Poe: So I asked myself, of all the melancholy topics, what, according to the universal understanding of mankind, is the most tragic? Death. And when is this most tragic of melancholy topics most poetical? When it most loosely alludes itself to beauty. The death, therefore, of a beautiful girl is unquestionably the most poetic topic in the world. Equally, it is beyond doubt that the lips best suited for such a topic are those of the man who loved her.