El poder de las palabras

by Edgar Allan Poe

"The Power of Words" is a short story by American author Edgar Allan Poe. Edgar Allan Poe (born Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 - October 7, 1849) was an American author, poet, editor, and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story, and is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career. Born in Boston, he was the second child of two actors. His father abandoned the family in 1810, and his mother died the following year. Thus orphaned, the child was taken in by John and Frances Allan, of Richmond, Virginia. Although they never formally adopted him, Poe was with them well into young adulthood. Tension developed later as John Allan and Edgar repeatedly clashed over debts, including those incurred by gambling, and the cost of secondary education for the young man. Poe attended the University of Virginia for one semester but left due to lack of money. Poe quarreled with Allan over the funds for his education and enlisted in the Army in 1827 under an assumed name. It was at this time his publishing career began, albeit humbly, with an anonymous collection of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827), credited only to "a Bostonian." With the death of Frances Allan in 1829, Poe and Allan reached a temporary rapprochement. Later failing as an officer's cadet at West Point and declaring a firm wish to be a poet and writer, Poe parted ways with John Allan. Poe switched his focus to prose and spent the next several years working for literary journals and periodicals, becoming known for his own style of literary criticism. His work forced him to move among several cities, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. In Baltimore in 1835, he married Virginia Clemm, his 13-year-old cousin. In January 1845 Poe published his poem, "The Raven," to instant success. His wife died of tuberculosis two years after its publication. For years, he had been planning to produce his own journal, The Penn (later renamed The Stylus), though he died before it could be produced. On October 7, 1849, at age 40, Poe died in Baltimore; the cause of his death is unknown and has been variously attributed to alcohol, brain congestion, cholera, drugs, heart disease, rabies, suicide, tuberculosis, and other agents. Poe and his works influenced literature in the United States and around the world, as well as in specialized fields, such as cosmology and cryptography. Poe and his work appear throughout popular culture in literature, music, films, and television. A number of his homes are dedicated museums today. The Mystery Writers of America present an annual award known as the Edgar Award for distinguished work in the mystery genre.

Genres: Short Stories, Classics, Philosophy, Fiction, Literature, Horror, Science Fiction

5 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1845

About the author

The name Poe brings to mind images of murderers and madmen, premature burials, and mysterious women who return from the dead. His works have been in print since 1827 and include such literary classics as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and The Fall of the House of Usher. This versatile writer’s oeuvre includes short stories, poetry, a novel, a textbook, a book of scientific theory, and hundreds of essays and book reviews. He is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern detective story and an innovator in the science fiction genre, but he made his living as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician. Poe’s reputation today rests primarily on his tales of terror as well as on his haunting lyric poetry.

Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.

The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...

Reviews

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely debate about spiritual philosophy and how it relates to the inner workings of the world. Very good food for thought.

[Francesc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conversación entre dos ángeles sobre la Creación, Dios, la felicidad y el conocimiento.
Poe utiliza la figura de los ángeles para profundizar en los temas que a él siempre le preocupaban.

-----------------

Conversation between two angels about Creation, God, happiness and knowledge.
Poe uses the figure of angels to delve into the themes that have always preoccupied him.

[Majenta · Rating 5 out of 5]

"....not in knowledge is happiness, but in the acquisition of knowledge! In for ever knowing, we are for ever blessed..."

Absolutely! Another blessing from Poe.

[Quirkyreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a play, but for me it reads more like a prose poem.

[Julia Leporace · Rating 4 out of 5]

"(...), it is here whispered that, of this infinity of matter, the sole purpose is to afford infinite springs, at which the soul may allay the thirst to know, which is for ever unquenchable within it—since to quench it, would be to extinguish the soul's self."

[Sajjad thaier · Rating 3 out of 5]

أحببتها. لقد كانت بسيطة, واضحة, وجميلة.

"AGATHOS. Ah, not in knowledge is happiness, but in the acquisition of knowledge! In for ever knowing, we are for ever blessed; but to know all were the curse of a fiend."


"but it is here whispered that, of this infinity of matter, the sole purpose is to afford infinite springs, at which the soul may allay the thirst to know, which is for ever unquenchable within it- since to quench it, would be to extinguish the soul's self."

[Alexis Breut · Rating 2 out of 5]

Note finale : 2/5

Lu dans le recueil "La Chute de la Maison Usher et autres histoires extraordinaires" des éditions RBA coleccionables.

Septième nouvelle du recueil. Je ne sais pas combien de nouvelles Edgar Poe a écrit sous la forme d'un dialogue mais j'ai trouvé celle-là extrêmement pontifiante, creuse et soporifique. Ce sont des idées mignonnes hein, les mots ont une puissance créatrice, oui... mais t'as vraiment pas besoin de te rouler à ce point-là dans tes idées.

[Nai | Libros con(té) · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Pero yo imaginé que en esta existencia todo me sería dado a conocer al mismo tiempo, y que alcanzaría así la felicidad por conocerlo todo.
-¡Ah, la felicidad no está en el conocimiento, sino en su adquisición! La beatitud eterna consiste en saber más y más; pero saberlo todo sería la maldición de un demonio.

[Lee Foust · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even here in a kind of pseudo-mystical angelic dialogue between the angel of wine(!) and the spirit of good on the nature of language as the greater creator, Poe shows his originality and quirkiness. I'm finding all of these surprises reading the complete works and filling in the spaces between the more canonical macabre tales. So far a worthwhile project.

[Natalie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Is not every word an impulse on the air?

While filled with some beautiful phrases, I found it too dense and pedantic. Poe likes to wax on with "deep thoughts" and sometimes it's thought-provoking and other times it's yawn-inspiring. All of these dialogue stories/poems are not that amusing to me. Honestly, a lot of the time, it reminds me of the ramblings of a teeanger that thinks he's "wise."

Its brilliant flowers are the dearest of all unfulfilled dreams, and its raging volcanoes are the passions of the most turbulent and unhallowed hearts.

[Nicolás Ortenzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un cuento corto, que trata sobre dos ángeles Agathos y Oinos, este último tiene inquietudes sobre el conocimiento; para el tener todo el conocimiento le dara felicidad, pero Agathos le responde: la felicidad no esta en el conocimiento, sino en su adquisición.

[Eduard Gafton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read as part of the volume Edgar Allan Poe Complete Tales and Poems.

[Iman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it

[ZAINAB · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m aware of Poe’s topic in this story but I cannot fully comprehend his point! I will read it again surly.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remember when Olivia Newton-John sang her heart out with the song "Let's Get Physical? Well this is a prose poem where Poe gets very metaphysical and gives us a pondering look into his beliefs on the age old question of creation and existence. So Let's Get Metaphysical here. Two angelic spiritual entities are conversing about the method of creation. Agathos who is an established spirit (his name from the Greek means of good constitution or nature) is inducting newly arrived Oinos, (whose name from the Greek is female and means wine) and orientating her to their new existence while answering her questions on creation. I found the best summation of this prose poem was given by Arthur Hobson Quinn "Poe faced in this story the problem of creation and took the position that God created only in the beginning. Through the conversation of Oinos and Agathos, he depicted the future life as a place where the soul’s unquenchable desire to know is recognized as its greatest happiness, and therefore the soul’s search for knowledge is never ceasing. He also expressed the idea of the conservation of force in poetic terms. As no thought can perish, so no act is without infinite result. Since every vibration once set in motion is eternal, the power of a word once spoken is also everlasting. He would be rash who speaks of the words of any writer as indestructible, but surely if we seek to establish the lasting quality of the utterances of American poets, Poe will serve as well as any to support our belief. Those who dismiss Poe’s scientific ideas as fantastic might compare this story with the accomplishment of the radio waves." Quinn, Arthur H. (1941). CHAPTER XV The Broadway Journal and the Poems of 1845. In Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography . New York: Cooper Square Publishers, Inc. (469) Hmm, radio waves that is a good analogy, I on the other hand, couldn't help thinking about the butterfly effect creating the phenomenon in which the flapping of a butterfly's wings in one part of the world could create a hurricane on the opposite side of the globe. The term was actually introduced by meteorologist Edward Norton Lorenz in the 1960s. I guess it was all that talk about movement and vibrations. One thing is for certain this piece certainly gets you to think, ponder and question. Mission accomplished Poe you really understand the true power of words as the old proverb states “The pen is mightier than the sword.”

[Rahma Djebbari · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is composed of a dialogue between Oinos and Agathos. "Oinos means 'One' and Agathos means 'Good'. In The Power of Words, Poe discusses the creation of the universe and different philosophical matters. The two let's say " Angels" talked about the happiness behind knowledge. Saying that the soul’s search for it, is never ceasing.
As it was mentioned in the quote" ..Not in knowledge is happiness, but in the acquisition of knowledge! In for every knowing, we are for ever blessed; but to know all, were the curse of a fiend."
I enjoyed the story even though it was quite short. And liked Agathos's character most.

[Dania Abutaha · Rating 4 out of 5]

روائع ادغار الن بو و فلسفته و بعضا من هرطقاته😆....عن العلم و الفكر قوته و تحصيله....السعاده ليست في العلم بل في تحصيل العلم...الافكار لا تزول تظل معلقه في رحم الحياه تتحرك ...الفكر هو مصدر كل حركه و مصدر كل فكر هو الله

الالوهه لا تخلق ....
خلق الرب في البدايه فقط ...و باقي الفيض نتائج متصله ..نتائج القدره الالهيه المبدعه...
اعتقد يتحمل المترجم عبئا ثقيلا هنا 😆 لا استطيع ان اجزم ان اوصل جميع الافكار بدقه !خصوصا الهرطوقيه منها شامله شخوص المتحاورين! و نحن نتحدث حصريا عن قوه الكلام 😊

[M. Ashraf · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Power of Words
Edgar Allan Poe

It is different than his other world, a dialogue format a bit of knowledge a bit of philosophy his use of words is great and that is the power of words :)

when poorly shaped, dull words
Are wasted concepts.

[Maria Jose · Rating 2 out of 5]

No se como explicar este cuento. Tengo que admitir que la filosofía no es muy fuerte. Y en este cuento es un análisis muy filosófico de la creación,con un vocabulario bastante denso.

[amxndita (taylor's version) · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Agathos.—Y mientras así hablaba, ¿no cruzó por tu mente algún pensamiento sobre el poder físico de las palabras? Cada palabra, ¿no es un impulso en el aire?”

[Ivanko · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Its brilliant flowers are the dearest of all unfulfilled dreams, and its raging volcanoes are the passions of the most turbulent and unhallowed of hearts"

[Nö Ğå · Rating 2 out of 5]

القصه مترجمة بعنوان قوة الكلام

[Geraldine Martinez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pensé que trataría de una teoría y la desarrollaría pero no fue así, me dejó más confundida.

[Fernando · Rating 2 out of 5]

"El poder de las palabras" forma parte de los cuentos/ensayos metafísicos de Poe, como lo es "La conversación de Eiros y Charmion".
En él, Poe diserta sobre la búsqueda de lo absoluto, Dios y la Creación, de manera divagante, por momentos.
Seguramente utilizó parte de lo escrito aquí para su ensayo cosmogónico "Eureka".

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am having a very 3 star day apparently. My only reaction to this was: what? I don't fully understand what's going on so I'm proably going to read more into this later.

[K. Anna Kraft · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have arranged my takeaway thoughts into a haiku:

"Great in their power,
But when poorly shaped, dull words
Are wasted concepts."

[Kai · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the beginning was the Word. Notwithstanding the interpretational issues of this notoriously difficult statement of biblical metaphysics, it's fairly certain that the opening passage of the Gospel of John is about creation. The subject of yet another conversation in the afterlife is about the exact sense of divine inception.

If you take the Bible literally, then God created humanity, animals, plants, and things of numerous other kinds. Agathos thinks this is mistaken: "In the beginning only, he created [i.e., as opposed to later creative intervention]. The seeming creatures which are now, throughout the universe, so perpetually springing into being, can only be considered as the mediate or indirect, not as the direct or immediate results of the Divine creative power." Things come into existence and turn into what they essentially are by natural processes that follow the laws of nature or by the creation of free agents.

Naturally, it was God who gave the first impetus and who defined the laws of the universe. Agathos add an additional belief in strict determinism. To his mind its obvious that the one effect follows its cause with certainty. According to him, it's for this reason that mathematicians and scientists (in the days that he wandered the Earth) were able to predict developments with high confidence. However, from here it's not difficult to imagine a being whose algebraic powers are capable to follow the chain into even further futures – or back to the very beginning.

It's often observed that John 1:1's word is a translation of the highly ambiguous Greek logos, which might very reasonably be rendered as reason. So, in the beginning there was reason, the all-powerful reasoner. So, to make a highly Aristotelian point, in Agathos's picture God would see back into the very beginning and thereby think itself. Even God's power is limited, though: He might not forget, but Agathos emphasizes that never would his knowledge of things be complete, as this would make eternity quite boring (is this the argument?). There is an infinity of facts for God to think, so to say.

Unlike some of Poe's other philosophical writings, even as a non-believer I found this dialog highly engaging.

[Kanti · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published: 1845

But, since we grow hourly in knowledge, must not at last all things be known??

The Power of Words is all about the immense influence of words and knowledge, the extent of their impact on day-to-day lives and also the everlasting effect of the spoken word.

This deep and philosophical conversation between Oinos and Agathos also deals with the way we feel about the `creation`, the beginning and `God`, and how we tend to put on and attribute the consequences of all our decisions on `God`.
[Oinos is the One and Agathos is Good].

You are well aware that, as no thought can perish, so no act is without infinite result.

It is be noted that as no thought can perish or be destroyed, every act has an immeasurable consequence.

The Power of Words reaffirms the point that the everlasting desire of the being and soul is to find things out, to know and to understand. This is the sole purpose know that brings contentment, happiness and fulfilment to the soul. The search and thirst for knowledge will never end - It is infinite, like the never-ending universe!



It must: but a true philosophy has long taught that the source of all motion is thought.?
We are also taught the importance of using the acquired knowledge in a meaningful way and also to save and use appropriately the force and power of words.

This story teaches us that it is alright not to know, not knowing everything is in fact a blessing, and in many ways having full knowledge is a curse.



Be a Knowledge seeker and never want and expect to be a `know-it-all`, because as Agathos says in The Power of Words, even `God` is denied complete knowledge.

***

"And while I thus spoke, did there not cross your mind some thought of the physical power of words? Is not every word an impulse on the air?"

"Then all motion, of whatever nature, creates?"

[Amelia Bujar · Rating 1 out of 5]

FULL REVIEW ON MY WEBSITE
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...

This short story needs to get some extra points for having some biblical reference to God creating the universe. Im very far from being a religious person but I appreciate references to history and what humans have created.

This short story also has another reference to religion which is God needed to use “algebraic analysis” to create the universe and the mathematicians in this poem might be interested in the logical paradox that apparently keeps God happy according to Edgar Allan Poe.

The writing style was pretty okay, but Edgar Allan Poe was Abe to write better poems and short stories than this one.

This poem offers us a very lovely debate about the spiritual philosophy and how it might relate to the inner workings of the world. Which this poem need to get extra points for.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting short philosophical/theological dialogue between two angels (Oinos = ‘One’ and Agathos = ‘Good’) set after the destruction of the earth. The main theme is the creative power of words/thought. God, we are told, only started off the process of creation in the beginning, then the law he set in motion by his thought/word continues in the ongoing process of secondary creation. As every motion has infinite effect and reverberation, it eventually makes its mark on everyone and everything in the universe, so it should be possible to mathematically trace back every force to its ultimate divine origin- a kind of theistic Big Bang theory. The dialogue ends with a moving allegorical representation of poetry/literature as a kind of creation through words, a secondary reflection of God’s first creative instinct.