The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-12-18
"POE, THE POET AND MAN."

William E. Cameron in the virginian-
Pilot.
tEr f the worst that has been charged
~ against Edgar Allan Poe should be
nroved by incontestable evidence,
the case against him would not, In our
Judgment, be strong enough to justify
the opposition which has developed IN
Richmond to monument commemorative
of the superlative quality OF ms literary
work. The tribute is designed IN recos-
milton of the genius that wrought hoply'
of the immortal verse of which the SEN
timent is as pure and sweet as the niusic
Is enhancing. Whatever may have peeh
the inf1rmities of character or the aber-
rations of conduct of this child OF mis-
fortune. he was never untrue to that git
of the gods so rarely given, SO OFTEN
prostituted If there were alloy IN MS
soul. 1t found no utterance in his poetry
Untainted and unprofaned by aught less
white than chastity itself, his song was
touched by divine fire to exalted strains
If unfaithful to any of life's obllgatlonsi
Poe reverenced the talent entrusted 10
him. and so employed it That not note
of his melodies would fall dscordant on
the ear of a vestal virgin.
ITO perpetuate the memory OF such an
intellectually and its marvellous aehleVe-
ment. is not to court admiration nor 10
ask condonement for the weaknesses or
worse which may have marred the ca
reer of one who held Apollo's Tyre and
smote it with angelic skill. The appre-
eit
future generations will confuse rever-
ence for Poes endowments and WORKS
with sympathetic tenderness Tor the IT.
regularities alleged against him. ASSUME
ing that the Indictment is not overdrawn-
and we are by no means convinced that
L is not--still the monument Wouiu not
recall, unaided by busy resurrecuonists,
the faults and follies long buried in the
grave, but the better part OF MIN VINO
left behind such sweet and haunting
echoes of rhythmic harmony as Orpheus
might have envied
Shakespeare tonfronts the gaze of the
living in statue and bust throughout the
world. but the memorial brass is not con-
strued as an Endorsement of his deer
stealing or of his cruelty to sweet Ann
Hathaway That hamlet of civilization Is
poor, indeed, which does not possess IN
some form the likeness of Burns, but
who thinks of his frailties now, or
grudges honor to the bard because the
man was not perfect. BY such RUE
even the psalmist of Israel would be pam
ished to the limbo of oblivion, for among
the poets aberrant from the paths Oh
Righteousness surely David was the great
est sinner So rigid, not to say Pharlsalc
a standard of qualification for posthumous
recognition would exclude from the Hall
of Fame many who now occupy the high
est inches Nelson would be deposed from
his lofty perch on the column IN 1ralal-
gar Square; Frankln's effigy would be
taken from it's pedestal in washington so
long as human nature remains what 1t Is
we must differentate between that part
of man which overcomes it; we must al
low for what is resisted to estimate fair
ly the price and value of even the partial
victory. And when that essence in
man which we call genius is hampered
and beset by temptations derived from
heredity, temperament or environment,
! we must cover his face from public scorn
when we see him sometimes fallen and
we must not fail to estimate the strength
which, after such lapses, can assert itself
still again and again to compensate hui
mainly with some glorious deed, or sub
lime thought or image of perennial
beauty for the shame inflicted on 1t in
the hours when the devil prevailed over
the angel.
1.-THE ancient Greeks dedicated their
monuments not to the individual per-
sonfied, but TO that ennobling quality of
mind or character which was his leading
trait The inscription to Aristdes apos-
theosized justice So England calls her
sons to emulate in Nelson the spirit of
devotion to country: and they who view
that heroic figure in bronze are not re-
minded of the Samson yielding to the
shameless wiles of a Delilah, but of the
heroic sailor who dares the battle and
the breeze, and at last poured out his
life blood, that his Britain might still
rule the waves. Who views the present
ment of Franklin to recall the scandal