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The Philosophy of Composition
The essay "The Philosophy of Composition" by Edgar Allan Poe presents a philosophy on effective writing. Poe uses it to show his theory about how he came up with his poem "The Raven," which initially published in the April 1846 issue of Graham's Magazine. His compositional style is based on three primary length, logic, and "unity of effect." Poe said that a work of fiction should only be created when the author has decided on the ending and the desired emotional response or effect. Poe also felt that literary works should be brief and that writing is deliberate, not spontaneous. The author should move on to other components like the characters, plot, setting, topic, and tone once this effect has been established.
52 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1846
24 people are currently reading
841 people want to read
About the author
Edgar Allan Poe
9,795 books28.7k followersThe 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...
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...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
January 25, 2019
Oh, I almost forgot that I read this one (okay, the Czech edition, but I feel too lazy to add the Czech edition...). I was writing a paper on Raven in High school, and the teacher was ecstatic that I used this as my source as well (instead of the internet as the majority of the class did. 😂)
So, thank you, Poe, that you wrote this and secured me an A and a nice note from the teacher.
This is not something I would usually read, but since it got me a good mark, I had to make an exception.
I believe that if poetry has something to say and the author wants the audience (at least the majority of it) to understand and get the message that the poem should be written in a way that it can be understood if you need to write another book to explain what you meant that you did a bad job somewhere on the way.
You may not agree with me which is fine, but it's still my opinion.
Thankfully this is not the case "I meant this", but I would still find it unnecessary. But hey, A!
So, thank you, Poe, that you wrote this and secured me an A and a nice note from the teacher.
This is not something I would usually read, but since it got me a good mark, I had to make an exception.
I believe that if poetry has something to say and the author wants the audience (at least the majority of it) to understand and get the message that the poem should be written in a way that it can be understood if you need to write another book to explain what you meant that you did a bad job somewhere on the way.
You may not agree with me which is fine, but it's still my opinion.
Thankfully this is not the case "I meant this", but I would still find it unnecessary. But hey, A!
June 1, 2025
I kinda regret reading this essay because it ruined my imagination about his poem "The Raven". I now realize that he wrote with a formulaic approach--although it was a very successful formula for writing.
December 30, 2020
hahaha – if you loved The Raven... this essay will totally ruin it for you. (sorry, but Poe almost wrote The Parrot instead, and Lenore only appears because "the death of a beautiful woman is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world, and equally is it beyond doubt that the lips best suited for such topic are those of a bereaved lover”).
although I couldn't say I agree with his theory about what makes a piece of literature good, I did find this a fascinating read.
although I couldn't say I agree with his theory about what makes a piece of literature good, I did find this a fascinating read.
September 23, 2025
Edgar Allan Poe meşhur şiiri Kuzgun’u (Raven) nasıl bir düşünce ve yöntem ile yazdığını anlatıyor. Şiirin ilham kaynağının Charles Dickens'ın Barnaby Rudge romanındaki konuşan karga olduğunu ve şiirdeki vurucu “asla” (nevermore) sözcüğünü Kuzgun’a söyleterek yola çıktığını vurguluyor. Çok kısa ama yararlı bir deneme.
February 19, 2020
"Beauty of whatever kind in its supreme development invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears. Melancholy is thus the most legitimate of all the poetical tones.“
"When it most closely allies itself to Beauty: the death then of a beautiful woman is unqestionably the most poetical topic in the world.."
"When it most closely allies itself to Beauty: the death then of a beautiful woman is unqestionably the most poetical topic in the world.."
December 13, 2018
Amerikalı yazar Poe, bu denemesinde yazın felsefesi konusundaki teorisini anlatıyor daha sonra Kurgun (Raven) şiir üzerinden bunu anlatıyor.
Kitapla ilgili yazım: https://kitapokurum.blogspot.com/2018...
Kitapla ilgili yazım: https://kitapokurum.blogspot.com/2018...
October 11, 2015
well in this essay Poe very unlike the Romantics that believed in spontaneous rush of feelings as a prominent element for writing a poem, brought the term " mathematical pre-calculation" for writing a poem. It's admirable how he thought about creating a literary piece but as Cicero stated once in ancient times, "we should grasp the subject and the words follow", I didn't like Poe's attitude towards poetry writing.
April 5, 2023
This explanation reminds me very much of Dante's much disputed "Letter to Cangrande dells Scala," a missive with a dedication to the warlord of the Paradiso followed by a definition and explanation of the whole of the Commedia. There are three theories regarding this letter attributed to Dante: he wrote it, someone else wrote it but attributed it to Dante for authority, or that he wrote the dedication and some scholar later added the explanation. Be that as it may, there is a theory out there that Poe didn't write "The Raven," but that he rather accepted it as his own after it was published under an obvious pseudonym by Mathew Franklin Whittier. (The author of this theory has written a scholarly paper about it, but by also claiming to be himself the reincarnation of Whittier, and that Whittier also penned "A Christmas Carol," I'm not sure how to take him. The proofs cited in his article, which I merely scanned, seemed far from as conclusive as he claims.)
Indeed "The Raven" is rather unique in Poe's poetic oeuvre. He never wrote a poem to rival it, nothing as ambitious nor as metrically sophisticated. Thus, this essay over-explaining how he came to construct it, is either an elaborate ruse to solidify his usurped authorship of the poem he stole, or a mere cash-in on the poem's notoriety (given that it made his name but he was paid next to nothing for it, even if he is the poem's true author). Either of these could be the case as I daresay the imaginative and compositional habits of writers are simply not nearly as logical and methodical as Poe here pretends. Oh, sure, in retrospect it's easy to think up justifications for metrical choices and thematic constructions, but I daresay most great writers rather feel their way to these things through the penning of the words themselves, which tend to lead us on, rather than making a series of compositional choices that lead them directly to one of the greatest poems ever written. Yet this, interestingly, is what this essay claims Poe did and it, too, appears wholly logical.
Also Poe here takes his usual pot-shot at the Transcendentalists whom he despised. He was simultaneously a genius and a petty man, but was he also a thief of poetry? While I can't say for sure, somehow I feel he wrote "The Raven." Perhaps that, however, is mere force of habit: it's hard to think of Poe at all without "The Raven" as a huge part of his identity. If he didn't write it, what a terrible burden it is upon his imaginary soul.
Indeed "The Raven" is rather unique in Poe's poetic oeuvre. He never wrote a poem to rival it, nothing as ambitious nor as metrically sophisticated. Thus, this essay over-explaining how he came to construct it, is either an elaborate ruse to solidify his usurped authorship of the poem he stole, or a mere cash-in on the poem's notoriety (given that it made his name but he was paid next to nothing for it, even if he is the poem's true author). Either of these could be the case as I daresay the imaginative and compositional habits of writers are simply not nearly as logical and methodical as Poe here pretends. Oh, sure, in retrospect it's easy to think up justifications for metrical choices and thematic constructions, but I daresay most great writers rather feel their way to these things through the penning of the words themselves, which tend to lead us on, rather than making a series of compositional choices that lead them directly to one of the greatest poems ever written. Yet this, interestingly, is what this essay claims Poe did and it, too, appears wholly logical.
Also Poe here takes his usual pot-shot at the Transcendentalists whom he despised. He was simultaneously a genius and a petty man, but was he also a thief of poetry? While I can't say for sure, somehow I feel he wrote "The Raven." Perhaps that, however, is mere force of habit: it's hard to think of Poe at all without "The Raven" as a huge part of his identity. If he didn't write it, what a terrible burden it is upon his imaginary soul.
October 2, 2018
I think I don't have enough words to describe this AWESOME essay.
Yes, I have read "The Raven", I have studied Poe at university as well as this essay, but until now I had never thought of reading "The philosophy of Composition", so I decided to do it.
And I swear that if I ever wonder why Edgar Allan Poe is one of my favourite writers ever I will re-read this amazing essay.
Is it possible to enjoy Poe's iconic tales and poems even more than you already do? Hell, yes, you just have to read an essay wrote by him in which he explains how those masterpieces came to his mind, specially the well known "The Raven", and you will.
This essay has reached me in a way I can't explain; it was like talking to Poe face to face, listening to him while he explains to you the way he wrote "The Raven". It is amazing. And this essay has made me love him even more than I already did.
Yes, I have read "The Raven", I have studied Poe at university as well as this essay, but until now I had never thought of reading "The philosophy of Composition", so I decided to do it.
And I swear that if I ever wonder why Edgar Allan Poe is one of my favourite writers ever I will re-read this amazing essay.
Is it possible to enjoy Poe's iconic tales and poems even more than you already do? Hell, yes, you just have to read an essay wrote by him in which he explains how those masterpieces came to his mind, specially the well known "The Raven", and you will.
This essay has reached me in a way I can't explain; it was like talking to Poe face to face, listening to him while he explains to you the way he wrote "The Raven". It is amazing. And this essay has made me love him even more than I already did.
September 28, 2021
Regardless of whether the genius poem Raven was created by strict calculation according to this essay, which I hardly believe, or, as I guess, was the fruit of inspiration, both the essay and the poem are beautiful in their infinite genius, enclosed in a short and brilliantly strong form.
May 23, 2015
So pretentious, Poe! :')
Read
April 15, 2022of course Baudelaire wrote a translation of this text... Poe's number 1 fanboy confirmed
April 22, 2025
seems like e.a. poe is such a pedant.
didn't enjoy much his renowned poem, The Raven. same for this essay. he only explains how he wrote it. spoiler: it's nothing spectacular. just regular perfectionism. or ocd. might work this way too.
didn't enjoy much his renowned poem, The Raven. same for this essay. he only explains how he wrote it. spoiler: it's nothing spectacular. just regular perfectionism. or ocd. might work this way too.
April 15, 2020
I have arranged my takeaway thoughts into a haiku:
"Art has a process,
And when the process strikes gold,
Watch how it loops back."
"Art has a process,
And when the process strikes gold,
Watch how it loops back."
February 5, 2017
Blablabla todos hacen todo mal menos yo que soy un capo y toda una revelación en originalidad blablabla.
Leí a Poe y me gustó mucho, pero maaaan relajá. Terrible chamuyo el que tenía. Estaba en medio de un fortísimo viaje con opio cuando escribió esto. Nevermore, dude.
Leí a Poe y me gustó mucho, pero maaaan relajá. Terrible chamuyo el que tenía. Estaba en medio de un fortísimo viaje con opio cuando escribió esto. Nevermore, dude.
January 27, 2021
Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Works, From the French of Charles Baudelaire - 4 Stars It is very obvious from reading Baudelaire just how much he truly admired Poe's writings and abilities.
"Baudelaire’s memoir of Poe was originally published in 1852, in French. It is largely taken from Griswold’s memoir of Poe, John R. Thompson’s obituary for Poe in the Southern Literary Messenger, and a review of the Griswold edition by John M. Daniel. It was translated by Henry Curwen, who later wrote Sorrow and Song, which includes his own interpretation of Poe’s life." https://www.eapoe.org/papers/misc1851...
Note:
It must be considered that Baudelaire based most of his biographical background of Poe on erroneous biographer accounts who were either misguided or being deliberately malicious concerning Poe. However, when Baudelaire translated Poe's works he became a sort of kindred spirit and in this book Baudelaire acknowledges how much he truly admires the genius and artistry of Edgar Allan Poe.
"In the essay The Philosophy of Composition, Poe proports to demonstrate how he wrote The Raven and how it should be read, as well. He claimed that many people would stop him and ask, 'Why, Mr. Poe, how did you write the The Raven?' This [essay] was his answer. Whatever the reason for its creation, the work is a vital text in understanding Poe criticism. It contains a through analysis of his creative process, which has led to significant debate regarding the accuracy of Poe's description of his compositional process. . . . He identifies issues that determine the success or failure of a poem, with emphasis upon length, the effect to be conveyed, and the province, beauty in this case, Poe asserts, 'there is a distinct limit of one sitting.' Although he allows that a novel may require more time, the limit should never be exceeded in a poem. The choice of effect is a second consideration, and Poe argues that the poet should determine in advance the effect he wishes to create. For Poe the province of the poem should be 'Beauty,' 'because it is an obvious rule of Art that effects should be made to spring from direct causes.' He then applies his observation to the The Raven to provide examples of his theory. It is this very detailed and carefully delineated discussion that created debate as to how honest Poe was in assessing his writing of The Raven. Critics who doubted the premise expressed doubt that the creative process could be so straight-forward and logical." Sova, Dawn B. (2001). Edgar Allan Poe, A to Z : the essential reference to his life and work. New York: Checkmark Books. (185-186)
By reading many different versions of Poe's biographies and also getting a feel for Poe through his essays I have no trouble believing the very logical nature of Poe. He loved mathematics and cryptographs both employing logic as their basic premise. Poe was meticulous in constructing his poems and stories along with carefully choosing the words he used as their building blocks. Therefore, I believe Poe was being honest when writing this essay and for Poe his creative process was very straight-forward and logical. IMHO The Raven is Poe's magnum opus.
"Baudelaire’s memoir of Poe was originally published in 1852, in French. It is largely taken from Griswold’s memoir of Poe, John R. Thompson’s obituary for Poe in the Southern Literary Messenger, and a review of the Griswold edition by John M. Daniel. It was translated by Henry Curwen, who later wrote Sorrow and Song, which includes his own interpretation of Poe’s life." https://www.eapoe.org/papers/misc1851...
Note:
It must be considered that Baudelaire based most of his biographical background of Poe on erroneous biographer accounts who were either misguided or being deliberately malicious concerning Poe. However, when Baudelaire translated Poe's works he became a sort of kindred spirit and in this book Baudelaire acknowledges how much he truly admires the genius and artistry of Edgar Allan Poe.
"In the essay The Philosophy of Composition, Poe proports to demonstrate how he wrote The Raven and how it should be read, as well. He claimed that many people would stop him and ask, 'Why, Mr. Poe, how did you write the The Raven?' This [essay] was his answer. Whatever the reason for its creation, the work is a vital text in understanding Poe criticism. It contains a through analysis of his creative process, which has led to significant debate regarding the accuracy of Poe's description of his compositional process. . . . He identifies issues that determine the success or failure of a poem, with emphasis upon length, the effect to be conveyed, and the province, beauty in this case, Poe asserts, 'there is a distinct limit of one sitting.' Although he allows that a novel may require more time, the limit should never be exceeded in a poem. The choice of effect is a second consideration, and Poe argues that the poet should determine in advance the effect he wishes to create. For Poe the province of the poem should be 'Beauty,' 'because it is an obvious rule of Art that effects should be made to spring from direct causes.' He then applies his observation to the The Raven to provide examples of his theory. It is this very detailed and carefully delineated discussion that created debate as to how honest Poe was in assessing his writing of The Raven. Critics who doubted the premise expressed doubt that the creative process could be so straight-forward and logical." Sova, Dawn B. (2001). Edgar Allan Poe, A to Z : the essential reference to his life and work. New York: Checkmark Books. (185-186)
By reading many different versions of Poe's biographies and also getting a feel for Poe through his essays I have no trouble believing the very logical nature of Poe. He loved mathematics and cryptographs both employing logic as their basic premise. Poe was meticulous in constructing his poems and stories along with carefully choosing the words he used as their building blocks. Therefore, I believe Poe was being honest when writing this essay and for Poe his creative process was very straight-forward and logical. IMHO The Raven is Poe's magnum opus.
April 29, 2024
4 STARS
I have decided that I will log some scholarly books / articles that I'll read for my BA on here because I read a lot of that and never add it on Goodreads because I somehow kept it separate from reading for fun. Not anymore.
I really enjoyed reading this essay about Poe's motivations and thoughts on the composition of his famous poem The Raven (and writing in general). I really loved his detailed analysis of what he thought about while composing the poem and how he went about it. His strategy is definitely identifiable in other works by him as well.
If you read The Raven, I think this is a great addition to enhance your experience of the poem. I'd suggest reading the poem once without this input (which I have not done) but I wish I had.
I have decided that I will log some scholarly books / articles that I'll read for my BA on here because I read a lot of that and never add it on Goodreads because I somehow kept it separate from reading for fun. Not anymore.
I really enjoyed reading this essay about Poe's motivations and thoughts on the composition of his famous poem The Raven (and writing in general). I really loved his detailed analysis of what he thought about while composing the poem and how he went about it. His strategy is definitely identifiable in other works by him as well.
If you read The Raven, I think this is a great addition to enhance your experience of the poem. I'd suggest reading the poem once without this input (which I have not done) but I wish I had.
February 2, 2018
A wonderful, very informative essay.
April 12, 2022
An interesting overview of Poe's process in writing 'The Raven', but not something that I felt particularly compelled by.
November 6, 2020
El placer que es, a la vez, el más intenso, elevado y puro se encuentra, según creo, en la contemplación de la belleza
En La Filosofía de la Composición, Edgar Poe nos entrega una serie de opiniones (bien razonadas, por supuesto) sobre la literatura. Para él, el escritor debe saber el dénouement (desenlace) de su obra antes de comenzar a escribirla. Así, los incidentes del texto guardan una relación de causalidad y el escrito se vuelve coherente.
La Filosofía de la Composición contiene varias ideas esenciales en torno a la escritura de una obra literaria. El ensayo de Poe es uno de los textos de teoría literaria más importantes del siglo diecinueve: no es casualidad que haya ejercido una influencia tan profunda sobre otros escritores.
En La Filosofía de la Composición, Edgar Poe nos entrega una serie de opiniones (bien razonadas, por supuesto) sobre la literatura. Para él, el escritor debe saber el dénouement (desenlace) de su obra antes de comenzar a escribirla. Así, los incidentes del texto guardan una relación de causalidad y el escrito se vuelve coherente.
La Filosofía de la Composición contiene varias ideas esenciales en torno a la escritura de una obra literaria. El ensayo de Poe es uno de los textos de teoría literaria más importantes del siglo diecinueve: no es casualidad que haya ejercido una influencia tan profunda sobre otros escritores.
April 16, 2017
"... Gerçek, keskinlik ister, tutku ise sadelik (gerçekten tutkulu olanlar beni anlayacaktır). Ki bunlar bahsettiğim o güzelliğe zıttırlar ve ısrarla güzelliğin ruhu yükselttiğini söylüyorum. Tutku veya gerçek, bir şiirde yer almayabilir; bunlar açıklama getirebilir veya müzikteki uyumsuz notalar gibi efekt verir, fakat gerçek sanatçı, bunları ilk olarak gerçek hedefi destekleyecek şekilde kullanırlar ve ikinci olarak şiirin atmosfer ve özünü yaratan o güzelliğin içine yedirir."
Yukarıdaki cümleyi hariç tutarsak, çeviri kitap olmasından mıdır bilinmez ama kitaptaki cümleler anlaşılması zor ve birbirlerinden kopuktular.
Poe'nin kitapları her zaman okunabilir ama bu kitap arada kalmış gibi geldi.
Yukarıdaki cümleyi hariç tutarsak, çeviri kitap olmasından mıdır bilinmez ama kitaptaki cümleler anlaşılması zor ve birbirlerinden kopuktular.
Poe'nin kitapları her zaman okunabilir ama bu kitap arada kalmış gibi geldi.
November 17, 2015
"Melancholy is thus the most legitimate of all the poetical tones."
October 17, 2016
fairly interesting if one cares to know the steps Poe'd followed in conceiving his masterpiece, The Raven.
September 16, 2022
Nice, very helpful for reading The Raven.
March 27, 2023
This better be a hoax because it’s fascinatingly hilarious.
December 31, 2023
My shortest read. Most Unsatisfying read.
October 9, 2024
So I guess he didn’t own any bookmarks?
Read
November 25, 2024Let’s just say that Poe is great for writing short stories and poems, and not so much for writing essays.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews