12 - Two verse masterworks

Summary

Many poets who have commented on Poe's verse have expressed amazement regarding the relative paucity of his poetic output in relation to his status as a great poet. William Carlos Williams observed that though Poe is known as a poet, “there are but five poems, possibly three.” In his essay, “From Poe to Valèry,” T. S. Eliot noted, “He wrote very few poems, and of those few only half a dozen have had a great success: but those few are as well known to as large a number of people, are as well remembered by everybody, as any poems ever written.” Daniel Hoffman has called Poe's poetic oeuvre “one of the teeniest bodies of verse of any poet the world has applauded for over a century.” In his sonnet, “For a Copy of Poe's Poems,” Edward Arlington Robinson eloquently characterized Poe's poetic output as “wonder-songs, fantastically few.” Some have their special favorites - H.D., who named Poe her “favorite among American writers,” preferred “To Helen”; William Carlos Williams, “To One in Paradise”; Robert Pinsky, “Fairy-Land” - yet many agree that Poe's two finest poems are “The Raven” and “Ulalume.”