The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-08-01
BY w. X. Il. SMITH, ID. u.

pursue" Here is ground of just
valuation of the man. 1T is not what
a man does that exalts him, but what
he would do" "All | could never be;
all, men ignored in me, that was
worth to Gcd."
Financial Incapacity.
He never knew financial thrift. His
classic productions yielded too small
an income TO save him from grinding
poverty. His Raven" brought him
the pitiful sum of ten dollars. Often.
during the five years despairing in
validism of his young wife, the char
| ity of friends literally saved his home
| from hunger and cold. Frequently he
was compelled to borrow sums from
brother authors which he confidently
expected to return, but never did
! His last Ave years was q long torture
of grief. modification and literary
opprobrium; and IL was at the begin
ming of this period of dying hope he
published the Raven" 1t was two
years before the death OF his wife,
so that bereavement was not its in
i SEPARATION. May not the poem voice
the passionate cry of his soul for a
lost life and high aims unrealized?
About a year after his great loss. one
of his New York lady friends yentur-
ed on romantic hints of union with a
: lduN Vi "tditIi oc =" SUE SFStA'A't
He made suit to a rich widow in
| Providence, a Mrs Helen Whitman,
and an engagement ensued. The
earnest warnings of her friends de-
feated his hopes. The literary public
of the nation knew all the social
movements of the famous poet
An Unfougbt Duel
! Shortly thereafter Poe visited Rich
mond, when John NJ. Daniel. able
- pfoh N @ -
took occasion to refer to the affair in
Providence. Poe was offended and
promptly challenged the editor. Both
were brave men. Daniel sent for
/ Poe. Entering the sanctum, Poe saw
two pistols lying on the table. The
editor said: You take one and I the
other. and we will shoot this thing
out right here" There was no poetry
in the landscape The matter was
suddenly of a deadly prosaic cast. A
sensible pause ensued. explanations
were made, followed by handshakes,
and an engagement with Poe for
articles in the Examiner.
/ In the early summer Of 1912 Poe
was again in Richmond seeking the
hand of another interesting widow, a
Mrs Shelton, who. in her girlhood,
had been his schoolboy sweetheart
The suit prospered and they were to
on the 4th of October Poe started 10
New York to settle affairs and re-
turn on Sunday, October eth. he
died in Baltimore. the result OF causes
that may remain forever shrouded in
mystery.
An Unfortunate Marriage.
It is not pleasant to record, hut
am persuaded that Poe's marriage 20
his little fourteen-year-o cousin,
Iva Of the fatal
mistakes of his life. They were made
man and wife here in Richmond in
May. 1885. 1t was openly declared IN
Richmond that Mrs. GLENN made the
match and she suffered unpopulsrity
for having Sacrificed her daughter to
SUCH an unsta BILE, thriftless man But
If the man had not been ahsurdly
weak, the match had never been
made The child wife had not and
could not have any due appreciation
Of her husbands genius She idolized
him. but took no interest in his wor K.
much OF which she never even read
Had he chosen strong, capable
woman to help and mould his man:
hood, we might have had different
Poe MIR Mackenzie, OF Richmond
an intelligent friend to the Poes. said
The poet loved his wife. but wa
never in love with her" The saying
is witty, but was not meant to imply
that the poet was lacking in domestic
loyalty and devotion,
! 4 Costly Blunder.
7 Poe blundered dismaily in the selec-
ton of hts literary executor Haunted
with forebodings of the end, he
named Griswold to that office. This
man was ex-Baptist minister, who
having exchanged the pulpit fer thF
pen, had won some prominence as a
poet and prose writer. The fact that
he had published an American Antho-
logy added to his literary power. Poe
had quarrelled with him years before
and had nageed him with a lot of con-
temptuous criticism. His executive
efficiency impressed Poe, and so the
unfortunate selection was made. Poe
very properly acknowledged that the
break had been due TO his own folly
land so rGiswold. feeling battered. ac-
Icepted the task. performing 1t at great
lexpense OF time and labor and with
out compensation. To the first volume
of the tales he prefxed a memoir OF
the author as was desired. The me-
NOR cruelty damaged Poe's fame
Lefty tribute to the poets genius and
the brilliancy of his work was frank
lv paid, but the portrayal Of his char
acter was harshly unsympathetic and
largely untrue. Declaring Poe man
suspicious, fnslncere, un.
}IrOtn1ul, ana ulSHbticIdtict Iie suitiiA'NH
him up as a moral lunatic- With the
taste of a barbarian he said in the
New York Tribune, two days after
the poets death: Poe is dead, but
few will be grieved by the fact, He
had few or no friends" From that
time forth Mrs. GLENN spoke OF him
as that villain
81! Now I do not believe that Griswold
was an intentional. malicious sland.
erer; but the memoir was poorly and
hastily done. execrahle in Judgment
and based on a mass of ignorance
and misinformation
Odious in the North.
We must not forget that it was
written at time when Poe was in
Itensely unpopular at the North. To q
large majority of the literary publ,
he had become odiouS on three sever
ell counts First, was his wellknowr
increasing habits OF dissipation Second
an incide nt that occurred in the sum
lmer of lS45. The Raven" had just
been published, and the author was
being duly lionized in the cultured
society of New York. He became des
perately infatuated with one of his
admirers Mrs Osgood. and embarrass
ed her with his attentions. To he rio