hm m I THE LIFE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE BY / WILLIAM F. GILL ILLUSTRATED C. T. DILLINGHAM. NEW YORK CLAXTON, REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER PHILADELPHIA WILLIAM F. GILL & CO. BOSTON 1877 Copyright, 1876. William F. Gill. Getchell Bros., Prs., 352 Washington Street, Boston, Mass. 7# TO NEILSON POE, ESQ. IN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE KINDLY SYMPATHY AND VALUABLE AID AFFORDED, THIS VOLUME. THE FIRST COMPLETE LIFE OF HIS KINSMAN, EDGAR ALLAN POE, YET PUBLISHED, IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. ERRATA. In List of Illustrations, facing page 8, fifth line, "109" should be " 131." On page 142, fourteenth line, "dread " should be "ter- rors." On page 143, tenth line, " has " should be " had." On page 143, seventeenth line, "his attention" should be " himself." , PREFACE. For more than a quarter of a century, the American public, while crowning with laurels the genius of Edgar A. Poe, has lived on, indolently oblivious of the true story of his life. . Carping criticism has gloated over the doubtful record of follies and excesses ascribed to him by malignant enemies like Griswold, while the man, as he actually lived, is known only to the few. But as truth gradually displaces falsehood, we shall come to understand more correctly the true propor- tions of that marred and broken individuality, that nature so sensitively organized and so rarely devel- oped, under circumstances so exceptionally perilous and perverting. Some years since, the attention of the writer of this memoir was called to numerous inconsistencies appar- ent in Dr. Rufus W. Griswold's memoir of Edgar Allan Poe, and was induced to make inquiries that evidenced that this memoir, which for twenty-five 4 PREFACE. years has been permitted to stand as the representative biography of the poet, was, to all intents and purposes, a tissue of the most glaring falsehoods ever combined in a similar work. It appeared, upon investigation, that Grisw old's x/srepresentations arose from the bitter enmity in which this mediocre writer held Poe, on account of the poet's slashing critique of his (Griswold's) " Poets and Poetry of America." It has been the aim of the writer to give an unparti- san transcript of the life and character of Edgar Allan Poe ; to be " to his faults a little kind," without shrinking from the duty of a biographer, to recount all facts that came within the scope of his province to record. Place has not been given to idle rumors, nor to the unsubstantiated opinions of unreliable persons. Dr. Griswold has been treated as a disagreeable necessity. So long as the impression created by his " memoir "exists, he cannot, injustice to the memory of the poet, be ignored on the ground of his medioc- rity as a writer. His shafts were none the less pitiless, although barbed with " poor fustian." Until another quarter of a century has elapsed, it cannot be expected PREFACE. 5 that the baleful work done by Griswold can be up- rooted, for it has stood and thriven during the past twenty-five years, and, upon many persons now liv- ing, has created an impression that will endure while life endures. To the new generation of readers, with whom the lamented poet is finding a favor denied him at the hands of his contemporaries, this memoir may best fulfil its purpose of pleading the cause of a man of genius, condemned unheard. It may also serve to answer the complaint of an English writer, that " no trustworthy biography of of Poe has yet appeared in his own country." It has been the design of the writer to include in this work everything of importance that has been written or related of Poe, so far as accessible and reliable. It has been our good fortune to be brought into relations of near friendship with several of the most intimate friends and companions of the poet ; and in many cases, we speak, literally, "out of their own mouths," more significantly, without doubt, than if we had had the temerity to assume more independent views. Our especial acknowledgments, for valuable assistance rendered, are due to Mrs. S. H. Whitman, 6 PREFACE. Mr. Neilson Poe, Mrs. Annie L. Richmond, Mr. George R. Graham, and the late Mrs. Maria Clemm and Mr. T. C. Clarke. The portrait given is from a daguerrotype taken from life. It represents the poet in his youthful prime, and by one, a near friend of Poe, who has seen all his pictures known to be in existence, is pronounced the best likeness extant. WILLIAM F. GILL. ^v CONTENTS CHAPTER I. ANCESTRY. The Origin of the Family Name, Italian — Founding of the Race in Ireland — Family Feud with the Desmonds — Dispersion of ihe Families by Cromwell — Heroic Defence of Don Isle — The Powers and Lady Blessington —General David Poe — The Poet Counsellor — The Ballad of " Gramachree " — David Poe, Jr., and his Runaway Match — Poe's Actress Mother — Convivial South- ern Customs and their Consequences — Place of Poe's Birth — Death of Poe's Parents 9-20 CHAPTER II. CHILDHOOD. 1 809-1 826. Birth of the Poet — Early Beauty and Fascination — Poe's Foster Father — Precocious Predilection for the Muses — At School in England — Stoke New- ington and Rev. Dr. Bransby — At School in Richmond — First Ideal Love — Death of Helen Stannard — First Volume of Juvenile Poems — At the Univer- sity of Virginia — Testimony of the Faculty of the University — Morbid and Sensitive Temperament — Athletic Achievements 21-39 CHAPTER III. EARLY HARDSHIPS. 1826-1834. Home from School — First Quarrel with Mr. Allan — First Meeting with Virginia Clemm — A Second Edition of Juvenile Poems — A Griswold Fabrication dis- proved -* William Henrv Leonard Poe — Poe and the Mflford Bard — An Amusing Poetic Duel — Poe at West Point — A Third Edition of Poems — The True Story of Poe's Dismissal from West Point — Another Quarrel with Mr. Allan — Second Marriage of Mr. A'lan — Poe at Mrs. Clemm's — A Lie re- futed — The Baltimore Prizes — Mr. J. H. B. Latrobe's Account — Poe and Hewitt — Pen Photograph of the Poet at 24 Years — "Adventures of Hans Pfaal" — The Heir Expectant left Penniiess 40-70 CHAPTER IV. BEGINNING A LITERARY CAREER. 1834-I838. First Contributions to Periodicals — Engagement with the "Southern Literary Messenger" — Griswo'.d's Pettiness — Critical Reviews — J. K. Paulding's Encomiums — Marriage with his Cousin, Virginia Clemm — Melancholy in Solitude — Susceptibility to Drink — Innocence of Motive — Withdrawal from the "Mesrenger" — Engagement on the '"New York Quarterly Review " — Mr. William Gowans' Reviews — A Notable Review — First Prose Book, " Arthur Gordon Pym" — Its Success in England 71-87 CHAPTER V. VARIED EXPERIENCES IN PHILADELPHIA. 1838-1844. Removal to Philadelphia — Engagement as Editor of the "Gentleman's Maga- zine" — "Ligeia" — Inspiration of Visions — Ihe Fall of the House of Usher — The Haunted Palace — Griswold's Charges of Plagiarism — The Manual of Conchology — Professor Wyatt's Refutation — First Collection of Tales — An Audacious Griswold Invention — C. Alexander's Letter — The "Gentleman's " merged in "Graham's " — Brighter Days — Pen Pictures of 7 CONTENTS. the Poet's Home — Virginia's Simplicity — A Pleasing Incident — The Mur dcrs in the Rue Morgue — First Introduction to the French Public — An Ab- surd Controversy — Baudelaire on Griswold — The Barnaby Rudge Analysis — The Mystery of Marie Roget — The Purloined Letter — Notable Papers on Autography and Cryptology — Withdrawal from "Graham's" — Griswold's Confusion of Facts, and its Cause — George R. Graham's Statement — A Pertinent Anecdote — The Dream of Poe's Life — The " Stylus " — First Ap- pearance on the Rostrum at Baltimore — First Lecture in Philadelphia. 88-127 CHAPTER VI. CAREER IN NEW YORK. 1844-1846. On"The Northern Monthly" — Engagement on the "Mirror" — Testimony of the Poet Willis — First Anonymous Publication of "The Raven" — The Authorship revealed by Poe's Recitation at a Soiree — Mrs. Browning's Com- mendation — Conflicting Opinions as to its Origin — Gilfillan's Malevolent Recklessness — The Americans of a Quarter of a Century Ago — Poe's In- tentional Concealment of Motive — Personal Romances — Testimony of Inti- mate Personal Friends — Discrepancy of the Poet's Reading of "The Raven " with his Printed Analysis of it — Origin of Imaginative Compositions — Anec- dote of Beethoven — The Clue to "The Raven " — Analysis of "The Raven " — Where "The Raven" was written — Mrs. Brennan's Reminiscences — The "Raven" Room — Insufficient Revenue of the_ Poet — Price paid for "The Raven" — J. R. Lowell's Criticism — Lecture in Boston — The Poet's Mis- chievous Propensity — Griswold's Ridiculous Charges — Reply to Boston Criticisms — E. P. Whipp'e's Testimony — The -Poet's Social Life — Charac- ter of Intellect — Conversational Powers — : Mrs. Osgood's Impressions — Failure with "The Broadway Journal" — "Literrti" Papers — The Dunn- English Quarrel — The Garbling of Poe's Work by Griswold. . . . 128-179 CHAPTER VII. LAST YEARS. 1 846- 1 849. Removal to Fordham — Reminiscences of Fordham and its Inmates, by a Con- temporary of the Poet — Sickness and Poverty — A Public Appeal — Gris- wold's Malevolent Animus — Sympathy of Willis — Reply of the Poet — .---Death of Virginia — Fordham in 1847 — " Ulrfhime " — The Poet's Psychal Atmosphere — Lecture en " The Universe " — Letter to Willis — " Eureka " — Theory o c Deitv — Visit to Lowel — "The Bells" — Alteration irrm the Original MSS. — Some Suggestive Recolections — First Meeting with Mrs. Whitman — An Important Letter — An Ideal Home — Breakirg rf the Engage- ment — Griswcld's Grocs Misrepresentation — Reply of W. J. Pnbodie — Letter from Mrs. Whitman — The Poet leaves Fordham — A Last Effort to establish "The Stylus" — At Richmond rgrin — Return to the "Literary Messenger " — Anecdote of Annabel Lee, by J. P. Thompson — Lrst Visit to Philadelphia — Engagement with Mrs. Sheltcn — The Unfortunate Trip North — The Misfortunes in Baltimore — Death at Baltimore — A Retrospective Glance 180-244 APPENDIX. How Griswold secured Poe's Papers— Erhemcral Vindicrtions of the Poet — George R. Graham's Noble Tribute — Mrs. Whitman's Memoir — Some Un- published Collections — J. H. Ingram's Memoir — Fairfield's Absurd Article in "Scribner " — Memoirs of Stoddard, Didier, and Memorial by Miss Rice — Extraordinary Catastrophe to the Original Monument to Poe — The Monu- ment erected November 17, 1875, in Baltimore — The Dedicatory Exercises — Addresses — Letters from Distinguished People 245-315 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. ♦ PAGE I. Portrait Front II. Poe's Cottage at Fordham . . . Front III. Poe's School and Playground at Stoke- Newington 28 IV. Rev. Dr. Bransby, Poe's English School- master 30 V. Fac-Simile of Letter from N. P. Willis 109 VI. The Stylus (from the original design by Poe) 115 VII. Fac-Simile of Contract made with F. O. C. Darley, EsQj, January 31, 1843 . 118 VIII. Fac-Simile of Letter to T. C. Clarke, Esq^, March ii, 1843 .... 120 IX. Fac-Simile of Letter from George R. Graham 137 X. The House where " The Raven " was written . . . . . . . 148 XI. The Room where " The Raven " was WRITTEN I48 XII. Portrait of Maria Clemm . . . 182 XIII. Fac-Simile of the Original MSS. of "The Bells" 207 XIV. Fac-Simile of Letter to Mrs. S. H. Whitman 218 XV. Fac-Simile of Letter from Mrs. S. H. Whitman 228 XVI. The Poe Monument, erected in Balti- more, November, 1875 .... 312 Poe's Cottage at Fordham, with vignettes suggested by his works. THE LIFE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE CHAPTER I. ANCESTRY. The Origin of the Family Name, Italian — Founding of the Race in Ireland — Family Feud with the Desmonds — Dis- persion of the Families by Cromwell — Heroic Defence of Don Isle — The Powers and Lady Blessington — General David Poe — The Poet Counsellor — The Ballad of "Gra- machree" — David Poe, Jr., and his Runaway Match — Poe's Actress Mother — Convivial Southern Customs and their Consequences — Place of Poe's Birth — Death of Poe's Parents. HE name Poe is an old Italian name, and the minutest genealogical research finds it antedating the river Po, which, it is presumed, followed the original spelling of the princely family from which it was named. The family, like that of the Geraldines, and other Anglo-Norman settlers in Ireland, passed from Italy into the north of France, and from France, through England and Wales, into Ireland, where, from their isolated position and other causes, they retained for a long period their hereditary traits, with far less modification, from intermarriage and (9) io LIFE OF EDGAR A. FOE. consociation with other races, than did their Eng- lish compeers. Meantime, the name underwent various changes in accent and orthographry. We find descendants of the parent family rooted in Ireland as far back as 1327, the name in its Gallic form being spelled le Poer. The disastrous civil war at this period, in which all the great barons of the country were involved, was occasioned by a personal feud between Ar- nold le Poer and Maurice of Desmond, the for- mer having offended the dignity of the Desmond by calling him a rhymer. We can well imagine that, sprung from a race to which the improvisation of poetry is a second nature, the sensitive ear of the le Poer could illy brook the ruder song of the untutored Celt. Readers of the life of our poet will probably be impressed with the curious coincidence pre- sented in his life-long battle with less cultured adversaries, with this contest of his Norman an- cestor and his less . gifted opponent. But the constitutional characteristics of the le Poers were at all times apparently distinguished by these marked combative elements, and as Mrs. Whit- ANCESTRT. n man remarks, in her admirable exposition of the literary career of Poe, "the possible influence, on a character so anomalous as that of Edgar Poe, of the mental and constitutional peculiarities of his ancestors, are certainly worthy of note." During the reign of Henry II. of England, we find Sir Roger le Poer in Ireland, as Marshal to Prince John. Here he became the founder of a race connected with some of the most romantic and chivalrous incidents of Irish history. The heroic daring of Arnold le Poer, Seneschal of Kilkenny Castle, who, we gather from Mrs. Whitman, interposed, at the ultimate sacrifice of his liberty and his life, to save a noble lady from an ecclesiastical trial for witchcraft, the first ever instituted in the kingdom, was chronicled by Geraldus Cambrensis, and has been commemo- rated by recent historians. A transcript of the story, as told by Geraldus, may be found in Ennemoser's "Magic," and in White's "History of Sorcery." The characteristics of the le Poers were marked and distinctive. They were improvident, adventurous, and reck- lessly brave. They were deeply involved in the 12 LIFE OF EDGAR A. FOE. Irish troubles of 1641 ; and when Cromwell in- vaded Ireland, he pursued them with a special and relentless animosity. Their families were dispersed, their estates ravaged, and their lands forfeited. Of the three leading branches of the family at the time of Cromwell's invasion, Kilmaedon, Don Isle, and Curraghmore, only the last escaped his vengeance. The present representative of Cur- raghmore is the Marquis of Waterford. Cromwell's siege of the sea-girt castle and fort- ress of Don Isle, which was heroically defended by a female descendant of Nicholas le Poer, Baron of Don Isle, is, as represented by Sir Ber- nard Burke in his "Romance of the Aristocracy," full of legendary interest. The domain of Pow- erscourt took its name from the le Poers, and was for centuries in the possession of the family. Lady Blessington, through her father, Edmond Power, claimed descent from the same old Nor- man family.* A few branches of the family in Ireland still bore the old Italian name De la Poe, which, naturally, in its Anglicized form, became Poe. * Illustrated London News, June 9, 1849. ANCESTRY n John Poe, the great-grandfather of Edgar Allan Poe, married a daughter of Admiral McBride, distinguished for his naval achieve- ments, and connected with some of the most illustrious families of England. From genealogical records transmitted by him to his son David Poe, the grandfather of the poet, who was but two years of age when his parents left Ireland, it appears that different modes of spelling the name were adopted by different members of the same family. David Poe was accustomed to speak of the Chevalier le Poer, a friend of the Marquis de Grammont, as having been of his father's family. The grandfather of our poet was an officer in the Maryland line during the war of the Revolu- tion, and an intimate friend of General LaFayette. General Poe was, in the true sense of the word, a patriot. To furnish provisions, forage and cloth- ing to the destitute government troops, he stripped himself of his entire patrimony. For this, he never instituted a claim, nor for services rendered to the United States as an officer ; but for actual money loaned, he claimed forty thousand dollars. Owing to technical informalities in the vouchers r 4 LIFE OF EDGAR A. POE. (which consisted principally of letters from Washington and LaFayette), he received no por- tion of the sum. The Maryland legislature, however, subsequently allowed his widow a pen- sion, and, in the preamble of the act, expressed their satisfaction of the equity of the claim, while they deplored the legal insufficiency of the proofs to support it. General Poe was one of the most intimate personal friends of LaFayette, who, dur- ing his memorable visit to America in 1824, called upon the widow, publicly acknowledged the obligations of the country to her husband, ex- pressed his astonishment at finding her in com- parative indigence, and evinced his strong indig- nation at the narrow-minded policy of the govern- ment. We gather a few particulars of this interview from the late "Baltimore Gazette," and other papers of the time : " General LaFayette affectionately embraced Mrs. Poe, exclaiming at the same time, in tears, c The last time I embraced you, madame, you were younger and more blooming than now.' He visited, with his staff, the grave of General Poe, in 'the First Presby- terian Church-yard,' and kneeling on the ground, kissed the sod above him, and, weeping, ex- ANCESTRY. *5 claimed, % Ici repose un cozur noble!* — here lies a noble heart ! — a just tribute to the memory of a good, if not a great, man." A relative of David Poe, belonging to the Irish branch, although a lawyer by profession, was, like his now famous descendant, possessed of the divine afflatus, and one of his ballads so fasci- nated Robert Burns, the Scottish poet, that he included it in a collection of Scottish songs and ballads, ancient and modern, which, with anec- dotes of their authors, says Cunningham, exists in the handwriting of Burns in an interleaved copy of the first four volumes of Johnson's "Musical Museum," which the poet presented to Captain Riddel, of Friar's Corse. We quote the beautiful ballad, with Burns' in- troductory comment : "The song of f Gramachree ' was composed by Mr. Poe, a counsellor at law in Dublin. This anecdote I had from a gentleman who knew the lady, the * Molly,' who is the subject of the song, and to whom Mr. Poe sent the first manuscript of these most beautiful verses.* I do not remem- ber any single line that has more pathos than * Burns also apologized for placing an Irish poem in a 1 6 LIFE OF EDGAR A. POE. " ' How can she break the honest heart That wears her in its core ! ' " As down on Banna's banks I stray'd, One evening in May, The little birds in blithest notes Made vocal every spray ; They sang their little notes of love ! They sang them o'er and o'er : Ah ! gramachree, mo challie nouge, Mo Molly Astore. The daisy pied, and all the sweets The dawn of nature yields, The primrose pale, the violet blue, Lay scatter'd o'er the fields ; Such fragrance in the bosom lies Of her whom I adore : Ah ! gramachree, mo challie nouge, Mo Molly Astore. I laid me down upon a bank, Bewailing my sad fate, That doom'd me thus the slave of love, And cruel Molly's hate. collection in which it had no legitimate place. He evidently wished to embalm Mr. Poe's exquisite verses in a permanent form, and was willing, in his admiration of them, to disregard the fitness of things. ANCESTRT. 17 How can she break the honest heart That wears her in its core ! Ah ! gramachree, mo challie nouge, Mo Molly Astore. You said jou loved me, Molly dear : Ah ! why did I believe ? Yes, who could think such tender words Were meant but to deceive ? That love was all I ask'd on earth, Nay, Heaven could give no more ! Ah ! gramachree, mo challie nouge, Mo Molly Astore. Oh ! had I all the flocks that graze On yonder yellow hill, Or low'd for me the num'rous herds That yon green pastures fill, With her I love I'd gladly share My kine and fleecy store : Ah ! gramachree, mo challie nouge, Mo Molly Astore. Two turtle doves, above my head, Sat courting on a bow; I envy'd them their happiness, To see them bill and coo ; Such fondness once for me she show'd, But now, alas ! 'tis o'er Ah ! gramachree, mo challie nouge, Mo Molly Astore. j8 LIFE OF EDGAR A. FOE. Then fare thee well, my Molly dear, Thy loss I still shall moan ; Whilst life remains in Strephon's heart, 'Twill beat for thee alone. Though thou art false, may Heaven on thee Its choicest blessings pour ! Ah ! gramachree, mo challie nouge, Mo Molly Astore. General Poe married a Pennsylvania lady by the name of Cairnes, who is still remembered as having been a woman famous for her singular beauty. They had five children, of whom the fourth, David, was the father of the poet. The manners and customs prevailing among the bet- ter class of Southerners, at this period when David Poe, Jr., was growing into manhood, were little calculated to foster healthful moral restraints in the younger generation. The punch-bowl was as indispensable a fixture in the hall as was the card-basket, and potations from the generous liquor were as freely and innocently indulged in as are draughts of ice- water at the present time. The custom probably came into vogue during the days of the Revolu- tion, and doubtless answered well for campaign- ers, with irksome out-of-door duties. In the ANCESTRY. *9 warm climate of the South its baleful effects soon came to be felt, but not until the manhood of many well-intentioned young men had been unwittingly sacrificed by the acquisition of a habit of drink quite beyond control. David Poe, Jr., not unnaturally, fell a victim to the indul- gences of the flowing bowl, and manifested indi- cations of a weakness which excited great solici- tude among his family and friends. While yet a law student in the office of William Gwynne, Esq., Baltimore, Maryland, he became enamoured with Elizabeth Arnold, a young Eng- lish actress of considerable repute, and, at the age of eighteen, eloped with and married her. His parents, with the reprehensible contempt for the stage which then obtained, and which, more is the pity, still obtains to a great degree, disowned the young man, and he was thrown upon his own resources. Naturally enough, he went upon the stage, supporting his wife in sev- eral of her engagements throughout the country, but, with his limited experience, never, of course, attaining any position of importance. Upon the birth of their first child, William Henry Leonard Poe, a reconciliation between 2 o LIFE OF EDGAR A. POE. him and his family was, according to some ac- counts, cemented; but we doubt if David Poe returned to the paternal mansion, for Edgar was born in Boston, while his mother was playing an engagement there, and all accounts agree that the couple remained upon the stage up to the time of their death. Mrs. Poe died from pneu- monia, during an engagement at the Richmond Theatre, December 8, 1811. In the files of the Richmond Enquirer of that year, under date of December 10, is found the following obituary notice : "Died, on Sunday last, Mrs. Poe, one of the actresses of the company now playing on the Richmond boards. By the death of this lady the stage has been deprived of one of its brightest ornaments, and, to say the least of her, she was an interesting actress, and never failed to catch the applause and command the admiration of the beholder." Poe's father was one of the victims of the burning of the Richmond Theatre on the 26th of the same month in which Mrs. Poe died: * Their three orphaned children, William Hen- ry, Edgar, and Rosalie, all of tender years, were left unprovided for, but the general sympathy aroused at the time by the fire was extended to them, and they were all well cared for by kind friends. * Some authorities state that Mr. Poe died of consumption, two weeks after the death of his wife. CHAPTER II. CHILDHOOD. I 809-I 826. Birth of the Poet — Early Beauty and Fascination — Poe's Foster Father — Precocious Predilection for the Muses — At School in England— Stoke Newington and Rev. Dr. Bransbj' — At School in Richmond — First Ideal Love — Death of Helen Stannard — First Volume of Juvenile Poems — At the University of Virginia — Testimony of the Faculty of the University — Morbid and Sensitive Temper- ament — Athletic Achievements. DGAR ALLAN POE was born in Bos- ton, on the 19th of January, 1809. Born to privation, marked before his birth with the brand of his father's vice, the or- phan of two years seemed called upon to face an abject future. But a glamour of sunshine, at least, was destined to illume his path. It was but a glamour, a glamour that proved in the end but as a winding-sheet to the hopes of our poet. The extraordinary beauty and captivating man- ners of Edgar unfortunately won the attention of a gentleman residing in Richmond, Mr. John Allan, a man of wealth and position. We use (21) 22 LIFE OF EDGAR A. FOE. the word "unfortunately," advisedly, since the imaginative child must have received, among the first impressions of his new home, the idea of the great inheritance to which he was to look forward, and have become at the outset sur- charged with the spirit of self-willed indepen- dence, which such anticipations were calculated to create and strengthen. Mr. Allan's income was princely, and as he had no children, there was no reserve in the admission that he designed his adopted son to be the inheritor of his fortune. These were the poet's halcyon days ; and even at this early time he evinced his predilec- tion for the muses. Mr. Stoddard tells us that he was remarkable for a tenacious memory and a musical ear, and that he was accustomed to de- claim the finest passages of English poetry to the evening visitors at Mr. Allan's house, with great effect. The most insensible of his audience could not fail to be struck with the justness of his emphasis, and his evident appreciation of the poems he recited, while every heart was won by the ingenuous simplicity and agreeable manners of the precocious elocutionist. In 1817, Mr. and Mrs. Allan paid a length- SCHOOL DA rS IN ENGLAND. 23 ened visit to England, being concerned in the disposal of some property there. Edgar, now Edgar Allan, after his adopted father, accom- panied them, and was placed in charge of the Rev. John Bransby, at Stoke Newington. Poe's partly autobiographical description of this school at Stoke Newington is found in one of his matchless short stories, "William Wilson :" — ■ "My earliest recollections of a school life are connected with a large, rambling Elizabethan house, in a misty-looking village of England, where were a vast number of gigantic and gnarled trees, and where all the houses were excessively ancient. In truth, it was a dream-like and spirit- soothing place, that venerable old town. At this moment, in fancy, I feel the refreshing chilliness of its deeply-shadowed avenues, inhale the fra- grance of its thousand shrubberies, and thrill anew with undefmable delight, at the deep hol- low note of the church bell, breaking, each hour, with sullen and sudden roar, upon the stillness of the dusky atmosphere in which the fretted Gothic steeple lay embedded and asleep. It gives me, perhaps, as much of pleasure as I can now in any manner experience, to dwell upon minute 2 4 LIFE OF EDGAR A. POE. recollections of the school and its concerns. Steeped in misery as I am — misery, alas! only too real — I shall be pardoned for seeking relief, however slight and temporary, in the weakness of a few rambling details. These, moreover, utterly trivial and even ridiculous in themselves, assume, to my fancy, adventitious importance, as connected with a period and locality when and where I recognize the first ambiguous monitions of the destiny which afterward so fully overshad- owed me. Let me then remember. The house, I have said, was old and irregular. The grounds were extensive, and a high and solid brick wall, topped with a bed of mortar and broken glass, encompassed the whole. The prison-like ram- part formed the limit of our domain ; beyond it we saw but thrice a week — once every Saturday afternoon, when, attended by two ushers, we were permitted to take brief walks in a body through some of the neighboring fields — and twice during Sunday, when we were paraded in the same formal manner to the morning and evening service in the one church of the village. Of this church the principal of our school was pastor. With how deep a spirit of wonder and SCHOOL DATS IN ENGLAND. 2 5 perplexity was I wont to regard him from our remote pew in the gallery, as, with step solemn and slow, he ascended the pulpit ! This rever- end man, with countenance so demurely benign, with robes so glossy and so clerically flowing, with wig so minutely powdered, so rigid and so vast, — could this be he who, of late, with sour visage and in snuffy habiliments, administered, ferule in hand, the Draconian laws of the acad- emy? Oh, gigantic paradox, too utterly mon- strous for solution ! At an angle of the ponder- ous wall frowned a more ponderous gate. It was riveted and studded with iron bolts, and sur- mounted with jagged iron spikes. What impres- sions of deep awe did it inspire ! It was never opened save for the three periodical egressions and ingressions already mentioned ; then, in every creak of its mighty hinges, we found a plenitude of mystery — a world of matter for sol- emn remark, or for more solemn meditation. The extensive inclosure was irregular in form, having many capacious recesses. Of these, three or four of the largest constituted the playground. It was level, and covered with fine hard gravel. I well remember it had no trees, nor benches, 26 LIFE OF EDGAR A. POE. nor anything similar, within it. Of course it was in the rear of the house. In front lay a small parterre, planted with box and other shrubs ; but through this sacred division we passed only upon rare occasions indeed — such as a first advent to school or final departure thence, or, perhaps, when a parent or friend having called for us, we joyfully took our way home for the Christmas or Midsummer holidays. But the house ! — how quaint an old building was this ! — to me how veritably a palace of enchantment ! There was really no end to its windings — to its incomprehensible subdivisions. It was difficult, at any given time, to say with certainty upon which of its two stories one happened to be. From each room to every other there were sure to be found three or four steps either in ascent or descent. Then the lateral branches were innumerable — inconceivable — and so returning in upon themselves, that our most exact ideas in regard to the whole mansion were not very far different from those with which we pondered upon infinity. During the five years of my resi- dence here, I was never able to ascertain with precision, in what remote locality lay the little SCHOOL DA TS IN ENGLAND. 27 sleeping apartment assigned to myself and some eighteen or twenty other scholars. The school- room was the largest in the house — I could not help thinking, in the world. It was very long, narrow, and dismally low, with pointed Gothic windows and a ceiling of oak. In a remote and terror-inspiring angle was a square inclosure of eight or ten feet, comprising the sanctum, 'during hours,' of our principal, the Reverend Dr. Brans- by. It was a solid structure, with massy door, sooner than open which in the absence of the * Dominie,' we would all have willingly perished by the -peine forte et dure. In other angles were two other similar boxes, far less reverenced, indeed, but still greatly matters of awe. One of these was the pulpit of the f classical' usher, one of the f English and mathematical.' Interspersed about the room, crossing and recrossing in end- less irregularity, were innumerable benches and desks, black, ancient and time-worn, piled des- perately with much-bethumbed books, and so beseamed with initial letters, names at full length, grotesque figures, and other multiplied efforts of the knife, as to have entirely lost what little of original form might have been their portion in 2 8 LIFE OF EDGAR A. FOE. days long departed. A huge bucket with watet stood at one extremity of the room, and a clock of stupendous dimensions at the other. "Encompassed by the massy walls of this ven- erable acadenry, I passed, yet not in tedium or disgust, the years of the third lustrum of my life. The teeming brain of childhood requires no ex- ternal world of incident to occupy or amuse it ; and the apparently dismal monotony of a school was replete with more intense excitement than my riper youth has derived from luxury, or my full manhood from crime. Yet I must believe that my first mental development had in it much of the uncommon — even much of the outre. Upon mankind at large the events of very early existence rarely leave in mature age any definite impression. All is gray shadow — a weak and irregular remembrance — an indistinct regather- ing of feeble pleasures and phantasmagoric pains. With me this is not so. In childhood I must have felt with the energy of a man what I now find stamped upon memory in lines as vivid, as deep, and as durable as the exergues of the Car- thaginian medals. Yet the fact — in the fact of the world's view — how little was there to remem- Rev. Dr. Bransby's Establishment at Stoke-Newington. The School Play-Ground at Stoke-Newington. SCHOOL DATS IN ENGLAND. 29 ber. The morning's awakening, the nightly summons to bed; the connings, the recitations; the periodical half-holidays and perambulations ; the playground, with its broils, its pastimes, its intrigues; these, by a mental sorcery lon^ for- gotten, were made to involve a wilderness of sensation, a world of rich incident, an universe of varied emotion, of excitement the most pas- sionate and spirit-stirring. ' O, le bon temfis, que ce Steele defer!' " Poe, in his description of the school-house at Stoke Newington, as in most of his pictures from life, drew upon his imagination somewhat. The actual house was identified a few years ago by the late Mr. John Camden Hotten, the London publisher. By a fortunate circumstance, Mr. Hotten stumbled upon an abstract of the leases granted by the Lord of the Manor, sixty years since, and amongst the entries was found the following : — Yearly rent. The Rev. John Bransbj, of the school in Church street, and ground in Edwards lane, 21 jeats lease, with 10 additional, expires March, 1837 • ^55-QO As Bransby was the name mentioned in the story, this gave a clue, and the house was 3J Griswold says, "that the publishers sent one hundred copies to England, and being mistaken, at first, for a narrative of real experiences, it was advertised to be reprinted ; but a discovery of its character, I believe, prevented such a result." It will be noted that the facts again tip the scale, against the balance of Griswold's fiction, in :his instance. CHAPTER V. VARIED EXPERIENCES IN PHILADELPHIA. 1838-1844. Removal to Philadelphia — Engagement as Editor of the " Gentleman's Magazine" — " Ligeia" — Inspiration of Vis- ions — The Fall of the House of Usher — The Haunted Palace — Griswold's Charges of Plagiarism — The Manual of Chonchologj — Professor Wyatt's Refutation — First Col- lection of Tales — An Audacious Griswold Invention — C. Alexander's Letter — The "Gentleman's" Merged in "Gra- ham's" — BrighterDays — Pen Pictures of the Poet's Home — Virginia's Simplicity — A Pleasing Incident — The Murders in the Rue Morgue — First Introduction to the French Pub- lic — An Absurd Controversy — Baudelaire on Griswold — The Barnaby Rudge Analysis — The Mystery of Marie Roget — The Purloined Letter — Notable Papers on Au- tograpy and Cryptology — Withdrawal from "Graham's" — Griswold's Confession of Facts, and its Cause — George R. Graham's Statement — A Pertinent Anecdote — The Dream ofPoe's Life — The "Stylus" — First Appearance on the Rostrum, at Baltimore — First Lecture in Philadelphia. OE remained in New York but a year. The metropolis was not then the Mecca of magazinists and critics that it has come to be now, and Philadelphia seemed then to offer superior advantages to the poet-critic fox regular employment. (88) INSPIRATION OF VISIONS. 89 Near the end of the year 1838, Poe removed to Philadelphia. There Wm. E. Burton, the famous comedian, had established the "Gentle- man's Magazine." The poet joined its corps of contributors, and in less than six months his brilliant experience with the "Messenger" was repeated, and the editor's chair was assigned to him. In this position he worked two hours a day, at a salary of ten dollars per week. This en- gagement gave him ample time for other literary duties, and he wrote for other journals, among which was the " Literary Examiner," of Pittsburgh, Pa. Some of his best prose tales were done at this time, when the yoke of privation sat but lightly upon his shoulders. "Ligeia," his favorite tale, written at this time, was inspired by a dream, although none but his charmed circle of intimates were permitted to know of the inner life which gave it birth. To these he often spoke, writes Mrs. Whitman, "of the imageries and incidents of his inner life, as more vivid and veritable than those of his outer experience." On a manuscript copy of one of his later poems, he refers, in a pencilled note, to the vision that inspired " Ligeia :" 9 o LIFE OF EDGAR A. FOE. "All that I have here expressed was actually present to me. Remember the mental condition which gave rise to 'Ligeia,' — recall the pas- sage of which I spoke, and observe the coinci- dence." "I regard these visions," he says, "even as they arise, with an awe which, in some measure, moderates or tranquillizes the ecstasy. I so re- gard them through a conviction that this ecstasy, in itself, is of a character supernal to nature, — is a glimpse of the spirit's inner world." "He had," writes Mrs. Whitman, "that constitutional determination to reverie which, according to De Quincey, alone enables man to dream magnifi- cently, and which, as we have said, made his dreams realities, and his life a dream. "His mind was, indeed, a Haunted Palace, echoing to the footfalls of angels and demons." "No man," said Poe, "has recorded, no man has dared to record, the wonders of his inner life." "The Fall of the House of Usher" also ap- peared at this time. Even Griswold was moved to accord to these tales "the unquestionable stamp of genius." THE HAUNTED PALACE. yi He writes of them, "The analyses of the growth of madness in one, and the thrilling revelations of the existence of a first wife in the person of a second, in the other, are made with consummate skill ; and the strange and solemn and fascinating beauty which informs the style and invests the circumstances of both, drugs the mind, and makes us forget the improbabilities of their gen- eral design." "The Fall of the House of Usher" incorporated the poem of "The Haunted Palace," which Gris- wold ventured to mention as a specimen of Poe's so-called plagiarisms "scarcely paralleled for their audacity in all literary history." Poe has been accused of taking "The Haunted Palace" from Longfellow's " Beleaguered City." The "doctor" states that Longfellow's poem ap- peared a few weeks after "The Haunted Pal- ace ;" but that it had been written long before, and had been in Poe's possession for a time. The fact is, that Poe's poem had appeared long before Longfellow's, and in two different publica- tions. The same imperturbable authority which pre- sumes placidly to state that Poe was not remark- 9 2 LIFE OF EDGAR A. FOE. ably original in invention, owing to these sundry plagiarisms, classes his story of " The Pit and the Pendulum" under the same head. This, he says, was borrowed from a story, entitled w Vivenzio? or "Italian Vengeance," by the author of" The First and Last Dinner," in "Black- wood's Magazine." These stories have been carefully compared {not by Dr. Griswold) , and their only similarity is in the fact that both stories are founded upon the idea of a collapsing room, for which authenticated historical record, and not the creative power of the writers, is to be credited. In plot or construction, there is not the slightest resemblance between these stories. The most flagrant plagiarism alleged against Poe by Dr. Griswold was that of the publishing of the "Manual of Conchology," which, it is charged, was a copy, nearly verbatim, of "The Text-book of Conchology," by Captain Thomas Brown, printed in Glasgow in 1833. He writes, " Mr. Poe actually took out a copyright for the American edition of Captain Brown's work, and, omitting all mention of the English original, pretended, in the preface, to have been under great obligations to several scientific gentlemen of this city." PROFESSOR WTATT'S REFUTATION. 93 Although this story could have, at the time of the original publication of Griswold's memoir, been easily disproved, no one of Poe's friends took the trouble to investigate this charge ; and his rivals and enemies were only well pleased to accept the statement of Griswold as truthful. Most of them had been pretty roughly handled — pilloried by the poet's merciless pen ; and al- though they may have deserved his strictures, which, however severe, never stooped to deliber- ate falsification, they were, nevertheless, goaded to the bitterest enmity by his scathing expose of their shortcomings. Therefore, it is to be presumed, this story of the wholesale appropriation of the English au- thor's book was as a toothsome morsel in their cup of bitterness. But some ten years after this falsehood had gone on record, it was most authoritatively dis- proved in the columns of the "Home Journal," New York, by Professor Wyatt, a Scotch scientist, who, it is understood, was not in the country at the time the charge against Poe was orignally published. This gentleman had, it seems, become ac- 94 LIFE OF EDGAR A. FOE. quainted with Poe while the poet was connected with the "Gentleman's Magazine," at the period of which we are now writing, and had engaged him to assist in the compilation of several works on natural history. A comparison of Brown's "Text-book" with Poe and Wyatt's "Manual" evidences that the} r bear some resemblance, both being founded on the system of Lamarck ; but it would be as absurd to charge that the American book is plagiarized from the English, as it would be to term "Hook- er's School Physiology" a plagiarism from Olm- sted's, because both treat of certain subjects in common. As musical composers frequently vie with each other in setting their scores to the same subject, so authors may be permitted to evolve from a given subject, even if previously appropriated, the new creations moulded by the emanations of their own peculiar creative powers ; and, by matter-of-fact minds, incapable of sensing deli- cate distinctions, poets from Shakspeare down to Aldrich have been, and will continue to be, ad- judged guilty of arrant plagiarisms. In the autumn of 1839, -P° e published his first AN AUDACIOUS INVENTION. 95 collection of tales in two volumes under the title, "Tales of the Arabesque and Grotesque." This issue included "Ligeia," and "The Fall of the House of Usher," with others of his notable imaginative compositions. These stones were, at the time, caviare to the general reading public to which they were addressed ; but they won favor with the very limited circle of literary peo- ple, w r hose favor was worth the while, although the poet probably reaped no. significant pecuniary reward from their publication. Dr. Griswold's account of Poe's alleged seces- sion from the "Gentleman's Magazine," which he states occurred in 1840, wilfully misrepresents the facts, after the manner of this vindictive villiner. After mentioning a personal correspondence between Burton and Poe, in which the views of the latter, whatever they may have been, are carefully suppressed, Dr. Griswold romances as follows : " He [Burton] was. absent nearly a fortnight, and on returning he found that his printers had not received a line of copy, but that Poe had prepared the prospectus of a new monthly, and obtained transcripts of his subscrip- tion and account books, to be used in a scheme g6 LIFE OF EDGAR A. FOE. for supplanting him. He encountered his asso- ciate late in the evening, at one of his accustomed haunts, and said, ? Mr. Poe, I am astonished. Give me my manuscripts, so that I can attend to the duties which you have so shamefully neg- lected, and when you are sober we will settle.' Poe interrupted him with, 'Who are you that presume to address me in this manner? Burton, I am the editor of the "Penn Magazine," and you are — hiccup — a fool! ' Of course, this ended his relations with the ' Gentleman's.' " That this alleged conversation, so plausibly nar- rated as to pass current, nem. con., were it not for the existence of more reliable documentary evidence, is an audacious invention, will be ap- parent from the written testimony given of a gentleman connected with the " Gentleman's Magazine" at this time as publisher, Charles W. Alexander, Esq., the founder of the "Philadel- phia Saturday Evening Post." In a letter to T. W. Clarke, Esq., proprietor of the "Museum," published at that time in Phil- adelphia, Mr. Alexander writes as follows : — Philadelphia, Oct. 20th, 1850. My dear Sir, — I very cheerfully reply to your request made in reference to our friend Edgar Allan Poe. C. ALEXANDER'S LETTER. 97 I well remember his connection with the " Gentleman's Magazine," of which Mr. Burton was editor, and myself the publisher, at the period referred to in connection with Mr. Poe. The absence of the principal editor on professional duties left the matter frequently in the hands of Mr. Poe, whose un- fortunate failing may have occasioned some disappointment in the preparation of a particular article expected from hints but never interfering with the regular publication of the " Gentleman's Magazine," as its monthly issue was never in- terrupted upon any occasion, either from Mr. Poe's defi- ciency, or from any other cause, during my publication of it, embracing the whole time of Mr. Poe's connection with it. That Mr. Poe had faults seriously detrimental to his own in- terests, none, of course, will deny. They were, unfortu- nately, too well known in the literary circles of Philadelphia, were there any disposition to conceal them. But he alone was the sufferer, and not those who received the benefit of his pre-eminent talents, however irregular his habits or uncer- tain his contributions may occasionally have been. I had long and familiar intercourse with him, and very cheerfully embrace the opportunity which you now offer of bearing testimony to the uniform gentleness of disposition and kindness of heart which distinguished Mr. Poe in all my intercourse with him. With all his faults, he was a gentleman ; which is more than can be said of some who have Undertaken the ungracious task of blacking the reputation which Mr. Poe, of all others, esteemed " the precious jewel of his soul." Yours truly, C. Alexander. To Mr. T. C. Clarke. 98 LIFE OF EDGAR A. FOE. According to Mr. Clarke, the " Perm Magazine " had not been projected at that time, nor indeed mentioned as in prospect until several years later. There is no reputable evidence that Poe ever quitted his position on the staff of the " Gentle- man's " at all ; certain it is, that when, in the latter part of the year 1840, Mr. George R. Graham, proprietor of " The Casket," purchased the " Gentleman's Magazine," and merged the two into one under the title of " Graham's Maga- zine," Poe was retained as editor. With less re- straint upon his pen, and a more liberal business management, the new magazine speedily gained in popularity, its subscription list, according to some accounts, being increased to tenfold of that of its predecessors, which it combined. These were, perhaps, the brightest days of the poet's literary career. Mr. Graham was a con- genial companion, sympathetic with Poe's tastes and aspirations, and, in no small degree, was able to minister to the material comforts of his gifted co-laborer. Poe was then in such demand that, although poorly paid, his industry secured him a good living ; and but for the illness of his THE POET'S HOME. . 99 child-wife, upon whom the wasting ravages of her malady had begun to do their work, he would have been happy and comfortable. Griswold has the decency to speak of Poe's home, which he visited at this time, in terms that seem unaccount- able coming from this source. He does not neglect a fling at the poet's acknowledged mis- fortune, but for a Griswoldism the allusion de- serves to be admitted here by way of contrast : "It was while he resided in Philadelphia that I became acquainted with him. "His manner, except during his fits of intoxica- tion, was very quiet and gentlemanly. He was usually dressed with simplicity and elegance, and when once he sent for me to visit him, during a period of illness caused by protracted and anx- ious watching at the side of his sick wife, I was impressed by the singular neatness and the air of refinement in his home. "It was in a small house in one of the pleas- ant and silent neighborhoods far from the centre of the town, and though slightly and cheaply furnished, everything in it was so tasteful and so fitly disposed that it seemed altogether suitable for a man of genius." loo LIFE OF EDGAR A. POE. The residence described was a small brick tenement in North Seventh street, in that part of the city then known as Spring Garden. The house was on the rear portion of the lot, leaving a large vacant space in front, affording Poe and his gentle invalid wife opportunity for indulging their -penchant for plants and flowers. "Mr. T. C. Clarke, nearly associated with Poe at this time, writes, "Their little garden in summer, and the house in winter, were over- flowing with luxuriant grape and other vines, and liberally ornamented with choice flowers of the poet's selection. Poe was a pattern of social and domestic worth. It was our happiness to participate with them in the occasional enjoyment of the beauty of the flowers, and to watch the enthusiasm with which the fondly attached pair exhibited their floral taste. Here, too, we were wont to participate in the hospitality which al- ways rendered Poe's home the home of his friends. We call to mind some incidents in the pleas- antly remembered intercourse that existed be- tween the ladies of our families, especially in the hours of sickness, which rendered so much of Virginia's life a source of painful anxiety to THE POET'S HOME. ioi all who had the pleasure of knowing her, and of witnessing the gradual wasting away of her fragile frame. "But she was an exquisite picture of patient loveliness, always wearing upon her beautiful countenance the smile of resignation, and the warm, even cheerful, look with which she ever greeted her friends. "How devotedly her husband loved the gentle being, whose life was bound up in his own, is touchingly illustrated in the Griswold description of his visit which I have italicized. c He sent for me to visit him during a -period of illness caused by protracted and anxious watching at the side of his sick wife.'' "This, coming from the malignant Griswold, is an eloquent tribute to the kindly and tender spirit of Poe, whose devotion no adversity, not even the fiend that haunted him in the fatal cup, could warp or lessen, and this attachment, in- tense as it was on the part of the poet, was equally strong and enduring in the soul of his 'Annabel Lee,' his gentle mate, whose affection that poem so touchingly and sadly commemo- rates. 102 LIFE OF EDGAR A. FOE. 'And this maiden, she loved with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me.' " f She was a child,' sings the poem ; and indeed Poe himself was little else in the every-day per- plexities and responsibilities of life . Of Virginia's playful, child-like buoyancy of spirit, I may men- tion an incident which, though trifling in itself, shows the keen zest with which she enjoyed little trifles which others might have regarded as annoy- ing or impertinent. "Our little daughter, passing the day with her favorite friend, enlivened the hours with her childish songs. " There was one which she hinted knowledge of, but positively refused to sing, and it was not until after repeated solicitations from Virginia that the child ventured upon * I never would be married and be called Mistress Poe, Goody Poe, &c. "'Mistress Poe' received the song with peal upon peal of laughter, and insisted, in her exu- berance of spirits, on having the homely melody repeated. "Upon parting, Virginia gave the child a keep- sake, which the recipient, no longer a child, THE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE. 103 now cherishes in memory of the fair and gentle donor. "On leaving Philadelphia for New York, when breaking up their simple, fairy-like home, we were favored with some of their pet flowers, which, preserved and framed, remain in our household to this day as interesting relics of those happy days with Edgar and Virginia." During his engagement on "Graham's," which lasted about fifteen months, Poe wrote most of his best stories and many critiques, reviews and essays, fully establishing his reputation as a writer, spite of the fact that most of his writing was far in advance of the age in which he lived, and above the comprehension of the mass of the literary public of that time. In "Graham's" for April, 1841, appeared "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," the first of those wonderful analytic tales in the conception and evolving of which Poe has never been equalled, although persistently imitated, especially by mod- ern French romancers. This story, indeed, served to introduce the poet to the French public, in a manner that amply justified the author in his frequent charges of plagiarism against his con- temporaries. 104 LIFE OF EDGAR A. FOE. The anecdote is not new, but it is good enough to bear a repetition in this place. The author's grotesque conception, as is well known to those who have read the tale, fixes the murder upon a fugitive orang-outang, who had been detected by his master in the act of shaving himself, and escaped with the razor in hand. One of the Parisian journals, K La Commerce" "cribs" and translates the story from "Graham's" without credit, and it, in turn, is served up as a novelty by a writer in "La £>iwtidienne? under the appropriate title, " U Orang-Otang;" .a third party incautiously charges " La £>uotidienne" of a plagiarism from " La Commerce" and in the course of the examination it comes out, that to the American writer only belongs the honor of the composition of the story. "L'Entr* Arte? another Parisian journal, in its issue of the 20th of October, 1846, gave an exceedingly amusing account of the absurd contretemps between its contemporaries, complimenting Poe, of whom it speaks as " un gaillard bien Jin et bien sj>iri- tuel" This controversy naturally resulted in bring- ing Poe's name prominently before the French BAUDELAIRE ON GRISWOLD. 105 • reading world, and commendatory critiques were at this time published in the "Revue des Deux Mondes" and pther leading journals, while Ma- dame Isabelle Meunier translated others of his stories for the periodicals. It was reserved for Charles Baudelaire, however, to first discover the poet's genius, and to immortalize it in France by his exquisitely sympathetic and faithful trans- lations. It was Baudelaire, too, who among foreign writers first denounced the mendacities of Griswold, and held him up to the gaze of the French admirers of Poe in his true colors. Speaking of the biographers of Poe, Baudelaire writes, w Some, uniting the dullest unintelligence of his genius to the ferocity of the hypocritical trading class, have insulted him to the upper- most, after his untimely end, rudely hectoring his poor speechless corpse, particularly Mr. Rufus W. Griswold, the -pedagogue vampire, who has defamed his friend at full length, in an enormous article, wearisome and crammed with hatred, which was prefixed to the posthumous editions of Poe's works. Are there then no regulations in America to keep the curs out of the ceme- teries ? " lo6 LIFE OF EDGAR A. POE. In May, 1841, appeared in the "Saturday Evening Post," of Philadelphia, Poe's celebrated -prophetic analysis of Dickens' "Barnaby Rudge." From the initial chapters of the story, Poe de- duced the entire plot and predicted the actual denouement. Dickens, in his first visit to America, took occasion admiringly to confirm the entire accu- racy of the poet's analysis. Early in 1842 appeared the now famous "De- scent into the Maelstrom." In November of the same year " The Mystery of Marie Roget " was published in "Graham's." The story was another triumph for Poe's ana- lytic power. This story was founded upon the incident of the murder of a young girl, which took place while Poe was residing in New York. Her death, the poet tells us, occasioned a long-con- tinued excitement, and the mystery attending it had remained unsolved at the period when the story was written and published. In his note, appended to the edition of his tales published during his lifetime, Poe writes, "'The Mystery of Marie Roget ' was composed at a THE PURLOINED LETTER. 107 distance from the scene of the atrocity, and with no other means of investigation than the news- papers afforded. "Thus, much escaped the writer, of which he could have availed "himself had he been upon the spot and visited the localities. It may not be improper to record, nevertheless, that the con- fession of two persons (one of them the Madame Delue of the narrative) , made at different peri- ods, long subsequent to the publication, confirmed in full, not only the general conclusion, but abso- lutely all the chief hypothetical details by which that conclusion was attained." Although less satisfactory, as a story, from the fact that the following-out of the clue was for pru- dential reasons omitted, the " Mystery of Marie Roget," as a representative study of the poet's method, a method flawless in its way, and alto- gether sui generis, it affords a most satisfactory example. "The Purloined Letter," a sequence to "Marie Roget," and constructed in the same vein, was published shortly afterwards, and "The Prema- ture Burial" appeared at this time. It was during Poe's connection with "Gra- Io8 LIFE OF EDGAR A. POE. ham's," too, that he wrote the papers on "Autog- raphy," with their prophetic analyses, after the method of Lavater, as well as his papers on "Cryptology," in which he claimed that no cryp- tograph could be constructed by human inge- nuity which human ingenuity could not un- ravel. Griswold sneers anent this theory, " a not very dangerous proposition, since it implied no capa- city in himself to discover every riddle of this kind that should be invented." Griswold admits, however, that " he succeeded with several difficult cryptographs that were sent to him." He does not add that Poe never failed to solve any cryptograph of the enormous number sent to him ; but such is the fact, — a fact which does not excuse the deplorable waste of time and talents upon such a fancy. But Poe's critical animus frequently carried him beyond the boundaries of reason. He was, unquestionably, lacking in the balance and concentration that would have repressed such profitless deflections, the effect of which is exhib- ited in the uneven quality of his verse, of which Oliver Wendell Holmes says, that in the works GRISWOLD'S CONFESSION OF FACTS. 109 of no other poet is there exhibited such a differ- ence in quality, as exists between the best and the worst of Poe's poems. To Poe belongs the honor of discovering and first introducing to the American public the genius of Elizabeth Barrett Browning ; and it was at this time, while conducting "Graham's," that many of this author's verses were contrib- uted to its pages. Shortly after" the publication of "The Pur- loined Letter," in 1842, Poe withdrew from " Graham's " under circumstances which indicate that Gris wold's statement that the most friendly relations existed between him and Poe is false, and that the letters published by Griswold as written to him by Poe were fabrications. Speaking of the severing of Poe's connection with "Graham's Magazine, " Dr. Griswold writes, " The infirmities which induced his separation from Mr. White and Mr. Burton at length com- pelled Mr. Graham to find another editor ; " and also in the same connection, "It is known that the personal ill-will on both sides was such that for some four or five years not a line by Poe was -purchased for ' Graham's Magazine.'" The italics are Dr. Griswold's. He evidently believes UO LIFE OF EDGAR A. POE. with Chrysos, the art-patron in W. S. Gilbert's play of " Pygmalion and Galatea, " that when a person tells a lie he " should tell it well. " Mr. Graham, from whom the' magazine was named, is now living, and when we last saw him, December, 1873, he was in excellent health. We were then, of course, intent upon securing data in regard to the life of Poe ; and in a con- versation with Mr. Graham, some peculiarly sig- nificant facts touching Griswold's veracity in par- ticular were elicited. Mr. Graham • states that Poe never quarrelled with him ; never was discharged from " Graham's Magazine ; " and that during the " four or five years " italicized by Dr. Griswold as indicating the personal ill-will between Mr. Poe and Mr. Graham, over fifty articles by Poe were accepted by Mr. Graham. The facts of Mr. Poe's secession from " Gra- ham's " were as follows : — Mr. Poe was, from illness or other causes, ab- sent for a short time from his post on the maga- zine. Mr. Graham had, meanwhile, made a temporary arrangement with Dr. Griswold to act as Poe's substitute until his return. Poe came A PER TINE NT ANECDOTE. m back unexpectedly, and, seeing Griswold in his chair, turned on his heel without a word, and left the office, nor could he be persuaded to enter it again, although, as stated, he sent frequent con- tributions thereafter to the pages of the maga- zine. The following pertinent anecdote, related to us by Mr. Graham, well illustrates the character of Poe's biographer. Dr. Griswold's associate in his editorial duties on " Graham's " was Mr. Charles J. Peterson, a gentleman long and favor- ably known in connection with prominent Amer- ican magazines. Jealous of his abilities, and un- able to visit his vindictiveness upon him in pro- pria -persona, Dr. Griswold conceived the noble design of stabbing him in the back, writing un- der a no m de plume in another journal, the " New York Review. " In the columns of the " Review " there appeared a most scurrilous attack upon Mr. Peterson, at the very time in the daily interchange of friendly courtesies with his treacherous asso- ciate. Unluckily for Dr. Griswold, Mr. Graham saw this article, and, immediately inferring, from its tone, that Griswold was the undoubted author, went to him with the article in his hand, saying, 112 LIFE OF EDGAR A. POE. "Dr. Griswold, I am very sorry to say I have de- tected you in what I call a piece of rascality." Griswold turned all colors upon seeing the article, but stoutly denied the imputation, saying, "I'll go before an alderman and swear that I never wrote it." It was fortunate that he was not com- pelled to add perjury to his meanness, for Mr. Graham said no more about the matter at that time, waiting his opportunity for authoritative confirmation of the truth of his surmises. He soon found his conjectures confirmed to the letter. Being well acquainted with the editor of the K Review, " he took occasion to call upon him shortly afterwards when in New York. Asking as a special favor to see the manuscript of the ar- ticle in question, it was handed to him. The writing was in Griswold's hand. Returning to Philadelphia, Mr. Graham called Griswold to him, told him the facts, paid him a month's salary in advance, and dismissed him from his post, on the spot. So it becomes evident that the memory of Poe's biographer, confused upon the point of his dis- charge from "Graham's," has saddled Poe with THE STYLUS. 113 the humiliation and disgrace that alone belonged to him. Freed from his responsibilities upon "Gra- ham's," Poe seems to have bent his energies upon realizing the dream of his life, the establishment of an independent monthly magazine. His plans found favor with influential parties, and a circular was issued and partially distributed, inviting the attention of the public to the new enterprise, the title of which was to be the " Penn Magazine ;" but Poe, spite of his extraordinary analytical powers, was an inefficient business man, and the new venture proved but "a flash in the pan," and the "Penn Magazine" never came to be. The idea, however, was still rife in the poet's mind, and, under different auspices, he again essayed its realization. " To have a magazine of his own," writes Han- nay, "which he could manage as he pleased, was always the great ambition of his life. It was the chimera which he nursed, the castle in the air which he longed for, the rainbow of his cloudy hopes." Poe invented a new title, selected a motto and designed a heading, — a copy of which, engraved ri4 LIFE OF EDGAR A. POE. from the original drawing by the poet, is given on the next page. The first public announcement of this new ven- ture, which was to be called "The Stylus," was made in the columns of the "Museum" of Mr. Clarke, Poe's co-partner in the enterprise. We make the following extract, preluding the pros- pectus of the magazine, which, as embodying the poet's original theories of his ideal magazine, is of sufficient interest to warrant the reproduc- tion here in its entirety : — "It has often been a subject for wonder that with the pre-eminent success which has attended his editorial efforts, Mr. Poe has never.established a magazine, in which he should have more than a collateral interest ; and we are now happy to learn that such is, at length, his intention. By refer- ence to another page of our paper, it will be seen that he has issued the Prospectus of a Monthly, to be entitled "The Stylus," for which, it is needless to say, we predict the most unequivocal success. In so saying, we but endorse the opin- ion of every literary man in the country, and fully agree with Fitz Greene Halleck, that, how- ever eminent may be the contributors engaged, THE STTLUS. "5 it is, after all, on his own fine taste, sound judg- ment and great general ability for the task, that the public will place the firmest reliance." PROSPECTUS OF THE STYLUS. To be Edited by Edgar A. Poe. unbending that all men Of thy firm Truth may say — " Lo ! this is writ With the antique iron pen." — Launcelot Canning. To the Public. — The Prospectus of a Monthly Journal, to have been called "The Penn Magazine," has already been partially circulated. Circumstances in which the public have no interest, induced a suspension of the project, which is now, under the best auspices, resumed, with no other modification than that of the title. "The Penn Magazine," it has been thought, was a name somewhat too local in its suggestions, and "The Stylus" has been finally adopted. It has become obvious, indeed, to even the most unthinking, Ii6 LIFE OF EDGAR A. POE. that the period has at length arrived when a journal of the character here proposed, is demanded and will be sustained. The late movements on the great question of International Copyright are but an index of the universal disgust excited by what is quaintly termed the cheap literature of the day, — as if that which is utterly worthless in itself can be cheap at any price under the sun. "The Stylus" will include about one hundred royal-octavo pages, in single column, per month, forming two thick vol- umes per year. In its mechanical appearance — in its typogra- phy, paper and binding — it will far surpass all American journals of its kind. Engravings, when used, will be in the highest style of art, but are promised only in obvious illus- tration of the text, and in strict keeping with the Magazine character. Upon application to the proprietors, by any agent of repute who may desire the work, or by any other individ- ual who may feel interested, a specimen sheet will be forward- ed. As, for many reasons, it is inexpedient to commence a journal of this kind at any other period than the beginning or middle of the year, the first number of "The Stylus" will not be regularly issued until the first of July, 1843. The necessity for any very rigid definition of the literary character or aims of " The Stylus" is, in some measure, ob- viated by the general knowledge, on the part of the public, of the editor's connection, formerly, with the two most suc- cessful periodicals in the country — "The Southern Literary Messenger" and "Graham's Magazine." Having no propri- etary right, however, in either of these journals, his objects, too, being in many respects at variance with those of their very worthy owners, he found it not only impossible to effect anything, on the score of taste, for the mechanical appearance THE STYLUS. 117 of the works, but exceedingly difficult, also, to stamp upon their internal character that individuality which he. believes essential to the full success of all similar publications. In regard to their extensive and permanent influence, it appears to him that continuity, definitiveness, and a marked certainty of purpose are requisites of vital importance ; and he cannot help thinking that these requisites are attainable only where a single mind has at least the general direction of the enter- prise. Experience, in a word, has distinctly shown him — what, indeed, might have been demonstrated a priori — that in founding a Magazine wherein his interest should be not merely editorial, lies his sole chance of carrying out to com- pletion whatever peculiar intentions he may have entertained. In many important points, then, the new journal will differ widely from either of those named. It will endeavor to be, at the same time, more varied and more unique, — more vigorous, more pungent, more original, more individual, and more in- dependent. It 'will discuss not only the Belles-Lettres, but, very thoroughly the Fine Arts, with the Drama ; and, more in brief, will give each month a Retrospect of our Political History. It will enlist the loftiest talent, but employ it not always in the loftiest — at least, not always in the most pom- pous or Puritanical — way. It will aim at affording a fair and not dishonorable field for the true intellect of the land, with- out reference to the mere prestige of celebrated names. It will support the general interests of the Republic of Letters, ani' insist upon regarding the world at large as the sole proper audience for the author. It will resist the dictation of For- eign Reviews. It will eschew the stilted dulness of our own Quarterlies, and while it may, if necessary, be no less learned, will deem it wiser to be less anonymous, and difficult to be more dishonest, than they. ii8 LIFE OF EDGAR A. POE. An important feature of the work, and one which will be introduced in the opening number, will- be a series of Criti- cal and Biographical Sketches of American Writers. These Sketches will be accompanied with full-length and character- istic portraits ; will include every person of literary note in America ; and will investigate carefully, and with rigorous im- partiality, the individual claims of each. It shall, in fact, be the chief purpose of "The Stylus" to become known as a journal wherein may be found, at all times, upon all subjects within its legitimate reach, a sincere and fearless opinion. It shall be a leading object to assert in precept, and to maintain in practice, the rights, while in effect it demonstrates the advantages, of an absolutely inde- pendent criticism; — a criticism self-sustained; guiding itself only by the purest rules of Art; analyzing and urging these rules as it applies them ; holding itself aloof from all per- sonal bias ; and acknowledging no fear save that of outraging the Right. CLARKE & POE. In furtherance of the new enterprise, Poe un- fortunately visited Washington. Furnished with the necessary funds, he supposed that his per- sonal intimacy with the sons of the President, if not his own talents, would enable him to secure the names of the members of the Cabinet and those of other prominent personages in the Capi- tal, with which to place the new literary project more prominently before the public. But sad disappointment awaited his cherished hopes. Fac-Simile of C £4. I , — - & Suffice* tC At^ui <£y e^C^. /frl t*>l^t. J Strifes -^ J% Fac-Simile of Contract made with F. O. C. Darley. c/tM^tyg/j csf.% fivu. Z&cmJ&wttt^ dW<4,^ ^*< £*&*. csf.<5>c*. **t/4*^fa,^ S/Ctm^f ': /*r>* ' ; /i, ww e-yic /<#*•#■**- -££_, ^tn, /£me gSpita^ei. eJ&Jd&r etAc-si*. Adt^ Mr UtrVfiC '- esUCHtC^SW^A; 6*?t Ate. f*0-?^, /? 4££ if ' ^* t4l*i£,/n £eceA <^/pi &> £*AsT4^sAa cC>j 6^U44 : £/z^-/Zi. VZ"<4 Sfc S;^^Lc & ■^l. ^^.e^fu^L^d . /ZltJ Ztu^Zi - rt^ri- #/x^f *? i/' rac*t4*<£&Gst4 trusu S'scvt.ZZ&ves) j /tint ^4 - ^r^- **& ? <~ ~~: '"^Z-S,/: ,>) THE STYLUS. 119 What harshness, or unsympathetic reception attended his sanguine expectations was never definitely known, even by his co-laborer, Mr. Clarke. That he did not receive the welcome at the hands of President Tyler that he had rea- sonably anticipated, is certain, and there is little reason to doubt that his failure to secure the in- fluential support so essential to his material suc- cess was mainly due to the jealous, unappreciative atmosphere of the politicians among whom he vainly worked. The spheres of literature and politics were at that era more antagonistic even than in the present time ; and his delicate, sensi- tive nature was called upon to receive rebuffs which only the horny hide of the hack politician is fitted to bear with equanimity. In his endeavor to stem the tide of conflicting circumstances, the poet, forced in Rome to be a Roman, committed his characteristically fatal mistake in trusting to a strength which he did not possess, with the inevitable result, as the follow- ing letters to Mr. Clarke only too clearly evidence. The first is from the poet himself, and its con- flicting statements and unsteady penmanship (a fac-simile of which we give) , in which the writ- 120 LIFE OF EDGAR A. POE. er's characteristically clean-cut chirography is totally unrecognizable, plainly tell the story of the unfortunate condition of the author. Washington, March n, 1843. My Dear Sir, — I write merely to inform you of my well- doing, for, so far, I have done nothing. My friend Thomas, upon whom I depended, is sick. I sup- pose he will be well in a few days. In the mean time I shall have to do the best I can. I have not seen the President yet. My expenses were more than I thought they wo\ild be, al- though I have economized in every respect, and this delay (Thomas being sick) puts me out sadly. However, all is going right. I have got the subscriptions of all the depart- ments, President, &c. I believe that I am making a sensation which will tend to the benefit of the magazine. Day after to-morrow I am to lecture. Rob. Tyler is to give me an article, also Upsher. Send me $10 by mail as soon as you get this. I am grieved to ask you for money in this way, but you will find your account in it twice over. Very truly yours, Edgar A. Poe. Thos. C. Clarke, Esq. This was followed, on the succeeding day, by a letter from Mr. J. E. Dow, at that time editor of the " Daily Madisonian," a Tyler organ : — Washington, March 12, 1843. Dear Sir, — I deem it to be my bounden duty to write you this hurried letter in relation to our mutual friend E.A.P. r Fac-Simile of Letter to T. C. Clarke. THE STTLUS. 121 • He arrived here a few days since. On the first evening he seemed somewhat excited, having been over-persuaded to take some Port wine. On the second day he kept pretty steady, but since then he has been, at intervals, quite unreliable. He exposes himself here to those who may injure him very much with the President, and thus prevents us from doing for him what we wish to do and what we can do if he is himself again in Philadelphia. He does not understand the ways of politicians, nor the manner of dealing with them to advan- tage. How should he ? Mr. Thomas is not well and cannot go home with Mr. P. My business and the health of my family will present me from so doing. Under all the circumstances of the case, I think it advisable for you to come on and see him safely back to his home. Mrs. Poe is in a bad state of health, and I charge you, as you have a soul to be saved, to say not one word to her about him until he arrives with you. I shall expect you or an an- swer to this letter by return of mail. Should you not come, we will see him on board the cars bound to Phila., but we fear he might be detained in Balti- more and not be out of harm's way. I do this under a solemn responsibility. Mr. Poe has the highest order of intellect, and I cannot bear that he should be the sport of senseless creatures who, like Oysters, keep sober, and gape and swallow everything. I think your good judgment will tell you what course you ought to pursue in this matter, and I cannot think it will be necessary to let him know that I have written you this letter; - 122 LIFE OF EDGAR A. FOE. but I cannot suffer him to injure himself here without giving you this warning. Yours respectfully, J. E. Dow. To Thomas C. Clarke, Esq., Philadelphia, Pa. The enterprise languished from this time, and, like its predecessor in the same path, died ere it was yet born. But whatever may have been the disappointment and chagrin of Poe and his co- laborer Clarke, there was no "quarrel," as stated by Griswold, and reiterated by the poet's London biographer. Mr. Clarke continued in intimate and friendly relations with the poet. Apropos of the alleged quarrel, Mr. Clarke writes in a manuscript letter before us, "With Poe I had no quarrel, and I make this statement here because the London editor of his poems, under the influence of Griswold's text, says, 'As a matter of course, he quarrelled and then went to New York.' All this is unjust and un- generous, and it is painful to see that really mag- nificent edition of the poems thus disfigured. "Poor Poe, however harsh he may have been in his vocation of critic, for he was made wretched T. C. CLARKE'S TESTIMONT. 123 by any imperfection of art, personally quarrelled with no one, but was a genial, generous friend, invariably kind and gentlemanly to all. How utterly inexcusable in the London editor is the picturing of Poe as deficient in the sense of moral rectitude, and then, after deploring faults that exist only in the editor's imagination and Gris- wold's mendacities, to attempt, from the poet's writings, to reason us into the belief that all these fancied crimes were the f legitimate results of an inborn, innate depravity.' " This goes a step beyond the suggestion of the poet's New York biographer (Griswold) that Poe was f naturally of an unamiable disposition ; ' but, as if exulting in the clearness of his own perceptions, the ill-informed critic very com- placently concludes that with this key to the character of the poet, there is no difficulty in fully comprehending the strange inconsistencies, the baseness and nobleness which his wayward life exhibits. It is deeply to be regretted that any American memoir of the poet should ever have gone forth to the world capable of creating the false estimate, the unjust, because erroneous, im- pressions which have so prejudiced not only this, 124 LIFE OF EDGAR A. FOE. but every foreign writer who has undertaken the review of Mr. Poe." This testimony of one of the few contempo- raries of Poe, best calculated by intimate and long-continued association with him to judge, not only of his true character, but of the reliability of the published memoirs of the poet, has a signifi- cance that entitles it to an important place in our transcript of the history of Poe's life. During Poe's connection with Mr. Clarke, he completed an important prose work — a story which was to have been published serially in "The Stylus." Having expended the money advanced by Mr. Clarke for necessary preliminary expenses, he, upon the failure of the enterprise, left it with his co-partner in the magazine, as security for the amount used until he should be able to reclaim it for subsequent use in his chimerical monthly magazine, the idea of which, upon his part, he had by no means abandoned, as will be evident in later pages of our memoir. Circumstances, however, combined to prevent its reclamation by the author, and Mr. Clarke, after Poe's death, retained the MSS. of the story, FIRST APPEARANCE AS A LECTURER. 125 designing to append it to the memoir of the poet, which he began but never completed. Following the failure of "The Stylus," Poe, in the summer of the same year, 1843, visited Baltimore, and there made his first appearance in the rostrum, and on the 25th of the following November, having returned to Philadelphia for the same purpose, he came out there in the role of lecturer for the first time. Of this perform- ance Mr Clarke writes in "The Museum," — " Quite a large, and certainly highly intelligent audience, attended the lecture on American Poetry, delivered by Edgar A. Poe, Esq., on Tuesday evening, before the William Wirt Lit- erary Institute. We have not leisure this week to give even a brief outline of the lecture, the character of which may be inferred from the rep- utation which Mr. Poe has so extensively enjoyed as a severe and impartial critic. Added to this important qualification the fact of the lecturer himself possessing talents as a poet of a high order, and therefore capable of more truly ap- preciating his subject, with great analytical pow- er, and that command of language and strength of voice which enables a speaker to give full ex- 126 LIFE OF EDGAR A. FOE. pression to whatever he may desire to say, it will readily be perceived that the lecturer on Tues- day evening combined qualities which are rarely associated in a public speaker. With the excep- tion of some occasional severity, which, however merited, may have appeared somewhat too per- sonal, the lecture gave general satisfaction, es- pecially the portions in which the eloquent sonnets of Judge Conrad, on the Lord's Prayer, were introduced. " The judicious read- ing of these created a marked sensation. " We hear it suggested that an attempt will be made to prevail on Mr. Poe to re-deliver this lec- ture in a more central place in the city. With some modification, it would bear repetition, and we dare say, the press will unite in forwarding these views, notwithstanding the cool manner in which Mr. P. laid bare its system of almost universal and indiscriminate eulogy, bestowed alike upon anything and everything — 'from the most elab- orate quarto of Noah Webster, down to a penny edition of Tom Thumb.'" During this year (1843) "The Dollar Maga- zine " offered a prize of one hundred dollars for a prose story, for which Poe was the successful com- FIRST APPEARANCE AS A LECTURER. i 2 J petitor, offering his ingenious " cipher " tale, " The Gold Bug," which is now probably the most popular of the author's stories in his native coun- try. He also wrote for "Lowell's Pioneer" and other journals. CHAPTER VI. CAREER IN NEW YORK. 1844 — 1846. On "The Northern Monthly" — Engagement on the " Mirror" — Testimony of the Poet Willis — First Anonymous Publi- cation of- "The Raven" — The Authorship revealed by Poe's Recitation at a Soiree — Mrs. Browning's Commen- dation — Conflicting Opinions as to its Origin — Gilfillan's Malevolent Recklessness — The Americans of a Quarter of a Century ago — Poe's Intentional Concealment of Motive — Personal Romances — Testimony of Intimate Personal Friends — - Discrepancy of the Poet's Reading of " The Ra- ven " with his Printed Analysis of it ■ — Origin of Imagina- tive Compositions — Anecdote of Beethoven — The Clue to " The Raven " — Analysis of " The Raven " — Where " The Raven " was written — Mrs. Brennan's Reminiscences — The " Raven" Room — Insufficient Revenue of the Poet — Price paid for "The Raven" — J. R. Lowell's Criticism — Lecture in Boston — The Poet's Mischievous Propensity — Griswold's Ridiculous Charges — Reply to Boston Criti- cisms — E. P. Whipple's Testimony — The Poet's Social Life — Character of Intellect — Conversational Powers -, — Mrs. Osgood's Impressions — Failure with " The Broadway Journal" — "Literati "Papers — The Dum-English Quarrel — The Garbling of Poe's Work by Griswold. N the autumn of 1844, Poe accepted an offer from " The Northern Monthly " to become associate editor of that maga- zine, and removed to New York. While he (128) ON THE NORTHERN MONTHLY. 129 was connected with this periodical, his life, giv- ing a brief but faithful sketch of the poet, was published in its columns, with a portrait which did Poe's intellectual head more justice than the caricatures presented in most of the published editions of his works. Griswold makes no men- tion of this "Life," of the existence of which he must have been aware. It was, we doubt not, too favorable to its subject, to suit the purposes of the falsifier. The metropolis was not then the great centre for periodical publications that it has come to be now, and Poe found but scanty return for his efforts, while his position was necessarily humbler than that which he had occupied as editor-in-chief of " Graham's." To eke out his slender means, he accepted, in the autumn of this year, a subordinate position upon " The Mirror," a daily journal conducted by N. P. Willis and George Morris. The poet Willis, alluding to his connection with "The Mirror," writes,— " Some four or five years since, when editing a daily paper in this city, Mr. Poe was employed by us, for several months, as critic and sub-editor. 130 LIFE OF EDGAR A. FOE. This was our first personal acquaintance with him. He resided with his wife and mother at Fordham, a few miles out of town, but was at his desk in the office from nine in the morning till the evening paper went to press. With the high- est admiration for his genius, and a willingness to let it atone for. more than ordinary irregularity, we were led by common report to expect a very capricious attention to his duties, and occasionally a scene of violence and difficulty. Time went on, however, and he was invariably punctual and industrious. With his pale, beautiful and intel- lectual face as a reminder of what genius was in him, it was impossible, of course, not to treat him always with deferential courtesy, and, to our oc- casional request that he would not probe too deep in a criticism, or that he would erase a passage colored too highly with his resentments against society and mankind, he readily and courteously assented — far more yielding than most men, we thought, on points so excusably sensitive. With a prospect of taking the lead in another periodi- cal, he, at last, voluntarily gave up his employ- ment with us, and through all this considerable period, we had seen but one presentment of the Fac-Simile of Letter from N. P. Willis. y\^c^tr^ /2 t-. /^a- * r-_ 4~ Fac-Simile of Letter from N. P. Willis. ' /2. / *L~r t~ r~ '-*■ yi^.^^J^, PUBLICATION OF THE RAVEN. 1 3 1 man — a quiet, patient, industrious and most gen- tlemanly person, commanding the utmost respect and good feeling by his unvarying deportment and ability."* Poe was engaged upon " The Mirror " for six months, and during this time, in addition to his "fag" work upon the paper, he produced several of his most remarkable works, notably his master- piece in poetry, "The Raven," which was first pub- lished in the February number of " The American Review," over the nom de -plume of " Quarles," and immediately arrested general attention. Poe had at this time the entree of the select social circle of the metropolis, and frequently at- tended, sometimes with his fair young wife, the weekly receptions held at the residence of a prom- inent poetess in Waverly place. At one of these soirees, at the request of the accomplished hostess, he recited" The Raven, " with an effect that fairly electrified the assemblage. From this time the authorship of the poem, of course, became known, and the laurel leaves of fame were showered thickly upon the hitherto comparatively unap- preciated author. * We give in facsimile an autograph letter written by Willis to Poe at this time, attesting the kindly, familiar rela- tions existing between them. 132 LIFE OF EDGAR A. POE. Mr. Willis reprinted the poem over Poe's name, and gave it a send-off in the following en- thusiastic words : "We regard it as the most effective single example of fugitive poetry ever published in this country, and it is unsurpassed in English poetry for subtle conception, masterly ingenuity of versification, and consistent sustain- ing of imaginative lift." Mrs. Browning, in a private letter written a few weeks after its publication in England, says, w This weird writing, this power which is felt, has produced a sensation here in England. Some of my friends are taken by the fear of it, and some by the music. I hear of persons who are haunted by the ' Nevermore,' and an acquaint- ance of mine who has the misfortune of possess- ing a bust of Pallas cannot bear to look at it in the twilight. Then there is a tale going the rounds of the newspapers about mesmerism,* which is throwing us all into e most admired disorder ' — dreadful doubts as to whether it can be true, as the children say of ghost stories. The certain thing about it is the power of the writer." One of Poe's relentless biographers, evidently * " The Facts in the Case of M. de Valdemar." CONFLICTING OPINIONS. m referring to the source of the inspiration of " The Raven," has presumed recklessly to write that his wife Virginia died a victim to the neglect and unkindness of her husband, " who," he writes, " deliberately sought her death that he might em- balm her memory in immortal dirges." Other writers have reiterated this cruel fabri- cation, and Gilfillan, fiendishly ascribing to the poet passions controlled by the presence of art until they resembled sculptured flame, writes that he caused the death of his wife that he might have a fitting theme for "The Raven." As the lamented Virginia died more than a year after the publication of "The Raven," this ingenious theory, it appears, rests upon a purely imaginary basis. As it is well known that Poe was very tena- cious of his literary reputation, and acutely ap- preciative of the honors that belong to fame, it has been deemed not a little remarkable that he should have put forth what he must have known to have been a remarkable poem, anonymously, and at a time, too, when his name was most prominently known to the literary world. But it must be remembered that Poe lived in an epoch 134 LIFE OF EDGAR A. POE. when minds of his stamp were not only not un- derstood nor sympathized with, but were abso- lutely ridiculed by the world at large. Of the Americans of this period, Powell, in his "Living Authors," aptly and ably writes, " America is jealous of her victories by sea and land, is proud of advantages with which she has nothing to do, such as Niagara, the Mississippi, and the other wonders of nature. An American points with pride to the magnificent steamboats which ride the waters like things of life. " Foreigners sometimes smile at the honest sat- isfaction, even enthusiasm, which lights up the national face when a few hundred troops file down Broadway to discordant drums and squeak- ing fifes. But all their natural feeling and na- tional pride stops here. So far from the American public taking any interest in their own men of genius, in the triumphs of mind, they absolutely allow others openly to conspire and put down every attempt to establish a national literature. " The Americans are a shrewd and far-seeing people, but they are somewhat too material. How can America expect her young authors to vindicate her national glory when she treats them with indifference and neglect?" CONCEALMENT OF MOTIVE. 135 To the constituency so graphically described by Powell, the genius of Poe was forced to ad- dress itself or remain silent forever. That he met its cold, hard, unsympathetic reception with the fierce disdain that found its outlet in his scathing criticisms of the typical men of the time, is not to be wondered at, nor is it less surprising that he should shrink from laying bare the secrets of his soul to those so incapable of comprehend- ing their depths. When, therefore, in his silent vigils, enthralled by the imaginative ecstasy which often possessed and overpowered him, he conceived and wrought out this marvellous inspiration, what wonder is it that his delicate sensibility should prompt him to conceal from the rude gaze of his material audi- ence the secret springs of his inner consciousness, by printing his chef d'ceuvre over an assumed name, and hedging its origin about with the im- penetrable veil of fiction. Had " The Raven " been, as he described in his paper, "The Philosophy of Composition," a pro- duct of art simply, and not of inspiration, his ambition for fame would infallibly have led him, not only to claim the poem openly from the out- 136 LIFE OF EDGAR A. POE. set, but to have preluded it with the descriptive analysis, using the verse as an illustration of the alleged philosophy of the composition. To his intimates, Poe frequently spoke of the exalted state, which he defined as ecstasy, in which he wrote his poems of imagination. From one of his nearest friends, who knew him in prosperity and adversity, in sickness and health, we learn that none of Poe's romances were more fictitious than his romances about himself and his writings, and his accepted analysis of "The Raven" is confessedly as thorough a specimen of plausible fabrication as is his familiar story of "The Facts in the Case of Monsieur de Valdemar." Like all persons of a highly wrought condition, he re- sented the slightest approach from the world at large, and from practical people in particular, to the inner citadel of his soul, and he knew well how to use his invincible weapons of defence. Many admirers of the poet's genius will doubt- less prefer that the origin of the inspiration of " The Raven " shall remain enshrouded in the chiaro-oscuro of the mystic suggestiveness of the verse. But in a much wider circle, there unquestion- tv*w Fac-Simile of Letter from George R. Graham. Fac-Simile of Letter from George R. Graham. ^ cyibe~~U.£ ct^Xi **-**. o^vt #~U, /r<^^ £ ^«^t-J-. ^ «^e~ A~^£ 0~*-** l sCetJ*- , ' ' And [srko j tclil^LOj } UrdvyLCj j toUAA^Ct J &h. Jrfji ruAwuMA fmcuit cl ftcmJL — Jhjvu Oi/ul vuu/&£A. kcui/j.cL Azwv JfuuA* fauw> thermit, : — C/W-d. tkuA. favyuj it Is (*rno t4ni fuU syiAp^v* Imrm, Ju^uaU TrM ft*. P'outM ofi/fa Urn i cJn., zt~ erf c/tuvue ^tlui^yM , THE BELLS. 207 "About six months after this, we received the poem enlarged and altered nearly to its present size and form ; and about three months since, the author sent another alteration and enlargement, in which condition the poem was left at the time of his death." The original MSS. of "The Bells," in its en- larged form, from which the draft sent to "Sar- tain's" was made, is in our possession at this time. The interlinings and revisions are pecu- liarly interesting as showing the author's extraor- dinary care in fine points of versification. In the twelfth line of the first stanza of the original draft, the word "bells" was repeated five times, instead of four, as Poe printed it, and but twice in the next line. In changing and obvious- ly improving the effect, he has drawn his pen through the fifth repetition, and added another, underlined^ to the two of the next line. The same change is made in the corresponding lines in the next stanza. In the sixth line of the third stanza, the word "much" is placed before "too," with the usual mark indicating the transposition which he made in printing it, and as originally written the word 208 LIFE OF EDGAR A. FOE. "anger," in the fifth line from the last in this stanza, was written "clamor," while "anger" was placed in the last line. By the transposition of these, he gained the euphonious alliterative effect in the last line which would otherwise have been wanting. In the sixth line of the fourth stanza, the word "meaning " was first used in lieu of the more im- pressive " menace," to which it gave place. The eighth line of this stanza was first written, "From out their ghostly throats ; " and the eleventh line was changed twice, reading first, "Who live up in the steeple," then "They that sleep " was substituted for "who live," and finally "dwell" was printed instead of "sleep." After the eighteenth line, a line was added that was elided entirely in the poem as printed. It read, — " But are pestilential carcasses departed from their souls." The ideality of the poem is immeasurably im- proved by the elision of this repulsive thought. In making the change, omitting this line, he simply substituted, "They are ghouls," in the next line, in pencil. SUGGESTIVE RECOLLECTIONS. 209 Kfac simile of a portion of this fourth stanza, which we give, showing some of the important alterations, is, perhaps, the most interesting spe- cimen of the poet's hand that has been printed. Some informal but quite suggestive recollec- tions of the poet have been given us by 2 lady now living, at that time a school-girl in her teens. According to this lady's statement, — and she is certainly disinterested, — the poet does not seem to have been the moral wreck that some of his biographers have sought to make him appear. *"I have in my mind's eye a figure somewhat below medium height, perhaps, but so perfectly proportioned, and crowned with such a noble head, so regally carried, that to my girlish ap- prehension he gave the impression of command- ing stature. Those clear, sad eyes seemed to look from an eminence rather than from the or- dinary level of humanity, while his conversa- tional tone was so low and deep that one could easily fancy it borne to the ear from some distar* height. "I saw him first in Lowell, and there heard him give a lecture on Poetry, illustrated by readings. His manner of rendering some of the selections 2io LIFE -OF EDGAR A. POE. constitutes my only remembrance of the evening which so. fascinated me. Everything was ren- dered with pure intonation and perfect enuncia- tion, marked attention being paid to the rhythm. He almost sang the more musical versifications. I recall more perfectly than anything else the un- dulations of his smooth baritone voice as he recited the opening lines of Byron's ' Bride of Abydos,'— ' Know ye the land where the cypress and myrtle Are emblems of deeds that are done in their clime,' — measuring the dactylic movement perfectly as if he were scanning it. The effect was very pleas- ing. " He insisted strongly upon an even, metrical flow in versification, and said that hard, unequally stepping poetry had better be done into prose. I think he made no selections of a humorous char- acter, either in his public or parlor readings. In- deed, anything of that kind seems entirely incom- patible with his personality. He smiled but sel- dom, and never laughed, or said anything to excite mirth in others. His manner was quiet and grave. John Brown of Edinboro' might have characterized it as " lonely." In thinking 5 UGGE S TI VE RE COLL EC TIONS. 2 1 1 of Mr. Poe in later years I have often applied to him the line of Wordsworth's Sonnet, — ' Thy soul was like a star, and dwelt apart.' "I did not hear the conversation at Mrs. Rich- mond's after the lecture, when a few persons came in to meet him ; but I remember that my brother spoke with enthusiasm of the elegance of Mr. Poe's demeanor and the grace of his con- versation. In alluding to it he always says, f I have never seen it equalled.' A lady in the company differed from Mr. Poe, and expressed her opinions very strongly. His deference in listening was perfect, and his replies were models .of respectful politeness. Of his great satirical power his pen was generally the medium. If he used the polished weapon in conversation, it was so delicately and skilfully handled that only a quick eye would detect the gleam. Obtuseness was always perfectly safe in his presence. "A few months later than this, Mr. Poe came out to our home in Westford. My recollections of that visit are fragmentary, but vivid. V During the day he strolled off by himself ' to look at the hills,' he said. I remember standing 212 LIFE OF EDGAR A. FOE. in the low porch with my sister as we saw him returning ; and as soon as he stepped from the dusty street on to the greensward which sloped from our door, he removed his hat and came to us with uncovered head, his eyes seeming larger and more luminous than ever with the ex- hilaration of his walk. I recall his patiently un- winding from a nail a piece of twine that had been carelessly twisted and knotted around it, and then, hanging it back again over the nail in long, straight loops. It was a half-unconscious by-play of that ingenious mind which deciphered cryptographs, solved enigmas of all kinds, and wrote 'The Gold Bug' and 'The Balloon Hoax.' My memory photographs him again sitting before an open wood fire in the early autumn evening, gazing intently into the glowing coals, holding the hand of a dear friend, while for a long time no one spoke, and the only sound was the ticking of the tall clock in the corner. I wish I knew what he was dreaming about during that rapt silence. Later in the evening he recited, before a little reading club, several of his own poems, one of Willis', commencing, 'The shadows lay along SUGGESTIVE RECOLLECTIONS. 213 Broadway,' which, he said, was a special favor- ite with him ; and one or two of Byron's shorter pieces. I thought everything was perfect ; but others said that much more effect might be given to his own unique poems. I suppose his voice and manner expressed the f Runic rhyme ' better than the 'tintinnabulation' or the 'turbulency' of the 'bells, bells, bells.' That poem was then fresh from the author's brain, and we had the privilege of hearing it before it was given to the world. " The next morning I was to go to school ; and before I returned he would be gone. I went to say good-bye to him, when, with that gracious, ample courtesy of his, which included even the rustic school-girl, he said, f I will walk with you.' He accompanied me nearly all the way, taking leav^e of me at last in such a gentle, kindly man- ner that the thought of it brings tears now to the eyes that then looked their last upon that finished scholar, and winning, refined gentleman." In 1845, Poe had visited Providence on his way to deliver his poem before the Boston Lyceum ; and there, while wandering through a retired street, he saw, walking in her garden, 214 LIFE OF EDGAR A. POE. Mrs. S. H. Whitman, to whom, in his lecture on Poetry, he had awarded " a preeminence in refinement of art, enthusiasm, imagination and genius." The romantic incident of his meeting with Mrs. Whitman has, as is generally known, been exquisitely described by him in the poem "To Helen." Dr. Griswold's citation of the lines in connec- tion with one of his most scandalous anecdotes, has given them a celebrity which even their sumptuous beauty might not otherwise have insured to them. Early in September, 1848, the poet, having ob- tained a letter of introduction to Mrs. Whitman, again visited Providence, and made her acquaint- ance. Notwithstanding some opposition from the relatives of the lady, they were subsequently engaged. The lack of all moral sense has been so uni- versally imputed to Poe by his biographers, that the following passages from a letter by the poet, one of a series addressed to his fiancee , in which he speaks for himself upon this subject, may be worthy of consideration in this place :. October 18th. ... Of what avail to me in my deadly grief are your en- thusiastic words of mere admiration ! You do not love me, AN IMPORTANT LETTER. 215 or you would have felt too thorough a sympathy with the sensitiveness of my nature to have so wounded me, as you have done, with this terrible passage of your letter: "How often I have heard men and even women say of you, ' He has great intellectual power, but no principle, no moral sense.'" Is it possible that such expressions as these could have been repeated to me — to me — by one whom I loved — ah, whom I love ! And you ask me why such opinions exist. You will feel remorse for the question, when I say to you that until the moment when those horrible words first met my eye, I would not have believed it possible that any such opinions could have existed at all ; but that they do exist, breaks my heart in separating us forever. I love you too truly ever to have of- fered you my hand, ever to have sought your love, had I known my name to be so stained as your expressions imply. ... It is altogether in vain that I tax my memory or my conscience. There is no oath which seems to me so sacred as that sworn by the all-divine love I bear you. By this love, then, and by the God who reigns in heaven, I swear to you that my soul is incapable of dishonor ; that with the excep- tion of occasional follies and excesses, which I bitterly la- ment, but to which I have been driven, and which are hourly committed by others without attracting any notice whatever, I can call to mind no act of my life which would bring a blush to my cheek or to yours. If I have erred at all in this regard, it has been on the side of what the world would call a Quixotic sense of the honorable, of the chivalrous. The indulgence of this sense has been the true voluptuousness of my life. It was for this species of luxury that in early youth I deliberate- ly threw away a large fortune rather than endure a trivial wrong. . . . Ah, how profound is my love for you, since \\ 216 LIFE OF EDGAR A. POE. forces me into these egotisms, for which you will inevitably despise me! But grant that what jou urge were even true, do you not feel in your inmost heart of hearts that the soul-love of which the world speaks so often, and so idly, is, in this instance at least, but the veriest, the most absolute of realities? Ah, I could weep, I could almost be angry with you, for the unwarranted wrong you offer to the purity, to the sacred reality, of my affection. Referring to another passage in the letter quoted above, the poet writes : — ''May God forever shield you from the agony which these words occasion me ! " You will never know, you can never picture to yourself, the hopeless, rayless despair with which I now trace these words. ... Nevertheless, I must now speak to you the truth or noth- ing. . . . But alas! for nearly three years I have been ill, poor, living out of the world, and thus, as I now painfully see, have afforded opportunity to my enemies to slander me in private society, without my knowledge, and thus with im- punity. Although much may, however (and I now see must), have been said to my discredit during my retirement, those few who, knowing me well, have been steadfastly my friends, permitted nothing to reach my ears, unless in one instance, where the accusation was of such character that I could ap- peal to a court of justice for redress. I replied to the charge fully in a public newspaper, suing "The Mirror 7 ' (in which the scandal appeared), obtaining a verdict and recovering such an amount of damages as fof the AN IMPORTANT LETTER. 217 time to completely break up that journal. And you ask why men so misjudge me, why I have enemies ! If your knowledge of my character, and of my career, does not afford you an answer to the query, at least it does not be- come me to suggest the answer. Let it suffice that I have hac 1 *Ve audacity to remain poor that I might preserve my indtoendence ; that, nevertheless, in letters, to a certain ex- tent and in certain regards, I have been successful ; that I have been a critic, an unscrupulously honest, and no doubl in many cases, a bitter one. That I have uniformly attacked, where I attacked at all, those who stood highest in power and influence, and that, whether in literature or in society, I have seldom refrained from expressing, either directly or indirectly, the pure con- tempt with which the pretensions of ignorance, arrogance or . imbecility inspire me. And you who know all this, you ask me why I have enemies. Ah, I have a hundred friends for every individual enemy; but has it ever occurred to you that you do not live among my friends ? Had you read my criticisms generally, you would see why all those whom you know best know me least and are my en- emies. Do you not remember with how deep a sigh I said to you in , " My heart is heavy, for I see that your friends are not my own !" . . . Forgive me, best and beloved , if there is bitterness in my tone. Towards you there is no room in my soul for any other sentiment than devotion. It is fate only which I accuse. — It is my own unhappy nature. Further on in this letter, the poet draws this picture of his ideal home : — " I suffered my imagination to stray with you, and with the 2i8 LIFE OF EDGAR A. FOE. few who love us both, to the banks of some quiet river in some lovely valley of our land. Here, not too far secluded from the world, we exercised a taste controlled by no conven- tionalities, but the sworn slave of a Natural Art, in the build- ing for ourselves a cottage which no human being could ever pass without an ejaculation of wonder at its" strange, weird and incomprehensible, yet simple, beauty. Oh, the sweet and gorgeous, but not often rare, flowers in which we half-buried it — the grandeur of the magnolias and tulip-trees which stood guarding it — the luxurious velvet of its lawn — the lustre of the rivulet that ran by its very door — .the tasteful yet quiet comfort of its interior — the music — the books — the unos- tentatious pictures — and, above all, the love, the love that threw an unfading glory over the whole ! — Alas ! all is now a dream." This letter of eloquent protest and appeal bears date October 18, 1848. No engagement at the time subsisted between the parties. Shortly after its date an incident occurred which has been widely chronicled as " an out- rage on the eve of an appointed marriage." Mrs. Whitman has permitted us to publish her own clear and authentic statement of the facts which underlie this scandal, thereby placing the story in its true light, and imparting a pro- found interest to the fragment of a letter to which she alludes, and of which we present o W H H W o GRISWOLD'S MISSTATEMENT. 2 iCf a. facsimile copy. Later, a conditional engage- ment was made. The poet was not able to adhere to the conditions, and the lady was, in duty and honor to her family, bound to give up the alliance. But it was not broken under any such circum- stances as those fabricated by Dr. Griswold in his narration of . the ' affair in his memoir. As this misstatement of Griswold is probably the most malicious of all his published mendacities, we have taken special pains to gather the evi- dence of its falsity ; evidence that Griswold de- liberately suppressed, although most of it was published previous to his issue of his memior of Poe in a permanent form. The correspondence which we quote, principally comprises letters from Wm. J. Pabodie, Esq., a prominent lawyer of Providence, very intimately acquainted both with Poe and with Mrs. Whitman, at the time of their engagement. To the editors of the "New York Tribune," Mr. Pabodie writes, after the misstatements of Griswold had been published and repeatedly copied by various perodicals : " In an article on American Literature in the ' Westminster 220 LIFE OF EDGAR A. POE. Review ' for April, and in one on Edgar A. Poe, in ( Tait's Magazine' for the same month, we find a repetition of certain incorrect and injurious statements in regard to the deceased author, which should not longer be suffered to pass unnoticed. These statements have circulated through half a dozen foreign and domestic periodicals, and are presented with an ingenious variety of detail. As a specimen, we take a passage from Tait, who quotes as his authority Dr. Griswold's memoir of the poet : " ' Poe's life, in fact, during the three years that yet remained to him, was simply a repetition of his previous existence, not- withstanding which, his reputation still increased, and he made many friends. He was, indeed, at one time, engaged to marry a lady who is termed "one of the most brilliant women in New England." He, however, suddenly changed his determina- tion ; and after declaring his intention to break the match, he crossed, the same day, into the city where the lady dwelt, and, on the evening that should have been the evening before the bridal, " committed in drunkenness such outrages at her house as made necessary a summons of the police."' "The subject is one which cannotwellbe approached without invading the sanctities of private life ; and the improbabilities of the story may, to those acquainted with the parties, be deemed an all-sufficient refutation. But in view of the rapidly increasing circulation which this story has obtained, and the severity of comment which it has elicited, the friends of the late Edgar A. Poe deem it an imperative duty to free his memory from this unjust reproach, and to oppose to it their unqualified denial. Such a denial is due, not only to the memory of the departed, but also to the lady whose home is supposed to have been desecrated by these disgraceful out- rages. GRIS WOLD J S MISSS TA TEMENT. 2 2 1 " Mr. Poe was frequently my guest during his stay in Provi- dence. In his several visits to the city I was with h.m daily. I was acquainted with the circumstances of his engagemer. I, and with the causes which led to its dissolution. I am authorized to say, not only from my personal knowledge, but also from the statements of all who were conversant with the affair, that there exists not a shadow of foundation for the stories above alluded to. " Mr. Poe's friends have no desire to palliate his faults, nor to conceal the fact of his intemperance — a vice which, though never habitual to him, seems, according to Dr. Griswold's published statements, to have repeatedly assailed him at the most momentous epochs of his life. With the single excep- tion of this fault, which he has so fearfully expiated, his conduct, during the period of my acquaintance with him, was invariably that of a man of honor and a gentleman ; and I know that, in the hearts of all who knew him best among us, he is remembered with feelings of melancholy interest and gen- erous sympathy. "We understand that Dr. Griswold has expressed his sin- cere regret that these unfounded reports should have been sanctioned by his authority; and we doubt not, if he possesses that fairness of character and uprightness of intention which we have ascribed to him, that he will do what lies in his power to remove an undeserved stigma from the memory of the departed. " William J. Pabodie. " Providence, June 2, 1852." In answer io this, we find Dr. Griswold, in the role of a bully, impudently attempting to put 222 LIFE OF EDGAR A. FOE. down Mr. Pabodie's dignified statement vi et armis. He writes to Mr. Pabodie a private let- ter, as follows : — New York, June 8, 1852. Dear Sir, — I think you have done wrong in publishing your communication in yesterday's "Tribune" without ascer- taining how it must be met. I have never expressed any such regrets as you write of, and I cannot permit any state- ment in my memoir of Poe to be contradicted by a reputable person, unless it is shown to be wrong. The statement in question I can easily prove, on the most unquestionable authority, to be true ; and unless you explain your letter to " The Tribune" in another for publication there, you will compel me to place before the public such documents as will be infinitely painful to Mrs. Whitman and all others concerned. The person to whom he disclosed his intention to break off the match was Mrs. H 1. He was already engaged to another party. I am sorry for the publication of your letter. Why you did not permit me to see it before it appeared, and disclose in advance these consequences, I cannot conceive. I would willingly drop the subject, but for the controversies hitherto in regard to it, with which you are acquainted. Be- fore writing to " The Tribune " I will await your opportunity to acknowledge this note, and to give such explanations of your letter as will render any public statement on my part unnecessary. In haste, yours respectfully, R. W. Griswold. W. J. Pabodie, Esq. To this insolent and impotent letter, which was PABODIE TO GRTSWOLD. 223 tesselated with scandalous and irrelevant stories respecting Mr. Poe's relations with some of his esteemed -and valued friends, Mr. Pabodie re- plied by calmly reiterating his published state- ment in "The New York Tribune," and by ad- ducing further proof of Griswold's audacious fabrications. The tone of this letter is in strik- ing contrast to that of Griswold's virulent and threatening note. Its forbearing mildness, in- deed, renders it open to criticism on this ground. June ii, 1852. Mr. Rufus W. Griswold. Dear Sir, — In reply to your note, I would say that I have simply testified to what I know to be true, namely, that no such incident as that so extensively circulated in regard to certain alleged outrages at the house of Mrs. Whitman, and the calling of the police, ever took place. The assertion that Mr. Poe came to Providence the last time with the inten- tion of breaking off the engagement, you will find equally un- founded, when I have stated to you the facts as I know them. In remarking that you had expressed regret at the fact of their admission into your memior, I had reference to a pa&sage in a letter written by Mrs. H. to Mrs. W., which was *oad to me by the latter some time since. I stated in all truthfulness the impression which that letter had left upon my mind. I enclose an extract from the letter, that j ou may judge for yourself: "Having heard that Mr. Poe was engaged to a lady of 224 LIFE OF EDGAR A. POE. Providence I said to him, on hearing that he was going to that city, * Mr. Poe, are you going to Providence to he married?' — 'I am going to deliver a lecture on Poetry,' he replied. Then, after a pause, and with a look of great reserve, he added, ' That marriage may never take place.' " * I know that from the commencement of Poe's acquaintance with Mrs. W. he repeatedly urged her to an immediate marriage. At the time of his interview with Mrs. H., cir- cumstances existed which threatened to postpone the marriage indefinitely, if not altogether to prevent it. It was, undoubt- edly, with reference to these circumstances that his remark to Mrs. H. was made; certainly not to the breaking-oif the engagement, as his subsequent conduct will prove. He left New York for Providence on the afternoon of his interview with Mrs. H., not with any view to the proposed union, but at the solicitation of the Providence Lyceum ; and- on the evening of his arrival, delivered his lecture on American Poetry, before an audience of some two thousand persons. During his stay he again succeeded in renewing his engage- ment, and' in obtaining Mrs. W.'s consent to an immediate marriage. He stopped at the Earl house, where he became acquainted with a set of somewhat dissolute young men, who often in- vited him to drink with them. We all know that 'he some- times yielded to such temptations, and on the third or fourth evening after his lecture, he came up to Mrs. Whitman's in a state of partial intoxication. I was myself present nearly the * In another letter Mrs. H. writes, referring to this conversation, indig- nant at the use which Dr. Griswold had made of these innocent words, more than a year after she had reported them, " These were Mr. Poe's words, and these were all." P ABO DIE TO GR IS WOLD. 225 whole evening, and do most solemnly affirm that there was no noise, no disturbance, no "outrage," neither was there any "call for the police." Mr. Poe said but little. This was un- doubtedly the evening referred to in your memoir, for it was the only evening in which he was intoxicated during his last visit to this city; but it was not "the evening thn* should have been before the bridal," for they were not then pub- lished, and the law in our State required that they should be published at least three times, on as many different occasions, before they could be legally married. The next morning Mr. Poe manifested and expressed the most profound contrition and regret, and was profuse in his promises of amendment. He was still urgently anxious that the marriage should take place before he left the city. That very morning he wrote a note to Dr. Crocker, requesting him to publish the intended marriage at the earliest opportunity, and entrusted this note to me, with the request that I should deliver it in person. You will per- ceive, therefore, that I did not write unadvisedly in the state- ment published in " The Tribune." For yourself, Mr. Griswold, I entertain none other than the kindest feelings. I was not surprised that you should have believed those rumors in regard to Poe and his engagement; and although, from a regard for the feelings of the lady, I do not think that a belief in their truth could possibly justify their publication^yet I was not disposed to impute to you any wrong motive in presenting them to the public. I supposed rather that, in the hurry of publication and in the multiplicity of your avocations, you had not given each statement that precise consideration which less haste and more leisure would have, permitted. I was thus easily led to believe, from Mrs. 226 LIFE OF EDGAR A. POE. H.'s letter, that -upon being assured of their incorrectness, and upon learning how exceedingly painful they were to the feelings of the surviving party, you sincerely regretted their publication. I would fain hope so still. In my article in " The Tribune," I endeavored to palliate their publication on your part, and to say everything in your extenuation that was consistent with the demands of truth and justice to the parties concerned. I would add, in regard to Poe's intoxication on the evening above alluded to, that to all appearances it was as purely accidental and unpremedi- tated as any similar act of his life. By what species of logic any one should infer that, in this particular instance, it was the result of a malicious purpose and deliberate design, I have never been able to conceive. The facts of the case, and his subsequent conduct, prove beyond a doubt that he had no such design. With great respect, Your obedient servant, William J. Pabodie. Rev. Rufus W. Griswold. It will be seen by this correspondence that the attempt of Dr. Griswold to browbeat Mr. Pabodie was courteously but firmly and unanswerably met. Dr. Griswold never paid. the slightest at- tention to this letter, contenting himself with leaving on record the outrageous scandal that has since obtained an almost unprecedented circula- tion in the numerous memoirs of Poe, based upon Dr. Griswold's malicious invention, that have MRS. WHITMAN'S TESTIMONY. 227 been published. The introduction of the story of the banns would seem to come under the head of what lawyers call " an accessory after the fact." Dr. Griswold had probably heard that the banns were written, if not published, and took advantage of this information to adroitly garnish his story with them. To set this question at rest forever, we have obtained permission to quote the following passages of a letter received from Mrs. Whitman in August, 1873 : " No such scene as that described by Dr. Griswold ever trans- pired in my presence. No one, certainly no woman, who had the slightest acquaintance with Edgar Poe, could have credited the story for an instant. He was essentially and in- stinctively a gentleman, utterly incapable, even in moments of excitement and delirium, of such an outrage as Dr. Gris- wold has ascribed to him. No authentic anecdote of coarse indulgence in vulgar orgies or bestial riot has ever been re- corded of him. During the last years of his unhappy life, whenever he yielded to the temptation that was drawing him into its fathomless abyss, as with the resistless swirl of the maelstrom, he always lost himself in sublime rhapsodies on the evolution of the universe, speaking as from some imagin- ary platform to vast audiences of rapt and attentive listeners. During one of his visits to this city, in the autumn of 1848, I once saw him after one of those nights of wild excitement, before reason had fully recovered its throne. Yet even then, in those frenzied moments when the doors of the mind's 228 LIFE OF EDGAR A. FOE. " Haunted Palace " were left all unguarded, his words were the words- of a princely intellect overwrought, and of a heart only too sensitive and too finely strung. I repeat that no one acquainted with Edgar Poe could have given Dr. GrisWold's scandalous anecdote a moment's credence. " Yours, etc., " S. H. Whitman." Apropos of Mr. Griswold's professed friendship for Poe, which he endeavors to demonstrate in copies of a correspondence which I cannot refrain from thinking was extensively " doctored " by the doctor, to suit his purpose, we are able to present, perhaps not inappropriately in this place, an ex- tract from an autograph letter of Dr. Griswold, written to Mrs. Whitman in 1849. The object of this was evidently to cool Mrs. Whitman's friendship for Mrs. Clemm, thus pre- venting their further intimacy. This was desir- able to Dr. Griswold for evident reasons. New York, December 17, 1849. My dear Mrs. Whitman. I have been two or three weeks in Philadelphia, attending to the remains which a recent fire left of my library and fur- niture, and so did not receive your interesting letter in regard to our departed acquaintance until to-day. I wrote, as you suppose the notice of Poe in "The Tribune," but very hastily. /tfa 3 Fac-Simile of a portion of a Letter from Mrs, S. H. Whitman. . ., - - -Jv^ '/***• ^&_ 6ti£/e— s/ which is undoubt- edly entitled to claim him as one of her distin- guished sons. Two days thereafter, on the 9th of October, his mortal remains were interred in the cemetery attached to the Westminster Pres- byterian Church, adjoining the building in which we are now assembled. " In this connection, acting as a truthful chroni- cler, I deem it proper to state some facts in rela- tion to the circumstances of the interment. The reliability of the statement I shall now make is sufficiently attested by the evidence of at least three of the gentlemen present on that occasion — possibly the only three who yet survive. 274 APPENDIX. , " I have been informed that the day was, for the season, more than ordinarily unpleasant, the wea- ther being raw and cold ; indeed, just such a day as it would have been more comfortable to spend within than without doors. "The time of the interment was about four o'clock in the afternoon ; the attendance of per- sons at the grave, possibly a consequence of the state of the weather, was limited to eight, cer- tainly to not more than nine, persons, one of these being a lady. " Of the number known to have been present were, Hon. Z. Collins Lee, a classmate of the deceased at the University of Virginia ; Henry Herring, Esq. , a connection of Mr. Poe ; Rev. W. T. D. Clemm, a relative of Mr. Poe's wife; oui well-known fellow-citizen, Neilson Poe, Esq., a cousin of the poet; Edmund Smith, Esq., and wife, the latter being a first cousin of Poe, and at this time his nearest living relative in this city, and possibly Dr. Snodgrass, the editor of the "Saturday Visitor," the paper in which the prize story written by Poe first made its appearance. The clergyman who officiated at the grave was Rev. W. T. D. Clemm, already mentioned, a DEDICATION OF THE MONUMENT. 275 member of the Baltimore Conference of the Me- thodist Episcopal Church, who read the impres- sive burial service used by that denomination of Christians, after which, all that was mortal of Ed- gar Allan Poe was gently committed to its mother earth. " Another item, which it may not be inappropri- ate to record in this historical compend, I will now mention, namely, that George W. Spence, who officiated as sexton at the burial of Mr. Poe, is the same person who, after the lapse of twenty- six years, has superintended the removal of his remains, and those of his loving and beloved mother-in-law, Mrs. Clemm, and their re-inter- ment in the lot in which the monument now stands. " For a number of years after the burial of the poet, no steps seem to have been taken toward making his grave, until, at length, a stone was prepared for this purpose by order of Neilson Poe, Esq. Unfortunately, however, this stone never served the purpose for which it was de- signed. A train of cars accidentally ran into the establishment of Mr. Hugh Sisson, at which place the stone was at the time, and so damaged it as to render it unfit to be used as intended. 276 APPENDIX. "Another series of years intervened, but yet no movement to mark the grave. True, articles al- most innumerable, ad nauseam , made their ap- pearance at short intervals during that time in different newspapers, but the authors of those articles were mostly of that class of persons who employ their energies in finding fault with others, totally oblivious of the fact that they themselves, no less, deserved the censure they so liberally meted out to others. "'Poe's neglected grave' was the stereotyped expression of these modern Jeremiahs. Nor were they content to indulge in lamentations ; not un- frequently our good city was soundly berated because of its alleged want of appreciation of the memory of one whose ashes, they intimated, had he been an Englishman, instead of filling an unmarked grave in an obscure cemetery, would have had accorded to them a place in that grand old abbey which England has appropriated as a mausoleum for her distinguished dead. " But the ' neglected grave ' was not always to remain such. At a regular meeting of the Pub- lic School Teachers' Association, held in this hall, October 7, 1865, Mr. John Basil, Jr., principal of DEDICA TION OF THE MONUMENT. 277 No. 8 Grammar School, offered a paper, of which the following is a copy : — " ' Whereas it has been represented to certain members of the Association that the mortal remains of Edgar Allan Poe. are interred in the cemetery of the Westminster Church, with- out even so much as a stone to mark the spot ; therefore, " 'Resolved that a committee of five be appointed by the president of this Association to devise some means best adapted, in their judgment, to perpetuate the memory of one who has contributed so largely to American literature.' "This resolution was unanimously adopted, and a committee, consisting of Messrs. Basil, Baird and J. J. G. Webster, Miss Veeder and Miss Wise, appointed to carry out the purpose named. "This committee reported in favor of the erec- tion of a monument, and recommended that measures be at once taken to secure the funds necessary to accomplish this object. This rec- ommendation was heartily indorsed by the Asso- ciation, and, without delay, the committee entered upon the work of raising the funds. M ] n "this work the young ladies of the western fe 1:1 ale high school took an active and, as will be seen, a successful part. An entertainment of select readings by the pupils of that school, held 278 APPENDIX. in this hall, on the evening of October 10, 1865, under the superintendence of Miss S. S. Rice, yielded the handsome sum of $380. A literary and musical entertainment, held in Concordia Hall, December 7, 1865, in which the pupils of the eastern and western female high schools and those of Baltimore City College took part, in- creased the fund by the addition thereto of $75.92. May 15, 1866, a contribution of $50 was received from Prof. Charles Davies, of New York, and on the 19th of the same month a donation of $54 was received as an offering of the young ladies of r Troy Female Seminary.' These sums, with interest added, amounted, as per report of Thomas D. Baird, treasurer, submitted March 23, 1871, to $587.02. The enthusiasm that characterized the undertaking at the outset seemed now to have greatly abated, and serious thoughts were consequently entertained of abandoning the pro- ject. At this juncture, a new committee, con- sisting of Messrs. Elliott, Kerr and Hamilton, Miss Rice and Miss Baer, was appointed to con- sider the matter. "After mature deliberation this committee re- ported, April 15, 1872, as follows: "First, re DEDICATION OF THE MONUMENT. 279 solved, that the money now in the hands of the treasurer of the ' Poe Memorial Fund,' be appro- priated to the erection of a monument, the same to be placed over Poe's remains. Second, that a committee of five be appointed by the president, with power to act as stated in the first resolution.' 5 These resolutions were adopted, and the com- mittee therein provided for, appointed as follows : Wm. Elliott, Jr., A. S. Kerr, Alexander Hamil- ton, Miss S. S. Rice and Miss E. A. Baer. September 2, 1874, this committee received, from the estate of Dr. Thomas D. Baird, deceased, the late treasurer of the f Poe Memorial Fund,' $627.55, the amount of principal and interest to that date, which was immediately deposited in the Chesapeake Bank, of this city. Believing that this amount could be increased to $1000 by donations from some of our fellow-citizens who favored the project, the committee applied to Mr. George A. Frederick, architect of the City Hall, for the design of a monument to cost about that sum. "Mr. Frederick, in due time, submitted a design 'at once simple, chaste and dignified,' but re- quiring for its realization much more than the 2>So APPENDIX. amount included in the expectations of the committee. Moreover, a new feature was now introduced, that of placing a medallion likeness of the poet on one of the panels of the monu- ment, which would still further increase the cost. With a view of determining whether the amount necessary to complete the monument, according to the proportions it had now assumed, could be raised, applications were made to a number of our citizens for contributions. From one, of ac- knowledged aesthetic taste, a check of $100 was promptly received. Two other gentlemen con- tributed $50 each, while Miss S. S. Rice, a member of the committee, collected in small sums $52 more. "A knowledge of the 'world-wide' known lib- erality of Mr. George W. Childs, of Philadelphia, formerly one of cur fellow townsmen, induced the chairman of the committee to drop him a note on the subject. Within twenty-four hours, a reply was received from that gentleman, expres- sive of his willingness to make up the estimated deficiency of $650. " The necessary amount having now been se- cured, the committee proceeded to place the con- DEDICATION OF THE MONUMENT. 28 1 struction and erection of the monument in the hands of Mr. Hugh Sisson, his proposal being the most liberal one received. How faithfully he has executed his commission will be seen when the covering that now veils the monument is re- moved. No one, so well as the chairman of the committee, knows how anxious Mr. Sisson has been to meet even more than the expectations of those most concerned. To his generous liber- ality are we largely indebted for the reproduc- tion of the classic lineaments of the poet, in the beautiful and highly artistic medallion that adds so much to the attractiveness of the monument. "To most of those present, I presume, it is known that the lot in which the monument is now located is not the one in which it was first placed. In deference to what was considered by the committee the popular wish, the monument was removed from its first location to its present one. The remains of Mr. Poe, and also those of his mother-in-law, were, as before intimated, removed at the same time. The new lot was secured mainly through the efforts of Mr. John T. Morris, president of the school board, to whom, and to all others who have in any way 282 APPENDIX. contributed to the consummation of this under- taking, I wish here, on behalf of the committee, to render thanks. " In conclusion, allow me to congratulate all concerned that Poe's grave is no longer a neglected one." Upon the conclusion of Professor Elliott's ad- dress, which was listened to with deep attention, Miss Sarah S. Rice was introduced to the audi- ence. To this lady, well known to the public from her elocutionary attainments, the greatest possible credit is due for the successful comple- tion of the enterprise. The first money raised for the erection of the monument was through her personal efforts, and the entire monument, from its inception to the close, has enjoyed the benefits of her unremitting attention and effort. Miss Rice read the following LETTERS FROM THE POETS, In response to Invitations to be present on the Occasion. FROM MR. BRYANT. Cummington, Mass., September 18, 1875. Dear Madam, — I return my thanks for the obliging invi- tation contained in jour letter of the 14th, and for the kind words with which it is accompanied. For various reasons, LETTERS FROM THE POETS. 283 however, among which is my advanced age, it is nol in my power to be present at the cei-emonies of which you speak, and I have only to make my best acknowledgment to those who have done me the honor to think of me in connection with them. I am, madam, truly yours, Wm. C. Bryant. Miss S. S. Rice. FROM MR. LOWELL. Cambridge, 18th October, 1875. Dear Madam, — I regret very much that it will be quite impossible for me to be present at the very interesting cere- mony of unveiling the monument to Poe. I need not assure you that I sympathize very heartily with the sentiment which led to its erection. I remain very truly yours, J. R. Lowell. Miss Sarah S. Rice, Cor. Sec. of the Poe Monument Association, Baltimore. FROM MRS. WHITMAN. Providence, R.I., November 5, 1875. Miss Sarah S. Rice. My dear Madam, — Your most kind and gratifying letter, conveying to me an invitation to be present at the unveiling of the monument to the memory of our great American poet, was duly received. I need not say to you that the generous efforts of the association in whose behalf you write have called forth my warmest sympathy and most grateful appre- ciation. The work was long delayed, and has been consum- 284 APPENDIX. mated at the right time, and through the most congenial and appropriate agencies. I am, most sincerely and most gratefully, yours, Sarah Helen Whitman. FROM MR. WHITTIER. Amesbury, 9th mo., 21, 1875= To Sarah S. Rice. Dear friend, — The extraordinary genius of Edgar A. Poe is now acknowledged the world over, and the proposed trib- ute to his memory indicates a full appreciation of his own intellectual gifts on the part of the city of his birth. As a matter of principle, I do not favor ostentatious monuments for the dead, but sometimes it seems the only way to express the appreciation which circumstances, in some measure, may have denied to the living man. I am not able to be present at the inauguration of the mon- ument. Pray express my thanks to the ladies and gentlemen for whom thy letter speaks, for-the invitation. Acknowledg- ing the kind terms in which that invitation was conveyed on thy part, I am very truly thy friend, John G. Whittier. FROM DR. HOLMES. Boston, September 18, 1875. Dear Miss Rice, — In answer to your kind invitation, I re- gret that I cannot say that I hope to be present at the cere- mony of placing a monument over the grave of your poet. Your city has already honored valor and patriotism by the LETTERS FROM THE POETS. .285 erection of stately columns. Republics are said to be un- grateful, perhaps because they have short memories, forget- ting wrongs as quickly as benefits. But your city has shown that it can remember, and has taught us all the lesson of gratitude. No one, surely, needs a mausoleum less than the poet. His monument shall be his gentle verse, Which eyes not yet created shall o'erread ; And tongues to be, his being shall rehearse "When all the breathers of this world are dead. Yet we would not leave him without a stone to mark the spot where the hands that " waked to ecstacy the living lyre " were laid in the dust. He that can confer an immortality which will outlast bronzeand granite deserves this poor tribute, not for his sake so much as ours. The hearts of all who rever- ence the inspiration of genius, who can look tenderly upon the infirmities too often attending it, who can feel for its mis- fortunes, will sympathize with you as you gather around the resting place of all that was mortal of Edgar Allan Poe, and raise the stone inscribed with one of the few names which will outlive the graven record meant to perpetuate its remem- brance. Believe me very truly yours, O..W. Holmes. FROM MR. ALDRICH. Boston, Mass., October 10, 1875. Sarah S. Rice, Cor. Sec. Dear Madam, — I hasten to acknowledge the receipt of your letter inviting me to attend the inaugural ceremonies of the monument to Edgar Allan Poe. It is with the deepest regret 286 APPENDIX. that I find myself unable to accept the invitation. 1 have just returned from a long absence abroad, and my private affairs demand my closest attention. The duties and engage- ments which I have been obliged to put aside during the past six or seven months leave me no time to write anything that would serve your purpose. But for this, I would come in per- son to lay my tribute, with the other more worthy offerings, on Poe's grave. Your desire to honor his genius is in the heart of every man of letters, though perhaps no American author stands so little in need of a monument to perpetuate his memory as the author of "The Raven." His imperisha- ble fame is in all lands. With thanks for your courtesy, I remain, Very truly yours, Thomas Bailey Aldrich. FROM MRS. PRESTON. Lexington, Virginia, October 8. Miss Sarah S. Rice. Dear Madam, — Your note and request, so complimentary to myself, has been received. I thank you for the good opinion which led you to propose the writing of a poem on my part for the prospective inaugu- ration of the Poe Memorial. While it is not in my power to comply with the flattering request, or to be present at the ceremonial, I tender to the committee my thanks, neverthe- less, for the honor thus conferred on me. There would seem to be a slight appropriateness in the proposal made to me, inasmuch as my husband (Colonel Preston, of the Virginia Military College) was a boyish friend of Poe's when they went to school together in Rich- LETTERS FROM THE POETS. 287 mond : who used to sit on the same bench with him, and together pore over the same pages of " Horace." To him, as his earliest literary critic — a boy of fourteen — Poe was accus- tomed to bring his first verses. Even then, youth as he was, he was distinguished by many of the characteristics which marked his after-life. With every good wish for the entire success of your me- morial services, and with renewed thanks to your committee for this mark of regard, believe me, my dear madam, sincerely yours, Margaret J. Preston. FROM MR. SAXE. Brooklyn, N.Y., October 10, 1875. To Sarah S. Rice, Professor of Elocution, Baltimore, Maryland : — Of all my letters received during a long confine- ment by sickness, yours of the 5th instant is the first I have attempted to answer. I employ the hand of another (for I am not yet able to write) to thank you for the kind invitation you send me to assist at the Poe Monument ceremonies, on the 15th instant. As I cannot hope to be present on that occasion, I avail myself of your friendly note to express my interest in the event, and my admiration of the noble-hearted men and women of Baltimore, who, by the creation of a beautiful and appro- priate monument to the memory of Edgar A. Poe, perform a patriotic office which was primarily and peculiarly the duty, as it should have been the pride, of the American literati, toward one whose original genius has done so much to adorn and distinguish American literature. Yours very truly, Joe.n Godfrey Saxe, Z SS APPENDIX. Prof. Elliot read the following letter from G. W. Childs, of Philadelphia, regretting that he could not be present : — Philadelphia, November 15, 1875. It would be verj agreeable to my regard for the memory of Edgar A. Poe to accept your invitation to be present at the dedicatory ceremonies of the Poe Monument, on the 17th inst., but it is quite improbable that I can be with you on that occasion. There is a mournful satisfaction, even in this' late tribute to one whose rare genius and sensitive nature were accompanied by so many unhappy experiences of life. Poor Poe ! His working-day world was more than full of sorrows, and he seems to have been happy only in his visions outside of real life, or in his dream of a world beyond that in which we all live. What is now being done by the affectionate friends, and by those who feel that injustice has been done to his memory, may prove to be the starting point of a changed and juster view of his life and character. Although it is far too late to be of service to him, it is not too late to be of benefit to our- selves and others. Those of us who may have felt disposed to censure him, can read with profit the following lines from his " Tamerlane," and especially the last couplet: — " I firmly do believe — I know — for Death, who comes for me From regions of the blest afar, Where there is nothing to deceive, Hath left his iron gate ajar, And rays of truth you cannot see Are flashing through eternity." Yours respectfully, George W. Childs. LETTERS FROM THE POETS. 289 JOSIAH GILBERT HOLLAND. New York, Oct. 11, 1875. Dear Madam — On the 15th of this month I am to be in Wilmington, Ohio, for a lecture; and on the eve of a long Western trip I find myself so crowded with important duties that I cannot even write the letter I have in my heart. I c:r. very glad the genius of Poe is to be formally recognized by cere- mony and monument, as it has been long appreciated by un- told thousands of people wherever the English language is spoken. I am sorry I cannot be present at the inaugural cere- monies ; but you will not miss me. I shall only miss you, and the loyal throng who will gather to bring the dead poet their honors. Thanking you kindly for your invitation, I am yours truly, J. G. Holland. ALFRED TENNYSON. Faringford, Freshwater, Isle of Wight, Jan. 12, 1875. I have long been acquainted with Poe's works and am an admirer of them. I am obliged to you for your expressions about myself, and your promise of sending me the design for the poet's monument, and beg you to believe me, Yours very truly, A. Tennyson. HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. Cambridge, August 20, 1875. Dear Madam, — The only lines of Mr. Poe that I now re- call as in any way appropriate to the purpose you mentior are from a poem entitled " For Annie." They are, — " The fever called living Is conquered at last." 290 APPENDIX. But I dare say you will be able to find something better. In great haste, Yours truly, Henry W. Longfellow. FROM A PERSONAL FRIEND. Brooklyn, N.Y., October 11, 1875. My Dear Miss Rice, — My friend John G. Saxe, towh"7i you wrote in regard to the " Poe Monument Association,' 1 is quite unwell ; indeed, is confined to his room, and fears he will not be able to answer your kind request. If, however, he shall be able, he will at least write you. In the mean time, at his suggestion, allow me, a personal friend and warm ad- mirer of both the genius and personal worth of our lamented friend, to say to you and to the association a few words. I have resided and practised my profession of the law in Brooklyn for about thirty years. Shortly after I moved here, in 1845, Mr. Poe and I became personal friends. His last residence, and where I visited him oftenest, was in a beautiful secluded cottage at Fordham, fourteen miles above New York. It was there I often saw his dear wife during her last illness, and attended her funeral. It was from there that he and his "dear Muddie" (Mrs. Clemm) often visited me at my house, frequently, at my urgent solicitation, remaining many days. When he finally departed on his last trip South, the kissing and hand-shaking were at my front door. He was hopeful ; we were sad, and tears gushed in torrents as he kissed his " dear Muddie" and my wife " good-bye." Alas ! it proved, as Mrs. Clemm feared, a final adieu. A few months afterwards, on receipt of the sad news of his death, I offered Mrs. C. a home in my family, where she re- sided till 1858, when she removed to Baltimore to lay her ashes by the side of her darling Eddie. I hold many of her LETTERS FROM THE POETS. 291 precious, loving, grateful letters to me from there, up to a few days before her death. And now, as to Mr. Poe, he was one of the most affection- ate, kind-hearted men I ever knew. I never witnessed so much tender affection and devoted love as existed in that family of three persons. His dear Virginia, after her death, was his "Lost Lenore." I have spent weeks in the closest intimacy with Mr. Poe, and I never saw him drink a drop of liquor, wine or beer, in my life, and never saw him under the slightest influence of any stimulants whatever. He was, in truth, a most abstemious and exemplary man. But I learned from Mrs. Clemm that if, on the importunity of a convivial friend, he took a single glass, even wine, it suddenly flashed through his nervous system a"nd excitable brain, and that he was no longer him- self, or responsible for his acts. His biographers have not done his virtues or his genius justice ; and to produce a start- ling effect, by contrast, have magnified his errors and attrib- uted to him faults which he never had. He was always, in my presence, the polished gentleman, the profound scholar, the true critic, and the inspired oracular poet; dreaming and spiritual ; lofty but sad. His memory is green and fresh in many admiring and loving hearts, and your work of erecting a monument over his grave, if it adds nothing to his fame, reflects honor on you and your association, and upon all who sympathize or assist in your noble work. I am proud to assure you, and the association through you, that his many friends are grateful and thank you. " What recks he of their plaudits now? He never deemed them worth his care, And death has twined around his brow The wreath he was too proud to wear." Yours truly, S. D. Lewis. 292 APPENDIX, FROM A. C. SWINBURNE. {From the N. T. Tribune, Nov. 27, 1872.) The following letter from the poet Swinburne — addressed to Miss Sarah S. Rice, the director of the Poe Memorial Com- mittee — was received in Baltimore too late to be read at the dedication of the monument. It indicates the sympathy of genius with genius; and it affords another illustration of the high estimate that English critical thought has placed upon the writings of Poe : — HOLMWOOD, SHIPLAKE, \ Henley-on-Thames, Nov. 9, 1875. J Sarah S. Rice. Dear Madam, — I have heard, with much pleasure, of the memorial at length raised to your illustrious fellow-citizen. The genius of Edgar Poe has won, on this side of the At- lantic, such wide and warm recognition that the sympathy, which I cannot hope fitly or fully to express in adequate Words, is undoubtedly shared at this moment by hundreds, as far as the news may have spread throughout, not England only, but France as well ; where, as I need not remind you, the most beautiful and durable of monuments has been reared to the genius of Poe, by the laborious devotion of a genius equal and akin to his own ; and where the admirable trans- lation of his prose works — by a fellow-poet, whom also we have to lament before his time — is even now being perfected by a careful and exquisite version of his poems, with illustra- tions full of the subtle and tragic force of fancy which impelled and moulded the original song; a double homage, due to the loyal and loving co-operation of one of the most remarkable younger poets, and one of the most powerful leading painters in France — M. Mallarnlt' and M. Manes. WILLIAM WINTER'S POEM. 293 It is not for me to offer any tribute here to the fame of your great countryman, or dilate, with superfluous and intrusive admiration, on the special quality of his strong and del cate genius — so sure of aim, and faultless of touch, in all the better and finer part of work he has left us. I would only, in conveying to the members ^f the Poe Me- morial Committee my sincere acknowledgment of the honor they have done me in recalling my name on such an occa- sion, take leave to express my firm conviction that, widely as the fame of Poe has already spread, and deeply as it is already rooted in Europe, it is even now growing wider and striking deeper as time advances ; the surest presage that time, the eternal enemy of small and shallow reputations, will prove, in this case also, the constant and trusty friend and keeper of a true poet's full-grown fame. I remain, dear madam, yours very truly, A. C. Swinburne. After the conclusion of the letters the following poem, contributed by the well-known dramatic critic and litterateur ', Mr. William Winter, was read by Miss Rice, with exquisite delicacy and utterance, and received with a burst of applause : AT POE'S GRAVE. Cold is the paean ^onor sings, And chill is glory's icy breath, And pale the garland memory brings To grace the iron doors of death. 294 APPENDIX. Fame's echoing thunders, long and loud, The pomp of pride that decks the pall, The plaudits of the vacant crowd — One word of love is worth them all. With dews of grief our eyes are dim ; Ah, let the tear of sorrow start, And honor, in ourselves and him, The great and tender human heart ! Through many a night of want and woe, His frenzied spirit wandered wild — Till kind disaster laid him low, And heaven reclaimed its wayward child. Through many a year his fame has grown. — Like midnight, vast, like starlight, sweet.— Till now his genius fills a throne, And nations marvel at his feet. One meed of justice long delayed, One crowning grace his virtues crave : — Ah, take, thou great and injured shade. The love that sanctifies the grave ! God's mercy guard, in peaceful sleep, The sacred dust that slumbers here ; And, while around this tomb toe weepy God bless, for us, the mourner's tear ! And may his spirit, hovering nigh, Pierce the dense cloud of .darkness through, And know, with fame that cannot die, He has the world's affection, too I DEDICATION OF THE MONUMENT. 295 The Philharmonic Society then rendered the grand chorus, " He, Watching over Israel," from the "Elijah" of Mendelssohn, with fine effect. ADDRESS OF PROF. HENRY E. SHEPHERD. "Ladies and Gentlemen, — It is my purpose to speak of Edgar A. Poe, principally as a poet and as a man of genius. I shall abstain, for the most part, from personal incidents or biographical details. These, though not devoid of interest, pertain properly to the historian of literature or to the biographer. Let his ? strange, eventful history 'be reserved for some American Masson, Boswell or Morlen. "Edgar A. Poe was born in 1809, the birth year of Alfred Tennyson, and of Mrs. Browning, the most gifted poetess of any age. The third great era in English letters had then fairly commenced. The spirit of the elder day was revived ; the delusive splendor that had so long gilded the Augustan age of Addison, of Bolingbroke and of Johnson, paled before the marvellous intellect- ual expansion, the comprehensive culture, that distinguished the first thirty years of the present century ; the genius of poesy, no longer circum- 296 APPENDIX. scribed by artificial limits, 1 o longer restrained by the arbitrary procedures of a reflective age, ranged in unchecked freedom, reviving the buried forms of mediaeval civilization, the lay of the min- strel, the lyric of the troubadour, the forgotten splendors of the Arthurian cycle. One day was as a thousand years in the growth and develop- ment of the human mind. "Edgar was in his childhood when our last great literary epoch had attained the full meridian of its greatness. He spent five years at school in England, from i8i6to 1821. The term of Edgar's school life in England was a period of intense poetic activity and creative form, heroic emprise, knightly valor, and brilliant achievement. In 1822, Edgar, then in his fourteenth year, returned to his native land. He attained to manhood at a time when, by a revolution familiar in the history of every literature, the supremacy was reverting from poetry to prose. The cold generalizations of philosophy chilled the glowing ardor of the preceding epoch. The publication of Macaulay's Essay on Milton ' in 1825 marks the transition from the sway of the imaginative faculty to the present unsurpassed period in our prose literature. DEDICATION OF THE MONUMENT. 297 From this desultory outline of English literature during the early years of the poet, you will ob- serve that his intellectual constitution was formed under peculiar circumstances. He does not be- long chronologically to the age of Shelley, Byron and Keats ; his position is one of comparative isolation, like that of Wyatt, Sackville or Col- lins, in the midst of an unpoetic generation, un- sustained by the sweet consolations of poetic association, or the tender endearments of poetic sympathy. When he attained to the conscicus- ness of his great powers, none of those stimulat- ing influences existed, save' as matters of history or poetic tradition. Tennyson in England was viewing nature in perspective, and involving his critics in mazes as tangled as the web which enveloped the fated Lady of Shalott. Words- worth had abjured the teachings of his early manhood. Shelley, Keats and Byron were dead. Morris and Swinburne were yet unborn, and the thrones of the elder gods were principally filled by the 'Idle singers of an empty day.' American poetry had then produced little that * future ages will not willingly let die.' 293 APPENDIX. POES MASTERPIECE. "Having traced the conditions of the era during which the poet's mind was blooming into matu- rity, we are now prepared to appreciate the dis- tinctive characteristics of his genius, as revealed in his prose, and especially in his poetry. It is known to students of our literature that in all ages of our literary history, from the time that our speech was reduced to comparative uni- formity by the rare perception and philological discrimination of Chaucer, there have existed two recognized schools of poets, the native or domestic, and the classical. In some poets the classical element is the animating principle, as in Milton, whose pages, f sprinkled with the diamond dust of classic lore,' r thick as autum- nal leaves that strew the brooks in Vallambrosa,' afford the most impressive illustration of its power. A wonderful impulse was communi- cated to the development of classical poetry, by that - morning star of modern song,' the poet Keats, and since his advent our poetry has tended, more and more, to divest itself of native sympathies, and to assume an artistic or literary character. Our poetry may have lost pliancy, DEDICATION OF THE MONUMENT. 299 but it has gained in elaboration and perfection of structure. Genius and imagination are not repressed, but are regulated by the canons of art, and from their harmonious alliance arises the unsurpassed excellence of Poe's poetry. In the school of literary or classical poets he must be ranked in that illustrious procession which includes the names of Milton, Ben Jonson, Her- rick, Shelley and Keats. Having assigned to Poe an honorable eminence in the school of classical poets, I proceed to speak of the origin- ality, the creative power, displayed in his poetry, as well as his brilliant achievements in metrical combination. Specific points of resemblance may be discovered between his poetry and that of his contemporaries or predecessors, but no gen- eral or well-defined likeness, and few poets have displayed a more surpassing measure of creative power. Some of his maturer poems are almost without precedent, in form as well as in spirit. The 'Legend of the Raven/ related by Roger De Hoveden, and referring to the era of the Latin conquest of Constantinople, nor the Legend of Herod Agrippa,' cited by De Quin- cey in his celebrated 'Essay on Modern Super- 3oo APPENDIX. stition,' furnishes an adequate foundation for the text of Poe's masterpiece. The raven has con- stituted a prominent character in English poetry for many ages. In ' Hamlet,' in 'Macbeth,' in f Sir David Lindsay,' in Tickell's exquisite ballad of 'Collin and Lucy,' the appearance of this ominous bird of yore will readily suggest itself to all lovers of our dramatic and lyric poetry. But none of these can be considered as the pre- cursor of Poe's 'Raven.' The nearest approach to any distinctive feature of 'The Raven' is to be found, I suspect, in the dramas of Shak- speare, those unfailing sources of intellectual nutriment. The one word, ' Mortimer,' of Harry Percy's 'Starling,' presents a marked phonetic resemblance to the * Nevermore' of 'The Ra- ven,' whose melancholy refrain seems almost the echo of the 'Starling's' unvarying note. No poem in our language presents a more graceful grouping of metrical appliances and devices. The power of peculiar letters is evolved with a magnificent touch ; the thrill of the liquids is a characteristic feature, not only of the refrain, but throughout the compass of the poem, their 'linked sweetness, long drawn out,' falls with a mellow DEDICATION OF THE MONUMENT. 301 cadence, revealing the poet's mastery of those mysterious harmonies which lie at the basis of human speech. The continuity of the rhythm, illustrating Milton's ideal of true musical delight, in which the sense is variously drawn out from one verse into another, the alliteration of the Norse minstrel and the Saxon bard, the graphic delineation and sustained interest, are some of the features which place 'The Raven' foremost among the creations of a poetic art in our age and clime. "Another distinguishing characteristic of Poe's poetry is its rhythmical power and its admirable illustration of that mysterious affinity which binds together the sound and the sense. Throughout all the processes of nature, a rhythmical move- ment is clearly discernible. Upon the conscious recognition of this principle are based all our conceptions of melody, all systems of intonation and inflection. In this dangerous sphere of poetry, he won a mastery over the properties of verse that the troubadours might have aspired to emulate. CLASSIC ELEMENTS. "Permit me next to direct your attention to the 3° 3 APPENDIX. classic impress of Poe's poetry, its blending of genius and culture, and to the estimation in which his productions are held in other lands. The Athenian sculptor, in the palmiest days of Grecian art, wrought out his loveliest conceptions by the painful processes of unflagging diligence. The angel was not evolved from the block by a sudden inspiration or a brilliant flash of unpre- meditated art. By proceeding upon a system corresponding to the diatonic scale in music, the luxuriance of genius was regulated and directed by the sober precepts and decorous graces of formal art. No finer illustration of conscious art has been produced in our century than 'The Raven.' In all the riper productions of our poet, there is displayed the same graceful alliance of genius, culture and taste. He attained a mas- tery over the most difficult metrical forms, even those to whose successful production the spirit of the English tongue is not congenial. The sonnet, that peculiarly Italian type of verse immortalized by the genius of Petrarch, a form of verse in which few English writers have suc- ceeded, has been admirably illustrated in Poe's f Zante.' Indeed, much of the acrimony of his DEDICATION OF THE MONUMENT. 303 criticism arose from his painful sensitiveness to artistic imperfection and his enthusiastic worship of the beautiful. The Grecian cast of his genius led to a pantheistic love of beauty incarnated in palpable or material forms. This striving after sensuous beauty has constituted a distinctive characteristic of those poets who were most thoroughly imbued with the Grecian taste and spirit. It has left its impress deep upon the tex- ture of our poetry, and many of its most silvery symphonies owe their inspiration to this source. In addition to the classic element, his poetry is pervaded by that magic of style, that strange unrest and unreality, those weird notes, like the refrain of his own 'Raven,' 'so musical, so melancholy,' which are traceable to the Celtic influence upon our composite intellectual char- acter. The quick sensibility, the ethreal temper of these natural artists, have wonderfully enliv- ened the stolid character of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors, and much of the style and consecutive power that have reigned in English poetry from the days of Lajamon, Walter Mapes, and of Chaucer, Tiay be attributed to the Celtic infusion into the Teutonic blood. Conspicuous examples 3