SOURCE: "Fitz-Greene Halleck," in The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, Vol. XV, edited by James A. Harrison, Thomas Y. Crowell, 1902, pp. 49-56.

In the following excerpt from an article on Halleck originally published in 1846, Poe measures public estimation of Halleck against what he considers a truer representation of the poet's literary worth.

The name of HALLECK is at least as well established in the poetical world as that of any American. Our principal poets are, perhaps, most frequently named in this order—Bryant, Halleck, Dana, Sprague, Longfellow, Willis, and so on—Halleck coming second in the series, but holding, in fact, a rank in the public opinion quite equal to that of Bryant. The accuracy of the arrangement as above made may, indeed, be questioned. For my own part, I should have it thus—Longfellow, Bryant, Halleck, Willis, Sprague, Dana; and, estimating rather the poetic capacity than...