Morning on the Wissahiccon

Morning on the Wissahiccon

"Morning on the Wissahiccon," also called "The Elk," is an 1844 work by Edgar Allan Poe describing the natural beauty of Wissahickon Creek which feeds into the Schuylkill River in eastern Pennsylvania. It borders between being a short story and a travel essay.

Contents

Overview

Poe criticizes tourists who focus on "the most beaten thoroughfares of the country" and do not look at the beauty of sites "far away from the track." He describes the area in detail and its wild beauty, in particular the Wissahiccon Creek itself. On one visit, he sees an elk on a cliff. The majesty of this "oldest and boldest" of elks is ruined when he realizes it was a domesticated pet, not a wild creature, belonging to "an English family occupying a villa in the vicinity."

Poe refers to the writing of actress Fanny Kemble in this essay, saying it was she who first brought the beautiful area to people's attention in her "droll book" about the United States.

Publication history

The work was first published as "Morning on the Wissahiccon" in the annual The Opal in 1844.[1] Like Poe's previous "The Island of the Fay," it was originally a "plate article," a work written specifically to accompany an engraving. The original engraving by John G. Chapman depicted an elk in an idyllic nature setting.[2]

Analysis

"Morning on the Wissahiccon" represents Poe's quest for beauty.[3]

References

  1. ^ Sova, Dawn B. Edgar Allan Poe, A to Z. Checkmark Books, 2001. p. 79
  2. ^ Renza, Louis A. "Ut Pictura Poe: Poetic Politics in 'The Island of the Fay' and 'Morning on the Wissahickon'," as collected in The American Face of Edgar Allan Poe, edited by Shawn Rosenheim and Stephen Rachman. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995. p. 309 ISBN 0801850258
  3. ^ Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. ISBN 0801857309 p. 395

External links

v · d · eWorks of Edgar Allan Poe

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