If anyone knew anything about "The Landscape Garden" by Poe written in 1950 plz tell me plz. I need to do a speech and I do not understand much about the story. Thanks for helping..

-- Anonymous, December 11, 2001

Answers

First published in 1842 in the Ladies' Companion this story was followed a few years later and naturally by The Domain of Arnheim where a florid and exotic description of Mr. Ellison's great gardening project is described. In fact it seems a natural completion to the first version(included in the first part of The Domain of Arnheim). Perhaps this was originally a teaser, a concept of an incedibly rich and gifted artist setting out to make a masterpiece work of art imbued with the seeming graces of angels(Creation being already reserved to God). Some of Poe's tales that seem to finish abruptly like this were meant to get people prpoposing their own ideas, creating an interest in a sequel(Adventures of A Gordon Pym seems one of these).

Poe himself loved gardening, though this grand scale goes beyond the limits of the wildest imaginations both in theory and execution. Perhaps he was trying to visualize for the reader the more ephemeral aims of the poet and show how far he would take his art if he could and why. Matching up to Creation itself is a grqander project than any of his writings ever attempted(though with care to say this done not out of pride or ambition but in the pursuit of Art. Note how Ellison matches up to Poe in fortunes and gifts, his life freed from the tortures of poverty, etc. Perhaps Poe is saying his works would have been less dark or mournful had he been gifted with such a perfect life and nearly infinite resources. The story in other words is a portrayal of the Artist reaching out to that ideal of art matching up to God's natural works.

-- Anonymous, December 12, 2001

Of course that is not a full description of Ellison, his gifts, philosphy, inheritance, theory of landscape gardening and art. A little simplification of Poe's ornate and complex prose can be done by outlining and trailing the ideas. The referral to Madame DeStael one of the greatest French Salon letter writers harks to that pure love of style and language.(This is to a ladies' magazine after all, though the injection of elements of the wilderness and exotic extravagancies in ArnHeim go beyond the precious idealization of simple gardening.)

-- Anonymous, December 12, 2001