The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-01-07
Did Edgar ALLAN Poe Love His Wife?
BY
by PHILLIP ALEXANDER BRUCE
HE first person to call into cues
= -. ton I In don. ,..c

'1ih nrst person to call into cues
ton tho depth OF Poe's devotion
TO his wife was q woman He
AZ bemoaned by Mrs. Weiss, author of
soe's Home Life" as tho victim. the
martyr. Of an imprudcnt and unnat-
nral marriage. which deprived him of
she solRce of conBenial companionship
foooed him of his only chance of win
n1ns pecuniary and social ADVANTAGE
and bowed him down to a life of toll
restitution and hliShtinE disappotnt-
mcnt. Patiently and uncomplaininSly
ne bore his unhappy lot" she SAYS
and II is 10 be noted no word OF ac,
OF unkindness for tho wife and mother
who loved him was ever known To
escape from him"
WAS the poets rcticencc 4 proof of
calculated chivnlry, as this writer inn
plies. or was it Il proof of his genuine
oeVouon, as IL certainly was of his
manliness? as is well known. he
attributed his nts of reckless dias,.
patton In Philadelphia to his inability
10 endure the anguish caused by the
violent Fluctuations in Mrs poc's
health at that time. Il natural course of
eonduct In person OF such inijrm
VIII. But, says this h'ographer his
assertion that he loved his wife as
man never loved before" reveals the
tnaincerity of Ibis whole memorable
confession Its extravaganza in that
one particular stamps II as untrue in
sii. So according 10 the same writer.
when Mrs, Ossood. alter n daily OBJ
servation extending over many month";
declared that Virginia was the ONLY
woman the poet had ever loved" che
%aS simply endsavorinS to divert
Gensurc from her own cLlpabili,y In
permitting him, a married man, &c
show her the persistent attentions of
an ardent admirer
Based on Two Grounds.
Mre. Weiss's imputat'on against Poe
OF Indifference towards his wife seems
TO have been based on two grounds.
First, the impressions of persons
who had seen them together during
their brief sojourn In Richmond. Now
1t should be borne in mind that Wiz.
Etnia was only fourteen years of age
whom she arrived in that city. and she
was only sixteen when she left 1t,
never again to return.
1t was during this short interval
only. when she was still Il mere child
that she was observed by the Mackcn-
S!es, whose recollections Mrs Weiss
seems to have chiefly rolled on II be-
lievc that Edgar loved his WIFE" re-
marked ono member of that family,
but not that he ever was in love
with her" In other words, the at
lection which animated her youthful
husband was the sort of affection
which he might have felt for n sister,
but not for a wife who monopoIizcd
his entire heart. The same informants
emphasized the fact that, during these
first two years OF his married life
he go neglected Virginia. and was so
attentive to other women, as TO call
forth circumstances from Nlrs. Mac
kenzic; they asserted that nc was
rarely seen in the boarding house
where his wife and mother in law
lodged: and that he threw away in
Eicious self indul5cncc the salary
which should have been spent in pro-
noting their case and comfort In
order TO explain why il was that he
married Virginia. l. person, who. as
these Richmond people correctly pre-
1uTnei, possessed no worldly advan-
tageD TO influence him in taking that
step. they declared that he had been
prompted to do it by an Impulse OF
chivalry aroused by Mrs. Clcnlm's
writing to him that her daughter, after
his departure from Baltimore TO be-
come associate editor of the Mcssen-
ger, had fallen into a decline from
grief over their separation.
Secondly. Mrs. Weiss cndcavors to
sustain her general contention by
what may be defined as the inherent
improbability of SO great 4 genius
feeling any deep attachment for :.
wife who remained SO immature in
mind and heart up to her last hour.
Poe. sho declares. was IA man who
craved a superior woman's love, and
the sympathetic appreciation OF tall
ented members of the female sex, in
whose companionship he SO obviously
delighted. The marriage, she assures
nf a al ed
family Observation-Disclosures Il spontunc-
GUS match. whica the subtle influence
of congGnial tastcen had brought about
That Virginia never grew 10 the full
grounded character and affections OF