Poe was handsome. Some of the drawings of him are mockery, exaggerated by rivals. Some of the photographs, from which the drawings are taken, were made near the end of his life when he was ill. Exhibit A right here, Poe the looker.
Audible suggestion for this episode: a true crime book about another young person who was suddenly, briefly famous…then not, and it also did not go well: One Breath Away: The Hiccup Girl–From Media Darling To Convicted Killer by M. William Phelps (audio version, Kindle, paperback)
Books listed in episode that reference Kasper Hauser, or have Hauser as a character
In which Carla explains why eccentric doesn’t equal crazy, that horror poetry is a thing, and cupcakes are linked to better mental health. And books. So many books.
Believe only of what you see, and nothing of what you hear.
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;–
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
She was a child and I was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee—
With a love that the wingéd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud by night
chilling my Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me:—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud, chilling
And killing my Annabel Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we—
Of many far wiser than we—
And neither the angels in Heaven above
Nor the demons down under the sea
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee:–
For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea. (original manuscript says “by the side of the sea”)
Virginia‘s acrostic Valentine to Edgar, 1846, in her handwriting
text of Virginia Clemm Poe’s acrostic Valentine :
Ever with thee I wish to roam–
Dearest my life is thine.
Give me a cottage for my home
And a rich old cypress vine
Removed from the world with its sin and care
And the tattling of many tongues.
Love alone shall guide us when we are there–
Love shall heal my weakened lungs;
And Oh, the tranquil hours we’ll spend,
Never wishing that others may see!
Perfect ease we’ll enjoy without thinking to lend
Ourselves to the world and its glee–
Ever peaceful and blissful we’ll be.
Saturday February 14, 1846.
Harold Schechter: Edgar Allan Poe Mysteries series order
I always had this (erroneous, I see) picture in my head of Lincoln‘s being president during Edgar’s adult writing career. Hrm. Cognitive dissonance and reframing in brain occurring…now.
Full list of presidents from period of January 19, 1809 (Edgar’s birth) to October 7, 1849 (Edgar’s death)/(presidents in office during both Edgar and Virginia’s (1822–1847) lives in italics):
The first (and second) presidents ever to die in office! Imagine awakening to that newspaper. How earthshaking. Whoops, um, President Harrison has died after 30 days in office. Yeah, we don’t know to act, either, beyond inaugurating the vice president. AWKward. Stay tuned.
Harrison was also the last US president to be born a British subject on American soil (Charles City, Virginia); so, when his VP, John Tyler was elected, he was the first American-born citizen to be inaugurated as president. Yes, that means that James K. Polk was the first American citizen to be elected president. If you win at trivia thanks to me, give my podcast a shoutout, and let me know, hey?
Think about it! 13 states became part of the United States during Poe’s lifetime! That’s not a casual hey-how-you-doing, now-you-belong-to-the-neighborhood-watch-committee thing. Edgar went to bed 13 times to awaken to newsies shouting about an entirely new state moving in next door. Make friends, because Arkansas just moved in and is never leaving. Enjoy your coffee; we’re 25 states now, not 24, don’t get it twisted. Welcome to the future.
links in this section are to tags for these events and years at thedollop.net; if some of them don’t have any articles attached, they will eventually, believe you me
