Page:The Southern Literary Messenger - Minor.djvu/56

 44 "That Mr. Poe, the reputed editor of the Messenger, is a gentleman of brilliant genius and endowments is a truth which I believe will not be controverted by a large majority of its readers. For one, however, I confess that there are occasionally manifested some errors of judgment, or faults in taste, or whatever they may be called, which I should be glad to see corrected. I do not think, for example, that such an article as 'The Duc De L'Omelette' ought to have appeared. * * * Mr. Poe is too fond of the wild, unnatural and horrible. Why will he not permit his fine genius to soar into purer, brighter and happier regions? Why will he not disenthral himself from, the spells of German enchantment," etc. * * * "When he passes from the region of shadows into the plain, practical dissecting room of criticism, he manifests great dexterity and power. He exposes the imbecility and rotteness of our ad captandum, popular literature, with the hand of a master," etc. Another writer dubbed some things Mr. Poe's "queerities." The appearance of the April number was greatly delayed.

Now the month of May had come, on the 16th of which Mr. Poe was married, "at the house where they all lived, by the Rev. Amasa Converse," to his cousin Virginia Clemm, and went on editing the Messenger pretty much in his old