The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-02-02
Written Oh ihe Fly Leaf Of a Copy Ct Dante's
"iuiern"" and Signed "E. A. PITS
Discov.ry-C.rcLm stances ladica-
ting that 1t Is Genuine.

ing. wonderfully executed tales were
evolved in this spot, 1t is highly probable
tl:at the poem given below was wrought
cut amid these surroundings.
The history of the poem Is this-so far
as is known, or can be discovered, after
careful inquiry: An old maiden lady,
Miss Mary Wilkes North, a member of
an aristocratic South Carolina family,
was in the habit Of spending part Of
each summer on Sullivans Island. Dur
ing one OF her sojourns there She bought
from an ignorant Covite-a native of
the place-an old battered copy of Dante's
Inferno. which, the Covite assured
her, he had found between the weather.
boarding and the edge Of the flooring
the house was unceiled-of the shack,
Poe's Guondam residence.
This find, with Poe's name on the in
side of the front cover, would of itself
have been of considerable sentimental
value; but in comparison to what the
book was found to contain, the mere dis
covery of a battered old tome that had
belonged to Poe was as nothing.
Upon the two sides of the first fly
leaf of this volume, in cramped and
erratic handwriting, with several eras-
ures and corrections, the ink all but
faded away from the yellow, moisture
rotten sheet, were found the verses COM
posing the poem referred to, and below
them the simple initials, Il. a. p"
Miss North is not disposed to expose
her treasure to what she considers Vul-
gar curiosity, but allowed her kinsnan,
the Suns correspondent, to have it to
read.
He made surreptitiouslg a hasty copy
Of the noem, which is printed as follows:
KELAH.
IN my hermitage FINGERED
Lone and tremuously fingered
Tapping n@rvously, my table to the dull
Neptunian roar
Fingered Ger a leafet yellow,
Mold of sign and void Of fellow,
Tcssed l!p by a surf-broke billow,
Flotsam on the foam-fecked shore.
I coulu hear the breakers lifting,
And the sand dunes shifting, shifting.
With the night-wnd's fitful moaning
'gainst the walls and at my door;
Far off, weird and terrifying.
could hear a bittern crying,
Storm tered, perchance and dying
Desolate upon the shore.
While the faggots, CLEANED from
spindrift,
Tossed by tide and dried by windrift,
Pickering threw fantastic figures from
the hearth across the floor,
There I sat and loosed my fancies
Midst the eirelit .shadow-dances,
facilitating on the chances
That had cast my leaf ashore.
Then 7 turned and fixed my vision
On the leaf, curled in derision
At my vanity in thinking could pente-
trate its lore;
And nv soul fell sick with fearing,
For. always, and ever nearing,
Ioonsd my lfe's lost aims, appearing
Strewll like wreckage on my shore.
Suddenly q voice came Wailing:
See the creases"-screeching, railing
see the creases:" strident hisses seemed
to pierce through the walls and
f'oor
"AF." 1 unused, some wrath unholy,
Moc1ing me my melancholy,
Gliding ME for some past folly,
Wings the night-wind from the shore
"Soul dccayed" I tiercely nuttered,
With thy crewsome wheeling uttered.
.Vouldst thou haunt and taunt me as
DER this mysterious Leaf I pore?''
But a deep. sepulchral moaning,
And a grim and CHASTITY grooming,
With the shrill-pitched winds informing,
Came my answer from the shore.
While that spirit voice I pondered-
..See the crcases'-racked and wondered.
FLASHED a corybantic fancy like a CLEAN
my eVes before
For once more my lcatlet scanning.
could see. the whole sheet spanning,
..Kelah.rs creased by careful planning
Creased, and tossed upon the shore!
Kelah, Twas the incarnation
For a tottering souls translation,
Snibboleth for spirits entry into worlds
but dreamed before.
Speak, the shriekinS winds were urS-
ing;
Speak" the wild seas echoes sursing;
"Speak'-one word a worlds woes purG-
Thus my message from the shore.
.Kelafl! Kelah!" cries my spirit;
"Kelah: to, Nirvana bear it!
Bear my cry, oh, sea-winds sweeping!
Echo it forevermore!
Mark my soul and body severed
Where the quicksands heaved and quv- |
cred, |
Where the breakers curled and shivered |
On the shelved and soping shore!"
Instantly my soul leaped. wingng,
Winging on the free winds singing.
Singing with a ringing laughter. lost to |
life lived long before:
Lest to Earth's unceasing sorrow
Fools. would ye escape the morrow?
Would We flee LIES failow furrow?
Seek your message on the shore.
E. A. P.
-Note that the letters composing this
word are all formed with straight lines,
Which could be readily creased into a |
piece of paper or parchment.
MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS.
No Army Post for Standardization City
Engineers Qualify-suit< Instituted.
In the Law and Equity Court yesterday
the following suits were instituted:
w. S. Wev against the Traction Com
nany for 81. 900. No declaration was flied.