Diddling, Considered as One of the Exact Sciences by Edgar Allan Poe (1843): A Review

Title: Diddling, Considered as One of the Exact Sciences

Author: Edgar Allan Poe

Publication Year: 1843

Pages: 26

Rating: ⭐⭐

Genre: Humor, Satire, Essay

Source: eBook and audiobook @storytel.tr

Opening Sentence: Since the world began there have been two Jeremys.


This is essentially an essay in humor, or a humorous entry in an imaginary encyclopedia about “diddling.” It amusingly explores what it means to diddle, the act of diddling, who a diddler is, the characteristics of a diddler, and provides tangible examples of different types of diddling. Poe describes it so well that I am considering becoming a diddler myself!

Here are some insights into this diddling:

Man is an animal that diddles, and there is no animal that diddles but man.

To diddle is his destiny. “Man was made to mourn,” says the poet. But not so: — he was made to diddle. This is his aim — his object — his end. And for this reason when a man's diddled we say he's “done.”

Diddling, rightly considered, is a compound, of which the ingredients are minuteness, interest, perseverance, ingenuity, audacity, nonchalance, originality, impertinence, and grin.

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