{Inthebookthereisagapinnumberingthenotesbetween12and29。
　　29。Suchportionsof“Politian“asareknowntothepublicfirstsawthelightofpublicityinthe“SouthernLiteraryMessenger“forDecember，1835，andJanuary，1836，beingstyled“ScenesfromPolitian：anunpublisheddrama。”Thesesceneswereincluded，unaltered，inthe1845
　　collectionofPoems，byPoe。Thelargerportionoftheoriginaldraftsubsequentlybecamethepropertyofthepresenteditor，butitisnotconsideredjusttothepoet’smemorytopublishit。Theworkisahastyandunrevisedproductionofitsauthor’searlierdaysofliterarylabor；
　　and，beyondthescenesalreadyknown，scarcelycalculatedtoenhancehisreputation。Asaspecimen，however，ofthepartsunpublished，thefollowingfragmentfromthefirstsceneofActII。maybeoffered。TheDuke，itshouldbepremised，isuncletoAlessandra，andfatherofCastiglioneherbetrothed。
　　_Duke。_Whydoyoulaugh？
　　_Castiglione。_IndeedIhardlyknowmyself。Stay！WasitnotOnyesterdaywewerespeakingoftheEarl？
　　OftheEarlPolitian？Yes！itwasyesterday。
　　Alessandra，youand1，youmustremember！
　　Wewerewalkinginthegarden。
　　_Duke，_Perfectly。
　　Idorememberit-whatofit-whatthen？
　　_Cas。0_nothing-nothingatall。
　　_Duke。_Nothingatall！
　　Itismostsingularthatyoushouldlaugh’Atnothingatall！
　　_Cas。_Mostsingular-singular！
　　_Duke。Lookyou，_Castiglione，besokindAstellme，sir，atoncewhat’tisyoumean。
　　Whatareyoutalkingof？
　　_Cas。_Wasitnotso？
　　Wedifferedinopiniontouchinghim。
　　_Duke。_Him！Whom？
　　_Cas。_Why，sir，theEarlPolitian。
　　_Duke。_TheEarlofLeicester！Yes！isitheyoumean？
　　Wediffered，indeed。IfInowrecollectThewordsyouusedwerethattheEarlyouknewWasneitherlearnednormirthful。
　　_Cas。_Ha！ha！nowdidI？
　　_Duke。_Thatdidyou，sir，andwellIknewatthetimeYouwerewrong，itbeingnotthecharacterOftheEarl-whomalltheworldallowstobeAmosthilariousman。Benot，myson，Toopositiveagain。
　　_Cas。’Tis_singular！
　　Mostsingular！IcouldnotthinkitpossibleSolittletimecouldsomuchalterone！
　　Tosaythetruthaboutanhourago，AsIwaswalkingwiththeCountSanOzzo，Allarminarm，wemetthisverymanTheEarl-he，withhisfriendBaldazzar，HavingjustarrivedinRome。Halha！heisaltered！
　　Suchanaccounthegavemeofhisjourney！
　　’Twouldhavemadeyoudiewithlaughter-suchtaleshetoldOfhiscapricesandhismerryfreaksAlongtheroad-suchoddity-suchhumor
　　Suchwit-suchwhim-suchflashesofwildmerrimentSetofftooinsuchfullreliefbythegraveDemeanorofhisfriend-who，tospeakthetruth，Wasgravityitself
　　_Duke。_DidInottellyou？
　　_Cas。You_did-andyet’tisstrange！buttrueasstrange，HowmuchIwasmistaken！IalwaysthoughtTheEarlagloomyman。
　　_Duke。_So，so，_you_see！Benottoopositive。Whomhavewehere？
　　ItcannotbetheEarl？
　　_Cas。_TheEarl！Oh，no！’TisnottheEarl-butyetitis-andleaningUponhisfriendBaldazzar。AMwelcome，sir！
　　_EnterPolitianandBaldazzar。_
　　Mylord，asecondwelcomeletmegiveyouToRome-hisGracetheDukeofBroglio。
　　Father！thisistheEarlPolitian，EarlOfLeicesterinGreatBritain。_[Politianbowshaughtily_。]
　　That，hisfriendBaldazzar，DukeofSurrey。TheEarlhasletters，Sopleaseyou，forYourGrace。
　　_Duke。_Halha！MostwelcomeToRomeandtoourpalace，EarlPolitian！
　　Andyou，mostnobleDuke！Iamgladtoseeyou！
　　Iknewyourfatherwell，myLordPolitian。
　　Castiglione！callyourcousinhither，AndletmemakethenobleEarlacquaintedWithyourbetrothed。Youcome，sir，atatimeMostseasonable。Thewedding
　　_Politian。_Touchingthoseletters，sir，Yoursonmadementionofyourson，ishenot？
　　Touchingthoseletters，sir，Iwotnotofthem。
　　Ifsuchtherebe，myfriendBaldazzarhere
　　Baldazzar！ah！myfriendBaldazzarhereWillhandthemtoYourGrace。Iwouldretire。
　　_Duke。_Retire！Sosoon？
　　CameWhatho！Benito！Rupert！
　　Hislordship’schambers-showhislordshiptothem！
　　Hislordshipisunwell。_EnterBenito。_
　　_Ben。_Thisway，mylord！_Exit，followedbyPolitian_。
　　_Duke。_Retire！Unwell！
　　_Bal_。Sopleaseyou，sir。Ifearme’Tisasyousayhislordshipisunwell。
　　Thedampairoftheevening-thefatigueOfalongjourneytheindeedIhadbetterFollowhislordship。Hemustbeunwell。
　　Iwillreturnanon。
　　_Duke。_Returnanon！
　　Nowthisisverystrange！Castiglione！
　　Thisway，myson，Iwishtospeakwiththee。
　　YousurelyweremistakeninwhatyousaidOftheEarl，mirthful，indeed！whichofussaidPolitianwasamelancholyman？_Exeunt。_
　　“DEARBBelievingonlyaportionofmyformervolumetobeworthyasecondedition-thatsmallportionIthoughtitaswelltoincludeinthepresentbookastorepublishbyitself。Ihavethereforehereincombined’AlAaraaf’and’Tamerlane’withotherpoemshithertounprinted。NorhaveIhesitatedtoinsertfromthe’MinorPoems，’nowomitted，wholelines，andevenpassages，totheendthatbeingplacedinafairerlight，andthetrashshakenfromtheminwhichtheywereimbedded，theymayhavesomechanceofbeingseenbyposterity。
　　“Ithasbeensaidthatagoodcritiqueonapoemmaybewrittenbyonewhoisnopoethimself。This，accordingtoyourideaand_mine_ofpoetry，I
　　feeltobefalse-thelesspoeticalthecritic，thelessjustthecritique，andtheconverse。Onthisaccount，andbecausetherearebutfewB-’sintheworld，Iwouldbeasmuchashamedoftheworld’sgoodopinionasproudofyourown。Anotherthanyourselfmighthereobserve，’Shakespeareisinpossessionoftheworld’sgoodopinion，andyetShakespeareisthegreatestofpoets。Itappearsthenthattheworldjudgecorrectly，whyshouldyoubeashamedoftheirfavorablejudgment？’Thedifficultyliesintheinterpretationoftheword’judgment’or’opinion。’Theopinionistheworld’s，truly，butitmaybecalledtheirsasamanwouldcallabookhis，havingboughtit；hedidnotwritethebook，butitishis；theydidnotoriginatetheopinion，butitistheirs。Afool，forexample，thinksShakespeareagreatpoet-yetthefoolhasneverreadShakespeare。Butthefool’sneighbor，whoisastephigherontheAndesofthemind，whoseheadthatistosay，hismoreexaltedthoughtistoofarabovethefooltobeseenorunderstood，butwhosefeetbywhichImeanhiseverydayactions
　　aresufficientlyneartobediscerned，andbymeansofwhichthatsuperiorityisascertained，whichbutforthemwouldneverhavebeendiscovered-thisneighborassertsthatShakespeareisagreatpoetthefoolbelieveshim，anditishenceforwardhis_opinion。_Thisneighbor’sownopinionhas，inlikemanner，beenadoptedfromoneabovehim，andso，ascendingly，toafewgiftedindividualswhokneelaroundthesummit，beholding，facetoface，themasterspiritwhostandsuponthepinnacle。
　　“YouareawareofthegreatbarrierinthepathofanAmericanwriter。Heisread，ifatall，inpreferencetothecombinedandestablishedwitoftheworld。Isayestablished；foritiswithliteratureaswithlaworempire-anestablishednameisanestateintenure，orathroneinpossession。Besides，onemightsupposethatbooks，liketheirauthors，improvebytravel-theirhavingcrossedtheseais，withus，sogreatadistinction。Ourantiquariesabandontimefordistance；ourveryfopsglancefromthebindingtothebottomofthetitle-page，wherethemysticcharacterswhichspellLondon，Paris，orGenoa，arepreciselysomanylettersofrecommendation。
　　“Imentionedjustnowavulgarerrorasregardscriticism。Ithinkthenotionthatnopoetcanformacorrectestimateofhisownwritingsisanother。Iremarkedbeforethatinproportiontothepoeticaltalentwouldbethejusticeofacritiqueuponpoetry。Thereforeabadpoetwould，I
　　grant，makeafalsecritique，andhisself-lovewouldinfalliblybiashislittlejudgmentinhisfavor；butapoet，whoisindeedapoet，couldnot，Ithink，failofmaking-ajustcritique；whatevershouldbedeductedonthescoreofself-lovemightbereplacedonaccountofhisintimateacquaintancewiththesubject；inshort，wehavemoreinstancesoffalsecriticismthanofjustwhereone’sownwritingsarethetest，simplybecausewehavemorebadpoetsthangood。Thereare，ofcourse，manyobjectionstowhatIsay：Miltonisagreatexampleofthecontrary；buthisopinionwithrespecttothe’ParadiseRegained’isbynomeansfairlyascertained。Bywhattrivialcircumstancesmenareoftenledtoassertwhattheydonotreallybelieve！Perhapsaninadvertentwordhasdescendedtoposterity。But，infact，the’ParadiseRegained’islittle，ifatall，inferiortothe’ParadiseLost，’andisonlysupposedsotobebecausemendonotlikeepics，whatevertheymaysaytothecontrary，and，readingthoseofMiltonintheirnaturalorder，aretoomuchweariedwiththefirsttoderiveanypleasurefromthesecond。
　　“IdaresayMiltonpreferred’Comus’toeither。ifso-justly。
　　“AsIamspeakingofpoetry，itwillnotbeamisstotouchslightlyuponthemostsingularheresyinitsmodernhistory-theheresyofwhatiscalled，veryfoolishly，theLakeSchool。SomeyearsagoImighthavebeeninduced，byanoccasionlikethepresent，toattemptaformalrefutationoftheirdoctrine；atpresentitwouldbeaworkofsupererogation。ThewisemustbowtothewisdomofsuchmenasColeridgeandSouthey，but，beingwise，havelaughedatpoeticaltheoriessoprosaicallyexemplifled。
　　“Aristotle，withsingularassurance，hasdeclaredpoetrythemostphilosophicalofallwritings*-butitrequiredaWordsworthtopronounceitthemostmetaphysical。Heseemstothinkthattheendofpoetryis，orshouldbe，instruction；yetitisatruismthattheendofourexistenceishappiness；ifso，theendofeveryseparatepartofourexistence，everythingconnectedwithourexistence，shouldbestillhappiness。
　　Thereforetheendofinstructionshouldbehappiness；andhappinessisanothernameforpleasure；-thereforetheendofinstructionshouldbepleasure：yetweseetheabove-mentionedopinionimpliespreciselythereverse。
　　“Toproceed：_ceterisparibus，_bewhopleasesisofmoreimportancetohisfellow-menthanhewhoinstructs，sinceutilityishappiness，andpleasureistheendalreadyobtainedwhichinstructionismerelythemeansofobtaining。
　　“Iseenoreason，then，whyourmetaphysicalpoetsshouldplumethemselvessomuchontheutilityoftheirworks，unlessindeedtheyrefertoinstructionwitheternityinview；inwhichcase，sincererespectfortheirpietywouldnotallowmetoexpressmycontemptfortheirjudgment；
　　contemptwhichitwouldbedifficulttoconceal，sincetheirwritingsareprofessedlytobeunderstoodbythefew，anditisthemanywhostandinneedofsalvation。InsuchcaseIshouldnodoubtbetemptedtothinkofthedevilin’Melmoth。’wholaborsindefatigably，throughthreeoctavovolumes，toaccomplishthedestructionofoneortwosouls，whileanycommondevilwouldhavedemolishedoneortwothousand。
　　“Againstthesubtletieswhichwouldmakepoetryastudy-notapassion-itbecomesthemetaphysiciantoreason-butthepoettoprotest。YetWordsworthandColeridgearemeninyears；theoneimbuedincontemplationfromhischildhood；theotheragiantinintellectandlearning。Thediffidence，then，withwhichIventuretodisputetheirauthoritywouldbeoverwhelmingdidInotfeel，fromthebottomofmyheart，thatlearninghaslittletodowiththeimagination-intellectwiththepassions-oragewithpoetry。
　　“’Trifles，likestraws，uponthesurfaceflow；
　　Hewhowouldsearchforpearlsmustdivebelow，’