgar Allan Poe? William Barton? John A. Joyce? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: The following remark has been ascribed to the master of mystery and the macabre Edgar Allan Poe

Religion evolved out of fraud, fear, and greed.

Is this quotation accurate?

Quote Investigator: A controversial remark of this type was included in a 1901 biography of Edgar Allan Poe published by Colonel John A. Joyce. Poe aficionados consider the biography unreliable and doubt the authenticity of the quotation. Joyce presented the remarks second-hand with the following introductory words:[1] 1901, Edgar Allan Poe by Colonel John A. Joyce (John Alexander Joyce), Quote Page 107 and 108, Published by F. Tennyson Neely Company, New York. (Google Books Full View) link

The religious opinions of Poe may be found in the following conversation he had one night at the old Astor House with Mr. William Barton, who was a typo and foreman on the Broadway Journal when Poe was editor of that paper.

Mr. Barton told me this:

“One night when Poe and myself were mellowed with the fumes of the wine cup, I asked him his opinion of the hereafter. He said:

“‘I don’t bother myself about a thing of which I know nothing—just as much as anybody else!

According to Joyce, Barton inquired further about religion. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:

“‘Mr. Poe, what do you think of the religions of the world?’

“‘From the earliest dawn of creation man has worshipped something—sticks, stones, snakes, stars, suns, mountains, rivers, seas, myths, calves, popes, and preachers. He is largely an ape and mimics anything with glitter, pomp, and power.

“‘All the doctrines of the world, from the dawn of paganism, Buddhism, Mohammedism, and so-called Christianity, are but the conjurations of worldly sharpers, who make a splendid living by setting up themselves as agents of God and establishing rules and laws for fools and cowards to follow!

“‘The ass must still bear his burden, and fools build palaces and cathedrals for wise men to inhabit.

“‘No man who ever lived knows any more about the hereafter, Barton, than you and I, and all religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of chicanery, fear, greed, imagination and poetry!

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading All Religion, My Friend, Is Simply Evolved Out of Chicanery, Fear, Greed, Imagination and Poetry

References

References
↑1 1901, Edgar Allan Poe by Colonel John A. Joyce (John Alexander Joyce), Quote Page 107 and 108, Published by F. Tennyson Neely Company, New York. (Google Books Full View) link

It’s Easy Enough, My Friend, to Dream of Utopian Worlds Afar…

Edgar Allan Poe? Ted Olson? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: There is a verse stating that only one person out of one-hundred is actively working toward making bold dreams come true. This notion has been ascribed to the horror master Edgar Allan Poe. Are you familiar with this verse? Would you please examine this topic?

Quote Investigator: The October 1, 1926 issue of “Forbes” magazine printed a five stanza poem by Ted Olson titled “Dreamer and Doer”. The first stanza described the ineffectual “dreamer” archetype. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:[1] 1926 October 1, Forbes, Volume 18, Number 12, Dreamer and Doer by Ted Olson, Quote Page 32, B. C. Forbes Publishing Company, New York. (Gale Cengage)

It’s easy enough, my friend, to dream
Of Utopian worlds afar;
Where wealth and power and prowess gleam
Remote as the utmost star.

The final stanza described the “doer” archetype and included the statement under investigation:

And ninety-nine are with dreams content.
But the hope of a world made new
Is the hundredth man who is grimly bent
On making the dream come true!

Edgar Allan Poe died in 1849 long before the poem above first appeared, and QI has found no substantive evidence linking him to these words.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading It’s Easy Enough, My Friend, to Dream of Utopian Worlds Afar…

References

References
↑1 1926 October 1, Forbes, Volume 18, Number 12, Dreamer and Doer by Ted Olson, Quote Page 32, B. C. Forbes Publishing Company, New York. (Gale Cengage)

I Do Not Believe in Ghosts, But I Am Awfully Afraid of Them

Edgar Allan Poe? Germaine de Staël? Bert Leston Taylor? Charles A. Dana? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: There is a family of quips that express a comically contradictory attitude toward specters. Here are three instances:

I do not believe in ghosts, but I am awfully afraid of them.
I don’t believe in ghosts, but I’ve been running from them all my life.
I don’t believe in ghosts, but I don’t want to see one.

The master of the macabre Edgar Allan Poe sometimes has received credit for the second statement. Would you please explore this group of jokes for Halloween?

Quote Investigator: There is no substantive evidence that Edgar Allan Poe employed one of these quips.

Germaine de Staël was an author and influential French intellectual who died in 1817. The physician Sir Henry Holland met Madame de Staël on multiple occasions and dined with her; in 1872 he published a memoir titled “Recollections of Past Life” which included a quotation from de Staël in French about revenants, i.e., ghosts. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI:[1]1872, Recollections of Past Life by Sir Henry Holland, Quote Page 113, Longmans, Green, and Co., London. (Original text has “revenans” for “revenants”) (HathiTrust Full View) … Continue reading

Another trait she discloses, speaking of les revenants: ‘Je n’y crois pas, mais je les crains.’

Here is one possible translation of the French:

‘I do not believe, but I’m afraid.’

When Holland’s book was reviewed in “The London Quarterly Review”[2]1872 January, The London Quarterly Review, American Edition, Review of Sir Henry Holland’s Recollections, Start Page 82, Quote Page 88, The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, New York. (Google … Continue reading and “Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine”[3]1872 April, Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, American Edition, Review of Sir Henry Holland’s Recollections, Start Page 82, Quote Page 88, Leonard Scott Publishing Company, New York. … Continue reading the remark from Madame de Staël was reprinted which widened its distribution.

Also in 1872 the notable writer and conversationalist Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. published “The Poet at the Breakfast-Table” in which he presented a slightly different version of the quotation and ascribed the words to an unnamed “famous woman”:[4] 1872 Copyright, The Poet at the Breakfast-Table by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., Quote Page 346, George Routledge and Sons, London. Boston, Massachusetts. (HathiTrust Full View) link

We are all tattoed in our cradles with the beliefs of our tribe; the record may seem superficial, but it is indelible. You cannot educate a man wholly out of the superstitious fears which were early implanted in his imagination; no matter how utterly his reason may reject them, he will still feel as the famous woman did about ghosts, Je ne les crois pas, mais je les crains, — “I don’t believe in them, but I am afraid of them, nevertheless.”

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading I Do Not Believe in Ghosts, But I Am Awfully Afraid of Them

References

References
↑1 1872, Recollections of Past Life by Sir Henry Holland, Quote Page 113, Longmans, Green, and Co., London. (Original text has “revenans” for “revenants”) (HathiTrust Full View) link
↑2 1872 January, The London Quarterly Review, American Edition, Review of Sir Henry Holland’s Recollections, Start Page 82, Quote Page 88, The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, New York. (Google Books Full View) link
↑3 1872 April, Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, American Edition, Review of Sir Henry Holland’s Recollections, Start Page 82, Quote Page 88, Leonard Scott Publishing Company, New York. (HathiTrust Full View) link
↑4 1872 Copyright, The Poet at the Breakfast-Table by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., Quote Page 346, George Routledge and Sons, London. Boston, Massachusetts. (HathiTrust Full View) link

I Don’t Suffer from Insanity; I Enjoy Every Minute of It!

Edgar Allan Poe? Edward Hastings Ford? Lloyd Biggle Jr.? Pat Williams? Joss Whedon? Bumper Sticker? T-Shirt Slogan? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: The following statement has been attributed to Edgar Allan Poe, the influential writer of detective fiction and the macabre:

I don’t suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!

Poe died in 1849 and I think this expression only emerged in the twentieth century. Would you please explore this topic?

Quote Investigator: There is no substantive evidence that Poe said or wrote this quotation. An article titled “Did Poe Really Say That?” on the website of “The Museum of Edgar Allan Poe” in Richmond, Virginia examined the saying and concluded that it was not from Poe.[1]Website: The Museum of Edgar Allan Poe, Article title: Museum News: Did Poe Really Say That?, Article Author: Kelly, Date on website: September 10, 2014, Website description: Web presence of the Poe … Continue reading

The earliest instance located by QI appeared in a 1946 article “That’s No Gag, That’s a Switch” published in “The New York Times”. The piece presented many examples of the construction of new jokes via the modification of existing jokes. According to the paper the quip was originally crafted by the comedian Edward Hastings Ford who performed using the persona ‘Senator’ Ed Ford. The phrasing was different, but the core jest was the same. Boldface has been added to excerpts:[2] 1946 May 12, New York Times, “That’s No Gag, That’s a Switch” by Joe Laurie Jr. (Stage and radio comedian), Start Page 21, Quote Page 59, New York. (ProQuest)

Senator Ford, one of the best of the topical talkers, takes this oldie:

“Does anyone in your family suffer with rheumatism?”
“Sure, what else can they do but suffer with rheumatism?”

and switches it to:

“Does anyone in your family suffer from insanity?”
“No, they enjoy it.”

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading I Don’t Suffer from Insanity; I Enjoy Every Minute of It!

References

References
↑1 Website: The Museum of Edgar Allan Poe, Article title: Museum News: Did Poe Really Say That?, Article Author: Kelly, Date on website: September 10, 2014, Website description: Web presence of the Poe Museum of Richmond, Virginia. The Museum is located in The Old Stone House. (Accessed poemuseum.org on December 20, 2015) link
↑2 1946 May 12, New York Times, “That’s No Gag, That’s a Switch” by Joe Laurie Jr. (Stage and radio comedian), Start Page 21, Quote Page 59, New York. (ProQuest)

Sometimes I’m Terrified of My Heart, of Its Constant Hunger for Whatever It Is It Wants

Edgar Allan Poe? Poe? Anne D. Danielewski? Anonymous?

Dear Quote Investigator: Edgar Allan Poe authored groundbreaking tales in three different genres: horror, mystery, and science fiction. Numerous websites attribute the following emotion-laden passage to the literary master:

Sometimes I’m terrified of my heart; of its constant hunger for whatever it is it wants; the way it stops and starts.

I have been unable to locate these words in any story written by the famous nineteenth-century romanticist. Would you please explore this topic?

Quote Investigator: There is no substantive support for the ascription to Edgar Allan Poe.

Instead, the lines should be credited to the American singer/songwriter Poe. She released an album called “Haunted” in 2000, and the quotation was spoken by her during the fifth track which was about 52 seconds long. The audio can currently be heard on YouTube and Amazon:[1]YouTube video, Title: Terrified Heart Poe, Uploaded on March 12, 2012, Uploaded by: Amanda Johnston, (There is a delay before the final word is spoken), Description by Uploader: Song by Poe, Album … Continue reading

Sometimes, I’m terrified of my heart, of its constant hunger for whatever it is it wants; the way it stops and starts.

Note that the audio and video available on YouTube changes over time. E. A. Poe is long dead, but the Poe who crafted the words above is very much alive and has a large cohort of fans and enthusiasts. Poe’s birth name was Anne Decatur Danielewski according Wikipedia, IMDB.com, and last.fm.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading Sometimes I’m Terrified of My Heart, of Its Constant Hunger for Whatever It Is It Wants

References

References
↑1 YouTube video, Title: Terrified Heart Poe, Uploaded on March 12, 2012, Uploaded by: Amanda Johnston, (There is a delay before the final word is spoken), Description by Uploader: Song by Poe, Album – Haunted, 2001, (Album actually released in October 2000 according to metacritic.com). (Accessed on youtube.com on March 21, 2015) link

A Short Story Must Have a Single Mood and Every Sentence Must Build Towards It

Edgar Allan Poe? Apocryphal?

Dear Quote Investigator: On a popular website I saw an intriguing list of “Indispensable Writing Tips from Famous Authors”. The following words were attributed to Edgar Allan Poe, the master of mystery and the macabre:

A short story must have a single mood and every sentence must build towards it.

I was unable to determine where this statement originally appeared. Did Poe really say this?

Quote Investigator: QI hypothesizes that this sentence is a rough synopsis of comments written by Poe in a book review published in 1842. Poe used the phrase “single effect” and not the phrase “single mood” when describing the importance of concision and unified purpose in short stories. This important essay was published in Graham’s Magazine, and Poe was reviewing Nathaniel Hawthorne’s collection titled Twice-Told Tales. Here is an excerpt with boldface added:[1]1842 May, Graham’s Magazine, Volume 20, Number 5, Review of New Books, [Review by Edgar Allan Poe of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s collection Twice-Told Tales, Volume 2], Start Page 298, Quote … Continue reading

A skilful literary artist has constructed a tale. If wise he has not fashioned his thoughts to accommodate his incidents; but having conceived, with deliberate care, a certain unique or single effect to be wrought out, he then invents such incidents—he then combines such events as may best aid him in establishing this preconceived effect. If his very initial sentence tend not to the outbringing of this effect, then he has failed in his first step.

In the whole composition there should be no word written, of which the tendency, direct or indirect, is not to the one pre-established design. And by such means, with such care and skill, a picture is at length painted which leaves in the mind of him who contemplates it with a kindred art, a sense of the fullest satisfaction. The idea of the tale has been presented unblemished, because undisturbed; and this is an end unattainable by the novel. Undue brevity is just as exceptionable here as in the poem; but undue length is yet more to be avoided.

In 1846 Poe published an essay in Graham’s Magazine titled The Philosophy of Composition in which he expatiated on his vision of literary creation:[2]1846 April, Graham’s Magazine, Volume 28, Number 4, “The Philosophy of Composition” by Edgar Allan Poe, Start Page 163, Quote Page 153, George R. Graham & Co., Philadelphia, … Continue reading

Nothing is more clear than that every plot, worth the name, must be elaborated to its dénouement before any thing be attempted with the pen. It is only with the dénouement constantly in view that we can give a plot its indispensable air of consequence, or causation, by making the incidents, and especially the tone at all points, tend to the development of the intention.

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Continue reading A Short Story Must Have a Single Mood and Every Sentence Must Build Towards It

References

References
↑1 1842 May, Graham’s Magazine, Volume 20, Number 5, Review of New Books, [Review by Edgar Allan Poe of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s collection Twice-Told Tales, Volume 2], Start Page 298, Quote Page 298 and 299, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (The spelling of “skilful” was used in the original document) (Google Books full view) link
↑2 1846 April, Graham’s Magazine, Volume 28, Number 4, “The Philosophy of Composition” by Edgar Allan Poe, Start Page 163, Quote Page 153, George R. Graham & Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Google Books full view) link link
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