El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-04-18

ginia died, the child wife rested on a
bed OF straw with POe's coat for a
blanket and q cat by her side or on her
sunken chest for the animal heat that
it gave out
It was on January 80, 1877. that the
soul left the body of Virginia Poe.
Thereafter Poe was a harp unstrung.
The world was beginning to appre-
ciate Poe about the time his child
wife died In France and England and
in Germany he was hailed as a genius
the only American man of letters
of mastery creative power. The
echoes were sounding on this side Of
the Atlantic.
Poe volcanic of nature. almost lost
his reason in the intensity of grief
over the death of his wife Then, to
seek relief from the Uortures Of his
mind. he used drugs and liquors. One
Of the small veins in his head burst
and he became subject TO sudden at
tacks Of slumber which lasted for
twelve hours and from whidh ne
aroused without knowledge of having
been unconscious.
POe's Second Great Love Affair.
Gradually as his grief subsidized. he
took up the threads of his work
again apparently with the fervOr of
former days. Then it was that he
plunged into the second of his great
love affairs
In Providence. r. Z, one summer
night AFTER delivering a lecture he
wandered through the city streets.
unreasonable to a high degree he
saw as in a dream woman in white
"a wonderfully beautiful woman
walking in the midnight moonlight in
a magical garden of roses. But it
was not a vision. 1t was real gar
den-a great garden all of roses in
all the glory of mid June; a woman of
rare beauty, clad in garments all of
white and bathed in such q flood Of
moonlight IS one seldom sees.
Poe learned that the woman was
Mrs Sarah Helen Whitman, a pOetess
whose verses he had read with in
terest He heard enough about her rO-
mantle temperament to stir his mag
nation. He left Providence without
making her acquaintance, but later
in New York they met. Then and
there Poe told her that he loved her.
He poured out the story of the vision
that was real He had a voice of re-
markable flexibility and eyes that
sank deep into ones memory The
woman, who was a bit of a mystic,
and who long had been one of those
who proclaimed the genius Of Poe,
could not but be fattered when he
told her of his love and how since
the vision he never had henrd or
seen her name without a tremOr, half
delight, half anxiety. He told her he
had believed she still was a wife and
for that reason alone had not sought
to make her acquaintance With all
the warmth and intensity of his ma
ture he urged his suit. They were
soul mates.
Mrs. Whitman was older than Poe
and had heard enough of his sad story
and Of his weaknesses to be timid.
1t was not for long, however. for the
strings of her heart told her that
she loved the poet
Poe, torn with anxiety while she
deliberated, gave way to an evil i'm
pulse. The long illness of his wife.
lack of proper nOurishmenL for many
years, the consuming work in which
he had INDUCED so lOng, all had com
bined to weaken his body. One glass
of wine affected him as a dozen
would another person He took the
one drink. Then. in the sorrow and
horror of his fall, he sought relief
from his accusing conscience in the
same way when he aWOke from his
stupor. His lapses were brought
promptly to the attention of hrs.
Whitman.
A Proposal in n Cemetery.
Queer Poe, queer Helen. With a
perversity of choice such as only q
genius of his character could employ
ne had taken her walking in a Gene
terry in order to propose marriage to
her.
When he learned how his falls from
grace had affected her he pleaded as
only a man of sUpr gme passion can
plead for forgiveness. She struggled