I'm writing a report on Edgar Allan Poe and I need 4 admirable qualities for him! Can somebody give me 4 admirable qualities for him?

-- Anonymous, April 04, 2001

Answers

Poe, having certianly, as you must know, more than four admirable qualities, I shall leave it to you to pick four of the following:

1. He was an utter genious in his writing and his person 2. One of, if not the, most creative writer 3. Magnificent individual, in that he could transform his sorrow into something so magnificent 4. Originator of the mystery 5. Master of the macabre writing 6. Brilliant in his conveyance of underlying ideas 7. Frought both with demons and angels, allowing neither to truly ever win in his mind. He used this to generate the masterpieces that are his legacy. 8. Inspirational in that there shall always be a way, in spite of opposition, to create something in yourself that can thus be so influential upon others. 9. His stories were all his own--complete originality. 10. His ideas far exceeded his own time, and may of his concepts still surpass the minds of many today.

Well, I hope that from amongst the attributions aforesaid, you may find four that should help you to some degree. If you have any further questions, by all means of gesture, you may indeed write and I shall reply.

All Respects and Regards.

-- Anonymous, April 04, 2001

Dan,

While I can easily agree with Mr. Regan's excellent list of enviable qualities, I would like to point out that our dear Edgar was not the originator of the mystery tale for mysteries, even detective tales had been around for some time. However, to quote Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's rhetorical question before the Poe Centennial Celebration Dinner of the Author's Society in March of 1909, "Where was the detective story until Poe breathed the breath of life into it?"

Other qualities that have always struck me as unique to Poe and his time were his profound and unquestionable love and complete devotion to his wife, Virginia. While Virginia did not necessarily share Poe's passion for poetry, through her inspiration, their enviable relationship has provided us a large volume of works by a man of profound genius, incomparable originality and literary innovation and an unparalleled mastery of the English language.

Regards,

-- Anonymous, April 05, 2001