h it is adapted it may well be called supreme.

Then as a poet his work is almost or quite as excellent in a somewhat
more restricted range. In verse he is probably the best artist in
American letters. Here his sole pursuit was beauty, both of form and
thought; he is vivid and apt, intensely lyrical but without much range
of thought. He has deep intuitions but no comprehensive grasp of life.

His criticism is, on the whole, the least important part of his work.
He had a few good and brilliant ideas which came at just the right
time to make a stir in the world, and these his logical mind and
telling style enabled him to present to the best advantage. As a
critic he is neither broad-minded, learned, nor comprehensive. Nor is
he, except in the few ideas referred to, deep. He is, however,
limitedly original--perhaps intensely original within his narrow
scope. But the excellences and limitations of Poe in any one part of
his work were his limitations and excellences in all.

As Poe's best short stories may be mentioned: _Metzengerstein_ (Jan.
14, 1832, Philadelphia _Saturday Courier_), _Ms. Found in a Bottle_
(October 19, 1833, _Baltimore Saturday Visiter_), _The Assignation_
(January, 1834, _Godey's Lady's Book_), _Berenice_ (March, 1835,
_Southern Literary Messenger_), _Morella_ (April, 1835, _Southern
Literary Messenger_), _The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall_
(June, 1835, _Southern Literary Messenger_), _King Pest: a Tale
Containing an Allegory_ (September, 1835, _Southern Literary
Messenger_), _Shadow: a Parable_ (September, 1835, _Southern Literary
Messenger_), _Ligeia_ (September, 1838, _American Museum_), _The Fall
of the House of Usher_ (September, 1839, _Burton's Gentleman's
Magazine_), _William Wilson_ (1839: _Gift for_ 1840), _The
Conversation of Eiros and Charmion_ (December, 1839, _Burton's
Gentleman's Magazine_), _The Murders in the Rue Morgue_ (April, 1841,
_Graham's Magazine_), _A Descent into the Maelstrom_ (May, 1841,
_Graham's Magazine_), _Eleonora_ (1841: _Gift_ for 1842), _The Masque
of the Red Death_ (May, 1842, _Graham's Magazine_), _The Pit and the
Pendulum_ (1842: _Gift for 1843_), _The Tell-Tale Heart_ (January,
1843, _Pioneer_), _The Gold-Bug_ (June 21 and 28, 1843, _Dollar
Newspaper_), _The Black Cat_ (August 19, 1843, _United States Saturday
Post_), _The Oblong Box_ (September, 1844, _Godey's Lady's Book_),
_The Angel of the Odd_ (October, 1844, _Columbian Magazine_), _"Thou
Art the