...especial—prefer having it understood that they compose by a species of fine frenzy—an ecstatic intuition—and would positively shudder at letting the public take...scenes at the elaborate and vacillating crudities of thought—at the true purposes seized only at the last moment—at the innumerable glimpses of idea...

...Philosophy of Composition' (1846) remains the most cited demolition of crude ideas of intuitive creativity: Most writers - poets in especial - prefer having it...elaborate and vacillating crudities of thought ... at the cautious selections and rejections - at the painful erasures and interpolations . . . which, in ninety-nine...

...one other cause. Most writers - poets in especial - prefer having it understood that they cornpose by a species of fine frenzy - an ecstatic intuition...at letting the public take a peep behind the scenes — We know how the rest of the essay illustrates (truthfully or not - that is another matter) this...

...— but, perhaps, the autorial vanity lias had more to do with the omission than any one other cause. Most writers — poets in especial — prefer having...crudities of thought — at the true purposes seized onlv at the last moment — at the innumerable glimpses of idea that arrived not at the maturity of...

...authorial vanity has had more to do with the emission than any one other cause. Most writers [. . .] prefer having it understood that they compose by a...and vacillating crudities of thought [...], at the cautious selections and rejections - at the painful erasures and interpolations - in a word, at the...

...propaganda. He was engaged in attacking the prevailing Romantic notions of his day. As he put them, "Most writers — poets in especial — prefer having...species of fine frenzy — an ecstatic intuition." Moreover, Poe somewhat prided himself on his analytical skills, a trait that shows itself quite vividly...

...especial—prefer having it understood that they compose by a species of fine frenzy—an ecstatic intuition—and would positively shudder at letting the public take...scenes, at the elaborate and vacillating crudities of thought—at the true purposes seized only at the last moment—at the innumerable glimpses of idea...

...Composition," he describes "the properties of the literary histrio" which the poets who prefer to have it "understood that they compose by a species of fine frenzy - an ecstatic intuition" - would "shudder" at letting the public see. "Properties" here has the narrow sense of "stage properties,"...

...say— but, perhaps, the autorial vanity has had more to do with the omission than anyone other cause. Most writers— poets in especial— prefer having...compose by a species of fine frenzy— an ecstatic intuition—and would positively shudder at letting the public take a peep behind the scenes, at the...

...make claims to an artless art. Like a showman, he opens the curtains on the theatricality of lyric: "Most writers - poets in especial prefer having it...letting the public take a peep behind the scenes" (14). Reversing the feminine terms of evaluation, Poe exposes the theatricality of the poet's performance...