CUSTOMARY DEVICE of contemporary Poe criticism is to explicate one tale in the light of several others to which it appears to have some thematic or structural or symbolic affinities. In the search in Poe's own works for what Poe spoke of as the undercurrent, however indefinite, of meaning,' it has become apparent that the Poe canon, taken together, constitutes, if not precisely a seamless garment, at least not that patchwork quilt implied by the great number of Poe source studies and publishing market analyses. variety of modes Poe employed-arabesques, grotesques, hoaxes, parodies-are increasingly perceived as being connected by patterns of images, ideas, and concerns. These connections permit the grouping of various tales in a variety of combinations, in order to throw light on one or another tale in the group. So, for example, Morella, one of the subjects of this paper, is linked by Stuart Levine in The Death of the Beautiful Woman group to The Fall of the House of Usher; Patrick Quinn relates it to Metzengerstein in his metempsychosis group; Daniel Hoffman categorizes it with tales as diverse as The Black Cat and Loss of Breath in his marriage group.2 Clearly, each grouping testifies to the perceptions and concerns of the particular critic rather than to any exclusive emphases on the part of Poe. These imposed orders, however, are no less valuable for not being exclusive: underlying each is the assumption of an organic coherence uniting much of Poe's work. multiplicity of groupings only suggests that his coherence extends further than any single critic has assumed. grouping I would like to discuss in order to throw light upon Morella first and then reflectively, upon those other stories in the group, consists of Morella, Ligeia, A Descent into the Mael-