Letter to B---

Letter to B--- is an essay by Poe. Now, usually essays are dull reading, but Poe seems to know how to turn even the dullest material into something worth reading. In the beginning Poe remarks that the idea that a non-poet can properly criticize poetry is false, and, in some respects, I stand behind his theory here. While someone can judge whether they responded to a poem in a good or bad way, or how it made them feel, in order to appreciate, fully appreciate, the mechanics and symbolism of a poem, they must know something about the mechanics of poetry.

Poe goes on to state that a bad poet is a poor judge of his own poetry, and in this I also find some truth. If someone is an awful poet, how can they then judge poetry on how good or bad it is? Wouldn't they see their own poetry as good, simply because they wrote it? Many writers I know have such a favorable opinion of themselves, and are so attached to the work they have done on a piece of writing, they are unable or unwilling to see any flaws in their work. A good writer, or poet, must be able to critically judge the poem or writing on it's merits, not on their dedication to the content they intended for it to have.

Poe then intends to provide his insight into which poets are good, and which are bad. His phrasing is beautiful, his words, at times, crass, which make this fun to read, but poetry, like all art, is relative. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and all that. While you may enjoy a poem about a man from Nantucket, I might find it childish and a bore. Who gets to decide what good poetry is? Poe? Critics? Other poets? The public? I think this is an eternal question for all would-be writers.