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Welcome to celebrate creativity - my name is George Bartley and this is episode 437 -  the Second of a two part series - Poe’s Creativity - Part Two

Mr. Poe - you know I I'm very curious about your writing - and the effects you attempted to generate - Would you say that you were a stylist?

Indeed, Mr. Bartley, I would say that I am a stylist, and in the most deliberate and uncompromising sense of the word. Style, to me, is not a mere flourish or a decorative element to be draped over a story's frame. It is the very foundation of the work, the precise and calculated means by which a particular effect is achieved.

I am a stylist in my relentless pursuit of "Unity of Effect." I believe that a work of art, be it prose or poetry, must be a complete and coherent experience. Every word, every sentence, every rhythm and cadence is chosen not for its individual beauty, but for its contribution to the single, overarching mood I wish to evoke. When I write of a decaying mansion, the language itself must feel as if it is crumbling. When I write of a man's descent into madness, the very structure of the sentences must become a reflection of his unraveling mind.

My style is also a reflection of my belief in the power of sound and rhythm. I hold that the ear is as important as the eye in receiving a work of art. My poems, such as "The Raven," are meticulously crafted with assonance, alliteration, and internal rhyme, not as poetic tricks, but as a hypnotic drumbeat that lulls the reader into a state of profound melancholy. The repetition of "Nevermore" is not just a word; it is a tolling bell, a final, inescapable sound that echoes the narrator's despair.

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