New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-05-03
"REMINISCENCES OF POE.
POET. LOVER AND LIAR.
sroppAnD RECALLS SOME PICTURESQUE


md you are not far wrong" ,
. Tell me all about hin; have half an hour 10 spare
seated myself, lightea a cigar ana oes"n ", 60
was In my twentieth year was uhuer 'ne "' S -.
could write poetry. belonged to the echooi VI '
though was only in the infant class Solnetnins 'nv
,d raod sp,,cested an ode TO .Grecian flute anu
wrote one or tried to- which not precisely INC Same
thing made fair copy Of the efusion' ana sent 70
the great Mr. Poe who was then editing inc bI"""0s
To,,T,a It was published Clinton Hail. not lar IRON
where Temple Court is. and The Mdnhdudn Is no'.
atea patenty two or three weeks at the end OF wheh
time the Immortality OF print being denied me- tooh
day and went down to the Office OF INC D'o"""p
Jo,trnaL Mr.. Poe not there, but o"'ainou Ms
address and retTaced my steps, iouna Tue houso IA
which he lodged the southery slde Oh Eas'
1,roadwav nrobably in the neghborhOod OF ChntonsI
was directed to his rooms, which we're IN thc secouu
story lie was dressed in black. rehehoer' anu was
very courteous to The Ode should appear noA'
week thanked him, and rising to leave sa" 'l"t HIS
wife who was also in black, vas lying asleep on ue"
fragile gentlewoman, whom pitied, Tor ieiV 'n" o
had not long 70 live saw mother at the same ume'
and she too was in black bowed 10 her' anu ueIa'
OF course the ode appeared next week NO; ou' 'hoo
was reference the corner devoted 10 CorresIoh
ents The editor doubted originality OF my verse
and declined to publish 1t uness he could DC asseo Vi
,,s ap,bentcity I.was startled sbut conPmented ior
had not written well that Poe suspected was
literary thief You wrote well, my vanity a'Ser'ou'
Yes said common sense; but you wrote so ILL., likewise,
WAS bnrt Int was attered and bettered for was no
longer afraid of the poets criticism. The matter ended
there took another forenoon. week ater anu "eHV
again to the Office OF The BroadO0ay Journal IL was
brong day, STILL think in June The Gator was NO,
IN his chair but was expected TO return soon lwaked
M and down the hot streets and hotter park III dauge
dare saw OF sun-stroke When, at the end OF an hour
returned, l was informed that Poe was Ill., anu was
shown into his He In black, as Oelore' anu
was sound asleep his chair. The publisher waKeheu
ont
come Mr. Poe to yon the Authenticity Oh INC
.Ode on Grecian Flute."' He glared at me- ana WIN
ont waiting to hear what had TO say declared .na'
was a liar and consigned me to instant petduoh men
he rose sury and threatened TO demolish me II diu
not get out saw what was .the maetei'. an" u'i"'
he was with drink.
And YOU never saw him again y
aIorettus YOU anticipate. did see him again IL
was In the fall of the year. ana the dy hau oeen
rainy one 1t In the afternoon and was gong up
town. / met him at the northeast corner OF Chath"h
and Pearl sts.. standing under an awning. nc was
little seedy but so far as could Judge sober My i'm
puse was to him my umbrella and TO go nome WIN
him If he would allow me to do So ala nelner' or
which have never forgiven myself see MN suil
waiting there in rain melancholy figure in BLACK
wid-eyed but pleadng.-genteman and man Oh genius
And that ended your acquaintance with Poe y
B"Yon are lmpetuous young friend not 10 say rasn
We know many things which we have not seen ourselves
and some Of the things which we know best we nave seen
OOv
with persons You have forgotten told you that knew
,post Of Poes contemporaries foes well as friends ana
they we're always communicative with me respecting
him will speak yet Tor not much OF Dr. uris"ou'
whom knew intimately but OF men IKE Bayaru layoI
and john r. Thompson and women like Mrs hlrkIahu
and Mrs Osgood What he thought of Mrs OsgC 3D. ahe
what she thought him. all the readers OF roe VIII
remember Grswold was acquainted with the state OF
their feelings toward each other and was 700 wei
acouainel with the state OF his own ieeungs Io"au
both For like Edgar Rufus was enamored OF the once
fair Fanny III any proof OF this were needed IL Wod
he found in The Kn,ckerboeker Gallery where in Love
sunrAme, an extract from unpublished poem, nc
bewaed her after death in the worst manner OIL MIS-
RroSnngs verso. II is rubbish to us now haV genera
~ has flown but IL was anguish to him when he wrote
a. Poe ceebra cd this lovely invalid. but wasted no
foan on her though he put pretty concets INTO
the elaborate Valentine in which he concealeu hcl
initials They figure again nj the head OF TWO pie"'""
stanzas which were originally written In honor Oh
another Young person. while he editing me SoH""
Literary Messenger" 49,
But all this while,' began inc WIZ i-o'0'''' w.
have" 49,,
sNot in the least forgotten what meant 10 nave to
von before and what You dying to question me ABOUT
ro,i.ed mo- to say much Griswod but tins Will
saw that he was POes enemy open OF seclo''
tbnuch he had many reasons for dslklng him. lie
cared for the money that he loaned Poe TOT 10
was to give away with him. He had just reasons lor
dlslikng Poe who alternately cajocd ana oai'loa MN
oh, his
rhc volumes he nevertheless, declared .were-l not
cool orite "a good as anybody else could have made
them IL was the lady in the case which was the onence
and no doubt the two ladies whom saw In roc roo"
in East Broadway. and two or three more OF inc literary
,sterhood whom will not name they now living
or very lately dead. l never heard Grswod say one
unkind word of Poe, dead alive nor OF any other
human being He was not veracous as he meant 10
be but within limitations he was strictly uuthiui'
He was the klndest gentleman ever knew ZIG Iraiso
Poe; he gave him money and he wrote with hgh'hlhs
sreed a memoir of him which, with all us errois-ah'
they are nany-wl die only with the language In which
iti, written He gave me manuscript OF Poes'-'ne
sonnet beginning Seldom we find" says solomon
Don Ounce and straightgay gave 1t away 10 clergy
man Of Boston, after writing on its back another sOhhe'
in rraise of Poe GriswOd Twas lno more the enemy
Edgar Allan than was. or.anihere ana now III I'M
spsnod ofhand lchatter with you my elderly youn'
friend ,,,
my wife an occasional visitor at her house IN BookBh
She Practically adopted Mrs. GLENN after the death
Poe and that elderly person, who still wore ner WHO"
Gown and an old ady's cap of white, was nomnay ne
bouseKeerer Mr. Thomas Bailey Aldrch' boylsh
looking gentleman OF twenty-one' VINO hau iecehI.
written Baby Bell accompanied us, ana was intro
duced to Mrs Cemm who at once told him that sne h'
heard her dear Eddy speak of him She was mistaken
M cprse for Mr. Aldrch saw his own name j
prn until five or six years after the death OF roe on
Instook the younger poet InoS, 1I ften heard he
dearest Eddie speak OF me, which was d4aDteSS ug t
Then she grew Imaginative He was the pest son lh On
world only cup Of strong coffee, or Single knso y
wine upset him This Mrs. Lewis knew well, sue wa :
corroborated and we we're suddenly whisKed away !,
Fordbau where her dearest Eddie wrote Eureka 3n
fod ms how he wrote it. and how she sat up Win mn
listening to what Inc wrote said ana now one SUIT
pent ne walked her up and down tue plazla VI Vea
iittIe cottage until she nearly frozen res ne va
the dearest kindest, loyingest son III tie wnoIe MO
world She told thing more, whlch NaS 'n ~,
when heI darling Eddes autographs came TO an ehd s
went 10 work and wrote others The g0od ca Iau!
Thought il was all right. sud as 1t put money III ne
nocket-bu the readers of this must judge her Or the
belNes,--l an nv 0aoaI''. n