d indulged in to such an extent as to prove an occasional
obstacle to the exclusive absorption and utter identification with the
ideas of another composer that classical music demands. In the mere
matter of execution there is no difficulty which the fingers of this
skilful pianist cannot overcome, and his intellectual grasp of a subject
enables him to discern and interpret the beauties of all musical themes;
but where an earnest, passionate interest in the music of the old
masters is not felt by the performer, it is rarely communicated to his
hearers.

The world of letters, however, has not seemingly regretted the inability
of Byron to trammel his muse with the uncongenial fetters of Pope's
metre, and has certainly never quarrelled with Tom Moore for not
assuming the manners and diction of the revered Samuel Johnson, LL.D.

With due allowance for difference of latitude, and wide difference of
aim and pursuit, the contemplation of the Master of Creole Melody
recalls to us a genius which found utterance in song none the less
melodious that it was written, not sung. The 'ashen sky' and 'crisped,
sere leaves of the lonesome October,' so thrillingly pictured by Edgar
Poe in his 'Ulalume,' find echo in the foreboding sadness of the opening
bars to Gottschalk's 'Last Hope;' and as both poems grow in vague,
dreamy sound, they culminate in a cry of smothered despair at the tomb
where all hopes lie buried with the lost Ulalume. The same weird
conception and eccentricity of design, with knowledge of rhythmical
effect and extreme carefulness of finish, are prominent traits of both
artists; and the American disregard of tradition, as evinced in all
enterprises, whether literary, artistic, or commercial, and which
readily infects the simple sojourner among us as well as the happy being
born to republican privileges, marks alike the nationality of poet and
pianist.

Edgar Poe's literary reputation undoubtedly gains additional lustre as
the lapse of years permits the veil of obscurity to fall over the
personal vices and irregularities which so tarnished the living fame of
this great artist. Genius draws around itself a magical circle,
attracting and keeping by the force of its own magnetism those whom it
values, but at the same time exercising an equally repellent effect on
the envious and ignorant wandering beyond the pale of its charmed
precincts. Hence the difficulty of judging it by contemporaneous
standards. The Hyperion head o