Daily national Democrat., 1861-03-23
Edgar Allan Poe.

der over his wierd poems aud his mystic
he was struggling with poverty
and misfortune. A friend who knew him
veil, but who conccals his name from the
public, has recently written an interesting ac-
count Of his private history, to the New York
Leader lie went to see him in his humble
home at F.rdham some fourteen years ago,
and was Introduced to the young wife OF the
poet, aud to the mother. then more than sixty
years Of age She was tall, diguiied old
lady, with lodylike air the Impression Of
which could not be diminished by the worn
appearance of the cheap dress which her
slraitencd circumstances compelled her to
wear But as the genius Of Poe made hinI
glorious in his poverty so did the unbound
ed kindness of heart and genlaIity OF soul
which belonged to this venerable female
make all bcholders forget the mere external
surroundings Of her humble domicil in the
moral glow and beauty Of her character
Says the writer:
Mrs. Poe looked very young: she had
large black eyes, and a peagly whtcuc,s Of
complcXion, which was perfect pallor Her
pale face, her brilliant eyes, and her raven
hair gave her an uncmthly look One felt
that she was almost a di-robed spirit, ANA
" hen She coughcd it was made certain that
She was rapidly passing away
The mother seemed hale and strong, and
appeared to be a sort Of universal Providence
for her strange children
The cottage had an air Of taste and gcnlil-
ity that must have been lent to ii by the
presence Of the inmates So neat so poor,
so unfurnished, and yet so charming dwell
ling never saw. The floor of the Kitchen
was white a. wheaton flour. A table a chair
and a little stove that it contained, seemed to
furnish it perfectly The sitting-room floor
was laid with check mating; four chairs Il
| light stand and hanging book shell com
pleted its furniture There were pretty pre-
scntalion copie- OF books on the itlle shelves,
and the Hrowning5 had posts OF honor on the
stand. With quiet cXulaiion Poe drew from
his side pocket a letter that he had recently
received from Elizabeth Barrett browning
lie read it TO us. 1t vas very ilaucrng-
! She told Poe that his "poem of the Raven
had awakened fit Of horror in England"
This was what he loved to do. TO make the
flesh creep, to make one shudder and frcyze
with horror, was more to his relish Il cannot
say more TO his mind or hcarO than TO touch
the tcnderest chords of sympathy or sadness
ON the bookshelf there lay volume Of
Poes roems. lie took it down, wrote my
name in it, and gay it to ne. | think he
did this from feeling Of sympathy, f'r |
could not be of advantage TO him, as my two
companions could. | had sent him an article
when he edited the "Broadway Journal
which had pleased him. 1t a sort OF
wonder article and he published it without
knowing the authorship, and he was pleased
to find his anonymous contributor in me. He
was at this time greatly depressed. Their
extreme poverty, the sickness of his wife, ana
his own inability to write, sufficiently ac
counted for this. We spent half an hour in
! the house. when some more company came.
which included ladies, and then we all went
to walk
We strolled away into the woods, and had
a very cheerful time, till some one proposed
game of lcaping. |. think it must have
been Poe, as he was expert in the exercise.
Two or three gentlemen agreed to leap with
him, and though one Of them was tall, and
had been hunter in times past, Poe still dis
tanced them all But alas his CATERS, long
worn and carefully kept, were both burst in
the grand leap that made him victor. / had
pitied the poor bob-oluk IN his hard and
hopeless imprisonment but piticd Poe more
now. was certain he had no other shoes,
! boots or CATERS Whoamougst us could offer
him money to buy new pair? Surely not
| the writer Of this for the few shiliugs that
| paid to go to l'ordham must be cconunz-l
somewhere or somehow, amongst my iudis-
| pcnsible disbursements. | should have to
wear fewer clean shirts, or eat n less number
| of oyster stews In those days never as
! pircd to Il broil. 1t is well that habit is a
/ grand amcliorator. and that we come to like
what we are obliged TO get accustomed TO-
But if any one had money who had the cf-
| frontery to offer it to the poet? When We
reached the cottage. | think all felt that we
must not 90 in, to see the slorless unfortunate,
sitting or standing in our midst. | had an
erraud, however-I had left the volume of
POe's poems-and | entered the house to get
il. The poor old mother looked at lis feet,
with dismay that | shall never forget.
"O Eddie" said she, Glow did you burst
your gaitersf"
Poe seemed TO have come into scmi-tor-
pid state, as soon as he saw his mother
''Do answer Muddie, now" said she coax
ingly.
Muddie" was her pet name with her
Children
| related the cause Of the mishap, and she
drew me into the Kitchen
6 viii you speak to Mr.. -" said she
"abcut Eddies last poem?"
Mr., - was the reviewer.
" If he will only take the poem, Eddie
can have pair of shoes. He has it--I car
ried it last week, and Eddie says it ia his
best. You will speak to him about it, won't
You ?'
We had already read the poem in con-
clave, and Heaven forgive us, could not
make head or tail to it, 1t might as we'll
have been in any of the lost languages, for
any meaning we could extract from its me
lodious numbers. remember saying that
believed it was only hoax that Poe was
passing off for poetry, TO see how far his
name would 90 in imposing upon the people
But here was a situation. The reviewer had
been actively instrumental in the dcmoli-
tion of the CATERS.
rOf course they will publish the poem
said |, and | will ask c. - TO be quick
about it.
The poem was paid for at once, and pub
lished soon after. Ipresume it is regarded
as genuine poetry in the collected poems of
its author, but then it bought the poet pair
Of CATERS, and twelve shillings besides
In the autumn Mrs Poe died. For weeks.
it being winter, she lay ON straw bed which
had no covering but a white spread and a
sheet! To make up, in some manner the
requisite warmth, her husband wrapped her
in his oycrcoat, and held her hands while
the old mother held her feet. The di-tre-s
of the kind old woman, as she saw her dar-