Edgar Allan Poe. By Arthur Ransoms. (Martin Seeker. 7s. (3d.
net.)—It is satisfactory to find a writer who in dealing with Poe can hold the balance even. The "Biographical Back- ground" with which Mr. Ransom° begins is reasonable both in its outlines and its colouring. Poe was perverse and he was unfortunate. It is not easy to imagine him in any circumstances reaching the assured and dignified position of a Longfellow or a Lowell; on the other hand, he might, if fortune had favoured him, have turned out a better and happier man than he was. As for the criticisms which follow, we feel a certain hesitation in judging. It is always unsatisfactory work to criticise a critic. Sometimes we must own to a difficulty in understanding what Mr. Ransome means, as when he writes of certain essays "whose temper of mind lets them share with [certain others] a swift and dryshod life." Commonly we find ourselves in agreement with particular judgments. He points to the same masterpieces which have roused, we remember, our admiration or terror,—who cannot recall the startling denoilment of "Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" ? But somehow we are not helped in appreciating Poe by even the most ingenious valuation of his qualities and power. Others may feel differently. They will find much in Mr. Ransome's book.
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