Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1877-08-07
Al&far(0rla 6azett&
TUESDAY EVENING. AUGUST7.
Edgar Allan Poe.

The following beautiful posthumous poem
from tue gifted pen Of the erratic poet Edgar
Allan Poe, we believe has never before been
published iu any form, either in any published
collection Of Poe's poems now extant or 10 any
magazine or newspaper Of any description, and
until the critics shall show conc!usvely to the
contrary the Dispatch shall claim the honor Of
giving it to the world.
That the poem has never before been pub
liehed, and that it is q genuine production OF
| the poet who We claim to be its author, we are
satisfied from the circumstances under which
| it came into our possession after thorough
| investigation. Calling at the house of o gen.
| tIcman of this city the other day, on business
| errand, our attention vas called to poem writ
! ten on the blank Ay.leaf of an old book. Hand.
| iog US the book he observed that it (the poem)
| might be good enough to publish; and that if
We thought so, to take it along. Noticing the
initials, Il. A. p, at the bottom OF the poem,
| it struck us that possibly we had run across a
"bonarza," so to speak, and after reading it
We asked who its author was, when ne related
the following bit of interesting Renaissance.
lie said he did not know who the author was,
only that he was young man, that ls, he was
youug man when he wrote tie lines referred
to. lie had never seen him himself, but heard
his grandfather, who gave him the book con-
tanning the verses, tell Of the circumstance and
the occasion by which he, tho grandfather,
came into possession Of the book His grand
parents kept country hoe sort or way
side inn, in a small village called Chesterfield,
near Richmond, Va. Ooe night, just before
bedtime young man, who showed plainly the
marks Of dissipation, raped at the door and
L. nd Spoo cho
to room. That was the last they saw Of him.
When they went to his room the next moraing
to c,ll him to breakfast ho had gone away and
left the book, on the hgeaf Of which he had
written the lines given below.
Further than this cur informant knew moth.
ing, and being an uneducated, i!lltcrate man, it
was quite natural that he should allow the
great literary treasure 10 90 tor so many years
unpublished.
That the above statement is true and our
discovery no capard. we will take pleasure in
satisfying any who cares to investigate the mat
ter. The poem is writton in Roman characters
and is almost as legbo as print itself, although
somewhat faded by the lapse OF time. Az
other peculiarly in the manuscript which We
notice is that it contains not the least sign OF
erasure or a single iutarneated word. We
give the poem verbatim, just as it appears in
the original. Here it is:
LEoNATNIE.
Leonainie-sugols named her:
And they took the light
Of the laughing stars and framed her
In smile Of whito;
And they made her hair of gloomy
Midnight and her eyes Of bloomy
Moonshine, and they brought her to me
In solemn night.
In solemn night Of summer.
When my heart of gloom
Bossomed up to greet the conner
Like rose in bloom;
All forebodings that distressed me
l forgot as Joy csressed me-
(Lying Joy that caught and pressed ma
In the arms Of doom y
Only spake the little lisper
In the angel tongue;
Yet l, listening. heard her wbisper:-
Songs arc only sung
Here below that they may grieve you
Tales ara told you TO deceive you
So must Ieonanio lesvo You
While her love is young"
Then God smiled and il Was morning,
Mstchless snd supreme;
Heavens gery seemed adorniHg
Earth with its esteom;
Every heart but mine aeemed gifted
With the voice Of prayer, and lifted
Where my LconaiIlie drtted
From me like dream. E. A. Z.
--Kokou,o, Lndiana, Dispatch.