Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-12-18
EDGAR ALLEN POE.
His Early Struggle for Iiving--where and
When He Pcnned sThe Raven"

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us to the beautiful and historical VIII
lage of Fordham, in the Twenty-fourth
ward, and turning to the left from the
station and passing upward be-
tween the moss-eovered rocks, stene
walls, and great old trees upon the
Kingsbridge road, we soon reach the
last residence of the most famous of
American poets, Edgar Allen Poe,
around which cluster so many sadly in
teresting "reminiscences of the man who
was at once the most distinguished and
most unfortunate of our purely-native
writers. The place consists of a one
Neutrality-suspicious. with a lean-to
addition on one side and broad yeran-
da on two sides of the main building.
All are picturesquely oyergrown and
covered with vines and creepers, and n
number of grand old cherry trees in
the yard throw massive shade upon
the yeranda. This all stands in the
center of about two acres of soft and
velyety greensward. Near the house is
syringa bush planted by the poet and
on one OF the trees in the orchard are
his initials, cut by himself, but which
now have lost much of their shape by
elongation by the growth of the tree.
Back of the cottage stands the pine an
der which Poe was in the habit of re-
Ginning for an hour at time, dream
ing dreams no mortal ever dared to
dream before
Here, in 1876, Poe moved with his
child-wife (she married at 14) and her
mother. Buried among the trees with
the scent of heliotrope and mignonette
and his few pets about him. he devoted
himself TO the task of earning living
by his pen, and that only--a task and
hope that has always been hollow
mockery, delusion, and snare.
In the upper story of this house, I'M
der the slanting roof, which is reached
by winding stairway, was his study
and bedroom. Il is lighted by a large
double window and at the opposite side
is very ample open fireplace. What
host of memories are crowded upon
you as you enter this sacred, almost
hallowed chamber. Here, many and
many a time. has he
-pondered. weak and weary,
Over many quaint and curious volume of
forgotten lore.
Here during the last sickness of his
wife, when the hand of death was fall
ing gently, but surely and unmistak-
ably, in that
bleak December,
Vainy had he sought to borrow
From his books surcease of sorrOw-sofrow
for the lost Lenorc;
For that rare and radiant maiden whom the
angels name LeDore.
Here is the window Mt which came
the tapping of the ominous and evil
raven, and through which, when he
opened it, with many flirt and ilutter
stepped the CHASTITY, grim, uncertain
bird from the nights Plutonian shore;
there, over the door, stood the bust of
Pallas, upon which this horrible bird
perched himself and by his croaking
''Nevermore" struck wonder, awe,
anger, and terror in the poets heart.
Here he stood when he pleaded with the
gaunt specter:
Prophet" said I. 'thing of evil-prophet stin
if bird or devil
Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest
tossed thee here ashore,
IJesolate, yet all undaunted, on the desert
land enchanted
On this home by horror haunted-tell me tru-
ly, implore,
Is there's there balm in Gilead? Tell mo
tell me, implores
Quoth the raven '.Neyermore.''
And hore on this spot on the floor. is
where the awful shadow of death fell:
And my soul from out that shadow that lies
floating on the floor
Shall be lifted-nevermore.
Virginia Eliza Poe passed away JAM
uary so, 1S47, and was buried in the
rustic churehyard here at Fordham, on
ly % years old. A darker shadow than
the raven threw upon the study floor
was upon the soul of Poe, and it was
never lifted from it. Poor before, he
was poorer now, and never a rapid or
voluminous writer, he became slower
and less frequent in his productions but
here, under the shadow of her love, he
continued with great difficulty to write,
'Ulalume, ''Annabel Lee" and a
number of prose pieces.
The country lanes and byways in this
section are exceedingly beautiful, and
it was Poe's delight TO take long strolls
in the early morning. There is a ledge
of rocks near the cottage, crowned with
pines and cedarS, which command q
fine view of the surrounding country,
and which beloved. Here he would sit
for hours wrapped in thought over the
composition Of Eureka which he be-
gan after his wife's death.
There was a spirit of unrest and re-
volt in Poe which refused to accept
whatever had established itself Born
in the lowest walks of life, the child of
strolling players, adopted by Mr.. AL
Ian, a wealthy gentleman of Baltimore,
he was given a splendid education. Ma
ture had literally, nay bountifully en-
dowed him with magnificent talents,
which under other circumstance would
have made him happy man, an orna-
ment to society, and a monument of
honor to his country, but for some
slight freak he was cast adrift before he
was II, with the education, instincts,
and predictions of gentleman, but
without the material means of holding
the position he should have occupied in
society. Thus he became a misan-
thrope and cynic.
With no means at his command TO
gain his own livelihood but his brains
and his pen, he turned to letters as
means of support, task of more than
herculean magnitude, task in which
the world of literature has yet to pro-
duce the man who has been successful
unaided by Interior sources. His was
a particularly unfayorabie time, for we
as nation had not yet taken a place
among the literati of the world. Liter
AZURE was not fostered as the weakly
plant that needed the gentle care and
nurturing of appreciation, appreciation,
and financial support necessary to
bring it to healthy growth. That
most wonderful piece of work in the
entire range of English-literature, ''fhe
Raven" brought him the muniiieent
sum of Sl5; and gentleman who was
proof-reader on the magazine in which
it was first published tells me that the
editor brought him the copy and ex-
pressed himself as feeling he had paid
too much for if. The Harpers to-day
would willingly give as much per line
for such piece.
Poe died in Baltimore in October,
1549, in his fortieth year. The imme-
diate cause of his death is shrouded in
mystery, though it was supposed he
was waylaid in the streets. He was de-
lirious when found by his friends, and
continued so until just before his death.
A brief, brilliant, but unhappy life and
melancholy death was his, of whom it
may be well said. in the words of DR..
johnson, that the events of his life are
yariously related, and all that can be
told with certainty is that he was poor.
.sThe Raven will long preserve his
memory, and with it the memory Of the
great artist, Gustave Dore, who spent
the last year of his life in illustrating
it. Edgar Allen Poe has won the fame
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