ALSOINPETERACKROYD'SBRIEFLIVES

Chaucer

J.M.W.Turner

Newton

ALSOBYPETERACKROYD

Fiction

TheGreatFireofLondonTheLastTestamentofOscarWildeHawksmoor

Chatterton

FirstLight

EnglishMusic

TheHouseofDoctorDeeDanLenoandtheLimehouseGolemMiltoninAmerica

ThePlatoPapers

TheClerkenwellTalesTheLambsofLondon

TheFallofTroy

Nonfiction

DressingUp:TransvestismandDrag:TheHistoryofanObsession

London:TheBiographyAlbion:TheOriginsoftheEnglishImaginationThames:TheBiography

Biography

EzraPoundandHisWorldTS.Eliot

Dickens

Blake

TheLifeofThomasMoreShakespeare:TheBiography

Poetry

Ouch!

TheDiversionsofPurleyandOtherPoems

Criticism

Notes foraNewCultureTheCollection:Journalism,Reviews,Essays,ShortStories,Lectures(editedbyThomasWright)

ListofIllustrations1.TheVictim2.TheOrphan3.TheSchoolboy4.TheSoldier5.TheJournalist6.TheEditor7.TheManWhoNeverSmiled8.TheBird9.TheScandal10.TheWomen11.TheLastYearPoe'sPrincipalPublicationsBibliography

ElizaPoe,Poe'smother(TheValentineMuseum,Richmond,Virginia)

FannyAllan,Poe'sadoptivemother(TheValentineMuseum,Richmond,Virginia)

JohnAllan,Poe'sadoptivefather(EdgarAllanPoeShrine,Richmond,Virginia)

ManorHouseSchoolatStokeNewington

“Moldavia,”homeoftheAllanfamily,inRichmond,Virginia

ElmiraRoyster,agedfifteen(EdgarAllanPoeShrine,Richmond,Virginia)

Elmira,nowthewidowedMrs.Shelton(TheValentineMuseum,Richmond,Virginia)

WatercolourminiatureofPoe(HenryE.HuntingtonLibrary)

Maria Clemm, Poe's aunt and mother-in-law (Ingram-Poe, University of Virginia,Richmond,Virginia)

Poeintheearly1840s(HarvardCollegeLibrary/MarylandHistoricalSociety)

StreetsceneinBaltimore(MarylandHistoricalSociety)

TitlepageofBurton'sGentleman'sMagazine(MarylandHistoricalSociety)

Illustrationfor“TheGoldBug”(MarylandHistoricalSociety)

ThePhiladelphiaMarket

FannyOsgood(NewYorkHistoricalSociety)

Poe,agedthirty-nine(BrownUniversityLibrary)

AnearlysteamboatontheNewYorktoAlbanyroute(PennsylvaniaHistoricalSociety)

ThecottageatFordham(BronxCountyHistoricalSociety)

Likeness of Virginia Poe, painted immediately after she died (Humanities ResearchCenter,UniversityofTexas,Austin)

Annie Richmond (University ofMassachusetts, Lowell) Helen Whitman (The ProvidenceAthenaeum)Poein1848(TheLibraryofCongress)

Every effort has beenmadeby the publishers to trace theholders of copyrights.Anyinadvertent omissions of acknowledgement or permission can be rectified in futureeditions.

OTheVictim

ntheeveningof26September1849,EdgarOAllanPoestoppedintheofficeofaphysicianinRichmond,Virginia—JohnCarter—

andobtainedapalliativeforthefeverthathadbesethim.Thenhewentacross the road and had supper in a local inn. He tookwith him, bymistake,Dr.Carter'smalaccaswordcane.PoewasabouttoembarkonthesteamboattoBaltimore.Thiswasthe

first stoponhisway toNewYork,wherehehadbusiness to transact.The boatwas to leave at four o'clock on the followingmorning, for ajourneythatwouldlastapproximatelytwenty-fivehours.Heseemedtothefriendswhosawhimofftobecheerfulandsober.HeexpectedtobeawayfromRichmondfornomorethantwoweeks.Yetheforgottotakehisluggagewithhim.ThiswasthelastverifiablesightingofPoeuntilhewasfounddyinginatavernsixdayslater.

•••

HearrivedinBaltimoreonFriday,28September.Helingeredinthiscity,insteadofmakinghiswaytoPhiladelphia,thenextstoponhiswaytoNewYork,andthereareaccountsofhisdrinking.Hemayhavebeendrinking to ward off the effects of the fever. He may have feared aprecipitateheartattack.Hehadbeentold,bythedoctorsinRichmond,thathisnextseizurewouldprovefatal.ItispossiblethathethentravelledbytraintoPhiladelphia.Hevisited

some friends in that city, and became drunk or ill. On the followingmorning, inhis bewildered state, he declared that hewas goingon toNewYork.Butinfact,byaccidentordesign,hereturnedtoBaltimore.ThereareunsubstantiatedreportsthathethentriedtoreturnoncemoretoPhiladelphiabutwas found“insensible”onthe train.TheconductortookhimbacktoBaltimore.Thetruthislost.Everythingisinamist.Neilson Poe, his cousin, later wrote to Poe's mother-in-law and

unofficialguardian,MariaClemm,that“atwhattimehearrivedinthecity [Baltimore],wherehe spent the timehewashere, orunderwhatcircumstances,Ihavebeenunabletoascertain.”Despitemuchresearch

andspeculation,no further lighthasbeenthrownuponthematter.Hemayhavebeenwandering through the streets,ormakinghisunsteadyway from tavern to tavern. All that is known for certain is that, on 3October,anewspaperprintersentamessagetoJosephEvansSnodgrass:“There is a gentleman, rather theworse for wear, at Ryan's 4thwardpolls,whogoesunderthecognomenofEdgarA.Poe,andwhoappearstobeingreatdistress,&hesaysheisacquaintedwithyou,andIassureyou, he is in need of immediate assistance.” Snodgrass had been theeditoroftheSaturdayVisiter,towhichPoehadcontributed.“Ryan's4thwardpolls”referstoatavernthatwasbeingusedasapollingplaceforCongressionalelectionstakingplacethatday;Ryanwasthenameoftheproprietorofthetavern.The printer's notewas sufficiently serious to summon Snodgrass.Heentered thebarroomand foundPoe sitting, stupefied,witha crowdof“drinking men” around him. His odd clothes caught Snodgrass'sattention. He was wearing a tattered straw hat, and a pair of badlyfitting trousers.Hehadasecondhandcoat,butnosignofwaistcoatorneckcloth.Withthepossibleexceptionofthestrawhat,thesewerenottheclotheswithwhichhehadleftRichmond.Yet,surprisingly,hestillheldDr.Carter'smalaccacane.Inhisinebriatedandbeleagueredstate,itmighthaveseemedtohimaninstrumentofdefence.Snodgrassdidnotapproachhim,butordereda room forhim in thesametavern.HewasabouttosendwordtoPoe'srelativesinBaltimore,whentwoof themcoinciden-tallyarrived.OnewasPoe'scousinHenryHerring, who had come to the tavern on electoral business. He wasrelated to a local politician. Snodgrass recalled that “they declined totakeprivatecareofhim”on thegrounds thathehad in thepastbeenabusive in this state of intoxication; instead they advised that Poe beremoved toa localhospital.Theymanaged togethim intoa carriage,carrying him “as if a corpse,” and he was admitted to WashingtonCollegeHospital.Theresidentphysician,JohnMoran,laterreportedthatPoeremained“unconscious of his condition” until early the following morning. Hisstuporwasthensucceededby“tremorofthelimbs”aswellasdeliriumwith “constant talking—and vacant converse with spectral andimaginary objects on the walls.” Only on the second day after his

admission,Friday,5October,didherecoverhis tranquillity.Hebegantotalk,buthewasnotcoherent.HetoldthedoctorthathehadawifeinRichmond,whichwasnottrue,andthathedidnotknowwhenhehadleft that city.Thedoctor then reassuredhim thathewould soonbe inthecompanyoffriends,atwhichpointhebrokeoutinanagonyofself-reproachathisdegradation,protestingthatthebestthingafriendmightdo for him was to blow out his (Poe's) brains. Then he fell into aslumber.Onwakinghepassedintodelirium.OntheSaturdayeveninghebeganto call out “Reynolds,” and did so continually until three on thefollowing Sundaymorning. “Having become enfeebled from exertion,”thedoctorwrote,“hebecamequietandseemedtorestforashorttime,then gently moving his head he said ‘Lord Help my poor Soul’ andexpired.” This is the testimony ofDr.Moran,written toMaria Clemmfiveweeksafter theeventshe related.Despite laterembellishmentsbythedoctoritistheclosestapproximationtothetruthnowavailable.

•••

What had Poe been doing for the lost days in Baltimore? Themostcommonlyacceptedtheoryisthathewasusedasa“stooge”forpollingpurposes, being dressed up in someone else's clothes so that hemightvotemorethanonceforaparticularcandidate.Thesefalsevoterswereheld in “coops” or inns,where theywere nursedwith alcohol. It alsotranspiredthat“Reynolds,”thenamePoecontinuedtorepeatinhisfinaldelirium,wasthesurnameofoneofthevotingofficialsatRyan'stavern.Itisapossibleexplanationbutnottheonlyone.Ithasbeensuggested,forexample,thathehadalargeamountofmoneyfromsubscriptionstotheStylus,amagazinethathewaspreparing,andthatasaconsequencehe was robbed. There are also many explanations for an early death,includingdelirium tremensand tuberculosis, “lesionof thebrain”or abrain tumour, and diabetes. The well is too deep for the truth to berecovered.A funeralwasheldonMonday,8October,withonly fourmourners.AmongthesewereHenryHerringandNeilsonPoe.Theceremonylastedfornomore than threeor fourminutes.Likehisnarrativesand fables,

Poe'sown story endsabruptly and inconclusively; it is bedevilledbyamysterythathasneverbeen,andprobablycanneverbe,resolved.

ETheOrphan

dgar Allan Poe has become the image of the poète maudit, theblasted soul, the wanderer. His fate was heavy, his life all but

insupportable.A rainof blowsdescendedonhim from the timeofhisbirth. He once said that “to revolutionise, at one effort, the universalworldofhumanthought”itwasnecessaryonly“towriteandpublishavery little book. Its title should be simple—a few plain words—‘MyHeartLaidBare.’But—thislittlebookmustbetruetoitstitle.”Poeneverwrotesuchabook,buthislifedeservedone.His torment—a mixture of insatiable anxiety and no less helpless

longing—began early. His mother had already contracted tuberculosisbeforehisbirth,anditmaybesurmisedtherewassomelossorlackofnourishment in thewomb. The perils of a confined space, inwhich avictim lies panting, play a large part in his fictions. Both his parents,David and Eliza Poe, were also labouring under a heavy weight ofanxiety exacerbated by poverty. Circumambient tension affects theunborn child. So the haunted life of Poe began before his birth. “I dobelieveGodgavemeasparkofgenius,”hesaidafewweeksbeforehisdeath,“butHequencheditinmisery.”Hewasbornonacoldday,19January1809, ina lodginghouse in

Boston.AstormhadfilledBostonHarborwithicedrifts.InlaterreportsPoechangedtheyearofhisbirth,almostatwhim,asifhedidnotwishtolookattheeventtooclosely.Hisparentswerebothactors,travellingplayerswhosestatuswasjustalittlehigherthanthatofvagabonds.Hemay have been named afterMr. Edgar, themanager of the theatricaltroupe with which the Poes were associated. Certain of hiscontemporariesnoticedthat,inlaterlife,Poemanifestedatheatricalorhistrionicair.“Theworldshallbemytheatre,”heoncewrote.“Imusteitherconquerordie.”

There is an old theatrical adage that the show must go on. ThreeweeksafterPoe'sbirthaBostonnewspaperwrotethat“wecongratulatethe frequenters of the theatre on the recovery of Mrs. Poe from herrecent confinement.” She was playing the part of Rosalinda in a playentitledAbaellinotheGreatBandit.ButthewanderinglifeofthePoeshadanimmediateeffectupontheir infantson,sincesoonafterhisbirthhewas dispatched to the care of his paternal grandparents in Baltimore,Maryland,forsomemonths.ItwasthefirstofmanyrejectionssufferedbyPoe.Yet,perhapsinconsequence,heveneratedhismother.Heoncewrote in a newspaper article that he was “the son of an actress, hadinvariably made it his boast, and no earl was ever prouder of hisearldomthanheofhisdescentfromawomanwho,althoughwellborn,hesitatednottoconsecratetothedramaherbriefcareerofgeniusandofbeauty.” He was putting the best possible interpretation upon hismother'sbehaviour.

•••

OfcourseElizaPoewasnotwellbornatall.Shehadsailed in1796fromEngland toAmerica in the companyofhermother, an actress ofCoventGarden, in thehopeorexpectationthat therewouldbegreateropportunities for the dramatic arts in the new country. She was onlynine at the time of her migration, but she soon became a practisedartiste.WithinthreemonthsofherarrivalintheUnitedStates,shewasperforming on stage. There is one extant portrait of her in her earlymaturity. It shows a pretty if slight young woman, with fashionableringlets; shehasa livelyexpression,only slightly spoiledby somewhatprotuberanteyes.ShewearsanEmpire-linerobeandapertlittlebonnet.Shemusthavebeenacompetentandpleasingactress,sinceshegainedmany plaudits in the newspapers of the time. She was also versatile,sometimes sustaining three roles in the sameevening. In thecourseofherrelativelyshortcareersheassumedsome201differentparts.Oneofher fellow players was Mr. Luke Usher, whose name has since comedowntoposterity.In 1802, at the age of fifteen, she married a fellow actor, CharlesHopkins,whodiedthreeyearslater.On14March1806,sixmonthsafterthedeathofher firsthusband, theyoungactressmarriedDavidPoe in

Richmond, Virginia, in what seem to have been hasty circumstances.DavidPoehadtoborrowmoneyfortheoccasion.Hewasintendedforalegalcareer,butwasdivertedfromitbytheatricalambitions.Theywereonlypartlyfulfilled,however,andthenewspaperreportssuggestthathewasnomatchforhisprettyyoungwife.Onemagazinedecidedthathe“wasneverdestinedforthehighwalksofdrama.”Hewastwenty-twoatthe time of themarriage, three years older than hiswife. But hewasalready an impetuous and extravagant young man, much given todrinking.Performanceswerecancelledat shortnoticebecauseofwhatthemanager calledMr. Poe's “sudden indisposition,” a euphemism fortotal intoxication. It is a matter of debate whether the propensity forheavydrinking,orforalcoholism(whichisnotthesamething),canbeinherited.TheonlyextantletterinDavidPoe'shandisadesperatepleaformoney,withtheassurancethat“nothingbutextremedistresswouldhaveforc'dmetomakethisapplication.”Itispreciselythekindofletterhis son was obliged to write in later years. It might be said that Poebecameanechoofhis father, as eerie a connectionas any inhisownfictions.Henry, the first child of David and Eliza Poe, was born in January1807.Twoyearsafterhisbirthhewasconsigned to thecareofDavidPoe's parents, Elizabeth and “General” Poe. The wandering life of thetheatricalPoes,travellingupanddowntheEastCoastfromNewYorktoBoston,fromBaltimoretoPhiladelphiaandRichmond,andbackagain,hadprovedtootiringformotherandinfantalike.“General”Poewasnotageneralatallbutaformermakerofspinningwheels; at the time of the United StatesWar of Independence hewasappointed as Deputy Quartermaster General for the city of Baltimore,andwaslaterpromotedtotherankofmajor.Yethewasanenterprisingandsuccessfulofficer, laterearning thecommendationsof theMarquisde Lafayette. He must also have been successful in the no lesschallengingroleofparent,sinceinallbutnameheadoptedHenryandhecaredforEdgarintheearliestmonthsofhislife.Inthesummerof1809DavidandElizareturnedtoBaltimoreforlittleEdgar.But itwasnotahappy family reunion.Husbandandwifewereboth tubercular, their conditionmade infinitelyworse by poverty anduncertain livelihood. In December 1810, another child was born,

Rosalie,or“Rosie”asshewasknown,andstretchedtheresourcesoftheyoung family still further. There are reports that the two youngestchildrenwere placed in the care of an oldWelshwomanwho “freelyadministered to themginandother spirituous liquors,with sometimeslaudanum”torenderthem“strongandhealthy.”Or,perhaps,simplytokeepthemquiet.Then,atsomepointinthespringorearlysummerof1811,DavidPoe

disappeared. He never came back to his wife and family. TheNorfolkHeraldof26JulyreportedthatMrs.Poewas“leftalone…friendlessandunprotected.”In later life, according to a colleague, EdgarPoe “pretended”not to

know what had become of his father. There may not have been anypretence involved. The reasons for David Poe's flight are unknown.Therewere rumoursof aquarrelwithEliza, andpersistentgossip thatRosaliewasnothischild.Ithasevenbeensuggestedthatheabandonedhisfamilyasearlyas1810,perhapsbeforethebirthofRosalie.Eliza was at the same time slipping into the final stages of her

tubercularillness.TheinfantEdgarmusthavebeenacutelyawareofthelossofhisfatherandofthefadingofhismother.Hemaynothavebeenable to understand these things, but in these earliest years he wasenveloped inanairofmenaceand fatality.Anxietywashis childhoodbedfellow. He would have seen, too, the gradual wasting of her formwith the painful spasmodic coughs and the effusion of blood. Theseimages never left him. He resurrects the consumptive form of thebelovedfemaleinmanyofhistales.Throughout July and October 1811, Eliza Poe still appeared on the

stageatatheatreinRichmond.Then,inNovember,sheretreatedtoherbed for ever. At the beginning of the month it was reported by onecitizenofRichmond that shewas“sick”and“destitute.”By theendofNovembertheRichmondEnquirerannouncedthat“Mrs.Poe,lingeringonthe bed of disease and surrounded by her children, asks for yourassistance;andasks itperhaps for the last time.”Ninedays latershewasdead.Thetwosmallchildrenwereheldupforalastviewofthewaxencorpse of theirmother. Rosaliewas given an empty jewel box, one ofMrs.Poe'sfewremainingpossessions,andEdgarwasgivenaminiatureof hismother together with two locks of his parent's hair sealed in a

pocketbook. On the back of the miniature she had painted a view ofBostonHarbor,with theadmonition toher infant son to “loveBoston,the place of his birth.” He never did obey that injunction. She wascarried to St. John's churchyard, with her son and daughter inattendance.In a letter written some twenty-four years later, Poe said of hismother, “Imyself never knewher—and never knew the affection of afather. Both died… within a few weeks of each other. I have manyoccasional dealings with Adversity, but the want of parental affectionhasbeentheheaviestofmytrials.”Itseemsunlikelythatthefatherdiedso soon after the mother. Poe was keen upon theatrical effect, evenconcerning those matters closest to him. But the other claim may begenuine. It is possible, even plausible, that he did not rememberknowing his mother. Overwhelming grief may lead to the blessing ofamnesia.Thoseearlyyearsmayhaveremainedquiteobscuretohim.But theywereunderstoodbyhim in another sense.Hehardlyknewwhatthedeathofhismothermeantatthetimebut,astheyearspassed,thesenseofgriefandoflossgrewlargerandmoreoppressive.Therewassomethingmissing. Something precious had gone. Hewas a perpetualorphanin theworld.All theevidenceofhiscareer,andofhiswriting,suggests thathewasboundby ropes of fire to the first experiences ofabandonmentandofloneliness.Theimageofthedeadordyingwoman,youngandbeautifulandgood,fillshisfictions.WemayrecallherethelinesofExeterinKingHenryV:

Andallmymothercameintomineeyes,

Andgavemeuptotears.

Andwhatoftheseunfortunatechildren,desertedfirstbyafatherandthenunwillinglyabandonedbyamother?Inherlastdays,lyinguponastraw mattress in a rented room, Eliza Poe had been visited andcomfortedbywhatwereknowninthenewspapersas“ladiesofthemostrespectable families.” Among these was the wife of a merchant andbusinessman,JohnAllan,whohadmigratedfromScotlandtothelandoffinancialpromise.Frances,or“Fanny,”Allanhadformedanattachmentto the young Poe. She was then twenty-five years old but had nochildrenofherown, and the sightof the forlorn infanthadawakened

strong sensations within her. She persuaded her husband that littleEdgarshouldbegivenahome,whileRosaliewastakenintothecareofanother Scottish mercantile family, the Mackenzies. So Edgar, then asmall child, was removed to a house of strangers on the corner ofThirteenthStreetandMainStreet, above thebusinesspremisesofEllisandAllan.Athischristeningon7January1812hewasgiventhenameofhissurrogateparents:hebecameEdgarAllanPoe.

•••

The descriptions of the young boy, during these early years in theAllan household, are uniformly favourable. Neighbours in Richmondrecalledhimas“alovelylittlefellow,withdarkcurlsandbrillianteyes,dressed like a young prince;” he was characterised by charm andcleverness, blessed with an affectionate and generous temperament,notedforafrankandvivaciousdisposition.Itsoundsalmosttoogoodtobetrue.LittleLordFauntleroywasnothingcomparedtohim.Hedancedon the table, to the delight of Fanny Allan's female companions, andrecitedTheLayoftheLastMinstrel.Hetoasted“theladies”withaglassofsweetwineandwater.Hewaspetted,anddressedup,byMrs.Allan.Heseemsalsotohavegainedtheaffectionofherhusband.JohnAllanwasthirty-onewhenEdgarjoinedthefamily.Hewasamanofbusiness,butneitherdournorhard;on thecontraryhe seems tohavebeenkeen tothe delights and pleasures of life. He already had two illegitimatechildren,livinginRichmond.HemustalsohavehadsomefellowfeelingwiththeyoungPoe,sincehehimselfwasanorphan.OtherfiguresintheAllanfamilyremainanonymousandelusive:they

comprise the household of slaves who lived in partitioned quarters.Among them was the “mammy” deputed to care for the young PoewheneverFannyAllanwas elsewhere.Weknow that in thehouseholdlived a young slave called Scipio, and an older slave called Thomas.There were no doubt others. Poe always defended the institution ofslavery, forwhich he seems to have harboured affectionatememories.Heowedalargerdebt,too,tothesmallblackcommunityinwhichhisimaginationwasawakenedbystoriesofgravesandcharnelhouses.Poe'smaternalgrandmother,ElizaPoe,describedhimas“theChildof

fortune”inbeingfosteredbysuchakindlycouple.Butthereisofcourseno record of his feelings on the matter. He must have been aware,however, thathewas livingon the charity andkindness of thosewhohad no true relationship to him; this instilled in him a sense ofuncertainty, or of defensiveness. It made him fearful. There is achildhood story of his being driven past a log cabin surrounded bygraves, at the sightofwhichhe screamedout, “Theywill runafterusanddragmedown!”

ITheSchoolboy

nthelatespringof1815JohnAllandecidedtoremovehimselfandhisfamilytoEngland.Therehadbeenaslumpinthefortunesofhis

business in Richmond, and the mercantile climate of London seemedmorepropitious.Hewanted,inparticular,torenewtradingrelationshipswith the tobacco importers of the capital. So at the end of June theAllans set sail on the Lothair for Liverpool, a journey thatwould takealmost five weeks. The party consisted of John Allan, Frances Allan,Anne Moore Valentine in her capacity as sister and companion ofFrances, and the black slave known only as Thomas. They took theirsmallchargewiththem.Poewasontheoceanforthefirsttime.Onthepilotboat,ridingoutto

sea,JohnAllanreportedthat“Ned[Edgar]caredbutlittleaboutit,poorfellow.”Butthesightofthewavesandoftherollinghorizonimpresseditself upon the imagination of the boywhowas to return to it in hisfuturewriting.WhentheyarrivedontheothershoreAllanreportedthesix-year-old as asking “Pa say something forme: say I was not afraidcomingacrosstheSea.”Thissuggeststhathewastryingtoconcealhisfear.They docked in Liverpool on 29 July, but did not travel directly to

London. Instead John Allan decided to visit his relations in Scotland;there were sisters at Irvine and Kilmarnock, and other relatives inGreenock,fromwheretheytravelledontoGlasgowandEdinburgh.TheScottishgrandtourlastedforsometwomonths,andatthebeginningofOctober theAllans tooka carriage toLondon.They rented lodgings inSouthampton Row, just south of Russell Square, where they all sooncaughtcoldfromthedampandheavyLondonair.Thereisapictureofthe household, given by John Allan in a letter, where he describes“Edgar reading a little Story Book.” It may be the book that Poementioned in an essay some years later, when he remarked on “howfondlydowerecurinmemorytothoseenchanteddaysofourboyhoodwhenwefirstlearnedtogrowseriousoverRobinsonCrusoe!”Therewas,however,moreexactingreading.InearlyApril1816,Poe

wasenrolledataboardingschoolinSloaneStreetsuperintendedbytwo

sisters known as the “Misses Dubourg.” An extant bill from thisestablishment includes such items as a “Separate Bed,” a “Seat inChurch,”“Mavor'sSpelling”and“Fresnoy'sGeography.”Therestofthecurriculum is unknown, but Poe prospered under its regimen. In June1818, John Allan told a correspondent that “Edgar is a fine Boy andreadsLatinprettysharply.”Hisprogresswassuchthat,amonthlater,“EdgarAllan”wasenrolledfor tuition in another school. He became a pupil of theManor HouseSchool, in Stoke Newington, under the aegis of the Reverend JohnBransby. It was located in what was then a country village, with anancientchurchandanumberoffineoldhouses;DanielDefoehadoncelived in the same street as the school. Here Poe studied Latin, amongother orthodox subjects, and took dancing lessons. At a later dateBransby recalled his erstwhile pupil as “a quick and clever boy andwould have been a very good boy if he had not been spoilt by hisparents;buttheyspoilthim,andallowedhimanextravagantamountofpocketmoney,whichenabledhimtogetintoallmannerofmischief…”Onanotheroccasionhedescribedtheboyas“intelligent,waywardandwilful.”ThesewereallcharacteristicsthatwouldalsobeappliedtoPoeinlaterlife.ItwasnodoubtFanny,ratherthanJohn,whopamperedthechild; the pocket money may have been “extravagant,” however, byEnglishratherthanAmericanstandards.Poe left his own account of the school, in heightened form, in“William Wilson,” where he describes it as a ponderous and roomyestablishmentwithinnumerablefloorsandchambersand“noendtoitswindings.” Poe was always acutely sensitive to buildings, and this“quaint” and “Gothic” structure gave him cause formuch imaginativecontemplation. He recalled the “dusky atmosphere” of this “misty-looking village,” too, so Stoke Newington helped to inspire his firstreveries.Theywerenot, however, necessarilypleasantones.He told afriend, in later years, that his school days in England had been “sad,lonelyandunhappy.”HisunhappinesswasfullysharedbyFrancesAllan.ShewasneverabletoreconcileherselftolifeinLondon,andasaconsequencesufferedfroma number of unspecified ailments in the five years of residence. JohnAllan described “Frances complaining as usual” and, at later date,

“complaining a good deal;” a female relative wrote that she is “veryWeak—andisafraidshewillfeelmuchtoofatiguedtowrite.”Shewentdown toCheltenham to sample thewaters,butnothingcouldalleviateher distress. Her husband was of more sanguine temperament. In theautumnof1818JohnAllanreportedthat“Edgarisgrowingwonderfullyandenjoysareputationasbothableandwillingtoreceiveinstruction.”AyearlaterheremarksthatPoe“isaveryfineBoyandagoodscholar.”Hisoptimismdidnotperhapsextendtohisownaffairs,sincein1819a sudden collapse in the price of tobacco on the London marketthreatened his business with ruin. His debts grew ever larger, and hedeterminedtogiveupthemercantilelifeinordertobecomeafarmerorplanter.HepreparedtoleaveEngland,andtoreturnwithhisfamilytohisadoptedcountry.So,on16June1820,theysetsail fromLiverpoolon theMartha. They docked in New York almost sixweeks later, andthentookthesteamboattoRichmond.

•••

InthisperiodRichmondwasaslow-moving,sleepy,sultryplacewithapopulationof10,000.Itwasinlargepartanindustrialcity,buthalfofits population were slaves. The American South was then a land ofservitude,with all the torpor and casual violence associatedwith thatcondition.ThecitywasbuiltoneightgreenhillsoverlookingtheJamesRiver, the houses clustered on the sides of the hills; the river was aconsolation in what was often an oppressive climate, making its waypastsmallislandsandoverbrokenboulders.Thelandscapeattheheightofsummer,whenthePoesreturned,wasdecoratedwiththepeachtreeandthemagnolia.Thereweremanyfineandwell-builthousesalongthemainstreetsofthetown,withlargegardensfilledwithrosesandlindentrees,myrtle andhoneysuckle.Therewas a legislature, anda splendidpubliclibrary;therewereassemblyroomsandwhitewoodenchurches.But,closetothem,werethecrumblingtenementsandshedswheresomeoftheblackpopulationlived.The streetswere filledwith goats, andpigs, andhorses. Therewerestill cows grazing in Capitol Square as late as the middle of thenineteenthcentury.Therewerestagecoaches,andcarriages,withtheir

black footmen and coachmen. The larger plantation houses were veryspacious,withcoolverandahsandroomsshieldedfromtheglareofthesunbylinenblinds.Themensatinrockingchairs,smokedtheircigarsandchewedon the local cropof tobacco.Elsewhere therewerecabinsfor the slaves, where black children sprawled and played in the dust.Therewouldalwaysbeasenseofsettleddejectioninsuchaplace,liftedonlyby theconstantsupplyof sherrycobblersandmint juleps.Dryingtobaccopoisonedtheair.TheAllan family stayedat first in thehouseofJohnAllan'spartner,

CharlesEllis,andperhapsathisurgingandinstigationitwasdeterminedthat Allan would remain at his mercantile post in order to steer thebusiness to success.At thebeginningof theautumnPoewas sent toalocalschool,RichmondAcademy,wherehismasterrememberedhimas“ambitioustoexcel,andalthoughnotconspicuouslystudious,healwaysacquittedhimselfwellinhisclasses.Hewasremarkableforself-respect,without haughtiness;” he also described him as of “a very excitabletemperament”with“agreatdealofself-esteem.”Sohewassometimesadifficultandwilfulchild.Fromthisage,too,hewaswritingpoetry.Hisschoolteacherdescribed

himas“bornpoet”whowroteverses“conamoreandnotasmeretasks.”John Allan shared the master's high opinion, and showed him amanuscript of youngPoe's poemswith a view to eventual publication.Thiswasdeemedinadvisable,sinceitmightleadtoexcessiveflatteryforan already over-excitable young boy. Allan's enquiry, however,emphasises the fact that he took his young charge's literary ambitionsveryseriously.Hewasnottheauthoritariananddistantfigureofsomebiographers’invention.AtschoolPoestudiedthestandardclassicalauthors,amongthemOvid

andVirgilandCicero.Buthealsoexcelledinlessscholasticpursuits.Hewasagood swimmer,andonce swamsixmilesagainst the tideof theJamesRiverwatchedbymastersandpupilsalike.Hewasathletic,wiryandstrong;heboxed,andexcelledinfieldsportssuchasrunning.Thisisinmarkedcontrasttothedebilityandalmostcontinualillhealthofhisadultyears.Hewasreportedtobeof“averysweetdisposition…alwayscheerful, brimful of mirth and a very great favourite with hisschoolmates.” He won prizes for elocution, and excelled at the

declamationoftheLatinpoetsandtheElizabethandramatists.But, as is invariably the case in the accounts of anyone's life, therewereconflictingreports.Onefellowpupildescribedhimas“self-willed,capricious, inclined tobe imperious, and thoughofgenerous impulses,not steadily kind, or even amiable.” So the young Poe harboured agrudgeagainsttheworld.Hisschoolfellowshadlearned,bysomemeansorother,thathewastheorphanedchildoftravellingplayersandthathehadbeen“adopted”bytheAllanfamily.Forthisreasontheotherboys“declined his leadership.” The rejection encouraged a “fierceness” inhim, taking the form of pride, or hauteur, but also rendered himsensitive and vulnerable to every slight. These were also thecharacteristicsoftheolderPoe.Anothercontemporaryrecalledthattheyoung Poe was “retiring in disposition and singularly unsociable inmanner.” Itwas remarked, inparticular, thathenever tookanyofhisfriends to his home after school.Whenhe left the school grounds, hisdeparturemarked“theendofhissociability”forthatday.The schoolboy Poe went on long and sometimes solitary “tramps”throughthewoodsaboveRichmond;withhisfriendsheorganisedraidsonthelocalorchardsandturnippatches;heplanned“fish-fries”bythebanksof theJamesRiver.One schoolfellow recalls that “he taughtmehow to shoot, to swim, and to skate, to play bandy etcetera,” bandybeingagamemuchlikeicehockey.Hehadoneotherinterest.Withtwoor three companions he joined the local Thespian Society, held in aneighbourhood hall, where for a small charge they entertained theaudiencewithplaysorsketchesordeclamations.ReportedlyJohnAllandid not approve of his theatrical activities; it may have been toodisconcertingareminderofPoe'sdeadparents.Throughout these years, too, Poe continued to write poetry. Heclaimedtohavewrittensomeofthepoemspublishedinhisfirstbookattheageoffourteen;despitehisnativetendencyforexaggeration,thereisnoreasontoquestiontheassertion.Hisearliestknownlines,scrawledona sheet of John Allan's financial calculations in a neat hand, werecomposedattheageoffifteen:

Lastnightwithmanycaresandtoilsoppress'd

Weary…Ilaidmeonacouchtorest.

Thewistfultoneofthecoupletisinteresting,asisthefactthatitwaswrittenaboveAllan'ssumsofcompoundinterest.Theboysoonfoundasubjectforhisromanticmelancholia.Oneofhis

schoolfellows,Robert Stanard, invitedhim tohishouse,wherehemetJaneStanard,thethirty-year-oldmother,who“tookhishandandspokesomegen-tleandgraciouswordsofwelcome.”Hebecamesmitten,and“returned home in a dream.” She might have been his own motherrevived.Jane Stanard has the distinction of being the first motherly young

woman to whom Poe became devoted. He had an abiding need forfemale sympathy and protection. It may be the characteristic of theorphan. Inoneofhis journalistic“marginalia”hewrote later that“theboyishpoet-loveisindisputablythatoneofthehumansentimentswhichmost nearly realises our dreams of the chastened voluptuousness ofheaven.”Thepleasurewasindeedchastened.Poepossessedanunerringability

to choose frail, or in some way damaged, women, thus revisiting theexperienceofhisfadingmother.Inthespringof1824,ayearaftertheyhadfirstmet,JaneStanarddiedinsane.PoevisitedhergraveinShockoeHillCemetery,andhetoldafemale

admirerthatheshedtearsbythefreshlydugearth.Allhislifehelikedto wander through cemeteries. Death and beauty were, in hisimagination,inextricablyandperpetuallyassociated.“Nomore”washisfavouritephrase.Thesecretchambersandthemoulderingmansions,inwhich his fictions loved to dwell, are to be construed as those of themindorofthegrave.Hehadamore immediateconcern for thedead;however.He tolda

friend,JohnHamiltonMackenzie,that“themosthorriblethinghecouldimagine as a boywas to feel an ice-cold hand laid upon his face in apitchdarkroomwhenaloneatnight.”Thatwasnothisonlyfantasy.Hefeared thathemightawake in semi-darkness,only to findanevil facestaringcloselyathim.Hebecamesoafraidofhisownimaginedhorrorsthat he would keep his head beneath the sheets until he practicallysuffocated himself. He seems to have taken a perverse delight infrighteninghimself,aswellasothers.Eveninlaterlifeheadmittedtoa

dislikeofthedark.Herecanbefoundtheoriginsofhisobsessionwithdeath, or deathlike states. Before his twentieth year he wrote asignificantcouplet:

IcouldnotloveexceptwhereDeath

WasminglinghiswithBeauty'sbreath.

Yet soon enough he found another thwarted and difficult love. Healways said that he was “devoted” to Fanny Allan, although thatattachmenthadnotprecludedhis attraction to JaneStanard.The loveandcomfortofonewomanwerenotenoughforhim.IntheyearofMrs.Stanard'sdeathhemet,andbecameattachedto,a fifteen-year-oldgirl.Elmira Royster lived in a house opposite Poe's school, and so thepossibilitiesof chanceencounterwere immense.Under the supervisionofthegirl'sparents,theymetintheparlourofRoysterHouse;sheplayedthepiano, andhe sang andplayed the flute.Hemade a sketchof herthatsurvivesonlyinacopy.SherecalledtheyoungPoeremonstratingwithherforherfriendship

withoneyoungwomanwhomheconsideredtobe“unladylike.”“Hehadstrongprejudices,”shesaidafterhisdeath.“Hatedanythingcoarseandunrefined.” She described his grandmanner, and his slight shyness incompany. He was already growing into the model of a Southerngentleman,buthewasnotintheconventionalmould.Elmira,or“Myra”as he used to call her, recorded that he was “very enthusiastic andimpulsive”butthat“hisgeneralmannerwassad.”Thatsadnesshadtodowithdomesticunhappiness.Allwasnotwellin

theAllan household. FrancesAllanmay have been exhibiting some ofthe symptoms of consumption that carried her to the grave five yearslater.But thereweremore immediatediscontents.PoeandJohnAllanhadbeguntoquarrel.ItispossiblethatAllanremindedhisyoungchargethat he was in effect an object of charity. In November 1824, Allanwrote toPoe'solderbrother,Henry, thatEdgar“doesnothing&seemsquitemiserable,sulkyandill-temperedtoalltheFamily.Howwehaveactedtoproducethisisbeyondmyconception…”HeaddedthatEdgar“possessesnotaSparkofaffectionforus,notaparticleofgratitudeforallmycareandkindnesstowardshim.”ThiswouldbeacomplaintaboutPoe in later years. He could not bring himself to appear humble to

anyoneorthankfulforanything.In the same letter to Henry Poe, Allan refers to “your poor Sister,Rosalie,”whowaslivingwiththeMackenzies inRichmond,andwritesthat “at least She ishalf your sister&God forbiddearHenry thatWeshould visit upon the living the Errors & frailties of the dead.” Themeaning of “half your sister” is clear enough. Allan supposed thatRosalie had a different father and that she was, as a consequence,illegitimate. IfAllanmentioned this toHenryPoe, hewould no doubthavesuggestedittoEdgar.Foraboywhoseemstohaveheldhismotherinparticularreverence,thiswouldhavebeenunpardonable.Poe'shatredof anything “unrefined” has been noticed.What could bemore coarsethantoaccusehismotherofbearingthechildofamanwhowasnotherhusband?How did the argument develop? Poe knew of Allan's illegitimatechildren, living in Richmond, and may have ascribed Frances Allan'sweakened health to that cause. If then he upbraided Allan for siringillegitimateoffspring,whatmorenaturalrejoinderfromAllanthanthatPoe'sownmotherwasguiltyofasimilarsin?Thisisthemostlikelytohavebeentheprimarycauseofanincreasinglybitterconflict.PoewasheardonseveraloccasionswishingthathecouldescapefromtheAllanhouseholdand thusmakehisownway in theworld.Heexpressed thedesiretotheMackenzies,Rosalie'sguardians,thathemightrunawaytosea.

•••

Hedidnotgotosea.Heattendeduniversityinstead.InFebruary1826, at the ageof sixteen,hewas enrolledat thenewUniversityofVirginia inCharlottesville.Thecornerstonehadbeen laidnineyearspreviously,but theestablishmenthadbeen inoperation foronlyayear.Itsfounderandguidingspirit,ThomasJefferson,hadwished“to develop the reasoning faculties of our youth, enlarge their minds,cultivatetheirmorals,”inwhichambitionshewasnotwhollysuccessful.Poe was lodged at number thirteen in the West Range of the newbuildings, on thewest sideof a central lawn,wherehe roomedalone.Rousedbyaservantat5:30eachmorning,hebeganhisfirstclassesat

7:00a.m.intheSchoolsofAncientLanguagesandofModernLanguages.Heprovedtobeamodelpupil,adeptattranslationfromLatinaswellasItalian. At the end of the year he was recorded as “excelling” in theseniorLatinclassandtheseniorFrenchclass.HesaidinalettertoJohnAllanthatheexpectedtoperformwellinendoftermexaminations“ifIdon'tgetfrightened,”anindicationofthenervousanxietythatseemstohavebeenhisconstantcompanion.Hebecamesecretaryofthedebatingclub, and was preeminent in the gymnastic exercises of running andjumping.Onefellowstudentremembered“asad,melancholyfacealways,andeven a smile, for I don't remember his ever having laughed heartily,seemed to be forced.”No one ever really knew himwell. Hewas toodefensive, or too proud, to encourage intimacy. He would also “puthimself under the influence” of drink in order to “quiet the excessivenervousexcitabilityunderwhichhelaboured.”Thedrinkinquestionislikelytohavebeentheubiquitous“peach[brandy]andhoney,”asweetif lethal concoction. This is the first reference to his partiality foralcohol. It is significant that it shouldhavemanifested itself at such arelativelyearlyage.Hewasborn,notmade,adrinker.Anotherfellowstudentrecallsthat“Poe'spassionforstrongdrinkwasasmarkedandaspeculiarasthatforcards.”Poelovedgambling.Whenhe and a local clerk vied over the purchase of an edition of WilliamHogarth'sprints,Poeproposedthattheygambleforthebookwithdice.Poelost.Heplayedcardsendlessly,oftenlosinglargesumsofmoney.Insuch matters, according to a contemporary, he “plunged with arecklessness of nature which acknowledged no restraint.” This“recklessness”wasapparentinlaterlife,too,withhisincreasinglyheavydrinkingandhissometimesextremebehaviour.Yetitwasaccompanied,atuniversity,byasteadyattentiontohisstudies.Hislifeatuniversityshouldinanycasebeseenincontext.Theyounggentlemen of Virginia did not necessarily obey Thomas Jefferson'sinjunctions,at least in termsofmoralcultivation.Therewere frequentfistfights,andmoststudentsownedapistolthatwasreadilydrawnandfired. The culture of the South still harboured the traditions of theduelling code. Some students came from rich plantation families, andwereaccompaniedbyslaves.Somearrivedwithhorsesorwithhunting

dogs. There were drunken forays into the local towns, and inveterategambling.Poewasnotuniqueinhisweaknesses.Buthewasunusualinnot being able topay for them.He appealed toAllan formoney,whosenttoolittleofthatcommoditytoolate.AllanwasgenerallyparsimoniousinhisprovisionsfortheyoungPoe.

In one letter Poe calculated the expenses of life at the university,includingboardand tuition, at$350perannum.Allanhaddispatchedhim to Charlottesville with $110 in his pocket. As a result Poe hadenrolledinonlytwoofthethreeschoolsopentohim,thussaving$15.Allansenthimfurthersums,buttheywereneverenoughtoallowhimtopay his bills. They were certainly insufficient to cover his gamblingdebts,andaccording toPoe's complainthe“was immediately regardedinthelightofabeggar.”TherewasnoapparentreasonforAllan'slackof generosity.Only the year before, Allan had inherited a large estatefromthewillofawealthyScottish relativewhohadalsoemigrated toAmerica.ItisnotsurprisingthatAllanharbouredcontradictoryfeelingstowards

his surrogate son. At a later date Poe himself characterised his fosterfather to a friend “as a man of gross & brutal temperament thoughindulgent to him at times & at times profusely lavish in the matter ofmoney—at others, penurious and parsimonious.” It seems likely thatAllan came increasingly to resent his young charge. Poe had alreadyappearedtohim,ashehadtoothers,arrogantandunthankful.PoemayevenhaveassumedthatAllan'swealthwouldonedaybebequeathedtohim.Thiswouldhavebeenthemosthazardousassumptionofall.

•••

WhenPoereturnedtoRichmondattheendof1826,Allanrefusedtofinance any further period of study. Despite dunning letters from theyoung Poe's creditors, he also refused to pay any more of the debts,whichamountedtosome$2,000.Poehadexpectedtospendtwoyearsat theuniversity; hewouldnothave acquired adegree in themodernsense,butitwouldhavebeenformallyrecordedthathehadcompletedcertaincourses.Hehadanimmoderatethirstforreading,butanyfutureworld of learning was now foreclosed. He told Allan in a subsequent

letterthat“inamomentofcapriceyouhaveblastedmyhope.”Itwasabitterhomecominginanothersense:helearnedthathisletterstoElmiraRoysterhadbeenkeptfromherbyherfather,andthatshewasabouttobemarried to anotherman.Therewere frequent and sharp argumentsbetween Allan and Poe. Any residual love between foster father andfostersonhaddisappeared.InthemiddleofMarch1827,PoelefttheAllanhouseholdforever.He

went to theCourthouseTavern, fromwhere hewrote to his surrogatefather that “I have heard you say (when you little thought I waslistening, and thereforemust have said it in earnest) that you had noaffection for me.” He added that his guardian “was continuallyupbraidingmewith eating the bread of Idleness.”He also objected tobeingunder“thecompleteauthorityoftheblacks,”bywhichhemeantthattheslaveshadadoptedtheirmaster'smannerandattitudetowardshim.Heaskedforhistrunk,containinghisclothes;hewasdeterminedtotravel north, where in one of the great cities he might earn enoughmoneytocompletehisstudiesatuniversity.Butthen,inaletterwrittenonthefollowingday,hedeclaredthat“I

am in the greatest necessity, not having tasted food since Yesterdaymorning.Ihavenowheretosleepatnight,butroamabouttheStreets—Iamnearlyexhausted…”Thisisthepiteoustonethathewouldadoptinmuch of his later correspondence. Allanwrote on the back, “Prettyletter.”

•••

FourdayslaterEdgarAllanPoewasonacoalvesseltoBoston.Hewasonhiswaybacktotheplaceofhisbirth.Itmusthavebeenasurprise,after the casual languor of Richmond, to find himself in a city thatprideditselfonplainlivingandhighthinking.Bostonwasacityofredbrickandwhitewood.Theprincipalsourcesofdelightwerethechurchandthelecturehall.Therewerenoslaves.ThecitizensofBostongotupearlierandworkedharderthanthepeopleofRichmond.Itwasnoteasy,however,forapennilessandfailedstudenttoobtain

employmentinBoston.TherearereportsofPoeworkinginawholesalemerchandise house on the waterfront, and even of trying his hand at

casual journalism.His first attempt tomakehisway in theworld hadfoundered. He had no money, and in his desperation he decided toenlist.AllanwrotetoPoe'ssister,Rosalie,that“EdgarhasgonetoSeatoseek

hisownfortunes,”butinfacthewastobefoundmuchclosertohome.On 26 May he visited Castle Island in Boston Harbor and, under theassumednameofEdgarA.Perry (Perryhadbeen thenamebeforehisownintheentrancerecordsoftheuniversity),heenlistedintheUnitedStates Army for the next five years. He gave his age as twenty-two,ratherthantheactualeighteen.MinorswereacceptedintotheArmy,sotherewasnopracticalreasonforhimtolie:hejustwantedtodisappear,andtolosetheburdenofhisidentity.Inanycase,lyingcamenaturallytohim.

ITheSoldier

twasnotaltogetherasurprisingorevenunexpecteddecision.Asaboy he had been appointed lieutenant in the Richmond Junior

Volunteers,andatuniversity,too,hehadchosentotakepartinacourseoftraininginmilitarydrill.Heneededtheconstraintsofaformalorder,no doubt as a counterweight to his pronounced “recklessness.” Hedeliberatelysoughtrestraint.Herequiredexternaldisciplineinordertobalancethemiseriesandlongingsofhisprivatenature.Thatnature,however,wasexpressedinanenduringform.Duringhis

monthsinBostonhehadbecomeacquaintedwithaneighteen-year-oldprinter,CalvinThomas,whohadagreed topublishaselectionofPoe'spoems. So in the early summer of 1827 fifty copies of Tamerlane andOther Poems, written by “a Bostonian,” came off Thomas's press. ItincludedpoemsthatPoehadbeenwritingforthelastfourorfiveyears,comprisingthetitlepoemandanumberofshorterpoems.Theyevinceastrong sense of form, cadence, and metre, equally balanced with apowerful inner mood of mournfulness and introspection. “Tamerlane”itself isamonodyonthedelightsanddangersofambition,couchedinseventeen melancholy stanzas filled with pride and resentment, self-disgust and disillusion. In a preface to the volume Poe claimed that“failure will not at all influence him [Poe] in a resolution alreadyadopted;” that resolutionwas none other than his aspiration to poeticgreatness. His attempt to disarm criticism succeeded admirably. Therewerenoreviews,andonlytwopre-publicationnotices,ofTamerlane.When the volume appeared, the young poet was busily engaged in

artillery practice. As soon as he had enlisted he had been assigned toduty inanartillerybatteryoffBostonHarbor.Sixmonths laterhewasmoved to Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island off the coast of SouthCarolina; from there, after a further year, he was moved to FortressMonroe on the tip of the Virginia peninsula. His regimen in theseestablishmentswasunchanging,withawake-upcallat5:30introducinga day that included infantry drill and exercises at the guns. His ownconductwas amodel ofmilitary discipline.Heworked as an assistantand company clerk in the quartermaster's department before being

promoted through the various noncommissioned grades. His superiorsconsideredhimtobe“exemplaryinhisdeportment”and“highlyworthyof confidence.” Then at the beginning of 1829 he was appointedregimentalsergeantmajoratFortressMonroe,thehighestranktowhichhe could aspire. It is perhaps difficult to imagine the author of “TheRaven” and “The Fall of theHouse of Usher” in uniform. Yet it is anaspectofPoe'slife,andcharacter,thatcannotbeoverlooked.Justashecouldexpresshispassionateandmorbidnatureinversesthatarestrictlycontrolled,sohecoulddefinehimselfintermsofrigidmilitaryidentity.By the time of his promotion to sergeant major, however, he hadalreadyhadenoughofarmylife.Hedidnotwishtoservetheremainingthreeandahalfyearsofhisenlistment,andpetitionedhiscommandingofficer,LieutenantHoward,forreleasefromuniform.Hemustalsohaverevealedhistrueidentity,becauseHowardacquiescedonconditionthatPoe—nolonger“Perry”—wasreconciledwithJohnAllan.HowardthenwrotetoAllan,onlytobesentthereplythatPoe“hadbetterremainashe isuntil the terminationofhisenlistment.”The fact thatPoewas inthearmyatallmusthavecomeasanunwelcomesurprisetoAllan.Butheshowednoremorseateffectivelydrivinghimawayfromhome.Soon1December1828,Poewrotehimaletterstatingthat“Icouldnothelpthinkingthatyoubelievedmedegraded&disgraced”byservice in thearmy; he assured him that “at no period of my life, have I regardedmyself with deeper satisfaction— or did my heart swell with morehonourablepride.”Hetookpride,amongotherthings,inhiscapacityforself-discipline. But he did notwish towaste “the prime ofmy life” infurther service. That life had only just begun. “I feel that within mewhichwillmakeme fulfil your highestwishes,” he added. “… Imusteitherconquerordie—succeedorbedisgraced.”Inafinalparagraphhesent his love to “Ma,” and expressed the hope that his “waywarddisposition”wouldnotdisappointher.HereceivednoreplyfromAllan,andwrotetohimagainthreeweekslaterinamoreclamantmannerimploring,“Myfatherdonotthrowmeasideasdegraded…Ifyoudeterminetoabandonme—heretakefarewell—Neglected,Iwillbedoublyambitious.”Theslightlyhistrionictoneisin accordwithmuch of his later correspondence. Allan still remainedsilent. Amonth passed. Then, at the beginning of February, Poe tried

another approach. He asked Allan to assist him in obtaining a cadet'sappointment atWest Point, the academy for the training of officers inthe American army, which would then expedite “an honourable andhighlysuccessfulcourseinmyowncountry.”Thereisnodoubtthathewas serious about his application. Completion of the course at WestPointwouldallowhimtobecomeanofficerinthearmy;itwouldgranthimameasureoffinancialindependenceaswellasmuchneededsocialstatus. His enlistment as a common soldier might otherwise have lefthim,asheputit,“degraded&disgraced.”HisletterarrivedatRichmondinamostunhappytime.FrancesAllanwasdyingand,inthefinalstagesofwhatalocalnewspaperdescribedasa“lingeringandpainful”illness,sheaskedtoseetheyoungPoetoholdandkisshimforthelasttime,but,ifshediedbeforehecouldreachher,she requested that her foster son have the opportunity of seeing herbodybeforeshewasburied.OnthedayofFrancesAllan'sdeathat theendofFebruary,Poewasstillonthemusterrollofhisregiment.JohnAllanhadleftittothelastminute.Poe heard of the death on 1March and left on the afternoon stagefrom Norfolk to Richmond. When he arrived, on the following day,Fannyhadalreadybeenburied.HissurrogatefatherhadpurchasedforPoeasuitofmourningclothes.InthatdresshevisitedthenewgraveinShockoecemetery.Hecollapseduponthespot,andwashelpedbackintothecarriagebythefamily'sslaves.“YourloveInevervalued,”hewroteto John Allan at a later date, when all seemed hopeless, “but she Ibelieved lovedme as her own child.”Anothermother had been takenaway fromhim,adoubleorphanhood that increased theburdenofhiswoe.ItisworthnotingthattheShockoecemeterywastherestingplaceofJaneStanard,hisschoolfriend'syoungmothertowhomPoehadbeendevoted.His relationshipwith JohnAllan entered anewphase. It seems thathis guardian had been softened by the death of Fanny, and that thepresence of Poe was no longer objectionable to him. Poe related hisplanstoenrollatWestPoint,andheobtainedAllan'sconsent.Thewaywasnowopenforhimtobehonourablydischarged.HeleftRichmondaweeklater,andonhisreturntoFortressMonroehesentalettertoAllan

as “My dear Pa” rather than as the “Dear Sir” of his previouscorrespondence.

•••

At the end ofMarch the process of discharging Poe began. He wasobligedtofindasubstituteforhisservice,andinformedthecolonelofthegarrisonthathewas“oneofafamilyoforphanswhoseunfortunateparentswerethevictimsoftheconflagrationoftheRichmondtheatre,”aflagrantliedesignedtocoverupwhatheconsideredtobehisdubiousorigins. The explanation was accepted, however, and in the followingmonthhereturnedtoRichmond.ThepathtoWestPoint,however,wasnoteasy. Inthefirstweeksof

his return Poe set about gaining political referees to bolster hisapplication, among them a local major and the representative inCongress for his district. Allanmust havematerially assisted him, butwroteareferencethatwascuriouslyimpersonal:“Frankly,sir,”hewroteto the Secretary of War, “I do declare that he is no relation to mewhatever … but I do request your kindness to aid this youth in thepromotion of his future prospects.” Allan did have some interest,however,indispatchingPoetoWestPoint;hewouldbeoutofthehouseand,moreimportant,nolongerafinancialburden.PoesubmittedaformalapplicationtoWestPointinMayand,witha

giftfromAllanoffiftydollarsinhispocket,travelledtoWashingtoninordertopresentinpersonhislettersofrecommendationtotheSecretaryofWar.Helearnedthatthereweresomeforty-sevencandidatesalreadyonthelistofappointments,butthatitstillmightbepossibleforhimtoenroll inSeptember.He then travelled thirtymilesnorth toBaltimore.Hewantedtobereunitedwithhisolderbrother,Henry,whohadbeenlivingwith General Poe and his family since infancy; this visit wouldalso allow Poe to become acquaintedwith his paternal relatives. Nowthat his substitute family had been fragmented, he was happy to beembracedbywhatmightbecalledhistruerelations.ItwasalsopossiblethatsomeerstwhilecolleagueofGeneralPoemighthelphisenlistmentatWestPoint.BaltimorewasthethirdlargestcityintheUnitedStates,butstillatthe

verybeginningof its fortunes.TheBaltimore&OhioRailroadhad justbeen completed. The Patapsco river-front was lined with warehouses.Baltimore was becoming a centre for manufacturing as well as forshipping,anenergeticandseriouscitywithbroadstreetsandaskylinemade memorable by buildings and churches. Two years before, JohnQuincyAdamshadcalledit“MonumentCity.”Theearliestphotographsdepict thebusyareaof theport,behindwhich, in thedistance,canbeseentheBasilicaoftheAssumption,thesteeplesofSaintPaul'sEpiscopalchurch and the German Reformed Church, and the WashingtonMonument.Itwasalsothefirstcityofslaveryforthosetravellingsouth.Inthatsense,atleast,Poefeltathome.Poe had a further purpose in coming to Baltimore.Hewas eager topublishanothervolumeofpoetry.Hehadtheabidingdreamofliterarysuccessbut,inaddition,hepossessedanalmostvisceralneedtobeseenby the eyes of the world. He yearned for distinction. Soon after hisarrival he took the steamboat to Philadelphia and presented hismanuscriptofpoemstoalikelypublisher,Carey,Lea&Carey.Mr.Leaseemedtobeinterestedinthevolatileandnodoubtvolubleyoungpoet,and promised to study the manuscript carefully with a view topublication.Muchencouraged,PoereturnedtoBaltimore.AfewweekslaterLeasenthimastandardanddishearteningletter.Thepoemsmightbepublishedifthepublisherswereguaranteedagainstloss.Poehadverylittlemoneyofhisown.SohewrotetoAllan,askinghimtofurnishthefinancialsubsidyforthebook.Thiswasasurprisingandperhaps foolish action. Nothing wasmore calculated to arouse Allan'sanger. He had considered Poe to be on the way to a distinguishedmilitarycareer—butheretheyoungmanwas,pursuinganinsecureandeven reprehensible destiny. Poetry was not at a premium in early-nineteenth-century America. Allan scribbled at the end of Poe's letterthathehadreplied,“stronglycensuringhisconduct&refusinganyaid.”Allanhadmeanwhile been supportingPoe at the least possible cost.Hesenthisyoungchargeafurtherfiftydollarsinthesummerof1829,uponwhichsumhewassupposed to live for thenext threemonths. Itamountedtoadailyallowanceofsomefifty-threecents.Poedecidedtomoveoutoflodginghousesandintothehomeofhisrelatives,situatedin the business district, “down-town” from the wealthier and more

fashionablequarter.GeneralPoewasdead, survivedbyhiswidow; inher littlehouse in

MechanicsRow,MilkStreet,wasalsoMariaClemm,Poe'saunt,togetherwithhersmalldaughter,Virginia.AndherelivedPoe'sbrother,Henry.Itwas not necessarily a happy family: old Mrs. Poe was paralysed, andMrs. Clemm also in a poor state of health; Henry was dying oftuberculosis,andaccordingtoPoe,“entirelygivenuptodrink&unableto help himself, much less me.” There was real poverty inMechanicsRow,wherePoeexperiencedalifeverydifferentfromthatoftheAllanhousehold in Richmond. Yet his entrance into the family marked adecisivechangeinhislife.HebecameattachedtoMariaClemm,andtoher young daughter. In succeeding years these two women wouldbecomethelodestonesofhislife,theharbourintowhichhecreptfromthewildwavesoftheworld.

•••

Poe'spoeticambitionslefteverythingindoubt.Allanwasnownotatall convinced that theyoungmanwas serious about amilitary career,andaccusedhimofshiftinessandprevarication.HewasalsoenragedbyPoe's requests formoremoney, inorder toprocurea substitute forhisserviceatFortressMonroe.Poewrotethat,whileinBaltimore,oneofhiscousinshadstolenmoneyfromhispockets.ItmusthaveseemedtoAllanthat his demandswouldnever cease. In a letter to himof this period,Poedeclaredthat“Iwouldhavereturnedhomeimmediatelybutforthewordsinyourletter‘Iamnotparticularlyanxioustoseeyou.’”Hewas happy to remain in Baltimore for a specific reason. He had

retrievedthemanuscriptofhispoetryfromCarey,Lea&Carey,offeringitinsteadtotheBaltimorepublishingfirmofHatchandDunning.Tohisdelight,itwasaccepted.AlAaraaf,TamerlaneandMinorPoemsbyEdgarA.PoewaspublishedinDecember1829.Insomerespectsitisarepriseof Tamerlane, published two years earlier. But there are many newpoems,amongthem“AlAaraaf”itself,whichowesasmuchtoMiltonasto theRomantics. The newly published poems oncemore evince Poe'smastery of form and cadence; his characteristics are those of intensityalignedwithindefiniteness,oflyricismmeltingintomorbidity.

Therewasoneparticularpersontowhomhehadyettoprovehimself.Poewrotetohisfosterfatherannouncingthepublication,andoneofthepublishers,Mr.Dunning, promised to present a copyof the volume toAllaninperson.For the first time, Poe receivedpraise for his accomplishment. John

Neal, theeditorof theYankeeandBostonLiteraryGazette,havingbeensentsomepoemsinadvanceofpublication,wrotethatifhe“wouldbutdohimselfjusticehemightmakeabeautifulandperhapsamagnificentpoem.” Poe was always immensely susceptible to praise, and wrote areplytoNealinwhichhestatedthat“Iamyoung—notyettwenty—amapoet—ifdeepworshipofallbeautycanmakemeone…”Headdedthat“I have no father—normother.” This insistence upon his status as anorphanwasanotherwayofgainingsympathyandattention.PoeprobablywishedtostayinBaltimore,buthewasmiserablypoor.

Poetry could not save him from destitution. There is a record of hissellingoneofMrs.Clemm's slaves inDecember1829,but in the earlymonthsof1830hewas forced to return to theAllanhousehold.Therewas nowhere else to go except to Richmond. There he was toleratedrather thanwelcomed,with the clear understanding that hewould bedeparting forWestPoint in a relatively short time.The atmosphere inthehousewasnotpleasant,andinalettertoSergeantGraves,oneofhiscreditors,heconfessedthat“IhavetriedtogetthemoneyforyoufromMr. A[llan] a dozen times—but he always shuffles me off.” He alsoremarkedthat“Mr.Aisnotveryoftensober,”anaccusationthatwouldlaterreboundagainsthim.Poe left Richmond in the middle of May 1830. He told Allan in a

subsequent letter that “when I parted from you—at the steamboat, IknewthatIshouldneverseeyouagain.”HestoppedatBaltimoreforadayor so,and thenwenton toWestPoint.TheUnitedStatesMilitaryAcademy,builtonagreenplain,onhighgroundsometwohundredfeetabove the Hudson River in New York State, had been established in1804for the trainingofofficers.CharlesDickens inhisAmericanNotesdescribeditasa“beautifulplace: thefairestamongthefairandlovelyhighlandsof the river: shut inbydeepgreenheights and ruined forts,andlookingdownuponthedistanttownofNewburgh,alongaglitteringpathofsunlitwater,withhereandthereaskiff…”

Poewaslodgedwiththreeothercadetsat28SouthBarracks,andwaspaidanallowanceof$16permonth.Theyoungpoetworeauniformofbluecloth,withasingle-breastedcoat;hiscapsportedacockade;andhewore his sword in a frog belt under his coat. Reveillewas at sunrise.Breakfastwasfollowedbylectures;thenat4:00p.m.therewerevariousexercisesanddrillsbeforethecadetsweregiventheirsupperinalargemess hall and sent back to quarters for further study. The lightsweredimmedat9:30p.m.Therewaslittletimeforleisure.There are contrary reports about Poe from his contemporaries. Onecadetrecalledhimas“aslovenly,heedlessboy,veryeccentric,inclinedto dissipation, and, of course, preferred making verses to solvingequations.”Thisdoesnotringaltogethertrue.Poewasnever“slovenly”indressordemeanour.Anothercadetmoreplausiblydescribedhimas“shy, proud, sensitive, and unsociablewith the other cadets. He spentmoretimeinreadingthaninstudy…”Yethisstudy,briefthoughitmayhavebeen,was sufficient.Hewasalwaysaquick learner.HeattendedtheclassesinFrenchandmathematics;atthegeneralexaminationinthefollowingyear,hewasplacedseventeenth inmathematicsandthird inFrench. He cannot have been altogether unsociable, either, since thecadetslearnedfromhimsomeinterestingdetailsabouthispastlife.HetoldthemthathehadgraduatedfromacollegeinEngland,hadbecomeoneof thecrewonawhaler,hadvisitedSouthAmericaaswellas theEast.Hewasacongenitalfabulist,amendacitythatsuggestsinsecurityandprideinequalmeasure.The most complete description of him comes from one of hisroommates, Cadet Gibson, who recorded “a worn, weary discontentedlook,noteasilyforgottenbythosewhowereintimatewithhim.Poewaseasilyfrettedbyanyjestathisexpense…VeryearlyinhisbriefcareeratthePointheestablishedahighreputationforgenius,andpoemsandsquibs of local interestwere daily issued fromNumber 28…”Gibsonalsoaddedthat“IneverheardhimspeakinpraiseofanyEnglishwriterliving or dead.” On occasions Poe accused his contemporaries ofplagiarismor,evenworse,badgrammar.Healwayswouldbescornfulofthose whomight rival him. He also had a reputation for “hoaxes” orpractical jokes, a habit hewas never really able to break in later life.Thesejokestendedtobeofaneerieorbloodykind.Ononeoccasionhe

insisted that the corpse of a strangled gander was in fact the severedhead of an unpopular teacher. He enjoyed scaring his companions. Inthisrespect,too,hewouldnotaltogetherchange.Poe soonbecamewearyofWestPoint life.One contemporary statesthatwithin“afewweeks”he“seemedtoloseinterestinhisstudiesandto be disheartened and discouraged.” This was not the life he hadimagined for himself. He was also in debt again. So he set aboutresigning.Unfortunately,suchacoursecouldnotbepursuedwithoutthepermissionofaparentorguardian;PoewrotetoJohnAllanaskingforhisconsent,andwas“flatlyrefused.”ItwascleartoAllanthatPoehadreturnedtoacapriciousandwaywardlife.SomethingelsehadhappenedintheAllanhousehold,however,whichrenderedAllanevenlesssympatheticthanbefore.Hehadmarriedagain,andhadbeforehimtheprospectoflegitimatechildren.Whyshouldheany longer help to sustain a scapegrace? The gossip that eventuallyreachedAllanonly added to the impression thatPoewasmalicious aswell asmendacious; he had described his surrogate father to SergeantGravesas“notveryoftensober.”Allan, in a letter now lost, asked Poe not to trouble him with any“further communication.” In his reply Poe rehearsed the litany ofcomplaints against his erstwhile guardian, and justified his previousbehaviourat theUniversityofVirginiaonthegroundsthat“itwasmycrime to have no one on Earth who cared for me, or loved me.” Heseemedtohave forgottenFannyAllan for themoment,but thenoteofanguishandself-pitywasneverfarfromthesurface.Headdedthat“myfuture life (which thankGodwill not endure long)must be passed inindigence and sickness. I have no energy left, nor health.” This is thefirstindicationthatthemanifeststrengthandhealthinessofhisboyhoodyears had now left him forever, and it may be related to anotherobservation of his roommate, Gibson, that “I don't think he was everintoxicatedwhileattheAcademy,buthehadalreadyacquiredthemoredangeroushabitof constantdrinking.”YetPoewasdetermined. In theabsence of express permission from his guardian, hewould obtain hisdischargefromWestPointbyothermeans.HetoldAllan,“Ishallneglectmystudiesanddutiesattheinstitution.”OnthebackofthisletterAllanscrawled, “I do not think the Boy has one good quality … I cannot

believeawordhewrites.”ThesubjectofPoe'sdrinkinghasoftenbeeninvokedasthecauseofall

hismisfortunes.Thereisnodoubtthathedrankoftenandthathedrankheavily;butthetheorythathebecameintoxicatedafteronlyonedrinkdoesnotstanduptoscrutiny.Heoftenhad“just theone”anddidnotbecome inebriated. On the other hand, there are many reports of hisdrinkingthroughtheafternoon,throughthenight,oreventhroughtheweek.Andhedidbecomeverydrunkindeed,withtheurgentnecessityofbeingrescuedorassistedhome.Thepoliceweresometimescalled.Hedidnotdrinkforthepleasureofit—therearereportsofhimdowningaglassofwineorspirits inonegulp,as ifhewere in the thrallofsomeunconquerableneed.Oncehehadstarted,he found itdifficult tostop.Asonefriendputit,“ifhetookbutoneglassofweakwineorbeertheRubiconofthecupwaspassedwithhim,anditalmostalwaysendedinexcessandsickness.”Drinkabsolvedhimfromfearsofthefuture.Drinkallowed him to forget his poverty and his sense of failure. Drinktemperedhis nervous disposition, and lent him confidence.Drinkmayperhaps have helped him to regain some state of infantile bliss, freedfromtheconstraintsanddifficultiesoftheworld.Yet,whenhebecamedrunk,hewasaggressiveandperemptoryandferocious.Sincebothhisfather and brother were heavy drinkers, there may have been aninherited disposition or tendency. Nevertheless he could abstain fromdrinkforlongperiodswithoutanynoticeableilleffects.Yetthereisnodoubtthatfrequentintoxicationseverelydamagedhisphysical,aswellas hismental, health. From the timeofWest Point forward, hewouldneverbewhollywell.Hisplantoleavetheacademy,throughderelictionofduty,succeeded

admirably. From the beginning of 1831 he absented himself frommilitaryexercises,andrefusedtoattendthemandatorychurchservices.Hedidnotreportforparadesorforguardduty.AttheendofJanuaryhewasbroughtbeforeacourtmartial,wherehewaschargedwith“grossneglectofduty”and“disobedienceoforders.”Hepleadedguilty toallcharges, and was therefore judged as such. Edgar Allan Poe wasdismissed from the service of the United States and, on 19 February,tookhisplaceaboarda steamboatbound forNewYork.He toldAllanthathehadembarkedwith “no cloak” toprotecthim from thewinter

weather.Thatwasnotstrictlytrue.Hekepthiscadet'sovercoatfortherestofhislife.

STheJournalist

oPoecametoNewYork.HerentedapoorlodgingsomewherenearMadisonSquare,butalmostatoncefellillwithanearinfectionand

abadcold.ThelifeofNewYorkwasineveryrespectdifferentfromthatofRichmondandevenofBaltimore.Hehadgrownupinwhatwasstillprimarily an agricultural society, with various gradations in rank andstanding; he had come to a city that was beginning its industrial andmercantilecareer,withall theenergeticand levelling forcesunleashedbysuchenterprise.Itwasfaster,andharder,thananycityhehadeverknown. Henry James described it as “the old liquor-scented, heated-lookingcity,”acityofpigsandhorses,acityofflashmoney.IntheyearofPoe'sarrival,thefirststreetcarmadeitswayalongFourthAvenue.Thecitywasgrowingslowlyandsurelynorthward;withitsseedinthe

old port neighbourhood, it had reached by the early 1830s theapproximate point of what is now Canal Street. Above that line weresmall shanty towns of Irish squatters as well as the dwellings oflabourers and builders clearing the ground for further construction.Therewerealso large farmsand farmhousesplanted inwhatwasoncevirginterritory.Nowthesmellofbrick-dustwasintheairasthegrowthof the city increased in momentum. It was a noisy, thriving, andsometimesbewilderingplace.BroadwayandtheBowerywerealreadyinexistence,exhibitingsomeofthecharacteristicsthatuntilrecentlytheystill possessed. Broadway was the home of retail shops and theatres,whiletheBoweryledamorepenuriousexistenceasthehavenforslumsandsaloonbars.Fromhis sickroom, twodays afterhis arrival,Poe toldAllan that “I

havenomoney—nofriends…Ishallneverrisefrommybed.”Allandidnotreplytothisdistressingletter,buthedidpreserveit.Atalaterdatehe wrote upon it, “it is now upwards of 2 years since I received theabove precious relict of the BlackestHeart& deepest ingratitude alikedestituteofhonour&principleeverydayofhis lifehasonlyservedtoconfirm his debased nature.” He was not, in other words, to bereconciledtoPoe,howevermiserabletheyoungman'scircumstances.Intheabsenceofany reply,Poebecamedesperate.Heevenwrote to the

superintendent of West Point, from which he had just beendishonourably discharged, and asked for a reference. He professed awish to join the Polish army. The superintendent, Colonel Thayer, didnotreply.PoeremainedinNewYorkforonlythreemonths.Hisfinanceswere,to say the least, uncertain.He had taken up a subscription among hisfellowcadetsatWestPoint,forthepublicationofabookofpoems.Theyexpectedavolumeofsatires,inthestylewithwhichhehadentertainedthembefore,buttheyweretobedisappointed.InApril1831,PoemsbyEdgarA.Poewaspublished,dedicatedto“TheU.S.CorpsofCadets.”Butitwasnotwrittenwithyoungsoldiersinmind.Poeincludednewpoems,such as “Israfel,” “To Helen,” and “The Doomed City,” poems thatconfirmedhisimaginativeinterestinforlornandmournfulintrospection;itwasasifhesensedthathewouldneverbehappyonthisearth.Thereisatendencytoapostrophisedeathasaplaceofreposeandconsolation.There are other passages of poetry which also offer remarkableintimationsofhisfuturewriting:

Besilentinthatsolitude

Whichisnotloneliness,forthen

Thespiritsofthedeadwhostood

Inlifebeforetheeareagain

Indeatharoundthee,andtheirwill

Shallovershadowthee:bestill.

Thisisfinewriting,atonceforcefulandmelodicwithasuresenseofcadenceandanunforcedimmediacyofmeaning.ItisoneaspectofPoe'smisfortuneonearththatthequalityofhispoetrywasneverrecognisedinhislifetimeHewasinaliteralsensedoomedtobemisunderstood.Hewouldnotpublishanothervolumeofpoetryforfourteenyears.Hewroteaprefaceforthevolume,entitled“LettertoMr.—,”inwhichhestatedthepoeticcreedbywhichhewouldbeguidedfortherestofhis life. “A poem inmy opinion,” hewrote, “is opposed to awork ofscience by having, for its immediate object, pleasure, not truth; toromance by having, for its object, an indefinite instead of a definitepleasure.”Hewentontoclaimthatpoetryisconcerned“withindefinite

sensations, towhichendmusic isanessential,sincethecomprehensionofsweetsoundisourmostindefiniteconception.”Thisisoneofthefirststatementsof thebelief inart forart's sakethat, throughPoe'sagency,would have such a profound effect upon the course of nineteenth-centuryFrenchpoetry;hisconnectionofpoetryandmusicherepredatesWalterPater'ssimilarsentimentsbyforty-sixyears.

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SincelifeinNewYorkhadbecomeinsupportable,inMayhetravelledbacktohisBaltimorerelations.LifeinMechanicsRowwasnolesspoorand disorderly than before, but the situationwas rendered evenmorehopelessbythespectacleofhisbrotherdyingofconsumption.Itwasthefamilydisease.Poesharedtherearatticroomwiththeinvalid,where,inAugust,HenryPoediedof“intemperance”attheageoftwenty-four.Inaletterwrittentwoyearsearlier,Poehadconfessedthat“therecanbenotiemorestrongthanthatofbrotherforbrother—itisnotsomuchthatthey love one another as that they both love the same parent.” Thesingularparentherecanonlymeanhismother. In thedeathofHenry,anotherpartofElizaPoehadalsodied.Hisaunt,MariaClemm,anambiguousfigure,wastheonewhotriedtosustainthehouseholdthroughoutthisdifficultperiod.Shewasadeptatekingoutsmallmeans,whetherintermsofstitchingandsewingorinterms of food and cooking; she kept her family, of which Poe soonbecameanintegralpart,togetheratallcosts.Poecametodependuponherwholly,forallthenecessitiesofhislife.Butsheinevitablygainedareputationassomethingofabeggarorcadger.Shewasforty-onewhenPoejoinedthehouseholdandwasconsideredtobesomewhatmasculineinappearance,withalargeforeheadandafirmchin.And,forobscurereasons,shewasgiventhenicknameof“Muddy.”MariaClemm'sdaughter,Virginia,wasnineyearsoldwhenPoecamebacktoBaltimore.Poecalledher“Sis”or“Sissie.”Shewaschildlike,ordoll-like,withaverypalecomplexion.Shewasa littleplump,buthadthelargeeyesandravenhairtowhichPoewasinstinctivelyattracted.Hecalledher“Sissie”evenafterhemarriedher.

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InhisfirstmonthsinBaltimorehetriedtogainworkasanusherinalocalschool,butwasturneddown.Inhisfinancialdistresshedecidedasalastresorttolivebyhispen.Hebeganwritingstories,andmayevenhave tried his hand at “penny a line” journalism in the provincialnewspapers.Buthewasalwaysdesperatelypoor.InNovemberhewroteto Allan telling him that “I was arrested eleven days ago for a debtwhichIneverexpectedtohavetopay”andaskedformoney.Twoweekslater Maria Clemm seconded his appeal with a letter of her own, inwhich she claimed that “he is extremely distressed at your refusal toassisthim.”Thereis,however,norecordofPoe'sarrestorimprisonmentat this time. If itwere in factanelaborate subterfuge toacquire fundsfrom Allan, then it is clear that Mrs. Clemm was deep in Poe'sconfidence.Hewrotetwofurtherletterstohiserstwhileguardianattheendoftheyear.Inthefirsthestatedthat“sicknessandmisfortunehaveleftmenotashadowofpride.IownthatIammiserableandunworthyof notice, but do not leaveme to perish without leavingme still oneresource.”Twoweeks laterhewroteagain toAllan, imploringhim foraid,“forthesakeoftheloveyouboremewhenIsatuponyourkneeandcalledyoufather.”Atthebeginningofthefollowingyear,Poereceivedabelatedgiftoftwentydollarsfromhisguardian.Itwouldkeephimfromstarving.TherearesomereportsthatPoetravelledbacktoRichmondinthesummerofthisyear,eithertoconfrontortoplacateAllan.Butthereisnofirmevidenceforsuchavisit.

•••

In January 1832, the Saturday Courier of Philadelphia had thedistinction of printing Poe's first published tale. It was entitled“Metzengerstein,” and was written in the style of a Germanic tale ofhorror. During that year the same magazine would print four otherstoriesbyPoe,“DukedeL'Omelette,”“ATaleofJerusalem,”“ADecidedLoss,”and“TheBargainLost.”Althoughthesearetalesofthehorridorof thesupernatural, theyarecouchedinasatiricalorparodicvein.HehadbeenreadingjournalssuchasBlackwood'sMagazine,andhadquicklylearnedhowtocouchataleof“sensation.”Butthiswasnotforhimthe

seriousworkofpoetry;itwasawayofearningaliving,andsomethingofhisscornisconveyedintheseadeptbutdeeplyironicexercisesintheflesh-creepinggenre.Yet,inthegarretinMechanicsRow,hehadfoundhistruevocation.We may take the first published of them, “Metzengerstein,” asrepresentative.Itisahigh-spiritedandengaging,andatthesametimeawell-calculated, storyof horror andmetempsychosis set inHungary. Itconcerns theyoungBaronMetzengersteinwho,having lostbothofhisparentsinquicksuccession,entersuponastupendousinheritance;herewemay,ifwewish,seethestirringsofwishfulfilment.Inhisdissipatedcareer, however, it seems that there are already hints “of morbidmelancholy,andhereditaryillhealth.”Thebaronburnsdownthestablesof a particular enemy but then, apparently in retribution, a horsestitched within a tapestry of his apartments comes alive with its“sepulchralanddisgustingteeth.”Eventuallythebaronridesuponittohisdoom. It is all very strident and colourful, andof coursenot tobetakenseriously—exceptforthefactthatitspurposewastothrillandtosurprise a large audience of somewhat credulous readers. This was tobecomethecentralparadoxofPoe'sliterarycareer.

•••

Poe'slifeinBaltimoreisrelativelywelldocumented.HeattendedtheBaltimoreLibrary,wherehecontinuedwhatwasessentiallyacourseinself-education, and frequented a bookstore on Calvert Street and anoysterparlouronPrattStreet.Hecourtedayoungladywholivedinhisneighbourhood,MaryDevereaux,whohasleftashortdescriptionofheryoungbeau.Poe“didn'tliketriflingandsmalltalk.Hedidn'tlikedark-skinned people … He had a quick, passionate temper, and was veryjealous.Hisfeelingswereintense,andhehadbutlittlecontrolofthem.He was not well balanced; he had too much brain. He scoffed ateverythingsacredandneverwenttochurch…Hesaidoftenthattherewas a mystery hanging over him he never could fathom.” For all itsingenuousness, this sounds like an accurate remembrance. He wouldquote Burns to her on their rambles through the city and its adjacenthills.“TheonlythingIhadagainsthim,”sheadded,“wasthatheheldhishead sohigh.Hewasproudand lookeddownonmyunclewhose

businessdidnotsuithim.”Hisquick temperand readypassionwere evident inone storyMary

Devereaux recounted. She tells how, after a lovers’ quarrel, she hadretreatedtoherhouse.Poefollowedher,andperemptorilyorderedhermothertoallowhimtoseeher.Onanotheroccasionheissupposedtohave “cowhided” her uncle for the offence of sending him a “cutting”letter. This is all highly characteristic of Poe's later, and even moreerratic,behaviour.ABaltimorecontemporaryprovidesamoreobjectiveaccount.Poe's“figurewasremarkablygood,andhecarriedhimselferectandwell, asonewhohadbeen trained to it.Hewasdressed inblack,and his frockcoat was buttoned to the throat, where it met the blackstock, then almost universallyworn.”Hewould dress in black for therestofhislife.Itwashiscolour.The publication of his early stories, and the composition of “hack

work”which has yet to be discovered in the columns of now defunctlocalperiodicals,didnotmateriallyaffecthispoverty.InApril1833,hewroteanotherdespairinglettertoJohnAllaninwhichhedeclaredthathewas“withoutfriends,withoutanymeans,consequentlyofobtainingemployment,Iamperishing—absolutelyperishingforwantofaid…ForGod'ssakepityme,andsavemefromdestruction.”Allandidnotreply.Therewasnofurthercorrespondencebetweenthem.But Poe had not been idle. In the following month he sent a short

storytotheNewEnglandMagazine,oneofasequenceofnarrativesthathe proposed to publish under the title of “Eleven Tales of theArabesque.” He offered to send the complete works and added, in apostscript,“Iampoor.”Hisfortunesimprovedintheautumnof1833,however,afterhehad

submitted various stories for a competition set up by the BaltimoreSaturdayVisiter. A prize of fifty dollarswas to be awarded to the beststory. The editorial committee of theVisiter unanimously decided that“MS Found in a Bottle”was “so far, so very far, superior to anythingbefore us” that the prize had to be given to the young and unknownauthor.Poehadalsosubmittedapoem,forthepoetryprizeoftwenty-five dollars. He would have won that, too, if the committee had notthoughtthatthebenefactionoftwoprizeswasexcessive.Thestory,ofasupernatural voyage complete with phantom crew and “chaos of

formless water,” was published at the beginning of October. It is avariant of the “Flying Dutchman” legend but imbued with Poe'sfascinationwiththemaelstromandthewildabyss.ItwasoneofthefewtriumphantmomentsinPoe'sliterarycareer.For

the first time he had been afforded recognition.His prospects of fameandfortunehadbeentransformed.OntheSundayandMondayaftertheawardhadbeenannouncedinthejournal,hecalleduponthemembersoftheeditorialcommittee.Oneofthem,Mr.Latrobe,recalledthat“hismannerwaseasyandquiet,andalthoughhecametoreturnthanksforwhat he regarded as deserving them, therewas nothing obsequious inwhat he said or did.” He noted that Poe's “forehead was high, andremarkable for the great development of the temple. This was thecharacteristicofhishead,whichyounoticedatonce,andwhichIhaveneverforgotten.”Thiswasafrequentremarkabouthim—thattherewassomethingabouthisappearancethatwasindeedunforgettable.Hewenton to tell Latrobe that he was presently engaged on a story about avoyagebyballoontothemoon,andinthecourseofhisexplanation“heclapped his hands and stamped with his foot by way of emphasis.”Afterwardshelaughedandapologisedforhis“excitability.”One of the other editors whom he met on that Sunday, John P.

Kennedy,becamehisunofficialpatron.OnalateroccasionherecalledtoKennedy “those circumstances of absolute despair inwhich you foundme”and“howgreatreasonIhavetobegratefultoGodandyourself.”InadiarywrittenafterPoe'sdeath,Kennedyrecordedthat“IfoundhiminBaltimoreinastateofstarvation.”YetPoenowhadsomereason forhopefulness. InOctober theVisiter

announcedthat“avolumeoftalesfromthepenofEdgarA.Poe”wastobepublishedbysubscription.TheintendedbookwastobeentitledTalesof the Folio Club, and comprised some seventeen stories. Each of thesestorieswasnarratedby amemberof the club, and therewere generalcritical discussions among them after every contribution. It was ashowcase, in other words, for Poe's heterogeneous talents. The storieswere, inPoe'swords,“ofabizarreandgenerallywhimsicalcharacter;”more significantly theywere largely designed as satires on a range ofliterary styles, from the Germanic sensationalism of Blackwood'sMagazine to the snappy journalistic style currently fashionable. He

caricatured writers as diverse as Walter Scott and Thomas Moore,Benjamin Disraeli andWashington Irving. The tales ranged from “TheSpectacles,” a story in which the narrator falls in love with his owngrandmother, to the necrophiliac “King Pest,” and the narratorsthemselvesweregivennames suchasHorribileDictuandConvolvulusGondola.Itwasindeedaconvolutedhumour,butitisimportanttonotethatPoeembarkeduponhisfictionalcareerasapredominantlysatiricalwriter.Therewasalwaysatraceofvaudevilleinhisperformance.Poe'shumourwas,atthebestoftimes,somewhatlaboured.Heoftenverged upon facetiousness, and delighted in what can only be calledgallowshumour.Heonlyeverapproachedwitinhisscathingreviewsofotherwriters,whereanalmostWildeannoteemerges.Hisprincipalgiftwas for sarcasm, an effortless tone of superiority not unmixed withcontempt. He also enjoyed “hoaxing,” with accounts of imaginaryvoyages to the icy regions and of trips to themoon; there is in fact aserious argument that he was “hoaxing” in his tales of horror,deliberatelypilingtheterrorontoagulliblepublic.“TheBlackCat”and“TheTell-TaleHeart”arealsoexercisesinburlesque.

•••

InMarch1834JohnAllandiedand,asPoeexpected, leftnothinginhiswilltohiserstwhilefosterchild.Yetanticipationdidnotnecessarilysoftentheblow.“Iamthrownentirelyuponmyownresources,”hetoldKennedy,“withnoprofession,andveryfewfriends.”ThroughouthislifePoe continually complained about friendlessness, as if somehow itemphasised his orphan status. There had been a time when Poe hadhoped, or even expected, to receive a large inheritance from hisguardian. If Frances Allan had lived, hemight have gained the entireestate.Butinfacthewasconsignedtoalifeofpenuryand,asalways,heharboured grief and resentment at being so unluckily and unnaturallycastaway.In addition the publication of Tales of the Folio Club had come tonothing,founderingonthereluctanceofpublisherstotakeonavolumeof short stories by an American writer. Indigenous writers were at agrave disadvantage during this period. They survived only by taking

otherprofessions,suchasdiplomacyandeducation,orbyrelyinguponanindependentincome.TheculturalpalmwasgiventotheEnglish,but,more important,books fromEnglandcouldbepiratedandreprintedatnocostatall.Therewasnocopyrightlegislationinexistence.Topayanative writer, for what could be appropriated free of charge fromanother country, seemed to many publishers to be an unnecessaryexpense. So Poe suffered. He was one of the first truly professionalwritersinAmericanliteraryhistory,buthewasinamarketplacewherenonecametobuy.Ithasbeenestimatedthatthetotalincomefromallofhis books, over a period of twenty years, was approximately threehundreddollars.In theunhappyyearof1834,whenPoewas twenty-five, therewerereportsofhissufferingaheartattack,ofhisbeingincarceratedinalocaljail, and of his being employed for a time as a bricklayer or as alithographer. None of these stories can be substantiated. It can beconfirmed,however, thatheapplied for apost as schoolteacher in thespringof1835.AlettertoKennedy,askingforassistance,survives.Kennedy,stilloneof the editors of the Baltimore Saturday Visiter, invited Poe to dinner,after receiving his letter of solicitation, but Poe had to decline on theverygoodgroundsthathehadnothingsuitabletowear.Heonlyhadtheoneshabbyblacksuitthathedonnedonalloccasions.Kennedyrealisedat once the extent of the youngman's penury. He gave him clothing,afforded him free access to his table, and even lent him a horse forperiodicexercise.Heliftedhim“fromtheveryvergeofdespair.”KennedyperformedafurtherfavourforPoeinthespringof1835.HegavehimwhatPoecalled“myfirststartintheliteraryworld,”withoutwhich “I should not at this moment be among the living.” Kennedyrecommended him to the editor of the newly established SouthernLiterary Messenger, Thomas Willis White, whose offices were inRichmond. Itwas thebestpossible introduction for anaspiringwriter.KennedyadvisedWhitethatPoewas“verypoor,”andhecounselledtheeditor toacceptarticles from the talentedyoungman.Poe sentoneofhistalesofterror,“Berenice;”itwaspromptlyaccepted.ThenheenteredintoacorrespondencewithWhiteinwhichheadvisedtheneweditoronjournalisticprinciples.Herecommendedchangesintypeface,andalsoin

style.“Tobeappreciated,”hetoldhim,“youmustberead.”Whitehadcriticisedaspectsof“Berenice”as“toohorrible,”andPoeadmittedtheimpeachment. But he went on to say that the most successful storiescontained “the ludicrous heightened into the grotesque: the fearfulcolouredintothehorrible:thewittyexaggeratedintotheburlesque:thesingularwroughtoutintothestrangeandmystical.Youmaysayallthisisbadtaste.”ThiswasPoe'sjournalisticcredo,theprinciplesofwhichhefollowed for the rest of his writing career. He had an instinctiveunderstandingofwhatwouldattract,andholdtheattentionof,anewlyformedreadingpublic.Heunderstoodthevirtuesoftersenessandunityof effect; he realised the necessity of sensationalism and of theexploitationofcontemporary“crazes.”Inhislifetimehewassometimescondemned as a mere “Magazinist,” but that perilous and badlyrewardedprofessionwouldbethecradleofhisgenius.As a result of Poe's unasked-for advice on editorial matters, White

wrote to him in June, 1835, offering him a post on the journal. HisacceptancewouldmeanthathewouldbeobligedtomovetoRichmond.But the prospect of work, and money, triumphed over any localinconvenience. Poe replied at once, promising his services to theSouthernLiteraryMessengerandprofessingthathewas“anxioustosettlemyself”inhishometown.Sointhesummerof1835Poereturnedtothescenesofhischildhood.He rented a room in a boarding house and, after a period of

prevarication in which he applied unsuccessfully for a post as aschoolteacher atRichmondAcademy,he joinedWhite's periodical at asalaryofsixtydollarspermonth. Itwashis firstprospectofprolongedpaid employment. Quite by chance the headquarters of theMessengerwere beside the offices of Ellis and Allan, John Allan's erstwhilebusiness, so hewas offered daily reminders of his change of status orwhat he used to call “caste.” He was engaged, after all, in what wasessentially hackwork.WithWhite abroad gathering subscriptions, Poewasobligedtowritemostoftheperiodicalhimself.Hecontributedbookreviewsandsquibsandheterogeneous“copy,”allagainstanadvancingdeadline;hewasalsoengagedinbindingupandaddressingthenumbersof each edition. Printer's ink was the air he breathed. The periodicalcame out monthly, at a subscription price of five dollars a year, and

comprisedsomethirty-twodouble-columnedoctavopages.Therewasagreatdealofspacetofill.

•••

In August, however, the delicate balance of his nature was entirelyoverthrown.MariaClemmwrote to informhimthathiscousinNeilsonPoewasreadytotakeinandeducateherdaughterVirginiaathisownexpense.TherewasalreadysomepresumptionthatPoewouldonedaymarryVirginia,andherepliedwithanhystericalcommunicationwhichopened“Iamblindedwithtearswhilewritingthisletter.”Inthecourseofithedeclaredthat“Ihavenodesiretoliveandwillnot,”whileaddingthat“youknowIloveVirginiapassionatelydevotedly.”Theprospectoflosing another young female, just as he had lost hismother and JaneStanard,renderedhimalmosthelplesswithgrief.“OhGodhavemercyonme.WhathaveItolivefor?Amongstrangerswithnotonesoultoloveme.”He also enclosed a letter to Virginia inwhich he called her “myown sweetest Sissy, my darling little wifey” and implored her not to“breaktheheartofyourcousin.Eddy.”HeinvitedMrs.ClemmandherdaughtertoleaveBaltimoreinorder

to livewithhim inRichmond,and lied thathehad“procureda sweetlittlehouseinaretiredsituation.”Thehouse's“situation”wasonlyinhisimagination.Hehadthepropensityofbelievingthatanythinghewrotedownsomehowbecametrue.Therewasnoimmediateresolutiontothiscrisis,andinthefollowing

month Poe became deeplymelancholic. In a letter from Richmond hetoldKennedythat“Iamwretched,andknownotwhy.”This isanoddadmission, sincehe knew that the reason for his depression lay in thepossibilityoflosingVirginiaforever.Itcanonlybeattributedtothefactthat he was constantly demanding the sympathy of others; he wasalways desperately in need of love and attention. But he also begandrinkingheavily.Whitewrote to one friend thatPoe “is unfortunatelyrather dissipated, and therefore I can place very little reliance uponhim.”OneoftheprintersintheofficeoftheMessengerrecalledthat“Mr.Poewas a fine gentlemanwhen he was sober. Hewas ever kind andcourtly,andatsuchtimeseveryonelikedhim.Butwhenhewasdrinking

hewasaboutoneofthemostdisagreeablemenIhaveevermet.”

•••

InSeptemberPoesuddenlyvacatedhisdesk.He“flew the track,”asWhiteputit;headdedthat“Ishouldnotbeatallastonishedtohearthathe has been guilty of suicide.” Poe did not kill himself, however. Hereturned to Baltimore, where it is surmised that he secretly marriedVirginia. The evidence for this is uncertain, but it is clear that somearrangement was reached. Marriage may have been the only way ofretaining Virginia for himself. Since she was only thirteen years old,someelementofsecrecywasobviouslyconsidereddesirable.AttheendofthatmonthhewrotetoWhite,askingtobereinstatedat

theMessenger. White consented on the understanding that Poe wouldrefrainfromdrinking.“Nomanissafewhodrinksbeforebreakfast,”hetoldhim.“Nomancandoso,andattendtobusinessproperly.”SoPoehadbeendrinkingverydeeplyindeed.Twoorthreeofhistalesfromthistime,amongthem“Shadow”and“KingPest,”offervisionsofmensittingaround a table drinking even as death is a guest among them. Theirdrinkingparloursareenclosedandshroudedfromview,litbylampsortorches:itisthenightmarevisionofatavern,wheredrinkanddeatharepartofthesameluridandfitfullylitreality.Hehadseensuchtaverns,inNewYorkaswellasinRichmond,whereaflightofstepsfromthestreetleddowntoa roomwithapackeddirt floor. Itwas littlemore thanaconvertedcellar,withawoodencounterandwoodenbenches.Poeknewtheseleprousplacesverywell.At the beginning of October Poe returned from Baltimore to

Richmond.WithhimhebroughtMariaClemmandVirginia.Theytookroomsinaboardinghouse,ratherthanthe“sweet littlehouse”hehadpromised to them. The three of themmaintained the appearance of abachelorcousin,andamother,caringforagirl.AlmostassoonastheyarrivedMariaClemmwrotetoarelationthat“weareentirelydependentonEdgar.Heis,indeed,asontome&hasalwaysbeenso…”WhiteappointedPoeeditoroftheMessenger,retaininghisownroleas

proprietor, and at first he prospered in his new role. He gave updrinking,nowthatthecauseofhisunhappinesshadbeenremoved,and

toldKennedy in a letter thathehad “fought the enemymanfully.”Hewentontostatethat“myhealthisbetterthanforyearspast,mymindisfully occupied, my pecuniary difficulties have vanished, I have a fairprospectoffuturesuccess…”He had also been writing steadily. Ever since the Southern Literary

Messengerhad published “Berenice,” he had contributed other tales andessaystotheperiodical.TheDecembernumber,forexample,contained“MSFoundinaBottle,”anuncompleteddramaentitled“Politian,”twoorthree“fillers”andcriticalreviewsofnolessthannineteenbooks.Inthepreviousninemonthshehadpublishedsixnewstories,amongthem“HansPhaall—ATale,”“Morella,”and“KingPest.”Hisreviewsprovokedimmediateattention,sincehebroughttothema

finecriticalmindtemperedwithsatireandmordantwit.Thereputationsof some of the most fashionable writers of the time did not emergeunscathed from the inflictions of Poe's pen.Hewas irritable and evensavageinhiscriticisms.Hisdissatisfactionwiththeworldwaspartofhisdissatisfaction with himself. Jung's remarks about Paracelsus areapposite here: “…when one unconsciously works against oneself, theresult is impatience, irritability, and an impotent longing to get one'sopponent down whatever the means.” Poe certainly enjoyed causingtrouble, or what he called “kicking up a bobbery,” especially when itwasattheexpenseofNewYorkorNewEnglandwriters.Hewasalreadya defiantly Southernwriter, or Southern journalist, not at all ready tobow to the literary claimsofhisNorthernneighbours.Healsowantedreputation; he wanted fame; he needed to make an impression, atwhatevercost.The journalism has passed, but the stories survive. “Berenice” in a

sense sets the tone for many that followed. It is both morbid andmacabre, with more than a dash of sensationalism to season thecharacteristic mixture of death and perverse passion. The melodies ofPoe'sprose linger, too,withhisconsummatecontrolofcadenceandofopenvowelsounds.Hisisthelingeringproseofextremity.Theopeningtollslikeafunerealbell—“Miseryismanifold.Thewretchednessofearthismultiform”—and in thesucceedingpageswe learn that theunhappyandunfortunatenarrator,Egaeus,willmarryhiscousin,Berenice,whoin the interim becomes emaciated and infirm through the affliction of

someunknowndisease.Theymarry,butEgaeusfallsvictimtoanevenmoreinsidiousdisorder.Hebecomesobsessedwithherteeth.InoneofPoe's standard motifs, Berenice is buried prematurely. Egaeus wakesfromhisdeliriumofsorrowatherapparentdeath,andthenrealisesthathehas tornout theteethofhisbride,while shewasyetpalpitating inthegrave.So thestoryends.Poerelied largelyuponbrevity foreffect.Allofhisendingsareabruptandinconclusive,thusprolongingamoodof uncertainty and evenof anxiety. There is always someundertowofmeaning,whichthereadershareswiththeauthor;theyarebothinthesameconditionofgrowingawareness.It is of course a tale in theGothicmode,butone that is striatedby

Poe's own preoccupations. Poe reinvigorated the Gothic tradition ofhorrorandmorbidsensationalismbycenteringituponthehumanframe.Theimageofteeth,perhapsderivedfromthoseofhisownwastedandemaciatedmother, plays some part in his other fictions; the notion ofpremature burial can be interpreted as a denial of death or as anecrophiliac longing for the moulderings of the grave. Somewhere,amongtheseconflictinginterests,Poe'simaginationistobefound.Inhiswork death and beauty are powerfully aligned. He was drawninstinctively to the macabre; but for him it was a holy place full ofstrangescentsandechoes.He,ofcourse,mighthavescornedanysuchinferences.Poenicelycalculatedhiseffects,andalwaysmaintainedtighttechnical control over his narrative. It is significant that he revisedcontinually,makingdetailedaswellasgeneralchanges; itmayalsobeworth noting that his handwriting was a model of calligraphy,transcribed on neatly rolled manuscripts, as if all were brought intoexquisiteorder.Thereisapointwhereironyanddecaymeet,anditisnotatallclear

whetherPoeislaughingorweepingathisowninventions.Butthereisno necessary disparity between calculation and the expression of thedeepestfearsandobsessions.Hehadsomeintimateconnectionwithhisownunconsciousanxieties—indeedtheyguidedhislife—sohewasableinstinctively to stir those of his readers. Yet only in disciplinedcircumstancescanthosefearsbeproperlyformulated.Itisthedifferencebetweenaninchoatewailandathrenody.

•••

In the spring of 1836 Poe married Virginia in a formal ceremony;presumablyhemadenoreferencetoaformersecretmarriage,ifsuchaunioneverinfacttookplace.Awitnesstotheformalmarriage,ThomasW.Cleland,declaredonoaththatthegirlwas“ofthefullageoftwentyoneyears.”SinceClelandwasapiousPresbyterian,heishardlylikelytohave sullied themarriage servicewith an outright fabrication. So Poelied to him about Virginia's age.Maria Clemm, themother,must alsohavelied.Virginiawassevenyearsyoungerthanherstatedage,andwasinanycaseregardedasbeingsmallforheryears.Itwasamostunlikelyunion.Itwasnotexactlyillegal,butitwasunusual.The newly married Poes seem to have ventured on a shorthoneymoon, in Petersburg, Virginia, although it is unlikely that theirmarriagewas consummatedat the time.He characteristically regardedhisrelationshipswithhischosenwomenasidealorspiritualintemper.Asaresultithasbeensurmisedthathewasaversetosexualrelationsofany kind, and even that hewas impotent.We can only speculate thatphysical intimacywith his child bride, if it occurred at all, came at asubsequent date. Some years later, he declared that “I married foranother'shappiness,whenIknewthatnopossibilityofmyownexisted.”This,however,wastheself-pityofhindsight.

•••

Inthisrelativelypeacefulperiod,hegrewevermoreambitiousforhiswriting.HedispatchedamanuscriptofTalesof theFolioClub toaNewYorkpublisher,butthenwasadvisedbyaliteraryfriend“toundertakeaTaleinacoupleofvolumes,forthatisthemagicalnumber.”Andthatiswhat Poe promptly decided to do. If there was a market, he wouldaddressit.Hebeganwritinganovel,TheNarrativeofArthurGordonPym,the first instalment of which was published in the Southern LiteraryMessenger forJanuary1837.Evenbefore itappeared,however,hehadbeenremovedfromthestaffof theperiodical.Theproblemoncemorearosefromhisdrinking.InSeptember1836,Whitehadgivenhimnoticebut was persuaded to reemploy him on certain “conditions”—whichconditions, in December, “he has again forfeited.” A contemporary in

Richmondreportedthat“whenoccasionallydrinking(thehabitwasnotconstant)hewasincapacitatedforwork.”Hewenton“binges,”inotherwords, in the course of which he became incapable. On his ownadmission he would then be obliged to spend several days in bed,recoveringfromwhatwasinevitablydescribedasanindisposition.So Poe “retired” at the beginning of 1837. Threeweeks laterWhitewrote to a friend that theMessenger “shall outlive all the injury it hassustained from Mr. Poe's management.” But it had not sustained anyinjuryatall.UnderPoe'sdirectionthemagazineattractedmorenotice,andmorepraise, thanatany time in its subsequenthistory.Underhismanagement, too, its circulation had risen from 700 to 3,500subscribers. In addition it had published some of the finest Americanstories ever written. Poe was already the greatest prose writer in thecountry.Butonlyafewcriticsnoticedatthetime.PoeremainedinRichmondfortherestofJanuary,andweariedWhitewith his importunity. “He is continually after me for money,” Whitewrote.“Iamassickofhiswritings,asIamofhim.”Andso,attheendofFebruary,PoeandhislittlehouseholdleftforNewYork.Hehadspentafewmonthsinthatcity,sixyearsbefore,buthisexperienceofpovertyandmiserytherehadnotdissuadedhimfromreturning.Itshouldhavedone. The opening of “Siope” is suggestive. “ ‘Listen tome,’ said theDemon,asheplacedhishanduponmyhead.”

TTheEditor

hePoesandMariaClemmwentfirsttoalodginghouseatWaverlyPlace, inGreenwichVillage, and then later in 1837moved a few

blockstoCarmineStreet.AfellowlodgeratWaverlyPlacedescribedPoeas“oneofthemostcourteous,gentlemanly,andintelligentcompanionsIhaveevermetwith;”headdedthat“Ineversawhimtheleastaffectedwithliquor.”Yetitwasadifficulttime,compoundedbythefactthatinthespringtherewasagreatfinancialcollapseandsubsequentpanic.IntheseunpromisingcircumstancesPoetriedtofindworkasanoccasionaljournalistorreviewer.Thereis littleevidenceofanysuccess.Onlytwoofhistales,“VonJung,theMystific”and“Siope,”werepublishedinthisyear.TheMessengerhadalsogivenuptheserialisationofTheNarrativeofArthurGordonPym, after two instalments. It is not easy to see howPoeandhisfamilysurvived.ItispossiblethatMrs.Clemmranasmallboarding house in Carmine Street—a print shows that it would havebeen just about large enough to accommodate paying guests—but noothersourcesofincomeareknown.Thiswasaperiod,afterthe“crash,”when many people literally starved to death. One of the few extantrecordsconcerningPoerevealsthat,inthewinterof1837,hecalledattheNorthernDispensary inGreenwichVillage toobtainmedicine foraseverecold.It isnotsurprising,therefore,thatatthebeginningof1838thelittle

family made its way to Philadelphia. Poe had a habit of moving on,wanderingfromonecitytothenextinsearchofgoodfortune.Heneverfeltathomeanywhere.Philadelphia was built in gridiron fashion and looked like a

chessboardstretchedoutbetweentheriversSchuylkillandDelaware;itwasoneoftheoldest,andwasstillthelargest,cityintheUnitedStates.Itwasbooming.Itwasexpanding.Butitwasnotexhilarating.Poemayhaveconsideredhimselftobeasmallpieceontheboard.The Poes andMaria Clemm lodged oncemore in a rooming house.

They were poor. They may even have been desperate. The landlordreported that theywere“literally suffering forwantof food”andwere“forcedtoliveonbreadandmolassesforweekstogether.”Theymoved

toanotherlodginghouseafewweekslater,andthenattheendoftheyear moved again. Poe's employment is not known, except for areferenceinaletterto“themiserablelifeofliterarydrudgerytowhichInow, with breaking heart, submit.” He had obtained some work as ajournalistic hack, writing paragraphs and criticisms to order. He wasaddressing the new Secretary of the Navy, from whom he begged anappointment as a clerk—“any thing, by sea or land,” but nothing wasforthcoming.Yet he was writing. He may have moved to Philadelphia preciselybecause itwas still thepublishing centreof the country,with journalssuchastheSaturdayEveningPostandtheGentleman'sMagazine.Thecityalsosustainedsevendailymorningpapersandtwodailyeveningpapers.Buthewasnotatfirstsuccessfulinfindingemployment.Somecomfortmay have been drawn from the publication by the New York firm ofHarpers,thatsummer,ofTheNarrativeofArthurGordonPym involumeform.Yetheneverseemedmuchimpressedbyhisfirst,andlast,novel.Two years after its publication he described it as “a very silly book.”That was too harsh a verdict. It was a story that certainly strainedcredulity, filled with what, on the title page, were called “incredibleAdventures and Discoveries,” but it was possessed by the strangeexcitement that issued from Poe's own restless andmorbid nature.HehadalsolearnedfromDanielDefoe'snarratives:hetriedtomaintaintheutmostverisimilitudeinordertoencompassthewildestimprobabilities.The first chapters concern Arthur Gordon Pym's confinement in acrawl space of a ship, between decks, a subject that elicits all theintensity of Poe's own nature. He thrills to, and yet suffers from, theexperienceofenclosure.Hisisthepoetryofextremityandofmorbidity.In succeding chapters Arthur Gordon Pym is the victim of a callousmutiny, is shipwrecked, suffers from famine, is captured by cannibalsand generally reduced to a parodic reen-actment of contemporarytravellers’adventures.Poeisanartistoftheimprobable.InoneincidentPymattemptstolowerhimselfdownasteepprecipice,butcannotresistglancingdown into theabyss thatattractshim;whereupon“mywholesoulwaspervadedwithalongingtofall;adesire,ayearning,apassionutterly uncontrollable.” This is pure Poe; the unutterable nightmarebecomes earnestly wished for. He is the greatest exponent of fantasy

fiction in theEnglish language,becausehemanages to touchuponthemostuniversalordeeplyrootedfears.ThenarrativeendsasPym'sboatis drawn towards “the embraces of the cataract,” one of the centralimagesofhisart.Butthenthereemergesashroudedbeing,largerthananyhumanform,whoseskin“wasoftheperfectwhitenessofthesnow.”Poeisdrawntothewildnessandmysteryofdesolation,butheputsnonametoitattheend.Thebookreceivedwhataregenerallyknownas“mixed”reviewsandwas not a financial success. Poe was in such straitened circumstancesthathewasforcedtocolludeinaslightlyshadypieceofhackwork.Heagreedtosupplyhisname,asauthor,towhatwasinfactanabbreviatedversionofabookalreadyinprint.TheConchologist'sFirstBook,byEdgarA.Poe,wasnothingmore thana shortenedversionofThomasWyatt'sManualofConchology;WyatthadhiredPoeforthejob,becausehecouldnot persuade his original publisher to sell an abridgement. It is ironicthat it is theonlybookunderPoe'snamethateverwent intoasecondeditioninhislifetime.Inthisyear,too,hemanagedtopublishashortstory,“Ligeia,”intheAmericanMuseumofLiteratureandtheArts.Itisataleofmetempsychotichorror inwhichthenarrator isdevotedtoawife,Ligeia,characterisedby “gigantic volition” and “immense” erudition. He is preoccupied byher eyes, dark eyes, “largeeyes;” in fact Poe claimed that the talewasinspired by a dream in which he saw nothing but female eyes. OnLigeia's death the narrator is besieged by “feelings of utterabandonment.”This istheleitmotif, if that istheword,ofPoe'sart. InthisbereftstatethenarratormarriesanEnglishwomanforwhomhehasneitheraffectionnorrespect.Hisloathingmateriallyaffectsthehealthofhissecondwife,andafterherdeathLigeiaherselfreemergeswithinthebandagesanddraperiesofthecorpse.Sohecriesaloud,“Thesearethefull,andtheblack,andthewildeyes—ofmylostlove—ofthelady—oftheLADYLIGEIA.”Thedeadareneverwhollydead,andPoecomfortshimselfwiththesedreamsoftherevenant.Atalaterdatehedescribed“Ligeia”as“mybest tale,” itsexcellence lying inhisbelief that itmostclearlyandformallyenshrinedhispurpose.Hewasthemostcalculatingofauthors,nevertobeconfusedwithhisdisturbedandevenpsychoticnarrators.Poethewriterstrivedcarefullyafterthemostextremeeffects.

•••

Bytheendof1838heprofessedhimselfoncemoretobedesperatelypoor.Only“bymakingthemostpainfulsacrifices,”byhisownaccount,washeabletopaytherentofhispreviouslodgings.ThePoehouseholdhadalreadymovedtoasmallerhouseonSixteenthStreet.Yet,inalifeapparently governed by chance or haphazard fate, there was relief athand. In the late spring of 1839 he proposed himself as an editorialassistantonthestaffoftheGentleman'sMagazine.Theeditor,WilliamE.Burton, replied that “I wish to form some such engagement as thatwhichyouhaveproposed,andknowofnoonemore likely to suitmyviews than yourself.” In his original letter Poemay have outlined hisplansforan“ideal”literaryjournalthatmightspreaditsinfluenceoverthe entire country. Burton then offered the not princely sum of tendollars a week, assuring Poe that his duties would only consume twohoursadayandleavehimtimefor“anyotherlightavocation”hemightwish to pursue; “light avocation” may have referred to Poe's ownwriting. It was not a promising start. Burton himself was an unusualeditor. He was an English comic actor, specialising in the DickensianrolesofMicawberandCaptainCuttle,whohadtravelledto theUnitedStatesinordertoacquireareputationasaliteraryman.Poewaslatertodescribehimasa“buffoon.”PoebeganbywritingfortheGentleman'sMagazine(sometimesknown

asBurton'sMagazineor,moreclumsily,Burton'sGentleman'sMagazine)anacid review of a Baltimore poet, Rufus Dawes, which Burton thenrefusedtopublishonthegroundofitsseverity.PoewrotetoBurtoninastateofsomedejection,towhichtheeditorrepliedthat“thetroublesoftheworld have given amorbid tone to your feelingswhich it is yourduty to discourage.” Nevertheless in the followingmonth, June 1839,Poe formally joined the periodical as assistant editor. Thomas DunnEnglish,ayoungpoetwhousedtofrequenttheofficesofthemagazine,recalledPoeasalways“cladinaplainandratherwornsuitofblack.”Henoted,too,that“hiseyesatthattimewerelarge,brightandpiercing,hismannereasyandrefined,andhistoneandconversationwinning.”Hisprosewasnotso“winning,”at leasttothecontemporarywriters

whomhedespised,andhedeclaredthatinhisreviews“Iintendtoput

upwithnothingthatIcanputdown.”Hewasawareofhisownpowers.Hewasawareofhisowngenius.Toseeothersrankedbeforehim,andpraisedwherehewascastigated,arousedallofhiscombative fury.Hecouldnotbearit.Sobydegreesheacquiredareputationasaquerulousandacerbiccritic.Undoubtedlythiscausedhiminjuryamongtheliteratiof Boston and New York, but his defiance was another sign of hissingularity.Heknew,too,thathewasdisliked.“Youspeakof‘enemies,’” he wrote to one Baltimore journalist, “—could you give me theirnames?”But he was also being praised. An article in the St. Louis Bulletinremarkedthat“therearefewwritersinthiscountry—takeNeal,Irving,andWillisawayandwewouldsaynone—whocancompetesuccessfully,inmanyrespects,withPoe.”Poewasalwaysavidforapproval,andlikedtoadvertisethefactthathehadbeenfavourablymentioned.Sohewroteto the then editor of the American Museum, Joseph Evans Snodgrass,asking him to include this notice in any review of the Gentleman'sMagazine.OnalateroccasionhetoldSnodgrassthatWashingtonIrvinghimself “has addressed me 2 letters, abounding in high passages ofcompliment.” One contemporary noted that “no man living loved thepraises of others better than he did; whenever I happened tocommunicate to him anything touching his abilities as a writer, hisbosomwouldheave likea troubledsea.”Forallhisapparentpride,hehadadeeplongingtobeapplaudedandrecognised.Itmighthavebeenpartofhisorphanstatusintheworld.Hehadindeeddeservedpraise.SomeofhisfinesttaleswereevennowbeingreproducedintheGentleman'sMagazine,amongthem“TheFalloftheHouseofUsher”and“WilliamWilson.”Thesestories,togetherwithtwenty-threeothers,werepublishedbyLeaandBlanchardattheendof1839intwovolumesentitledTalesoftheGrotesqueandArabesque. Inashortpreface to thecollectionPoerepliedto thosecriticswhoaccusedhimof “Germanism”or“gloom.”“If inmanyofmyproductions terrorhasbeenthethesis,”hewrote,“ImaintainthatterrorisnotofGermanybutofthesoul.”Thestoryof thesoul's“terror”thatgainedmostattention,ofcourse,was“TheFalloftheHouseofUsher.”Ithasbecomeoneoftheclassicsoftheshortstoryor,rather,oftheprosepoem.Itisoneofthereasons

whyPoewasveneratedasamasterbywritersasdiverseasBaudelaireandMaeterlinck. It is a storyofunnameableperversities inahouseofthemind,aplacenotofthisearth.Itisasettingforbloodanddarknessandmystery.Roderick Usher is the remnant of a dark and decayed race, living

within a mansion imbued with “a pestilent and mystic vapour, dull,sluggish, faintly discernible, and leaden-hued.” He lives there, in fearand trembling, together with a sister, the LadyMadeline, who suffersfroma“severeandlong-continuedillness”thatnophysiciancanremedy.Sheexpires,evenwhile thenarratorof thestoryremains in thehouse,andRoderickUsherdeterminestopreservehercorpsefortwoweeksinone of the vaultswithin thewalls of the ancientmansion. There thenfollowscenesof turbulenceandclangour, inwhichcanbediscerneda“most unusual screaming or grating sound.” It is the Lady Madelinerisingfromherinterment,emaciatedandbloodyinhershroud.Shehasbeenprematurelyburied,but,onseeingherbrother,shediesandpullshimdownwithheronthefloor.Thereuponthenarratorflees.Thehouseitself is rivenand falls intoadark tarnormeerpoolbeside it,organicand inorganic life dissolving one with another. The morbid andobsessional material here, worked over with infinite finesse, issusceptibletovariousinterpretations,psychicorpsychotic.Thatiswhyithasendured.There were many reviewers who derided the material of Tales as

“slipshod” or “trash,” but there were also others who noticed theuniqueness of Poe's prose writing. The commentator in the AmericanMuseum, for example, believed that the “impress of genius is markedupon them all,” and the reviewer of Alexander's Weekly MessengerconcludedthatPoe“hasplacedhimselfintheforemostrankofAmericanwriters;” the Saturday Courier compared him to Coleridge. It issometimesasserted thatPoewas isolatedandneglected throughouthiswritingcareer.Butthatisemphaticallynotthecase.Hewaspraised,andcelebrated, inmanyquarters.Hewas inhisownlifetimeconsideredtobe one of the most important American writers. That recognition,however,didnotmean thathewas tobe spareda lifeofpovertyanddeprivation.HewasgivennopaymentforthenewlypublishedTales,forexample,

andhadtobecontentwithafewcopiesforhisowndistribution.Nordidthetwovolumessellwell,andthepublishers,twoyearslater,informedPoethattheyhadnotyet“gotthrough”theeditionof750copies.Poverty obliged the Poe household once more to move, but in the

right direction. Theydecamped fromSixteenth Street to a three-storeybrickhouseclosetotheSchuylkillRiver.Itwasattheotherendofthetown,andwasacheaperrent.ButPoefeltfreerbyrivers;hecouldstillswim,andheenjoyedboatingexpeditions.Heoftenfloatedontheriver,inasmallcraft,lostwithinawakingdream.Mrs.Clemmwasbusyaboutthehousework,andVirginiatendedtothegarden.Butifthiswasarefugefromtheworld,itwasnotaninviolableone.

ThomasDunnEnglishrecalled that“Iwaspassingalong thestreetonenightonmywayhomeward,whenIsawsomeonestruggling inavainattempt to raise himself from the gutter. Supposing the person hadtrippedand fallen, I bent forwardandassistedhim toarise. I found itwasPoe.”Englishvolunteeredtoassisthimhome,awaywardprogressasaresultofPoe's“apparentdesiretosurveythesidewalkbyaseriesoftriangles.”CharlesDickensdescribedPhiladelphiaas“ahandsomecity,butdistractinglyregular.Afterwalkingaboutitforanhourortwo,Ifeltthat Iwouldhavegiventheworld foracrookedstreet.”Poefoundhisownwayofmakingstraightroadscrooked.When eventually Poe and English arrived,Maria Clemmopened the

door and cried out, “Youmake Eddie drunk, and then you bring himhome.”Poedidnotreturntotheofficefortwoorthreedaysand,whennext he saw English, “he was heartily ashamed of the matter.” HeassuredEnglish that itwas an “unusual thing” andwouldnever occuragain.Severalweekslater,however,EnglishlearnedthatPoehadbeen“foundgloriouslydrunk in the street afternightfall.”Hedidnotdrinkregularly,inotherwords,but,whenhedid,hecouldnotstop.Theredmistfelluponhim.Therearereports,too,thathewasgettinginto“badcompany.” Thesewere no doubt the printers and hack journalists andpoetasters who frequented the offices of the local journals. Poe'semployer,WilliamBurton,wasbecomingsteadilydisenchantedwithhisassistant editor, and complained to anyonewhowould listen that Poehadbeengettingdrunkwhenheshouldhavebeenworking.Burton was in any case losing interest in the magazine. He was

engagedintheconstructioninPhiladelphiaofagrandlynamedNationalTheatre, and inMay 1840 he advertised theGentleman'sMagazine forsale.Poe,learningofhisintentions,decidedtoannouncetheimminentarrivalofhisownjournalunderhisowneditorship.The separation of owner and assistant editor was inevitable. At theendofthemonthPoewasdismissedfromtheGentleman'sMagazine;or,rather, he claimed that he had retired “in uncontrollable disgust” atBurton's “chicanery, arrogance, ignorance and brutality.”He had beenwriting a serial of adventure for themagazine, “The Journal of JuliusRodman,” but he broke it off practically inmid-sentence. It remainedunfinished. In the pages of the Gentleman's Magazine itself Burtonretaliated by printing an apologetic letter to a subscriberwhose namehad been “erased from our list by the personwhose ‘infirmities’ havecausedusmuchannoyance.”InturnPoedescribedBurtonasa“felon”aswellasa“buffoon.”Abriefpartnershiphadoncemoreendedindisaster.Poewasserious,however,aboutthealternativejournalunderhisowneditorship.Hehad been contemplating the idea for some time, and inJunehecomposedaprospectusforwhatheentitledthePennMagazine;thenamewasapunon“pen”andtheabbreviationofPennsylvania.Heanticipated the “versatility, originality and pungency” of itscontributions; he declared that it would soon become known as aperiodical“wheremaybefound,atalltimes,anduponallsubjects,anhonestandafearlessopinion;”itwouldbelong“totheloftiestregionsofliterature.”Anditwouldcostfivedollarsperannum.Hewasconvincedthatitwouldmakehisfortune,andatonestrokeremovehimfromtheimportunitiesofanyemployer.HewassureofhisabilitytoreshapeortoreformulateAmericanletters.Almostatoncehebegantowritetoeditors,publishers,andjournalistsin the hope of acquiring a subscription list. Hewanted to gather fivehundred names by the beginning of December, thus putting hisenterpriseona secure foundation.Heevenwrote toothermembersofthe Poe family in search of financial contributions. He was alsogatheringmaterial forthefirstnumber,whichheconfidentlypredictedwould be ready by the beginning of 1841. Yet his ambitions, at thisstage,outranhisachievement.Hefoundthepreliminarywork“difficultandmostarduous,”andtowardstheendoftheyearhecontractedsome

unspecifiedailmentthatconsignedhimtobedforamonth.This“severeillness,”ashecalledit,effectivelydelayedhisplansforpublication.HealteredthedateofthefirstissuefromJanuarytoMarch1841.Butthenin February there was another financial crash or panic in which themajorbanks inPhiladelphia, and theSouth,were forced to close theirdoors.ItwastheworstpossiblemomentforPoe'sventure.Itcollapsed.Itwasapartoftheillfortunethatfollowedhimeverywhere.So how was he now to live? In a life of unrest and poverty hedependeduponthemerestchancetorescuehisfamilyfromdevastation.ThatchancereturnedintheshapeoftheerstwhileGentleman'sMagazine.William Burton had sold the journal to a young lawyer fromPhiladelphia,GeorgeRexGraham.GrahampromptlychangedthetitletoGraham'sLady'sandGentleman'sMagazine,but,withlittlejournalisticorliterary experience, he needed someone to assist him. Burton himselfmighthaverecommendedtheassistanteditorwhomhehadfiredeightmonthspreviously.Animosities, in thisworld, rarely endured for long.And so, in the spring of 1841, Graham offered Poe a salary of eighthundred dollars a year as editor of the book reviews. Poe acceptedimmediately—with“greatpleasure,”asheputit—andoncemoresettoworkonanother'sbehalf.A somewhat sentimental and saccharine affair, with well-meaningversesandtame“thrillers”andillustrationsofpetsandchildren,itwasnot the ideal literary journal of his prospectus. Yet Poe dismissed anymisgivingshemighthavefelt,andoverthenexttwoyearspublishedinits pages some nine new stories, fifty-one reviews, and fifteen essays.Hereappeared, forexample,“TheMurders intheRueMorgue”and“ADescentintotheMaelstrom.”He considered it a temporary appointment, however, designed toshield him from immediate hardship. Just fivemonths after acceptingthe post he was actively seeking a clerkship in a political office inWashington.TheintermediarywasFrederickW.Thomas,whomhehadmet a year before at a convention in Philadelphia. Thomas was anovelist and journalist who had known Poe's brother, Henry; he alsodrankagreatdeal,andhadaspirationstoliteraryfame.Soafriendshipwas formed.Thomaswas in factoneof the fewclose friendsPoeevermade. Thomas had acquired a sinecure inWashington, sifting through

applicationstothedepartmentoftheTreasury,andheheldouttoPoetheprospectofsimilaremployment.Poewrotebackenthusiastically.Hewas “really serious about the office.” He confided to Thomas that“notwithstandingGraham's unceasing civility, and real kindness, I feelmore&moredisgustedwithmy situation.”Hewasahiredhandonamediocrepublication.Yethewasearningthelargestincomehehadsofarenjoyed.Hetold

oneacquaintancethat“Iamtemperateeventorigor,”andforthefirsttime in his adult life he was free of debt. He purchased someunaccustomed luxuries, includinga four-posterbed, aporcelaindinnerservice, and, for Virginia, a piano and a harp. He attended literarydinners,minglingwithotherauthorsandotherpublishers,andwasalsoafrequentvisitoratGraham'sowntable.ItisreportedthatMariaClemmwould wait in Graham's kitchen, with the express purpose of keepingPoefromexcessivedrinkingandofaccompanyinghimhome.ThehopeofaWashingtonpost, likeallofPoe'saspirations,cameto

nothing. But, in the autumn of 1841, he reached an agreement withGrahamtostayathiseditorialpostthroughthefollowingyear.ThereiseveryreasonwhyGrahamwouldwishhimtocontinue.Thecirculationof the periodical had climbed from five thousand to twenty-fivethousand,andthatrisehadmorethanalittletodowiththepublicationofPoe'stalesandreviews.ThroughhisagencyGraham'sMagazine,as itwasuniversally called,would soonbecome the largest sellingmonthlymagazineinAmerica.Poe once described himself as “essentially a Magazinist,” and, in

certainrespects,hedidhavethesensibilityofajournalist.Hehadaneyeforeffect,apredilectionfornovelty,aninterestincontemporarycrazessuchasphrenologyandballooning, anda shrewdnotionof thepublictaste for “sensation.” He wrote to one correspondent that the wholetendencyoftheagewastowardsmagazineliterature—“tothecurt, theterse, thewell timed,andthereadilydiffused, inpreferenceto theoldformsoftheverboseandponderous…”Itmightalmostbeadefinitionofhisfiction.Hewasalwaysinthemarketplace.After Poe's death, Graham wrote a tribute to him in which he

describedhimas“punctualandunweariedinhisindustry—andthesoulofhonor, in all his transactions…Hekept his accounts, small as they

were, with the accuracy of a banker.” He also extolled him as a“polished gentleman” and a “devoted husband,” even in “his high-heartedstrugglewithadversefate.”GrahamleftasmalldetailthathelpstoexplainthenatureofthePoehousehold:“Whathereceivedfrommein regular monthly instalments, went directly into the hands of hismother-in-law…”Poebelievednowthathehadwrittenenoughnewtales, inGraham's

Magazine and elsewhere, to offer an expanded volume of them to Leaand Blanchard. He wished it to be called Phantasy Pieces and wouldincludethetalesalreadypublishedbythatfirmunderthetitleofTalesoftheGrotesqueandArabesque,aswellaseightmorerecentlywrittentales.LeaandBlanchardrefusedtheoffer,onthegroundsthat theystillhadunsoldstockofthepreviouspublication.Among the rejected tales was “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,”

whichinlateryearswashailedastheharbingerofthemoderndetectivestory. Itwas fashioned around the character of C. AugusteDupin, theFrenchdetectivewhoresolvesthemostgrotesqueorambiguouscrimeswith the keen logic of calculation. Dupin might be a version of hisauthor. Poe prided himself on his intimacy with the secrets ofcryptography,andsuccessfullyresolvedthemostapparentlyinsolubleorenigmaticcodes.HeevenstartedaseriesofpapersinGraham'sMagazineinwhichhechallengedallexponentsof“secretmessages.”Helovedtheideaofunravelling secretwritings,of saying theun-sayable.Could theidea of the secret also be related to the mystery of his father'sdisappearance and of hismother's supposeddisgrace?Heboasted to afriend that “nothing intelligible can be written which, with time, Icannotdecipher.”Andsoitproved.He said that “thehighest order of the imaginative intellect is always

pre-eminently mathematical” and that genius itself consisted of“method.” But the assumption of analysis and calculation was in partartificial:heconfessedthat thepowerofhisstudies lay in their“airofmethod.”Poeevincedanotherformofcalculation,too.Hewasoftenverysly,or

subtle, in his dealing with other people. He was a great calculator inhumanrelationships,everwatchfulofhimselfandofothers.He stroveaftercertaineffectswiththebrillianteaseofabornmanipulator.Inone

letterheconfessedthat“thepeevishnesswasall‘puton’asapartofmyargument—ofmy plan:—sowas the ‘indignation’withwhich Iwoundup.” Yet there is something almost childlike about this trait in hischaracter.He sufferedagoniesafteranydrinkingbout, inpartbecausehehatedthesensationoflosingallsenseofcalculation.Many of his most successful stories are, therefore, “tales of

ratiocination.”Theword “detective”wasnot coineduntil 1843.Dupinis, perhaps, the first. As such he is the forerunner of such diverse“ratiocinators”asSherlockHolmesandFatherBrown.AsArthurConanDoyleputit,Poe“wasfatherofthedetectivetale,andcovereditslimitssocompletelyIfailtoseehowhisfollowerscanfindgroundtocalltheirown.”Dupinisabachelor,withanamanuensiswhorecordsthedetailsof his investigation; he has only a provisional contactwith the police,whocometosolicithishelpwiththecrimestheycannotsolve.In“TheMurdersintheRueMorgue,”theseconcernthegruesomemurdersofamother and young daughter. But Dupin subjects these events toimpersonal and objective analysis. He is the Newton of the criminalworld.ThroughaprocessofdeductionandeliminationDupincomestotheconclusionthattheperpetratorwasnotahumanbeingatall.Sohesetsatrap.Poedescribedthestoryas“somethinginanewkey.”One of the other stories of this period, “Eleanora,” has a curious

resonanceinPoe'slife.Thenarrator,Pyrros,hasmarriedhisfifteen-year-oldcousin. “We livedallalone,knowingnothingof theworldwithoutthevalley—I,andmycousin,andhermother.”ThisisanimageofPoe'sownexistence,ofcourse,butinhisimaginationeventstakeafatalturn.The young bride dies of consumption. Before her death she wrings apromisefromPyrrosthathewillneverloveanotherwoman.But,inthat,he proves false to her. The rest of the story is not important,with itsmaladroit “happyending,”but therewasanotherandmore immediateparallel. A fewmonths after this storywas composed, Virginia herselfsuccumbedtothefirststagesofconsumption.

I

TheManWhoNeverSmiled

nthemiddleofJanuary1842,VirginiaPoehadbeensingingatthepiano,oneofherfavouritepastimes,whenshestoppedsuddenly;she

begancoughingupblood.Poeconsideredittobetheruptureofabloodvessel,buttheeffusionismorelikelytohavebeenfromherweakenedlungs.After the irruption she required the utmost attention, but

circumstances were far from ideal for the care of an invalid. Oneneighbourreportedthatshewasobligedtolieinanarrowbed,inatinybedroomwithaceilingsolowthatherheadalmosttouchedit;hereshesuffered, hardly able to breathe. But no one dared to mention thecramped surroundings to Poe, who had become “oversensitive andirritable;” “quick as steel and flint” said one who knew him in thosedays.Grahamrecalledthathewouldhoverabouthiswife'sbed,alerttoeverytremorandcoughwith“ashudder,aheart-chillthatwasvisible.”And hewould not allow aword about the danger of her dying—“thementionofitdrovehimwild.”Yethestillwroteaboutdeathendlessly.In“LifeinDeath,”apainter

wishes toportrayhisyoungbride;but, in the turret roomwhich ishisstudio,shepinesandsickens todeath.Bypaintingher,hekillsher. Inthe same year Poe wrote “The Masque of the Red Death,” a story ofdeath and pestilence inwhich “bloodwas its Avatar and its seal—theredness and the horror of blood.” He wrote “The Mystery of MarieRoget,” in which a young girl is murdered by person or personsunknown. He wrote “The Tell-Tale Heart,” a story of intolerableintensity told by amaniac; this close and almost suffocating narrativeconcludes with a cry of terror, “here, here! it is the beating of hishideousheart!”Inthissameyear,too,hewrote“Lenore,”anencomiumuponayoungwomanand“Adirgeforherthedoublydeadinthatshediedsoyoung.”Hewanderedaboutthestreetsforhours,indespair,untilMrs.Clemm

became so alarmed by his absence that shewould leave the house insearchofhim.Atthistime,too,hebeganoncemoretodrink.Inperiods

oftheutmostdistressandanxiety,itwasforhimthenaturalcourse.Noforceonearthcouldhavepreventedhim.OfVirginiahewrotethat“ateachaccessionofthedisorderIlovedhermoredearlyandclungtoherlifewithmoredesperatepertinacity.”But then “I became insane,withlong intervals of horrible sanity. During these fits of absoluteunconsciousness,Idrank—Godonlyknowshowoftenorhowmuch.”Herelatedthedrinktotheinsanity,butitismorelikelythatthetemporaryinsanity emerged from the drink. He had an unusually nervousconstitution,andanyassaultuponithaddangerousconsequences.In the spring of 1842 he resigned from Graham's, on the apparentgrounds of his “disgust with the namby-pamby character of theMagazine…Ialludetothecontemptiblepictures,fashion-plates,musicand love tales.” But the real reasons lie deeper. He had once morebecome “irregular” in his editorial habits. He and a colleague hadquarrelledviolently,nodoubtwhenPoewas indrink.Then, afteroneforced absence of some days, he returned to the office only to findsomeone else occupying his chair. He had no choice but to leave. Hewouldnotwillingly have forfeited an annual incomeof eight hundreddollars.Hetoldoneacquaintanceinaletterthatinanycase“thestateofmymind” had forced him to abandon “all mental exertion.” His wife'sillness, his own ill health and poverty “have nearly driven me todistraction. My only hope of relief is the ‘Bankrupt Act’… but thestruggle to keep up has, at length, entirely ruined me.” In the lastsentencesofthis letterhewrotethat“Mrs.Poeisagaindangerouslyillwithhaemorrhagefromthelungs.Itisfollytohope.”Itseemedthattheworldwasclosinginaroundhim;nothingbutdarknesslayaheadofhim.It was in this period that hewrote “The Pit and the Pendulum.” Yet,againstalltheodds,hedidhope.HehopedtoobtainaclerkshipintheCustomsHouseatPhiladelphia,againthroughtheagencyofThomas.Hehopedtorevivetheplansforhisownjournal,thePennMagazine.Therewasonecuriousincident,however,intheearlysummerof1842thatthrowsadifferentlightuponhishighexpectations.PoehaddecidedtotraveltoNewYorkinordertofindjournalisticwork,andtocontactpublisherslikelytolookfavourablyuponanewcollectionofhisstories.But he drank himself into a state of inanition. He decided, in that

condition,tocallupontheoldfriendor“sweetheart”hehadknowninBaltimoreelevenyearsbefore;MaryDevereaux,or“BaltimoreMary”ashe called her in memory of happier times, had now become Mrs.Jennings. He had forgotten where she lived in Jersey City, and spentmany hours crossing and recrossing the Hudson River on the ferry,accosting strangers and asking for her address. Eventually, by somemiracle, he obtained it. He was fleeing from a sick wife to a youngwoman,onetowhomhemayoncehavebeenunofficiallyengaged.Hewas seeking some comfort, some recompense, in the memory of anearlieraffection.Hisunexpected arrival caused somethingof a commotion, andMaryrecalledthat“wesawhewasononeofhissprees,andhehadbeenawayfromhome for several days.”Hewas, in otherwords, disoriented anddirtyanddishevelled.Hereproachedhishostessforhermarriage,sayingthat in truth she loved him only. This is an odd remark, from amanwhose own wife was fatally ill. He asked Mary to sing and play thepiano,meanwhilebecoming“excitedinconversation.”Poethenmincedup some radishes with such fury that pieces of them flew about theroom.Hedrankacupoftea,anddeparted.SeveraldayslaterMariaClemmarrivedatthesamehouse,desperatelylooking for“Eddiedear.”According toMary,“asearchwasmade,andhe was finally found in the woods on the outskirts of Jersey City,wanderingaboutlikeacrazyman.”Thestorymayhavebeenelaborated,but the gist seems authentic enough.No one could havemade up thedetailabouttheradishes.

•••

He visited New York on another occasion, when again he becameincapacitatedbydrink.Hewroteanapologetic letter toa friend there,asking him to be “kind enough to put the best possible interpretationuponmybehaviourwhileinN-York?Youmusthaveconceivedaqueerideaofme—but the simple truth is thatWallace [apoet]would insistuponthejuleps,andIknewnotwhatIwaseitherdoingorsaying.”Itwashishabittoblameothersfortheextentofhisdrinking.Itwas,perhaps,theonlywayhecouldmakesenseofit.

Bythefollowingyearthenewsofhisdrinkinghadbecomepartofthegossip of Philadelphia. An acquaintance of his from Baltimore days,Lambert Wilmer, told a mutual friend that “he is going headlong todestruction,moral,physicalandintellectual.”Poewasinsuchstraitenedcircumstancesthathewasofferinghislatesttale,“TheMysteryofMarieRoget,” at a low price to both the Boston Notion and the BaltimoreSaturdayVisiter.The lossofany regular incomehadconsigned thePoehouseholdtoastateofrealdistress.Theymovedtoasmallerhouseonthe outskirts of Philadelphia,where Frederick Thomas visited them intheautumnof1842.Henoticedthat“everythingabouttheplaceworean air of pecuniary want” and that “there was delay and evidentdifficulty inprocuring themeal.”MariaClemmandVirginiaexpressedthewishtoThomasthat“Eddie”mightobtainsomekindofsteadywork,but “I was not long in observing with deep regret that he had fallenagainintohabitsofintemperance.”Theymadeanarrangementtomeetthefollowingday,butPoedidnotkeeptheappointment;hewrotelatertosaythathehadfallenill.Itwashisusualexcuse.He was still actively pursuing the position of clerk in the Customs

House at Philadelphia. He believed the post to be assured but, as soofteninhislife,hishopeswereraised“onlytobedashedtotheground.”ThatwasthephraseheusedinalettertoThomas,inwhichhedetailedthe insolenceandhauteurof thepettyofficial inwhomhehadplacedhis trust. It was always his fate to be thwarted. It cannot be said,however, that he had any interest in any form of governmentadministration.Hewaswhollyoutof sympathywithAmericanpoliticsandquestionedonce“IsitorisitnotafactthattheairofaDemocracyagreesbetterwithmereTalentthanwithGenius?”Hewasaproponentofslavery,andabelieverinwhathecalled“caste.”Hehadnofaithinprogress,orindemocracy,andsowasinarealsensedivorcedfromthelife of America—or at least of that spirit embodied by the Northernstates.Yet he had been hoping for the appointment, too, as a means of

continuinghisschemeforaliteraryjournalunderhisdirection.Hehadbeenconfidentlyplanningforthepublicationofthefirstnumberatthebeginningof1843;butinthis,asinsomanyoftheaffairsofhislife,hewas disappointed. Even as he was dogged with ill luck, however,

someoneelseturneduptorescuehim.HebecameacquaintedwiththeeditorofthePhiladelphiaSaturdayMuseum,ThomasC.Clarke,whowasthe perfect partner in the enterprise. Poe had decided to rename theprospectivejournal,changingitfromthePenntotheStylus.Clarkehadagreedtofinancetheventure,whileallowingPoeahalf-interestinit.Atlast Poe had achieved “the great object—a partner possessing amplecapital,and,atthesametime,solittleself-esteem,astoallowmeentirecontroloftheeditorialconduct.”Wasittoogoodtobetrue?Armedwithasignedagreement,Poedistributedanewprospectusonthemeritsofamagazinethatwouldbeestablishedupon“thepurestrulesofArt”andwould“farsurpassallAmericanjournalsofitskind.”Hewishedittobe“thegreatliteraryjournalofthefuture,”ashetoldoneacquaintance.Healso embarked upon a course of self-advertisement by arranging for asketchofhislifetobeprintedintheSaturdayMuseumitself.Itwaslittlemore thana “puff,”buthebelieved that itwouldmateriallyassist thefortunesoftheStylus.Heprovidedthematerialhimself,ofcourse,butitdidnoterronthesideofveracity.ItwasrevealedthatPoehadtravelledtoGreeceandtoRussia,andthathehadsomehowreturnedfromEuropeonthenightofFrancesAllan'sfuneral.Hewasdescribedas“somewhatslender, about five feet, eight inches in height, andwellproportioned;hiscomplexionisratherfair,hiseyesaregreyandrestless,exhibitingamarked nervousness; while the mouth indicates great decision ofcharacter…”The Spirit of the Times, another Philadelphian journal, noticed thebiographical sketch and applauded Poe as one “of themost powerful,chasteanderuditewritersof theday.”TheMuseum in turnannouncedthatPoewastobecomeitsassociateeditorandthathisfame“shallbeplacedbeyondthereachofconjecture.”Itwasajointenterpriseinlog-rollingthatnodoubtappealedtoPoe'svanity.Infactheneverdidjointhe staff of theMuseum. It was another of the convenient fictions bywhichhechosetolive.HishopesfortheStylus,however,senthimtoWashingtoninsearchofsubscribers. He was also planning to renew his endless quest for aclerkship, and even entertained a fantasy of meeting President Tylerhimself in order to plead for his cause. It was not, however, anauspicious journey.Almost as soon as he had taken a roomat Fuller's

City Hotel, he began to drink. On the first evening, according to anacquaintance, he was “over-persuaded to take some Port wine” andbecame“somewhatexcited.”Twodays laterhemeta fellow journaliston the street who reported him to be “seedy in appearance andwoebegone.”Hebeggedfiftycents,complainingthat“hehadnothadamouthful of food since the day previous.” On the following day Poehimselfwrotetohisnewpartner,ThomasClarke,withthenewsthat“IbelievethatIammakingasensationwhichwilltendtothebenefitoftheMagazine.”This was sheer self-delusion on his part, although he was perhaps

creating a “sensation” in quite a different sense. He was once moredrinkingtoexcess.TheeditoroftheWashingtonIndex,JesseDow,hadknown Poe four years before. They had worked together on Burton'smagazine inPhiladelphia.Nowhehad theunenviable jobof escortingPoethroughthecity.DowtriedtoescapetheresponsibilitybywritingasolemnlettertoClarke,tellinghimthat“Ithinkitadvisableforyoutocomeonand seehimsafelyback tohishome.”Dowadded that “Mrs.Poeisinabadstateofhealth,andIchargeyou,asyouhaveasoultobesaved,tosaynotonewordtoherabouthimuntilhearriveswithyou.”ThreedayslaterPoeboardedthetrainfromWashingtontoPhiladelphia,wherehefoundMariaClemmanxiouslywaitingforhimatthestation.That evening he visited Clarke, no doubt in order to dispel anyunfortunate impressions Clarke might have derived from Dow's letter.“Hereceivedme,therefore,verycordially&madelightofthematter,”hewrotetoThomasandDowjointly.“Itoldhimwhathadbeenagreedupon—thatIwasalittlesick&thatDow,knowingIhadbeen,intimespast, given to spreeing upon an extensive scale, had become undulyalarmedetcetera…”Sohehadagreeduponastorywithhisintimatestocoverhisexcesses.But there is no doubt that he was once again mortified by his

behaviourundertheinfluenceofdrink.ToDowhewrote“thankyouathousand times for your kindness & great forbearance, & don't say aword about the cloak turned inside out, or other peccadilloes of thatnature.Also,expresstoyourwifemydeepregretforthevexationImusthaveoccasionedher.”ThenheaskedThomas to sendhis compliments“totheDon,whosemustachiosIdoadmireafterall…expressmyregret

toMr.Fullerformakingsuchafoolofmyselfinhishouse…”Sohehadparadedthroughthestreetswearinghiscloakinsideout,andhadmadefunofaSpaniard'smoustache.Hehadalsobehavedbadlyinsomeone'shouse.Thesearenothangingoffences,andmayhavebeenasourceofamusement to thosearoundhim.Buthehadadeep senseofpride, aswell as an instinctive senseof formality andcontrol.When thesewereabrogatedandinjured,hefellintosicknessandgrief.Hisillnesseswerecausednotbyphysicaloverindulgencebutbyguiltyself-laceration.Theresultof theWashingtondebaclewas,ofcourse, thathedidnot

gainan interviewwithPresidentTyleror retainanyhopeofobtainingthe clerkship. It is also doubtfulwhether he enlistedmany subscribersforthenewperiodical.Or,ifhehad,thathewouldbeabletorememberthem. “Didyou sayDow,”hewrote tohis friend inapostscript, “thatCommodoreElliothaddesiredmetoputdownhisname?IsitsoordidIdream it?” Poe was completely unsuited to arranging the economicmanagement,orfinancialfuture,ofanyenterprise.

•••

SoonafterhisreturnfromWashington,thePoehouseholddecampedonceagain.Thepressureofdebtkept themmovingon.Theyhadnowarrived in a suburb of Philadelphia, in the district known as SpringGarden, and were lodged in a wooden plank-built “lean-to” of threerooms. This was the account of their dwelling given by a neighbour,Captain Wayne Reid, who became acquainted with them. Reidcharacterised Maria Clemm as “a woman of middle age, and almostmasculineaspect.”Itseemedastonishingtohimthatsheshouldbethemotherof“aladyangelicallybeautifulinpersonandnotlessbeautifulinspirit.”Reidalso leftadescriptionofMariaClemm's familial role. “Shewas

theevervigilantguardianofthehome,”hewrote,“watchingitagainstthe silentbut continuous sapofnecessity…Shewas the sole servant,keepingeverythingclean;thesolemessenger,doingtheerrands,makingthepilgrimagesbetweenthepoetandhispublishers…Andshewasalsothemessengertothemarket;fromitbringingbacknot‘thedelicaciesofthe season,’ but only such commodities aswere called for by the dire

exigenciesofhunger.”Yetdespiteitsprivations,andVirginia'sillness,thefamilyappearedtootherstoberelativelycontented.Anotherneighbourrecalledthatinthemornings “Mrs. Clemmand her daughterwould be generallywateringtheflowers…Theyseemedalwayscheerfulandhappy,andIcouldhearMrs. Poe's laugh before I turned the corner. Mrs. Clemm was alwaysbusy. Ihaveseenherofmorningsclearing the frontyard,washing thewindowsandthestoop,andevenwhite-washingthepalings.”Everyoneremarkedupontheneatness,andcleanliness,ofthevariousPoeabodes.MariaClemmalsorentedoutthefrontroomoftheSpringGardenhousetolodgers.Thiswasonewayofalleviatingtheirendlesspoverty.AndwhatofPoehimself?Anotherneighbour,LydiaHartGarrigues,ayoung girl who lived on the same street, recalled that he “wore aSpanishcloak.”Shenotedthat“Iwasalwaysimpressedwiththegraveandthoughtfulaspectofhisface…He,hiswifeandMrs.Clemmkepttothemselves. They had the reputation of being very reserved— wethought because of their poverty and his greatwant of success.”MissGarriguesaddedthat“itwasnotuntilafter‘TheRaven’waspublished…thatweknewhimasa literary figure.” Itmighthave interestedher toknow that, in fact, Poe had already begun thewriting of that famouspoemwhile residing inSpringGarden. Ithada longgestation, andbyPoe's account it was accompanied by an amount of calculation andtechnical experiment that would have wearied Milton and Sophoclescombined.Hewantedthebirdtobeanowl,butthenchangedhismind.Sohere,inPhiladelphia,washatchedtheraven.There also emerged a prize-winning short story. Poe's tale ofadventure and detection, “TheGold Bug,”won a hundred dollar prizefrom the Dollar Newspaper. It is a story concerning the discovery ofhiddentreasure,setintheneighbourhoodofSullivan'sIsland,wherePoehad been stationed as a private soldier fifteen years before. Thesubtropicalbeaches,withtheir“denseundergrowthofthesweetmyrtle…burtheningtheairwithits fragrance,”provide theatmosphere foratale of invisible ink and cryptography, enigmatic codes and secretinstructions. “The Gold Bug” may not hold sufficient interest for acontemporaryaudience,butPoe's firstreadersdeemedit“aproductionof superior merit” in which all the pleasures of verisimilitude were

maintainedwithinthecontextofaquestforfabledgold.Poecouldquiterightlybe construedas a secondDefoe,whoseRobinsonCrusoe he hadpraisedveryhighly for its constantpursuitofveracityandprobability.TheSaturdayMuseum,Poe'susualchampion,describedthestoryas“themost remarkable piece of American fiction that has been publishedwithin the last fifteen years.” The edition of the Dollar Newspapercontainingthefirstpartwassoldout.Therewasonereader,however,whowasnotsoimpressedbywhathecalled “unmitigated trash” and a piece of “humbug”—the “humbug”consisting of that very air of veracity cast over a series of remarkableevents.Theauthorof this attack,F.H.Duffee, then suggested thatPoehad actually been paid only ten or fifteen dollars rather than thesupposed full prize. So Poe sued him for libel, claiming that his“characterforintegrity”hadbeeninjured.Hehiredalawyer,andsignedan affidavit in the District Court. There weremanywhomade fun ofPoe'ssuddensensitivity,notingthathehadinthepastpublished“severeandscorchingcriticisms”ofhisown.Buttheactioncametonothing.AweekafterPoe'sappearanceincourt,heandDuffeemet,resolvedtheirdifferences,andsignedanagreement.On hearing the news of the prize from the Dollar Newspaper, Poe'scousin,WilliamPoe,senthimacongratulatoryletterinwhichhehopedthatthemoneywouldhelptorelieve“thesickness&despondencyyouwere sufferingwhenyou lastwrote.” SoPoehadbeenannouncinghisfeelingseventomembersofhisownfamily.WilliamPoealsowishedtocaution his cousin against that “which has been a great enemy to ourfamily.”The enemywas, of course, a “too freeuseof theBottle.”TheBottle was the demon of the Poes. In the summer of 1843 Poe wassatirised in print as a drunkard. He was lampooned in a novel byThomas Dunn English, The Drunkard's Doom, in which he wascharacterised as “the very incarnation of treachery and falsehood.” Itwasthefirst,butbynomeansthelast,occasionthatPoeenteredaworkoffiction.Hisappearancewasalsotheobjectofmuchcommentandspeculation.Hewas five feeteight inches inheight,andheldhimselferectwithanalmostmilitarybearing;heinvariablyworeblack,withablackfrockcoatandblackcravatasifhewereinperpetualmourning.Hewasofslender,

orslight,build;hehaddarkbrownhair, slightlycurled,andgreyeyesthatwerevariouslydescribedas“restless”oras“largeandliquid.”Hisbroad forehead was noticeable, emphasising what was known in thelanguageofphrenology(inwhichhebelieved)asthe“bumpofideality.”Hismouthwasthin,andseemedtoothers tobeexpressiveofscornordiscontent; sometimes it seemedeven to forma sneer.His complexionwas pale, his features very fine. In 1845 he grew amoustache,whichwas long rather thanheavy.Hismannerwas “nervous and emphatic,”his visage prone to what one contemporary called the “nervousness ofexpressionsopeculiartoPoe.”Thatexpressionwasgenerallydeemedtobesadormelancholyorsombreorgraveordreamy.Ajudiciousmixtureof thesewill give an approximate clue to his general appearance. Buttherewas one other detail. In the extant photographs therewas somecontrastordisjunctionbetweentherightandleftsidesoftheface,withslightbutnoticeabledifferences in theeyeandmouth,browandchin.Onesidewasweakerthantheother.

•••

In the autumnof 1843Poe told a fellowwriter inPhiladelphia that“his wife and Mrs. Clemm were starving.” So fifteen dollars werepromptly raised from journalists and others; an hour after the moneyhad been given to Poe, “he was found in a state of intoxication inDecatur Street.”Thiswas the street thatharboured theDecaturCoffeeHouse,whichadvertisedits“MintJuleps,Cobblers,EggNoggsetcetera.”He had in themeantime been disappointedwith the sales of a new

editionofhistales.Graham'sbrotherhadagreedtopublisha“UniformSerial Edition of the Prose Romances of Edgar A. Poe.” It was tocomprisea seriesofcheaplyproducedpamphlets,atapriceof twelve-and-a-halfcents,butthefirstofthemincludedonly“TheMurdersintheRueMorgue”and“TheManthatWasUsedUp.”Itwasnoticedbytwoorthreelocaljournals,butthefactthatnofurtherpamphletswereissuedisproofenoughthat theenterprisewasnotasuccess.Therewereseveraltales,nowwrittenbutstillnotpublished—amongthem“ThePrematureBurial.”“ThePurloinedLetter,”and“ThouArttheMan.”ItcanbesaidwithsomecertaintythatPoe'struegeniuswasnotrecogniseduntilafterhisdeath.

Sowithhisauthorialcareerinabeyance,hisjournalisticcareerinthedoldrums, and his plans for the Stylus indefinitely postponed, heembarkeduponacourseoflectures.On21November1843headdressedan audience in Philadelphia on “American Poetry;” according to theUnitedStatesGazette“hundreds…wereunabletogainadmission”totheJulianna Street Church where the lecture was held. It was successfulenough,inanycase,forhimtorepeattheexperienceintheTemperanceHallinWilmington,atNewarkAcademyinDelaware,attheMechanicsInstitute in Reading, and at the Lecture Room of the PhiladelphiaMuseum.HethenwentontotheOddFellows’HallinBaltimore.He was trenchant. He denounced the system of “puffery” then in

voguewiththeAmericanpress,andexposedthefraudulenceofauthorsreviewingtheirownbooksorpraisingthoseoftheirfriends.ThesewerenotfaultsfromwhichPoehimselfwasfree.Hethenwentontoexaminethe merits of the American poets, concentrating largely upon the“collections,” or anthologies, which were then highly popular. Hesingled out Rufus Griswold's Poets and Poetry of America, which hepraisedas the “best”of the current compilations, but then condemnedGriswold, the editor, for “a miserable want of judgement—the worstspecimensbeingchoseninsteadofthebest—andanextravagantamountofspacebeingallottedtopersonalfriends…”Poe hadmet Griswold two years before, and they had circled each

otherinmutualsuspicionmaskedbyprofessedadmiration.GriswoldhadsucceededPoeatGraham'sMagazine,wherehegaineda reputation forliterarychicanery.Butthepublicationofhisanthologyin1842broughthimameasureofsuccess.Poewasambivalent,describingitas“amostoutrageoushumbug”toaprivatecorrespondentwhilelaudingitinprintas“themostimportantadditionwhichourliteraturehasformanyyearsreceived.” The protestation was not enough. When a wholly andsarcastically negative review of Griswold's anthology appeared in theSaturdayMuseum,Griswoldassumed(wrongly,asithappened)thatPoehadcomposedit.ThentherecamePoe'sanimadversionsuponthebookinhisseriesoflectures.ButGriswoldeventuallyhadhisrevenge.AfterPoe's death he would be responsible for the most lethal characterassassinationinthehistoryofAmericanliterature.

•••

In April 1844 the Poe household was on the move again, itsdestination being once more New York. The fact that his previousexperiencestherehadbeenalmostuniformlyunhappydidnotdeterhim.WhatcouldbeworsethanpovertyinPhiladelphia?Poe and Virginiawent on ahead, travelling by train and steamboat,

and the morning after their arrival Poe sent a long letter to MariaClemm.“Whenwegottothewharf,”hereported,“itwasraininghard.Ileftheronboardtheboat,afterputtingthetrunksintheLadies’Cabin,and set off to buy an umbrella and bought one for 62 cents.” Heoriginallywrote“56,”andthenchangeditto“62.”TheextraexpenseofsixcentswasimportantforonesuchasMariaClemm.PoewentupGreenwichStreet,andsoonfoundaboardinghousethat

surpassedhisexpectations.“Lastnight,forsupper,wehadthenicestteayoueverdrank…”Thenhewenton to expatiateupon themeats andcheesesandbreadsplacedon the tablebefore them.Virginia,or“Sis,”“has coughed hardly any and had no night sweat. She is now busymendingmy pantswhich I tore against a nail.” For Poe, this letter isremarkablyunguarded.Headdedinamatteroffactmannerthathewasgoingouttoborrowmoney—asignofhowcommonanoccupationthathadbecomeforhim—andnotedthat“Ifeelinexcellentspirits&haven'tdrankadrop—sothatIhopesotogetoutoftrouble.”Thisistheclearestsign thatPoewasanhabitualdrinker,and thatMariaClemmknew it.Therewasnoneedforobfuscationorexcuse.Ifhestayedclearofdrink,then he might also stay out of “trouble”—the trouble being generalwretchedness,andaninabilitytowork.Thistime,hestayedtruetohisword.Withinaweekofhisarrivalhe

had sold a story of sensation to theNew York Sun. On April 13 thatnewspaper carried the headline, ASTOUNDING INTELLIGENCE BYPRIVATE EXPRESS FROM CHARLESTON VIA NORFOLK! THEATLANTICOCEANCROSSEDINTHREEDAYS!!ARRIVALATSULLIVANS ISLAND OF A STEERING BALLOON INVENTED BY MR. MONCKMASON!! It was one of Poe's most successful “spoofs” or “hoaxes,” agameinwhichhedelighted.Itsuitedhispropensitybothforcalculationand for comedy. The newspaper published an extra edition that

afternoon,anditwasrapidlysoldout.Poewrotethat“Ineverwitnessedmore intense excitement to get possession of a newspaper.” Thenewsboyswere charging outrageous prices, and Poe himself could notgetholdofacopyallthatday.Twodayslater,afterachorusofdisbeliefand disapproval, theSun retracted its “scoop.” But the power of Poe'spenhadbeenprovedbeyonddoubt.“The Balloon Hoax” is one of his most celebrated stories, not least

becauseitopenedthepathforlaterwritersofsciencefantasyincludingJulesVerneandH.G.Wells. IthasevenbeensuggestedthatPoe is theforerunner of nineteenth-and twentieth-century science fiction. If thataccoladeisplacedbesidehisclaimtobetheoriginatorofthedetectivestory,thenPoeleftadistinguishedlegacy.“TheBalloonHoax”purportstobethejournalofMr.MonckMason,arealaeronautwhohadalreadyflown by balloon from Vauxhall Gardens toWeilberg in Germany. SoPoeadoptshisnameandcontrivesafantasticadventureforhim;Masonperformswhatwasthenconsideredanimpossiblefeatand,byingeniousarrangementofvalvesandair,manages to steerhisballoonacross theAtlantic.Poewasacenturyaheadoftheactualachievement,butthereisnothinginhisaccountthatstrainscredulity.Itisathoroughlypracticalenterprise, narrated in a direct and unmediated style of journalisticreportage.Poehadperpetratedasimilarhoaxsomenineyearsbeforein“Hans Phaall—ATale,” inwhich a journey by balloon to themoon isoutlinedinsomedetail;hehadwrittenthisattheageoftwenty-six.Healways enjoyed these fantasies. They were a form of satire, directedagainst the “crazes” of the moment. But they were also a form ofratiocination,achallengetocreateasuitableandperfectlyplausiblesetof circumstances bywhich the impossible could be conveyedwith theutmostverisimilitude.

•••

In the spring of 1844 Maria Clemm, together with the black catCatterina, joined her daughter in Greenwich Street, while Poe stayedtemporarily inbachelor'squarters.But theywereall soononthemoveagain. InearlyJune thehousehold took lodgings ina farmhouse somefivemilesoutsideNewYork,inaruralspotnowtobeidentifiedasthecorner of Eighty-fourth Street and Broadway. Here, in the words of a

contemporary,was“awildernessofrocks,bushes,andthistleswithhereand therea farmhouse.”But the frontwindows lookeddown into thevalleyof theHudson,andtook inthesweepof theriver.Hedescribedthe place later as “a perfect heaven,” and in these more tranquilsurroundings it was to be hoped that his own nervous terrors wouldabateandthatVirginia'smaladymightimprove.Thesonofthelandlord,TomBrennan,laterrecalledthatPoewouldtakewalksintothecountryorbesidethenearbyriver;then,intheafternoon,hewouldreturnand“work unceasingly with pen and paper until the evening shadows.”Tom's sister, Martha Brennan, recalled the weakness of Virginia, whowas sometimes so frail that Poewould have to carry her into dinner.Thereisoneothersignificantpoint.Thelandlady,Mrs.Brennan,wasanuncompromising supporter of the temperancemovement. Perhaps Poerefrainedfromdrinkingduringhisstayinherfarmhouse.Dollars were, as usual, in short supply. He managed to pay Mrs.

Brennan, but sometimeshedidnot have the cents to claim the letterswaitingforhimatthelocalpostoffice.Inthisperiodtherecipient,notthe sender, paid for the mail. He liked life in the country so much,however,thathedidnotwishtoreturntothecitytolookforwork.But,asusual,MariaClemmtookmattersintoherownhands.AttheendofSeptember shemadeoneofher infrequentvisits to thecityandcalledupon Nathaniel P. Willis, the editor of a newly launched dailynewspaper,theEveningMirror,askingorratherbegging forwork tobegiven to her son-in-law. Willis was already a well-known magazinejournalist,who suppliedanendless streamofwittyand fancifulpiecesfor an increasingly receptive public; but he sensed Poe's talent, anddefendedhisreputationbeforeandafterPoe'sdeath.AccordingtoWillis,MariaClemm“excusedhererrandbymentioningthatPoewasill, thatherdaughterwasaconfirmedinvalid,andthattheircircumstancesweresuchascompelledhertakingituponherself.”Poewasthereuponenrolledasa“mechanicalpara-graphist,”novery

exalted position in a profession where he had already been an actingeditor. His job consisted principally in condensing items from otherpapers,cullingmaterialfromtheFrenchpressthatmightbesuitableforan American audience, and in general providing amusing “copy.” Hispost at the Mirror entailed a five-mile walk each way from the

farmhouse. The omnibus fare was a shilling, a sum that Poe couldscarcelyhaveafforded.Sointhewinterof1844thePoefamilymovedbackintothecity,andtookrentedapartmentsoncemoreinGreenwichStreet.Hewasnowclosetohiswork.Willis recalled to a colleague “how absolutely and how good-humouredly ready he was for any suggestion, how punctually andindustriously reliable…how cheerful andpresent-minded in hisworkwhenhemightexcusablyhavebeenso listlessandabstracted.”This isan account of Poe to be placed beside the more lurid and dramaticnoticesofhisintoxication.Intherightcircumstances,eveninthefaceofhisyoungwife'slingeringdisease,hewascourteousandindustrious.Hewasdoggedbypoverty,andcursedbylackofsuccess;yetheseemedtosome of his contemporaries to be patiently enduring his fate. Stoicismwasnottheleastofhisremarkablequalities.Willisalsoreflectedupon“thepresenceandmagnetismofamanofgenius”andPoe's“mysteriouselectricityofmind.”But,headded,“hewasamanwhoneversmiled.”While stayingat theBrennans, earlier thatyear,Poehadoncemorebeen contemplating the prospect of a literary journal. He had beencorresponding with such literary men as Charles Anthon, professor ofGreekandLatinatColumbiaUniversity,onthemeritsofthescheme.ToAnthon he outlined his plan to publish his collected stories in fivevolumes.Hevolunteeredthefactthat“Ihavereachedacrisisofmylife,in which I sadly stand in need of aid,” and lamented his “long &desperatestrugglewiththeillsattendantuponorphanage,thetotalwantofrelativesetcetera.”Allhisoldwoeshadcomeback,atthislowpointinhisfortunes,butintruththeyhadneverreallygoneaway.Hecarriedthemwithhimeverywhere.Hemightseemcheerfulandperseveringtohis journalistic colleagues,butheharbouredamorbidandmelancholymind.Yet evenashe complainedof “crisis,” there camea suddenandoverwhelmingsuccess.

ATheBird

tthebeginningof1845PoemetajournalisticfriendinaNewYorkstreetandconfidedinhim.

“Wallace,”saidPoe,“Ihave justwrittenthegreatestpoemthateverwaswritten.”“Haveyou?”repliedWallace.“Thatisafineachievement.”“Wouldyouliketohearit?”askedPoe.“Mostcertainly,”saidWallace.Thereupon Poe recited the verses of “The Raven.” He had been

workingonitduringtheperiodofretreatintheBrennanfarmhouse,andheput the last touches to it in theapartmentonGreenwichStreet.OnJanuary29itwaspublishedintheEveningMirror,andwasreprintedinother New York periodicals. It became a sensation. It was his mostcelebratedpoem,andindeedremainsoneofthemostfamouspoemsinAmericanliterature:

Onceuponamidnightdreary,whileIpondered,weakandweary,

Overmanyaquaintandcuriousvolumeofforgottenlore—

WhileInodded,nearlynapping,suddenlytherecameatapping,

Asofsomeonegentlyrapping,rappingatmychamberdoor.

“Tissomevisitor,”Imuttered,“tappingatmychamberdoor—

Onlythisandnothingmore.”

Sobeginsthepoemthat isareverieanda lament,athrenodyandahymn,withitscadencessomelodiousandpowerfulthattheystillhaunttheAmericanpoeticimagination.Andthereis,too,theplangencyofthecontinualrefrainof“Nevermore.”Thenarrator,mourningthedeathofaloved one, is visited by the bird of ill omen whose baleful presence

increases his loneliness anddesolation. The poemwas extolled by onecriticas“despairbroodingoverwisdom.”Poedescribedtheblackbirdasanevocationof“MournfulandNeverendingRemembrance.”TheNewYorkExpressacclaimeditassurpassing“anythingthathasbeendoneevenbythebestpoetsoftheage,”whiletheRichmondExaminerproclaimedittohave “taken rankover thewholeworld of literature.”TheNewWorld,more plainly, described it as “wild and shivery.” It was reprinted tentimes,andsoonearnedthetributeofnumerousparodies.A contemporary noted that “soon the Raven became knowneverywhere,andeveryonewassaying ‘Nevermore.’”Actors introduceditintotheirdialogue.Itbecameacatchword.Poebecameknownas“theRaven,” and his habitual appearance in black did not harm theimpression.Ononeoccasionhecamebacktohisnewspaperofficeinthecompany of a then-famous actor. Poe sat at his desk, brought out amanuscriptofthepoem,andthensummonedtheentireofficetolistentoa rendition of the verses by the actor. The office boy recorded that “Iwas entranced.” Poe was soon celebrated in the literary salons of thecity, too,andatvery littlenoticehecouldbeprevailedupon to recitethepoem inhisownparticularandmournfulmanner.He“would turndown the lamps till the room was almost dark,” one contemporaryremembered, “then standing in the center of the apartment he wouldrecite those wonderful lines in the most melodious of voices … Somarvellouswashispowerasareaderthattheauditorswouldbeafraidtodrawbreathlesttheenchantedspellbebroken.”Thereareseveralaccountsofhissuddenprominence.“Everyonewantsto know him,” one contemporary wrote, “but only a very few peopleseem to get well acquainted with him.” He appeared at the salons ofMiss Lynch onWaverly Place and ofMrs. Smith in Greenwich Street.These literary ladies were known as the “starry sisterhood.” He wasalwaysneatlydressed,with“thebearingandmannersofagentleman.”He was never drunk. He was “polite and engaging … quiet andunaffected, unpretentious, in his manner.” Virginia Poe wouldsometimesaccompanyherhusbandtotheseconversaziones,astheywereknown, and demonstrated “the greatest admiration for her husband'sgenius, and fairly worshipped him.” She was not alone. Mrs. SmithrevealedthatPoe“didnotaffectthesocietyofmen,ratherthatofhighly

intellectualwomen…Menwere intolerant of all this, butwomen fellunderhisfascinationandlistenedinsilence.”Theyrecognisedhisneed,perhaps, and his orphan's sense of privation. One specimen of hisconversationhasbeenpreservedinthediaryofMrs.Smith:

“AhMr.Poe,thiscountryaffordsnoarenaforthose

wholivetodream.”

“Doyoudream?Imeansleepingdream?”

“Ohyes,IamaperfectJosephindreaming,except

thatmydreamsareoftheunknown,thespiritual.”

“Iknewit.Iknewitbyyoureyes.”

Poe was no doubt delighted by the acclaim and attention. He hadalwayswished for fameandnow, in awayhehad found it. “Nomanlives,”he isoncereported tohavesaid,“unlesshe is famous.”Healsoenjoyed being praised. Nevertheless he contrived to be somewhatironical about the poem's success. “The Raven has had a great ‘run,’Thomas,”hewrotetoFrederickThomas,“—butIwroteitfortheexpresspurposeofrunning—justasIdidthe‘Gold-Bug’youknow.Thebirdbeatthebug,though,allhollow.”Thetoneofcalculationhereisthoroughlyfamiliar.Hewaswritingpoetryexactlyasmostpeopleperceivedpoetrytobe.Hewaswritingpoetryforaspecificmarket.Hetoldajournalisticcolleague thathewished“to seehownear to theabsurd I couldcomewithoutoversteppingthedividingline.”Poeevenwroteanessay,“ThePhilosophyofComposition,”inwhichhe outlined the principles of his art and provided an anatomy of thepoemstanzabystanza.Hesetdowntheproper lengthofapoem,andthe most appropriate tone of “sadness;” he elucidated the required“effects,”andtheimportanceofasignificantrefrain.Hestatedthattheworkproceeded, stepbystep, to itscompletionwith theprecisionandrigid consequence of a mathematical problem. “It was a thoroughlymethodicalandtechnicalhandbookforthewritingofagreatpoem.Inthecourseofthissupposedlyobjectiveanalysisheannouncedthat“thedeath, then, of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, themost poetictopicintheworld”withoutrevealinghisreasonsforthechoice.Hesetdown, in order, his tricks and devices; it was a need for orderliness,

similartothatwhichhadsenthimintotheArmyandWestPoint.Thisapparentlycynicaland impersonalaccount,however, shouldbe

placedbesidetheconfessiontoa friendthatrecitingthepoem“sethisbrainonfire.”Whatremainsisnotitstechnicalaudacity,oritsmelodiccontrol, but the horror of its morbid despair. Poe's impersonalityresemblestheapparentcalmnessofthefrenziednarratorsofhisstories.

•••

Intheflushofsuccesshelefthispostas“para-graphist”ontheEveningMirrorandjoinedtherivalBroadwayJournal,wherehebegantoreprintsomeofhisearlierpublishedtalesandpoems.Healsocontinuedaroundof literary hostilities, initiated in the Evening Mirror, in which heattacked the poetry and reputation of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.LongfellowwasatthistimeoneoftheseniorpoeticfiguresinAmerica,but his status was only likely to excite Poe's wrath. Poe reviewed ananthologyeditedbyLongfellow,TheWaif,andaccusedtheolderpoetofexcludinganypoetsdeemedtorivalLongfellowhimself;healsoaccusedhimofgrossandobviousplagiarism.Hedescribedhimasa“determinedimitator and a dexterous adapter of the ideas of other people,” anddenouncedhimforplagiarismofTennysonthatwas“toopalpabletobemistaken…[and]whichbelongstothemostbarbarousclassofliteraryrobbery.”Itwasinpartameansofproviding“copy”forhisnewjournal.Butit

wasalsoaploy toprovokepublicattention;heevenwent so faras tocompose an imaginary riposte to his own charges, under the name of“Outis,” or “Nobody,” simply to continue thepublic debate for a littlelonger.Hesucceededinthat,at least,andtheonesidedbattlebetweenPoeandLongfellowrendereditoneofthemostfamousliteraryfeudsinAmericanliteraryhistory.Poe'swritingonthesubjectamountedtoonehundred pages. He compounded the offence by lecturing at the NewYorkSocietyLibraryon “Poets andPoetryofAmerica.”Thishadbeenthetitlehehadgiventohislectureayearbefore,butonthisoccasionhebroadened his assault by including Longfellow and in particular his“fatal alacrity at imitation.” Longfellow never deigned to reply to hisaccuser's charges in public, but he commented later that Poe's attacks

upon him had been provoked by “the irritation of a sensitive naturechafed by some indefinite sense of wrong.” In that diagnosis he wasprobablycorrect.Poewas not only executioner in chief on theBroadway Journal. Hewasalsoitstheatricalcritic.Hewasnotabenignone,andonetheatricalmanager withdrew Poe's name from the free list of critics after aparticularlyviciousreviewofhiscompany'sAntigone.Theofficeboy,AlexanderCrane, remembered thatPoewas “aquietmanabouttheoffice,butwasuniformlykindandcourteoustoeveryone,and, with congenial company, he would grow cheerful and evenplayful.” He arrived at nine each morning, and worked “steadily andmethodically” until three or four in the afternoon. On one occasionCranefaintedintheheat,andrevivedtodiscoverPoe“bendingovermebathingmywristsandtemplesincoldwater.”Sohewasconsiderateaswellascourteous.

•••

But themove from the relative seclusion of the farmhouse, and theexcitement derived from the reception of “The Raven,” once morepropelledhimtowardsdrink.AlexanderCranerecalledthat,themorningafteroneofhis lectureshadbeencancelledasaresultofbadweather,hecameintotheoffice“leaningonthearmofafriend,intoxicatedwithwine.”Hehadobviouslybeendrinkingallnight.ANewYorkmagazinepresented a fictitious list of forthcoming books, with one entitled “Atreatise on Aqua Pura,’ its uses and abuses, by Edgar A Poe.” So hisdrinkinghabitswerewellknown.He had been asked to prepare a poem for recitation at a society ofNewYorkUniversity,butfoundthathecouldnotperformthetask.Hebecame worried about this failure and, according to Thomas DunnEnglish,“ashealwaysdoeswhentroubled—drankuntilintoxicated;andremainedinastateofintoxicationduringtheweek.”Therecordsofhisdrunken “sprees,” asheused to call them, suggest thatNewYorkwasnottheproperplaceforhim.Heinformedoneacquaintancethathewasabouttorecite“TheRaven”toQueenVictoriaandtheroyalfamily.Hetold him, also, that other writers were conspiring against him. So the

over-indulgenceinalcoholcouldleadhimperilouslyclosetomadness.A colleague, Thomas Holley Chivers, walking down Nassau Street,

recognised him “tottering from side to side, as drunk as an Indian.”WhenPoe sawChivershe criedout, “ByGod!Here ismy friendnow!Whereareyougoing?Come,youmustgohomewithme.”Hebecamegenerallyover-excitedand,seeingarivaleditoracross thestreeta fewminutes later, was barely restrained by Chivers from attacking him.Chivers then escorted him home. When Virginia saw them from anupstairswindow,sheretreatedintoherroomandlockedthedoor.MariaClemm greeted her errant son-in-law, according to Chivers, with arefrainof“Oh!Eddy!Eddy!Eddy!Comehere,mydearboy.Letmeputyoutobed.”ShealsoapparentlyconfidedtoChivers,“Idobelievethatthepoorboyisderanged!”ItisclearenoughthatVirginia,wastingfromdaytoday,couldnotbeartoseeherhusbandinthiscondition.ShemayevenhavebelievedthatPoe'sdespairatherillnesshelpedtoprovokehisheavy drinking. She may just have been too frail to cope with herhusband's frantic and tiresome behaviour.According toChivers,MariaClemm lamented the illness of her daughter, with the claim that “theDoctorscandohernogood.Butiftheycould,seeingthiscontinuallyinpoorEddy,wouldkillher…wouldtoGodthatshehaddiedbeforeshehadever seenhim.”ThememoryofMariaClemm'swordsmaynotbealtogether accurate, but she was clearly blaming Poe in part forVirginia's suffering. Another colleague wrote in a diary entry at thistime, “There is Poe with coolness, immaculate personal cleanliness,sensitiveness,thegentleman,continuallyputtinghimselfonalevelwiththe lowest blackguard through a combination of moral, mental andphysicaldrunkenness.”Poe knew as much himself, and in the summer of 1845 Graham's

Magazinepublishedhis“TheImpofthePerverse.”Itwasanarrativeofrueful contemplation in which the narrator muses upon the humancapacitytoactinacontrarymanner“forthereasonthatweshouldnot.”To do that which is forbidden—to do that which goes against all ourinstinctsofself-loveandself-preservation—thereinliesthepoweroftheimp.Nevertostaylonginanyemployment;tobedrawntowardsyoungwomen who were dying; to quarrel continually with friends; to drinkexcessively,evenwhentoldthattheindulgencewouldkillhim.Therein

dwellstheimp.

•••

JamesRussell Lowell, a youngpoet of considerable gifts, visited thePoe household during this spring and summer of 1845. Somemonthsbefore,LowellhadwrittenalongandfavourablecriticismofPoe'sworkforGraham'sMagazine, inwhichhegavetheopinionthat“weknowofnonewhohasdisplayedmorevariedandmorestrikingabilities.”ItwasthefirstlongarticleaboutPoethathadnotbeendeliberatelyengineeredby Poe himself. There had been a correspondence between the twowriters, and Lowell already considered Poe to be a “dear friend.” Buttheirencounterwasnotaltogetherasuccess.Poewas“alittletipsy,asifhewererecoveringfromafitofdrunkenness.”HeseemedtoLowelltobe inanunhappyand sarcasticmood.Hismannerwas“rather formal,evenpompous.”Hewasnotathisbest.Lowellnoticed, too, thatPoe'sailingwifehadan“anxiousexpression.”(FiveyearslaterMariaClemmwrotetoapologisetoLowell,informinghimthat“thedayyousawhiminNewYorkhewasnothimself.”)ButthenPoeattackedLowell'spoetryin print, and even accused him of plagiarising material fromWordsworth.LowellretaliatedbysuggestingthatPoewasbereftof“thatelement of manhood which, for want of a better name, we callcharacter.”Poewasweak,inotherwords.But what was his character, in the most general sense? He has

alternately been described as ambitious and unworldly, jealous andrestrained, childlike and theatrical, fearful and vicious, self-confidentandwayward, defiant and self-pitying.Hewas all of these, andmore.Oneacquaintancedescribedhimas“unstableaswater,”andanotherasa“characterless character.” To onewho became his enemy hewas “themerestshellofaman.”Likethesalamanderhecouldonlyliveinfire.Butthefirewasoften

started by himself. He stumbled from one passionate outburst to thenext. He hardly seemed to know himself at all, but relied upon thepowerofimpassionedwordstocreatehisidentity.Hewouldsometimestear at himself, heaping misery upon himself, estranging others evenwhile realising that itwaswrong todo so.Hemoved fromdisaster to

calamity and back again. His entire life was a series of mistakes andsetbacks,ofdisappointedhopesand thwartedambitions.Heproceededas if hewere the only one in theworld—hence the spitefulness of hiscriticism. He drew attention to his solitary state in defiance andcelebration,evenashelamenteditinhisletters.Thus,atthecentreofhiswork,wasangeragainsttheworld.Hehadaheartalwaysabouttobreak.Therewasacuriousincidentinthesummerof1845thatjustifiedthebadopinionsthatsomeheldofhim.Ayoungpoet,R.H.Stoddard,hadsubmittedapoemfor theBroadwayJournal.Having receivedno reply,hesoughtoutPoeathis lodgings.Poethenassuredhimthatthepoemwould appear in the next number of the periodical, but it did not.Instead therewasanotice: “To theauthorof the lineson the ‘GrecianFlute.’Wefearthatwehavemislaidthepoem.”Then,inthefollowingmonth, another “notice” appeared, to Stoddard's astonishment,remarking that“wedoubt theoriginalityof the ‘GrecianFlute,’ for thereasonthatitistoogoodatsomepointstobesobadatothers.”Thisisthe authentic Poe tone. In dismay Stoddard visited the offices of theJournal,toencounterPoe“irascible,surlyandinhiscups.”Poestaredup“wildly” at the unfortunate young poet, and then accused him ofplagiarism. “You never wrote the Ode to which I lately referred.” HeabusedStoddardand, in theyoungman'swords, threatenedhim“withcondignpersonalchastisement”—that is,a thrashing—andorderedhimtoleavetheoffice.In thisperiodPoewasprofessinghimselfoncemore tobedepressedand“dreadfullyunwell,and fear that I shallbeveryseriously ill.”Thehouseholdhadbeenregularlymovinglodgings—fromGreenwichStreetto East Broadway and from East Broadway to Amity Street nearWashingtonSquare.ButnowPoeresolvedtoreturntothecountryside,inordertoregainhishealthandhiscomposure,andasaresultwishedtogiveuphispost on theBroadwayJournal.Hewas trying to sell his“interest” in thenewspaper.Hispartner,CharlesFrederickBriggs,wasnotunhappytoseehimleave.Poe'sdrinkinghadmadehimunreliable.“IshallhauldownPoe'sname,”hewrote.“HehaslatelygotintohisoldhabitsandIfearwillinjurehimselfirretrievably.”ButthenPoechangedhis mind. He had told Thomas Dunn English that the “comparative

failure”oftheJournalwasaconsequenceof“thefactthathehaditnotall inhisownhands.”Heisreportedtohavesaid,“Givemetheentirecontrol,anditwillbethegreatliteraryjournalofthefuture.”Sohehadtransferred his hopes for an ideal literary magazine to the BroadwayJournalitself.Inthesummerof1845,too,thereappearedavolumeoftwelvestoriesbyPoe.TaleswaspublishedbytheNewYorkfirmofWileyandPutnam,andincluded“TheMurdersintheRueMorgue”and“TheBlackCat.”IfitwasanattempttocapitaliseonthefamePoehadachievedwith“TheRaven,” it succeeded in part. The small volume was praised by theAmericanReviewas“oneofthemostoriginalandpeculiareverpublishedin the United States,” and byGraham'sMagazine as “among the mostoriginalandcharacteristiccompositionsinAmericanletters.”Ofallthebooks published in Poe's lifetime, it was the most successful. Fourmonths after publication, according to his own estimate, it had soldapproximatelyfifteenhundredcopies,thusearningPoearoyaltyofoverone hundred dollars. It was not munificent, but it was gratefullyreceived.

•••

InJulyhemadeanunexpectedtrip toProvidence,RhodeIsland, forwhich he had to borrow ten dollars from a friend. It was a secretjourney,whichhecouldnotfinancewiththehelpofMariaClemm.Poehadinmindaformofassignation.Inoneofhisdrunkenfitshehaddivulgedthathewasinvolved“inthedamnedstamour.”Hiswife,of course,wasnot tobe told.The lady inquestionwasMrs.FrancesOsgood,aliterary“blue-stocking”(or“blue,”as the racewasknown),whocomposedversesand tales forNewYorkperiodicals.Poehadpraised“Fanny”OsgoodinhislectureonAmericanpoets,andeventuallymetherinthedrawingroomoftheAstorHotelinNewYork.Sherecalledthemeetingatalaterdatewithalltheenhancedrecollectionofhindsight.“Withhisproudandbeautifulheaderect,”shesaid, “his dark eyes flashing with the elective light of feeling andthought,apeculiar,aninimitableblendofsweetnessandhauteurinhisexpressionandmanner,hegreetedmecalmly,gravely,almostcoldly…”

The coldness must soon have vanished, however. They exchangedverses,andPoeprintedseveralofherpoemsintheBroadwayJournal.Itwasahighlypublicandpublicisedromance,ifromanceitwas.Itismorelikelytohavebeenafussyandexcitableliteraryfriendship,lentaddedfervour by Poe's desperate need for the comfort and protection ofwomen. They exchanged letters as well as verses, but thecorrespondence has since been lost. Poe's poems to her were notnecessarilyinspiredbypassionatedevotion.Onepoem,“ToF———SO———D,” had in fact been written for Virginia eleven years before;anothertribute,“ToF,”hadbeenwrittenin1835atwhichstageitwascomposed“ToMary.”Hewasnotaversetorecyclinghisemotions.Frances Osgood's New York publisher recalled that “when she was

withmy family, Poe called everyday andgenerally spent the eveningremaining invariably until midnight.” She was often present at theliterarypartiestowhichPoewasnowafrequentvisitor.Anotherwriterrecalled“thechildlike faceofFannieOsgoodsuffusedwith tearsunderhis [Poe's] wizard spell.” Thomas Dunn English also described “littleMrs. Osgood doing the infantile act… her face upturned to Poe.” Sheclearly had an advanced case of literary hero-worship, a form ofadorationthatPoedidhisbest tomaintain.Hecourtedhera little tooardently, however, and Mrs. Osgood described at a later date how “IwenttoAlbany,andafterwardstoBostonandProvidencetoavoidhim.”Sheaddedthat“hefollowedmetoeachoftheseplacesandwrotetome,imploring me to love him.” It sounds very much like a long pursuedaffairexceptforthefactthatMrs.Osgood'shusband,thepainterSamuelOsgood,waswellawareoftheirassociation.Possiblyitwasaninnocent,orunthreatening,dalliance.Adulterywasnotthengenerallyacceptable,eveninNewYork.

•••

When Fanny Osgood visited the Poe household in New York, shefoundhimworkingona seriesofpapers entitled “TheLiterati ofNewYork.”Healwayswroteonnarrowstripsofpaper,pastedintolongrolls,andon thisoccasionhe showed thevarious lengthsof them toFanny.His wife was present at the time. “Come, Virginia,” Mrs. Osgoodrememberedhimsaying,“helpme!”Together theyunrolledeachpiece

until “at last they came to one which seemed interminable. Virginialaughinglyrantoonecorneroftheroomwithoneendandherhusbandto the opposite with the other.” Mrs. Osgood asked about whom thiseffusionwaswritten.“Hearher,”hesaid,“justasifthatlittlevainheartdidn't tellher it'sherself!” It isamawkishepisode,notrelievedbythefact that Poe did indeed compose rather nauseous tributes to Mrs.Osgood'spoetry.Hehadnosteadinessincriticalmatters.Hewasswayedby private passion and personal rivalry. The fact that Fanny Osgoodvisitedhusbandandwife,however,reinforcestheimpressionthatFannyandPoewerenotengagedinanysexualrelationship.ItseemsthatMrs.PoeevenaskedMrs.OsgoodtocontinuehercorrespondencewithPoe,onthegroundsthattheirfriendshiphelpedtokeephimsober.HefoundcomfortinFannyOsgood.Itissignificantthat,inonecharacterportraitofher,Poedescribedher

“hair black and glossy: eyes a clear, luminous gray, large, and withsingularcapacityforexpression.”Thismightbeadescriptionofoneofthedoomedwomenofhistales.Itmightalmostbeadescriptionofhismother.Fouryearslater,FannyOsgooddidindeeddieofconsumption.Could he have already noticed the signs of it upon her—he waspreternaturally sensitive to such things—and thus have been drawn toher?Margaret Fuller, the most dispassionate and most intelligent of his

observers, believed that his love affairs were in truth part of a“passionate illusion, which he amused himself by inducing, than ofsympathy.” She believed that he had no friends, and that he was“shrouded in an assumed character.” It is possible that hewas indeedplaying a part, taking on a Byronic aspect for the sake of his femaleadmirers, but was at the same time desperate and unbalanced. Hebecame the part, living it with an intensity that belied its artificialnature.

•••

Throughoutthesummerof1845hewasworkingsporadicallyuponabook of poems. The Raven and Other Poems would be the first suchcollection since 1831. It was a significant publication, therefore, not

leastbecausehebelievedthathewouldearnfivehundreddollarsfromits sales. His hopeswere, as always, unfulfilled. He chose some thirtypoemsforthecollection,amongthemsuchearlyworksas“Tamerlane”and “Al Aaraaf.” In a preface he declared that “events not to becontrolled have prevented me from making, at any time, any seriouseffort inwhat,underhappiercircumstances,wouldhavebeenthefieldofmychoice.Withmepoetryhasbeennotapurpose,butapassion.”Unfortunately, thecriticswerenotaswelldisposedtowardsthepoemsas to the tales. And the volume did not sell. It would be the lastcollectionofPoe'spoetryinhislifetime.Heprofessedtobeabstainingfromalcohol,or“theashes”ashecalled

it, but by the autumnhewasdrinking again.Hewas alwaysprone tospectacular miscalculations about the effect of his behaviour, and areading in Boston proved to be what one critic has described as thebeginningofhis“downfall.”Hehadbeeninvitedtoreadattheevent,inordertocelebrateanewseriesoflecturesintheBostonLyceum.Hewascalled upon to recite a new work at the end of a lecture by aMassachusettspolitician,CalebCushing,butspent“somefifteenminuteswithanapologyfornotdelivering,asisusualinsuchcases,adidacticpoem.”Poedidnotwritedidacticpoems;forhimpoetryanddidacticismwere antithetical. Poetry was concerned with the pursuit of the“beautiful” only—what was for him “supernal beauty” or “the beautyabove.”This was the stirring message he delivered to the Bostonians. One

Harvardstudent,presentattheoccasion,recalledthat“hestoodwithasort of shrinking before the audience and then began in a thin,tremulous, hardly musical voice, an apology for his poem, and adeprecationoftheexpectedcriticismofaBostonaudience.”Thestudentalsonoticedhis“lookofoversensitivenesswhichwhenuncontrolledmayprovemoredebasingthancoarseness.”Poewas,inotherwords,nervousand expecting theworst from a difficult group. Then he proceeded torecite“AlAaraaf,”apoemthathehadwrittensixteenyearspreviously.Someofhisauditorsgrewrestiveunderthestrainofunderstandingthisjuvenile performance, and so Poe was prevailed upon to read “TheRaven” at the close of the proceedings. Members of the audience,however,werealreadyleavingwithmuchnoisyvacatingofseats.

Itwasnotaparticularlygloriousnight,butthenPoe,over“abottleofchampagne,” compounded the offence by revealing to some Bostonianwritersandjournaliststhat“AlAaraaf”wasindeedapoemofhisyouth.Theywerenot pleasedby the intelligence, assuming it to be an insultboth to Boston and to the Lyceum. The editor of the Boston EveningTranscript, Cornelia Wells Walter, disclosed that the poem had beencomposed “before its author was twelve years old.” Poe, in one of hisflightsoffancy,mayevenhavestatedthisimprobablefact.MissWaltercontinued in a vein of thinly concealed sarcasm, “a poem deliveredbeforealiteraryassociationofadults,aswrittenbyaboy!Onlythinkofit! Poh! Poh!” He retaliated in kind. “Well, upon the whole we mustforgive her,” he wrote, “—and do. Say no more about it, you littledarling!”Thelastexpressionwasconsideredtobeunwholesome.It should be remembered that Poe was a Southerner. He was a

Virginian,ifnotbybirth,atleastbyinclination.HedislikedthecultureofNewEngland ingeneral,andofBoston inparticular;hedespised inequalmeasureTranscendentalismandAbolitionism.Hewas in spirit ifnot inpracticeaSoutherngentleman.Thataccounts for the somewhatflorid classicism, and the melodic intensity, of his prose. “It is hightime,”heoncewrote,“thattheliterarySouthtookitsowninterestsintoitsowncharge.”SoinBostonhehadenteredthedenofhisenemies.He retaliated to the resulting abuse by proudly claiming to have

“quizzed,”ormade funof, theBostonians. In theBroadwayJournalPoerevealed that “we like Boston.Wewere born there—and perhaps it isjustaswellnot tomention thatweareheartilyashamedof the fact…theBostonianshavenosoul.”Headdedsalttothewound,orfueltotheflame,byaddingthat“itcouldscarcelybesupposedthatwewouldputourselvestothetroubleofcomposingfortheBostoniansanythingintheshapeofanoriginalpoem…itdidwellenoughforaBostonaudience.”Thiswas,attheveryleast,ungracious.CorneliaWalterherselfthenreturnedtotheattackbynotingthat“it

mustbe confessed thathedidout-Yankee themanagers of the Lyceumsince he not only emptied their pockets but emptied the house.” Thegeneralimpression,assiduouslyspreadbyMissWalterandothers,wasofPoe as unreliable and discourteous. He was not serious. He was acharlatanandadrunkard.

•••

In this inauspicious month Poe also took charge of the BroadwayJournal. In a series of negotiations and schemings he bought out hiserstwhilepartners.“Byaflurryofmanoeuvresalmostincomprehensibletomyself,”hewrote,“Ihavesucceeded,onebyone,ingettingrid,onebyone,ofallmyassociates.”Healsoraisedfundsfromfriendsandevenissued an advertisement in the Journal itself proclaiming “A RAREOPPORTUNITY”foraninvestmentintheenterprise.Hebeggedmoney,he borrowedmoney, he promisedmoney. Then, on 25 October 1845,Poe'snamewasblazonedonthemastheadoftheJournalas“EditorandProprietor.”“Ihavetodoeverythingmyself”hewrote,“editthepaper—getittopress—andattendtothemultitudinousbusinessbesides.”Oneofhiserstwhilepartners,CharlesFrederickBriggs,washappyto

relinquishany interest in themagazine.HeregardedPoeasa liability,callinghim“themerestshellofaman,”“adrunkensot,”andthe“mostpurely selfish of human beings.”He added for goodmeasure that PoequotedfromtheGermanwithoutbeingabletounderstandawordofthelanguage.This is likely tohavebeen true.Briggsalsobelieved that, inretaliation, Poe was spreading lies about him in New York: “I cannotconceiveofsuchwantonmalice,asPoehasbeenguiltyoftowardsme.”Assoleproprietor,Poewasnotasuccess.Hecurtailedthecoverageof

theJournal, forwant of funds, and couldnot afford topay anydecentcontributors.Herepublishedhisownwork,andprintedthepoemsofthe“starrysisterhood”andotherpoetasters.Themagazine'scirculationwasuneven, and its publication was fitful. Six weeks after acquiring theeditorship he sold half of his interest to Thomas H. Lane, a CustomsHouseemployeehehadmet inPhiladelphia.“For the first timeduringtwomonths,”hetoldoneacquaintance,“Ifindmyselfentirelymyself—dreadfully sick and depressed, but still myself. I seem to have justawakenedfromsomehorribledream…IreallybelievethatIhavebeenmad.”Hehadbeen“mad”attheLyceum,“mad”inhispursuitofMrs.Osgood,“mad” inhisdecisionto takeuptheeditorshipof theJournal.The madness, if such it was, had come from the combined effects ofdrinkand intolerablestrain.Amonthafter signing theagreementwithLane, according to English, Poe succumbed to “one of his drunken

sprees.”Lanecloseddownthemagazineon3January1846.ItwasthelasteditorialpositionPoewouldeverhold.The day before the Broadway Journal closed Poe witnessed anagreementbywhichMariaClemmrelinquishedherclaimtoapieceofBaltimore property, worth twenty-five dollars; the family must havebeendesperateindeedtosignawaytheirlastpieceofcapital.In the previousNovember Stoddard had passed Poe in the street. Itwasrainingheavily,andforamomentStoddardconsideredsharinghisumbrellawithhim.But“something—certainlynotunkindness—withheldme.Iwentonandlefthimthereintherain,pale,shivering,miserable…ThereIstillseehim,andalwaysshall,—poor,penniless,butproud,reliant,dominant.” In thesamemonthPoewrote toa relation,GeorgePoe,“Ihaveperse-veringlystruggled,againstathousanddifficulties,andhave succeeded, although not in making money, still in attaining aposition in the world of Letters, of which, under the circumstances, Ihavenoreasontobeashamed.”

PTheScandal

oebelievedthathehadmanyenemies.HeblamedthefailureoftheBroadwayJournal“onthepartofoneortwopersonswhoaremuch

imbit-tered against me,” and he declared that “there is a deliberateattemptnowbeingmadetoinvolvemeinruin.”Itisnotclearwhothese“oneortwopersons”were,iftheyexistedatall,buttheymayhavebeenrival newspaper editors orwriters unhappy about Poe's often scathingcriticalnotices.Buthewasrighttosensepersecution.Atthebeginningof 1846, he was involved in unwelcome scandal. It came from anunexpectedquarter.In his life there were certain literary females who vied for his

attention.PrincipalamongthemwereElizabethF.Ellet,FannyOsgood,Margaret Fuller, and Anne Lynch. Fanny Osgood, the poetess of NewYork, was by now a family friend. Margaret Fuller was a writer andreviewer who, four years before, had edited a TranscendentalistquarterlytheDial;shehadmetPoeatasoiréeinNewYork.AnneLynchwasapoetessandteacher,whohostedsomeofthesesoirées.ElizabethElletwasapoetandnovelistwhoseworkPoehadprintedandpraisedintheBroadwayJournal.FannyOsgood,inperhapsnotthemostcharitablespirit,remarkedthatElizabethEllet“followedhimeverywhere.”ElizabethElletandFannyOsgoodhadwrittenrapturousletterstoPoe

that,toaprurientreader,mighthaveerredonthesideofindiscretion.Expressionsofpoeticdevotion,ashehimselfknewwellenough,arenotthesamethingastruepassion.Yetthatisnothowitseemedatthetime,whenthetwowomenbecameincensedandthenalarmedatthemannerinwhichtheirmissiveswerebeingtreated.Earlyin1846,Mrs.ElletdecidedonedaytocalluponPoeathishome

inAmityStreet.Whenshecameuptothehouse,sheheardlaughter,andon gaining entrance discovered Fanny Osgood in the parlour withVirginiaPoe.Itsoonbecameevidentthattheywerelaughingataletter.ItwasstillinFannyOsgood'shand,anditwasMrs.Ellet'slettertoPoe.Mrs.Elletsnatcheditup,andmarchedout.Thatisoneversion.Thereisanother.Mrs.ElletcalledatAmityStreetand,inthecourseof

hervisit,Virginiareadouttohera letter toPoefromMrs.Osgood.(If

thisversionofthestoryistrue,itisdifficulttoknowwhyVirginiawasbeing indiscreet.)Mrs. Ellet professed to be somewhat alarmed by thetoneofMrs.Osgood'sletter.Nodoubtachingwithexcitement,shewentimmediatelytoseeMrs.OsgoodherselftoadvisehertoretrieveallherletterstoPoe.Thequestionwasoneofwomanlymodesty.The twoother literary ladiesnowentered thescene.MargaretFullerandAnneLynch,dearfriendsfromthesoirées,visitedPoeandformallydemanded the return of Mrs. Osgood's letters. Poe was naturallyresentful. He responded that Fanny Osgood was not alone. ElizabethEllet'sletterswerealsoopentomisinterpretation.In themeantime Elizabeth Ellet had asked her brother to call uponPoeanddemandedthereturnofherletters.PoeinsistedtohimthathehadalreadysentthembacktoMrs.Ellet.Butthebrotherdidnotbelievehim and threatened to kill him if he did not produce them. Poe thenvisitedThomasDunnEnglish,andaskedfortheuseofhispistol.Englishdeniedtherequest,andinsinuatedthatPoeneverdidpossessanylettersfromMrs.Elletinthefirstplace.Thetwomenengagedinsomekindoftussle. It sounds like the most absurd fiction, but somewhere in thewelterofclaimandcounter-claimtherewasagenuineimbroglio.Poe retreated to his bed after his encounter with English, and thenpersuadedhisphysiciantodeliveranapologeticlettertoMrs.Ellet.Hedeniedmakinganyimproperclaimsabouthercorrespondencebutaddedthat,ifhedidmakeanysuchremarks,hemusthavebeensufferingfromtemporaryinsanity.Mrs.Osgoodwasalsoincensedaboutthemockeryofher own letters, and persuaded Virginia Poe to write her a letterconfirmingwhatshecalled“myinnocence.”Poe never saw Elizabeth Ellet, or Fanny Osgood, again. Mrs. Elletdeclared him to be “steeped in infamy.” He was ostracised from thesalonsofthestarrysisterhood.AccordingtoAnneLynch,Poe“said&didagreatmanythingsthatwereveryabominable.”Atalaterdatehewasto excoriate “the pestilential society of literary women. They are aheartless, unnatural, venomous, dishonorable set, with no guidingprinciplebutinordinateself-esteem.”AnneLynchdescribedhimashaving “nomoral sense.” It shouldbeadded that his stories have no “moral sense,” either, and that he

disdainedanysuchprinciple.Is“moralsense”tobeexpectedofthemanratherthanthewriter?

•••

Yet his appetite for controversy was not extinguished. During thisperiod a friend and journalist, William Gilmore Simms, wrote to himthat“youarenowperhapsinthemostperilousperiodofyourcareer—justinthatposition—justatthattimeoflife—whenafalsestepbecomesa capital error—when a single leading mistake is fatal in itsconsequences.”Poewasnotonetolistentoadvice,howeverwellmeant;norwas he ever likely to learn from hismistakes. His presiding deitywas,afterall,theimpoftheperverse.Andso,perversely,inthespringof1846,hebeganaseriesofessaysforGodey'sLady'sBookentitled“TheLiteratiofNewYork:SomeHonestOpinionsatRandomRespectingtheirAuthorialMerits,withOccasionalWordsofPersonality.”Poewasinfactplanningtobringoutavolumeofcriticalessays,entitledTheAmericanParnassus,andthesesketcheswerethefirstairingofanumberofpieces,criticalorrespectful,onthemeritsofthemorecelebratedauthorsoftheday.Heresentedtheunduepraiseand“puffery”expendedonwhatheconsideredtobe“unworthy”writersand, as a result, he could at times be exceedingly satirical. Indeed helaunched a full-scale attack on the literary cliques and circles thatcontrolled the publication and reception of American literature; theyrepresented what he called “the corrupt nature of our ordinarycriticism.”OfLewisGaylordClark,theeditoroftheKnickerbocker,Poewrotethat“as a literary man, he has about him no determinateness, nodistinctiveness, no point—an apple, in fact, or a pumpkin has moreangles … he is noticeable for nothing in the world except for themarked-ness bywhich he is noticeable for nothing.”Of ThomasDunnEnglish,erstwhilefriendbutnowconfirmedenemy,Poewrotethat“Idonotpersonallyknowhim.”Thisfalsedenialwasfollowedupbyaswipeat English's appearance: “he exists in a perpetual state of vacillationbetween moustachio and goatee.” Poe excelled at this kind of adhominem criticism; it was immensely readable at the time, of course,

with threeeditionsof some issuesbeingprinted tokeepupwithsales.Poe was the most controversial, and most widely discussed, literaryjournalistinthecountry.Itisnotclear,however,thathisreputationasawriterwasimproved.Some of his victims also had an unfortunate habit of fighting back.

Lewis Gaylord Clark retorted, in the Knickerbocker, that Poe was “awretched inebriate” and a “jaded hack.”He quoted from an unnamedsource,mostlikelyClarkhimself,that“hecalledatourofficetheotherday, in a condition of sad imbecility, bearing in his feeble body theevidencesofevillivingandbetrayedbyhistalksuchradicalobliquityofsense…Hewasaccompaniedbyanagedfemalerelativewhowasgoinga weary round in the hot streets, following his steps to prevent hisindulginginaloveofdrink;buthehadeludedherwatchfuleyebysomemeans,andwasalreadyfargoneinastateofinebriation.”There was worse to come. Thomas Dunn English also responded in

kindwithanattackuponPoe in theNewYorkMirror, inwhich severeremarksabouthispersonalappearanceweremingledwithmoreseriouscharges;EnglishaccusedPoeofforgery,ofacquiringmoneyunderfalsepretencesandofplagiarism.PoepromptlysuedtheMirrorforlibel.Hehadalready removedhimself from the city.The streetswere too

treacherous, and offered too many temptations. The tranquillity andpurer air of the countryside were also deemed necessary for VirginiaPoe's slowly fadinghealth. InFebruary thePoehousehold settledneartheEastRiver.Anine-year-oldneighbourrecalledhowPoewould“runover every littlewhile to askmy father to lendhimour rowboat, andthenhowhewould enjoyhimself pulling at theoars over to the littleislands just south of Blackwell's Island, for his afternoon swim.” Poelovedthewater.Thegirladdedthat“Ineverlikedhim.Iwasafraidofhim.ButIlikedMrs.Clemm,shewasasplendidwoman,agreattalkerandfullyawareof‘Eddie'sfailings’—asshecalledthem.”OfVirginiaPoeshe remembered that she was “pale and delicate” but “patient in hersuffering.”ThelittlegirlrecalledVirginiatalkingtoPoe.“Now,Eddie,”shesaid,“whenIamgoneIwillbeyourguardianangel,andifatanytime you feel tempted to do wrong, just put your hands above yourhead,so,andIwillbetheretoshieldyou.”Itisasadremembrance.

•••

Fourmonths later the Poe familymoved further out to Fordham, avillage thirteen miles to the north of New York, where they found asmall cottage half-buried in blossom and fruit trees. Virginia was“charmed”bytheplace,accordingtoPoe,andtheyrentedtheproperty“foraverytriflingsum.”Thehousefacedwest.Therewerelilacbushes,anda cherry tree, in the small front garden,whilebeyondwereappleorchardsandawood.Itwastobetheirlasthomeonearthtogether.Itwas,asalways,animpoverishedone.MariaClemmresortedtodiggingupthe turnipsmeant for thecattle.Shewasseengatheringdandelionsand other greens in the country lanes to make up a palatable salad.“Greens,”sheusedtotellneighbours,“arecoolingfortheblood.Eddie'sfondofthem.”ButEddiehadlittlechoiceinthematter.The not infrequent callers would bring baskets of produce for thefamily.MariaClemmwasalsointhehabitof“borrowing”moneyfromtheir visitors. Since some of these visitors were aspiring writers therewere occasions when Poe would be obliged to repay their generositywithlittle“puffs”ofhisowninthepublicprints.MariaClemmseemstohavemanagedthebusinessverywell.TherearesmallglimpsesoflifeatFordham.Aneighbourwaspassingtheircottage,onemorning,whenshesawPoepickingcherriesfromthetree and throwing them down to Virginia. But then she saw thatVirginia'swhitedresswas“dashedwithbloodasbrightas thecherriesshehadcaught.”ShewouldneverforgettheexpressiononPoe'sfaceashecarriedhiswife into thecottage.“Theywereawfulpoor,” shesaid.MariaClemmwrote that it “was thesweetest littlecottage imaginable.Oh,howsupremelyhappywewereinourdearcottagehome!Wethreelivedonlyforeachother.Eddierarelylefthisbeautifulhome.Iattendedtohisliterarybusiness;forhe,poorfellow,knewnothingaboutmoneytransactions.”He could not, however, wholly escape the attentions of the city.Fordhamwason theHarlemRailroad, running fromWilliamsbridge toCityHall,andthetrainsdepartedeveryfourhours.CertainlyhewasinNewYorkononeeveninginJune1846,becausehecomposedalettertohis wife on a piece of pocket notebook paper. “My dear Heart,” he

began.Hehopedthat“theinterviewIampromised,willresultinsomesubstantialgoodforme…inmylastgreatdisappointment,Ishouldhavelostmycouragebutforyou.”Thenatureof the“interview,”andof the“disappointment,”arenotknown.Headded that“mydarlingwifeyouaremygreatestandonlystimulusnow.Tobattlewiththisuncongenial,unsatisfactoryandungratefullife.”It had become uncongenial in every sense. There had already been

rumours circulating in the public prints about Poe's “insanity.”According to the Saturday Visiter of Baltimore, in April, Poe “laborsundermentalderangement,tosuchadegreethatithasbeendeterminedto consign him to the Insane Retreat at Utica.” These tales were thedirect result of the unfortunate letter Poehadpersuadedhis doctor towrite,onthesubjectofthecorrespondencewithMrs.Ellet,inwhichhehadclaimed thathewas suffering froma fitof temporary insanity.Asthenewsofhisexplanationspread,sodidthegossip.Thegossipwasfannedbythelibelsuithewasstillpursuing.Hewas

suing the New York Mirror, which had published English's claims offorgery and plagiarism. Poe's lawyer submitted a suit for libel in theSuperiorCourtofNewYork,claimingthatPoe's“goodname,fameandcredit” had been wilfully injured; he demanded damages of fivethousanddollars.Thecasewasputback,andthenputbackagain,butthe coverage of the New York journals was generally hostile to Poe.“Thisisrathersmallbusiness,”commentedtheNewYorkMorningNews,“foramanwhohasrevilednearlyeveryliterarymanofeminenceintheUnitedStates.”Poewasnowphysically, if notmentally, unstable.Hewas forced to

turn down a commencement event at theUniversity of Vermont, as aresult of “serious and, I fear, permanent ill health.” One newspaperinterpreted this as “brain fever.” It is as good an explanation as any.That summer, from the cottage at Fordham, hewrote a long letter toChivers in which he confessed that “I have been for a long timedreadfullyill.”Hespokeofthoseintendingto“ruin”him.“Mydreadfulpoverty,”hewrote,“also,hasgiventhemeveryadvantage. In fact,mydearfriend,Ihavebeendriventotheverygatesofdeathandadespairmore dreadful than death …” So did fate choose to pursue Poethroughouthislife.

Heandhishouseholdnowalsobecametheobjectof sustainedpressattention.On15December1846,theNewYorkMorningExpresscarriedanitemheadlinedILLNESSOFEDGARA.POE.“Weregrettolearn,”thejournalistwrote,“thatthisgentlemanandhiswifearebothdangerouslyill with the consumption, and that the hand of misfortune lies heavyupontheirtemporalaffairs—Wearesorrytomentionthefactthattheyaresofarreducedastobebarelyabletoobtainthenecessariesoflife.”The same facts were reprinted, with one or two embellishments, inseveralothernewspapers.EventheMirror,againstwhichhehadissuedthe libelwrit,cametohisaidwithanappeal forcontributions.Moneywas indeed taken up on the family's behalf. One newspaper editorcollected fifty or sixtydollars, andanonymousdonors sent gifts of tendollarsormore.Poe was alternately grateful and resentful. He needed the money,

clearly,buthedidnotliketobeparadedasanobjectofpubliccharity.Nor was he pleased that his wife's mortal illness was also beingpublicised.Attheendoftheyearhesentonenewspapereditoraletterinwhichheregrettedthefactthat“theconcernsofmyfamilyarethuspitilessly thrust before the public.” He claimed “that I have evermateriallysufferedfromprivation,beyondtheextentofmycapacityforsuffering, is not altogether true. That I am ‘without friends’ is a grosscalumny…” (Friendlessnesswas a condition aboutwhich he had oftencomplained.)Headdedthat“eveninthecityofNewYorkIcouldhavenodifficultyinnamingahundredpersons”towhomhecouldapplyforaid without humiliation. He concluded the letter with a defiantdeclaration.“Thetruthis,Ihaveagreatdealtodo;andIhavemadeupmymindnottodietillitisdone.”Hedidinfactprotesttoomuch,andadmittedlaterthathisexculpatorywordshadputhimto“theexpenseoftruthatdenyingthosenecessitieswhichwerebuttooreal.”Theywererealenoughtoenlisttheactivehelpandsympathyofsome

NewYorkladieswhohadbecomeawareof thePoes’plightduringthelate autumn and winter of 1846. One of them, Mrs. Gove-Nichols,recalled seeing Virginia Poe lying on a straw bed “wrapped in herhusband's greatcoat, with a large tortoise shell cat in her bosom. Thewonderful cat seemed conscious of her great usefulness. The coat andthecatwerethesufferer'sonlymeansofwarmth,exceptasherhusband

held her hands and hermother her feet.” She informed a friend,Mrs.Shew,whopromptlyorganisedasubscriptionfortheunhappyfamily.Afeatherbedandbedclothingweresupplied, followedbyagiftof sixtydollars.By the beginningof 1847 itwas clear thatVirginiaPoewas failing.Shehadsaidtoacaller,“IknowIshalldiesoon;IknowIcan'tgetwell;but I want to be as happy as possible, and make Edgar happy.” Shesufferedfromfeverandsweating,aninabilitytodrawbreath,andseverechest pain, spitting of blood and perpetual coughing. These had alsobeen the symptomsofPoe'sailingmother. IndeedVirginiaPoediedatthesameageasElizaPoe.ThefatalcoincidencecouldnothavebeenlostuponPoehimself.AvisitortoFordham,intheselastmonthsofherlife,foundhim“lostinastupor,notlivingorsuffering,butexistingmerely.”MariaClemmrecalledthatPoe“wasdevotedtohertillthelasthourofherlife,ashisfriendscantestify.”But,inaddition,thedistressofMariaClemmherselfwas“dreadfultosee.”FriendsandrelationsgatheredatthelittlecottageinFordham.AmongthemwasPoe'soldacquaintancefromBaltimore,MaryDevereaux,nowMrs.Jennings.Shefoundthedyingwomanseatedintheparlour.“Isaidtoher,‘Doyoufeelanybettertoday?’andsatdownbythebigarmchairinwhichshewasplaced.Mr.Poesatontheothersideofher.Ihadmyhandinhers,andshetookitandplaceditinMr.Poe's,saying‘Mary,bea friend to Eddie and don't forsake him.’ ” That evening Poewrote aletter tohisbenefactress,Mrs.Shew,observing that “MypoorVirginiastilllives,althoughfadingfastandnowsufferingmuchpain…Lestshemay never see you more— she bids me say that she sends you hersweetestkissof loveandwilldieblessingyou.”Andheadded, “Yes, Iwillbecalm.”The next morning, 30 January 1847, Mary Devereaux returned toFordham,accompaniedbyMrs.Shew.Virginiawas still justalive,andgaveMrs.ShewaportraitofPoetogetherwithajewelboxthathadbeenownedbyPoe'ssister,Rosalie.Virginiaexpiredsoonafter.Itwasthenrealisedthatnoportraitofherexisted, and sooneof the ladies quickly finishedawatercolourofherlikeness.Itsurvivesstill.

Mrs. Shewhad purchased a shroud of fine linen.On the day of thefuneralthecoffinwasplacedonVirginia'shusband'sdesk,besidewhichshehadsooftensatinthepast.Itwasabitterlycoldday.Poe,wrappedinthegreatcoathehadownedsincehisdaysatWestPoint,followedhercoffin to thegravewitha few friends.Onhis return to the cottagehecollapsed.

•••

Thenhelapsedintoastateoffeverorofdelirium.Hetoldanadmirer,six weeks later, “I was overwhelmed by a sorrow so poignant as todeprivemeforseveralweeksofallpowerofthoughtoraction.”MariaClemmwrotetoMrs.Shewimploringheraid.“EddiesaysyoupromisedVirginiatocomeeveryotherdayforalongtime,”shesaid,“oruntilhewasabletogotoworkagain.Ihopeandbelieveyouwillnotfailhim.”Mrs.Shewwassoalarmedbyhisconditionthatsheexpectedhimtosuccumb. She believed that he suffered from a “lesion” on his brain,which on occasions might provoke madness. She raised anothersubscriptiononhisbehalf,andhelpedtonursehimthroughhisnervousprostration.Shebelievedfishwasasovereignremedyfor“brainfever,”as itwas known, but she also offeredmore spiritual consolations. Shepersuadedhimtoattendamidnightservicewithher,butontherecitalofthewords“hewasamanofsorrowsandacquaintedwithgrief,”Poerushedoutofthechurch.Hewasnot,inanycase,amanofconventionalreligiousbeliefs.Hehadneverwillinglyattendedachurchserviceinhislife.MariaClemmclaimedthatshehad“wishedtodie” in thisperiod,butthatshe“hadtolivetotakecareof…poordisconsolateEddie.”Therewasonesmallconsolation.Inabizarrebutunavoidablechainofevents(whichinothercircumstanceshemighthaverelished),Poe'slibelsuitagainsttheMirrorwasheardbeforetheNewYorkSuperiorCourtonthedaybeforeVirginia'sfuneral.InhisdepositionagainstPoe,ThomasDunnEnglish reported the character of Poe to be “that of a notoriousliar,acommondrunkardandofoneutterlylosttoalltheobligationsofhonour.”Thesewere serious charges, enough touproot any reputationPoemighthaveacquiredinNewYork.Butthejurorswerenotdisposedto believe English. The casewent in Poe's favour.Onewitness denied

ever having said thewords reported of him. Another testified that hehad “never heard anything against him except that he is occasionallyaddictedtointoxication.”Butdrunkennessdidnot implyeitherforgeryor larceny.The jurors foundfor theplaintiff,andreturnedaverdictof$225.06inlibeldamagesand$101.42incosts.ItwasoneofthelargestsinglesumsofmoneythatPoehadeverreceived.“Prettywell,”hesaid,“consideringthattherewasnoactual‘damage’donetome.”Hewentoutand purchased a new suit—black, as always—as well as a carpet andtableforthecottageinFordham.Hewasnotoutofdanger,however.Mrs.Shewcontinuedtovisithim

and to nurse him. According to her later account Poe would speakcontinuallyofthepast.Butitwasnothistruepast.HetoldherthathehadfoughtadueloverawomaninFrance.Hetoldherthathehadbeenrescued from subsequent illness by a cultured Scotswoman, who hadvisitedhimdailyforthirteenweeks.Hetoldherthathehadwrittenanautobiographical novel, Life of an Unfortunate Artist, that had beenfalsely credited to the pen of Eugene Sue. He told her, also, that his“beautiful mother” had been born at sea. He added that “it was theregretofhis life, thathehadnotvindicatedhismother to theworld.”Thismayormaynotbeanallusiontothesupposedillegitimacyofhissister.But,inhisexcitedstate,itdoesnotreallymatter.Fromhisearliestlife he harboured within himself an emptiness—a yearning forconsolationandloveandprotection.Andatthesametimehewaslostintheworld,fantasisingabouthisidentity.Slowly he recovered. Maria Clemm would sit beside him as he lay

restless in his bed, continually smoothing his brow and applying“soothing”lotionstohisforehead.

•••

There are many reminiscences of his new life at Fordham, in thecompanyofMariaClemmandCatterinathecat.Catterinawouldsettleherselfonhisshoulders,whilehewaswriting,andpurrwithdelight.Avisitor said that “she seemed possessed.” Poe entertained visitorswithtea,andtookrambleswiththemalongthebanksoftheBronxRiver.Ononeoccasionheengagedinagameofleaping,atwhichhehadexcelled

as a schoolboy; he excelled again, but at the cost of a pair of brokengaiters.Hesatonagardenseatbeneaththecherrytree,whistlingtothepetbirdswhosecageshunginthebranches.Heatefruit,andbuttermilk,andcurds.Hetoldonecorrespondentthat“Ihaveneverbeensowell…Iriseearly,eatmoderately,drinknothingbutwater,and takeabundantandregularexerciseintheopenair.”Now he needed to restore his life. One cause of drinking and of

despair had at least been removed. In a letter hewrote somemonthsafterVirginia'sfuneralherevealedthathehadbeenintoxicatedeventomadnessand“Ihadindeed,nearlyabandonedallhopeofapermanentcurewhenIfoundoneinthedeathofmywife.”Thismighthavebeenaline out of his fiction, but the truth was there. It was the cripplinganxiety induced byher condition, and the fatal progress fromhope todespair,thathadmateriallyinfluencedhisdrinking.Now,hesaid,“myambitionisgreat.”Oncemorehebegantorevivehopesofpublishinghisownliterarymagazine.In thesummerof1847hevisitedWashingtonandPhiladelphiawith

the intentionboth of gaining subscribers andof placing articles in thelocal magazines. He was spotted in the garden of the Episcopal HighSchool inVirginia,nearWashington,andwaspersuadedtorecite“TheRaven”to“thedelightofallwhowerepresent.”Withouttherestrainingpresence of Maria Clemm, however, and despite his own earnestprotestations,hefellbackintodrink.TooneassociateinPhiladelphiahewrote, on returning to Fordham, “Without your aid, at the precisemomentandintheprecisemannerinwhichyourenderedit,itismorethanprobablethatIshouldnotnowbealivetowriteyouthisletter…”He said that hewas “exceedingly ill—somuch so that I had no hopeexcept in getting home immediately.” “Ill” was often, for Poe, aeuphemismforbeingdrunk.No forceonearthcouldnowrestrainhimfrom the bottle. There was never any connection between hisprotestations andhis behaviour, just as therewas no relation betweenhis reminiscences and his real life. His words sprang freely from hisimagination,hisactionsfromneedandobscuredesire.During these months at Fordham, however, away from the

temptations of the bottle, he began to contemplate a long scientificessay.On3February1848,thenewspapersofNewYorkannouncedthat

Poewould be lecturing that evening on “TheUniverse” at the SocietyLibrary on the corner of Broadway and Leonard Street. The proceedsweresupposedtohelpto financetheStylus.But itwasastormynight,andonlysixtypeopleattended.Poespokeforsometwoandahalfhoursonthemysteriesof thecosmos,andoneyoung lawyer in theaudiencerecalled “his pale, delicate, intellectual face andmagnificent eyes. Hislecture was a rhapsody of the most intense brilliancy. He appearedinspired, and his inspiration affected the scant audience almostpainfully.Heworehiscoattightlybuttonedacrosshisslenderchest…”Thenewspaperaccountswereon thewhole laudatory,although it is

notatallclearthatthejournalistspresentfullygraspedPoe'sanalysisof“divineessence”and“infinitespace.”YettheMorningExpressconcludedthat “this brilliant effort was greeted with warm applause by theaudience, who had listened with enchained attention throughout.”Others were not so enthusiastic. One contemporary regarded it as “amountainouspieceofabsurdityforapopularlecture.”Ofthenewspaperreviews Poe commented that “all praised it… and all absurdlymisrepresentedit.”Hepredictedthathisworkwouldbeappreciatedtwothousand years hence. Nevertheless Poe was emboldened by its moreimmediatesuccess.TwomonthslaterheapproachedGeorgeP.PutnaminhispublishingofficesonBroadway.Putnam recalled the meeting when Poe “seated at my desk, and

lookingatmeafullminutewithhis ‘glitteringeye’heat lengthsaid ‘IamMrPoe.’Iwas‘allear,’ofcourse,andsincerelyinterested.”Poethenpaused.“Ihardlyknow,”hesaid,“howtobeginwhatIhavetosay.Itisa matter of profound importance.” He then went on to claim that heproposed the publication of a work that would throw into the shadeNewton's discovery of gravitation, and that the book “would at oncecommandsuchuniversalandintenseattentionthatthepublishermightgiveupallotherenterprises,andmakethisonebookthebusinessofhislifetime.”Heproposeda firstprintingof fifty thousandcopies.Putnamwas“impressed”butnot“overcome,”hesaid,andpromisedaresponsetwodayslater.ThenPoeaskedhimforasmallloan.Putnam thought over the matter, purchased the manuscript, and

eventuallyprintedfivehundredcopiesofEureka.InthemeantimePoelingeredinNewYork.Hedinedwithhisliterary

friendRufusGriswold and unfortunately became inebriated.He sent arequest for assistance to Mrs. Shew, who dispatched a doctor and afriendtoministertohim.They“foundhimcrazy-drunkinthehandsofthe police, and took him home to Fordham (elevenmiles), where wefoundpoorMrs.Clemmwaitingforhim.”Hehadbeenawayfromhomeforthreedays,andhadspentallthemoneygiventohim.SohisrescuersleftMariaClemmfivedollarsforimmediatenecessities.Mrs.Shewwasinanycasereachingthelimitofhertolerationforthe

eccentricities of her erstwhile patient. She never complained of hisdrunkennessorhisexcitability;forhertheseweremerelythesymptomsof a fatally weakened constitution. But she objected to Poe's beliefs,statedinhislectureontheuniverse.Hehadalreadypreparedhisnotesfor publication, and at the end of his discussion he made a clearargumentforaversionofpantheism.AclericalfriendofMrs.Shew,theReverendJohnHenryHopkins,haddiscussedthematterwithPoe.InalettertoMrs.Shewhedescribedhow“astrangethrillnervedanddilatedforaninstanthisslightfigure,asheexclaimed,‘Mywholenatureutterlyrevolts at the ideas that there is anyBeing in theUniverse superior tomyself.’”PoewashardlyaChristianatall.This isnotwhat thepiousMrs.Shewwished tohear. Shecouldnot

consort with a heretic. Her trips to Fordham became infrequent. Shebecame more formal, and more restrained. When she uttered a faint“amen” for the grace before dinner, Poe claimed that “I feltmy heartstop, and Iwas sure Iwas then to die before your eyes.” In the earlysummerMrs.Shewsenthimaletterofleavetaking.Herepliedthat“formonthsIhaveknownyouweredesertingme.”Itshouldberememberedthat,ofallthecalamitieshemostfeared,thatoffemalewithdrawalwasbyfarthemostpainful.Itwasconnectedwiththedeathofhismother,and the deaths of the other young women to whom he had beendevoted.SotoMrs.Shewhecalledoutasfromthedepths—“formealas!Unless some trueand tender andpurewomanly love savesme, I shallhardlylastayearlonger!”Headdedthat“itistoolateyouarefloatingawaywiththecrueltide.Iamacowardtowritethistoyou,butitisnotacommontrial,itisafearfulonetome.”Itwasthelastlettersheeverreceivedfromhim.EvenbeforeMrs.Shew'sdefection,however,Poehadbeensurveying

thehorizonforanotherandmoreimpressionableyoungwoman.InMay1848,hewroteanimpassionedifnotexactlypassionatelettertoJaneE.Locke;hecalledher“Sweetfriend,dearfriend”andalludedruefullytohis“hermitlife…buriedinthewoodsofFordham.”Heclaimedthat“mywholeexistencehasbeenthemerestRomance—inthesenseofthemostutterunworldliness.”Hewanted to learnmore,muchmore, aboutherpersonalhistory.Therewasonequestion“whichI‘darenotevenask’ofyou.” That question was, no doubt, concerning her marital status. Itturnedoutthatshewasmarried.Shewentfrombeing“MyDearFriend”to“MyDearMrs.Locke.”Hisplanshadagainbeenthwarted.Butwithinafewweekshewassettotryagain.

•••

Eurekawas published in the summer of 1848. Itwas the last of hisworks to be issued in his lifetime, and is in certain respects themostpuzzling. The confusion is not helped by his preface in which hedeclared the composition to be “an Art-Product alone: let us say as aRomance;or,ifIbenoturgingtooloftyaclaim,asaPoem.”Itpurportstobeanaccountoftheoriginandthehistoryoftheuniverse,couchedinthemost recondite prose, but it is also a record of the obsessions andpreoccupationsthathadanimatedPoe'sfictionandpoetry.Itbeginswiththegeneralpropositionthat,“IntheOriginalUnityoftheFirstThingsliesthe Secondary Cause of All Things, with the Germ of their InevitableAnnihilation.” Poe surveyed the universality of gravitation beforesuggestingthatthegravitationalprinciplewassimplyonemanifestationofthedesireofallthingstoreturntosomeoriginalstateofunity.“IamnotsosurethatIspeakandsee,”hewrote,“thatmyheartbeatsandmysoullives…asIamoftheirretrievablybygoneFactthatAllThingsandAllThoughtsofThings,withalltheirineffableMultiplicityofRelation,sprangatonceintobeingfromtheprimordialandirrelativeOne”Butallthings yearn to return to that original “unity” and that primaeval“nothingness”or,asheput it,“theirsource lies intheprinciple,Unity.This is their lost parent.” The reference to “lost parent” may besignificant.Washecontemplatingthatyearned-forreturntothemother?Theremaybesomeburiedallusiontohisown loss in thebelief thata“diffusion from Unity, under the conditions, involves a tendency to

return into Unity—a tendency ineradicable until satisfied.” Is thereperhapsheresomeexplanation forhisexcessivedrinking, in thedesiretoreturntosomestateofinfantileblissandtactility?Buttheninthereturntothatoriginalunity,thatwomb,“theprocesseswe have here ventured to contemplate will be renewed forever, andforever,andforever;anovelUniverseswellingintoexistence,andthensubsidingintonothingness,ateverythroboftheHeartDivine.Andnow—thisHeartDivine—what is it? It isourown”The tell-taleheartbeatswithinPoe,andwithineveryoneofus.Theuniverseiswithinus.Itisanancientdoctrine,whichPoemighthavederivedfromParacelsusorfromBlake,butitislikelytohavebeenfoundanewbyPoehimself.Inalettertoone correspondenthe stated that “What I havepropoundedwill (ingood time) revolutionise the world of Physical and MetaphysicalScience.Isaythiscalmly—butIsayit.”Somecosmologistshaveclaimedthat Poe is the harbinger of Einstein and the first theorist of “blackholes,” but itmight be suggested that Poe is simply applying his everrestlessandperplexedimaginationtotheworldofmatterandofspirit.Headded,inthiscontext,“TheplotsofGodareperfect.TheUniverseisaplotofGod.”Poegiveshimselftoolittlecredit.

•••

In the same period Poe composed two of his most famous poems,“Ulalume”and“TheBells,”thatcomeascloseto“soundpoetry”asanyverseheeverwrote. It is said thathedesigned the firstof themasanexercise in elocution or recitation, and that in the other hewished toreproducetheeffectofthepealingofbells.Hetoldsomejournalists inRichmond that hewished “to express in language the exact sounds ofbells to the ears.” Inboth caseshe succeeded,but at the costof senseandperhapsofsignificance.Theyareexercisesin“purepoetry,”wherecadenceandthesuggestivemelodyofrhymeareemployedfortheirownsake.Hewishedtocreate“thispoemwhichisapoemandnothingmore—thispoemwrittensolelyforthepoem'ssake.”Itsobjectwaspleasure,not truth, and its effect was one of indefinite rather than definitepleasure;itconsistedsolelyin“theRhythmicalCreationofBeauty.”Thistheoryisequivalenttothedoctrineofartforart'ssake,adumbratedbyPater and Swinburne for a later generation. Yet there was something

more.Therewasalsohis statement that “theoriginofPoetry lies inathirst for a wilder Beauty than Earth supplies,” for a “supernalLoveliness” to be glimpsed in “the glories beyond the grave;” he isinvoking the yearning for something irremediably lost, somethingmissingforever.His late poems, then, could be seen as complementary to hisspeculations in Eureka. It was poetry like this that appealed to theFrench Symbolist poets and guaranteed his preeminent reputationamongpoetssuchasBaudelaireandMallarmé.ButthesameworkwaslessenthusiasticallyreceivedbyAnglo-Americanpoetsandcritics,whohavedeemedit“juvenile”oraformof“nonsensepoetry”inthelineofEdwardLear.Thatdisparityofjudgementexistsstill.

TTheWomen

hedepartureofMrs.Shew,andthefalsestartwithMrs.Locke,hadnot materially affected Poe's passionate desire for female

companionship. In the summer of 1848 he visitedMrs. Locke and herhusband at Lowell, inMassachusetts,where hewas about to deliver alecture on “The Poets and Poetry of America.” Mrs. Locke thenintroduced him to a neighbour, a young woman named AnnieRichmond.Ata laterdate, ina fictionalessay,heclaimedthathewassmitten at first sight. “As she approached, with a certain modestdescriptionof stepalmost indescribable, I said tomyself,Surelyhere Ihavefoundtheperfectionofnatural,incontradistinctionfromartificialgrace…Sointenseanexpressionofromance,perhapsIshouldcallit,orof unworldliness, as that which gleamed from her deep-set eyes, hadneversosunkintomyheartofheartsbefore.”Hereyeswere“spiritual.”Perhapshedeemedherevencapableofanearlydeath.Afterhehadgivenhis lecturehe spent the restof thatevening,and

much of the following day, with Annie Richmond. He may also havebeeninthecompanyofherhusbandandherbrother,butthatdoesnotseem to have lessened his enthusiasm. Jane Locke had already beenforgotten. Annie Richmond herself recalled that “he seemed so unlikeanyotherperson…all theeventsofhis life,whichhenarrated tome,had a flavour ofunreality about them, just like his stories.” Theymayhavebeenmuchclosertohisfictionthansheeverimagined.Hewasper-manently incomplete, passionately attaching himself to anyone whoshowed affection or even kindness. Hence his espousal of abstract“beauty”as the sourceofallwisdomandconsolation.Butat the sametimehewasaferociousanalystandcalculatorofhisposition,examiningalltheobjectsthatmadeuphisprison.InthesamemonthashismeetingwithAnnieRichmond,forexample,

he made discreet enquiries about Sarah Helen Whitman, a poet fromProvidence,RhodeIsland,whohadlatelysenthimaValentinepoem.Heaskedonecorrespondent, “Canyounot tellme somethingabouther—anything—everythingyouknow…”Thetoneofhislettersuggeststhathewasinastateofsomedesperation:heneededtheloveandcomfortof

someone, anyone, with whom he felt a poetic affinity. He was theorphancryingformore.Then in July he travelled down to Richmond, his boyhood home,ostensibly to gather subscribers for his literary magazine. There arereports of his drinking, however, and of his reciting passages fromEureka inthepublicbarsandtaverns.Onecontemporary, theeditorofthe Southern Literary Messenger, reported that “his entire residence inRichmond of late was but a succession of disgraceful follies.” Thissoundslikeanexaggeration.Hewascollectedenough,forexample,toseekaninterviewwithoneofhiserstwhileloves.ElmiraRoyster,bywhomhehadbeenenamouredbefore he had gone to theUniversity ofVirginia, hadnowbecome anaffluentwidow,Mrs.Shelton.SherecalledlaterthatPoewasexcitedbytheir meeting after many years. “He came up to me in the mostenthusiasticmannerandsaid,‘Oh!,Elmira,isthisyou.’”Itislikelythatheconsideredproposing toher,butanewlycomposedpoem from theother widow, Sarah Helen Whitman, changed his plans. It concludedwiththe immortal line,“Idwellwith ‘Beautywhich isHope.’ ”Afterhereceived the poem, through the agency of Maria Clemm, he leftRichmondandmadehiswaytowardsProvidence.Wemayapplytohimwhat he wrote to an earlier correspondent: “You need not attempt toshakeoff,ortobanteroff,Romance.Itisanevilyouwillnevergetridoftotheendofyourdays.Itisapartofyourself—aportionofyoursoul.”AndsoitprovedforPoe.Mrs.Whitman possessed an ethereal temper. Shewas known as the“SeeressofProvidence”—whetherthetown,orfuturityitself,isopentoquestion.Shewasdistractedandabsentminded; she swathedherself inveils,whichinvariablybecameentangled,andwascontinuallydroppingorlosinglittleitemssuchasfansandshawls.Shewassaidtoflutter“likea bird.” She was a great exponent of table rapping and othercommunicationsbeyondthegrave.Shewasalsoaddictedtoether,withwhich she liberally soaked her handkerchiefs in more than usuallydistressingmoments. Thereweremany suchmoments ready to engulfher.Poe reached New York at the beginning of September 1848, andwished to satisfy himself that Helen Whitman was in residence at

Providencebysendingananonymousletteraskingforherautograph.Itwas one of the little “hoaxes” that he enjoyed. Two weeks later hepresentedhimselfinperson,withaformalletterofintroductionfromamutualfriend.ThenhegaveherasignedvolumeofTheRavenandOtherPoemswithadedication“fromthemostdevotedofherfriends.EdgarA.Poe.”ThenextmorningtheyvisitedtheAthenaeumLibrarywhereMrs.Whitman, somewhat disingenuously, asked him whether he had everread“Ulalume.”Toherinfinitesurprise,Poerevealedhimselftobetheauthor.That evening Poe was introduced to the circle of Helen Whitman'sclosestfriends.Oneofthosepresentrecalledthat“PoeandHelenweregreatlyagitated.Simultaneouslybotharosefromtheirchairsandwalkedtowardsthecenteroftheroom.Meeting,heheldherinhisarms,kissedher;theystoodforamoment,thenheledhertoherseat.Therewasadeadsilencethroughallthisstrangeproceeding.”On the following day they visited a local cemetery, overlooking theSeekonkRiver. In theseaffecting surroundingsPoe proposedmarriage.HelenWhitmanrecalled later that“heendeavoured…topersuademethatmyinfluenceandmypresencewouldhavepowertolifthislifeoutof the torpor of despair which had weighed upon him, and give aninspiration tohis genius, ofwhichhehadas yet givenno token.” Shedeclined,orperhapsprevaricated,citingtheneedtosupportanelderlymother.Shepromisedinsteadtowritetohim,withafullerexplanation.TwodayslaterPoeleftforNewYork,towhichplacehewasfollowedbyaletterfromMrs.WhitmanclaimingthatshewastoooldandtoofragiletobecomethesecondMrs.Poe.Shewasinfactonlysixyearshissenior,but theprotestationof aweaknervous constitution rings true.Hewasnotamanforafaint-heartedfemale.OnthefollowingdayPoerepliedinaletterofseveralthousandwords,beginning “I have pressed your letter again and again to my lips,sweetest. Helen—bathing it in tears of joy or of a ‘divine despair.’ ”Therewasagreatdealmoreinthesameveinoftheatrical,orelevated,sentimentinthecourseofwhichherenewedhisclaimforheraffectionsandinsistedthatunderhiscareshe“wouldgetbetter,andfinallywell.”He also provided herwith a potted history of their brief relationship,recountinghisemotionsonfirstseeingherinProvidencewhere“Ifelt,

forthefirsttimeinmylife,andtremblinglyacknowledged,theexistenceof spiritual influencesaltogetheroutof the reachof reason. I saw thatyouwereHelen—myHelen—theHelenofathousanddreams.”HelenWhitman replied eight days later, oncemore excusing herself

frommarriageonthegroundsthatshehadtakenresponsibilityforhermotherandherunmarriedyoungersister.Shecouldnotabandonthemformarried life, however high-minded. She also asked Poe, somewhattactlessly, the reason forhisbad reputationamongcertainpeople.Shehadhearditsaidthat“hehasgreatintellectualpower,butnoprinciple—nomoralsense.”Herepliedatonce,withanotherextraordinarilylongandimpassioned

letter.He interpreted the eight days’ delay as a token of the fact that“Youdonotloveme.”Helamented“thatmyheartisbroken—thatIhavenofartherobjectinlife—thatIhaveabsolutelynowishbuttodie.”Hewas particularly upset about Mrs.Whitman's questions concerning hismoralcharacter.“Untilthemomentwhenthesehorriblewordsfirstmetmy eye,” he claimed, “I would not have believed it possible that anysuchopinionscouldhaveexistedatall…”Sincehehadregularlyviewedsimilaropinionsinthepublicprints,andhadeveninstigatedasuit forlibel,hissurprisewasalittleforced.He promised to reveal “the truth or nothing.” He claimed that “I

deliberatelythrewawayfrommea largefortune,ratherthanendureatrivialwrong.”OfhismarriagetoVirginiaClemmhestatedthat“Ididviolencetomyownheart,andmarriedforanother'shappiness,whenIknew that no possibility of my own existed.” There was very little“truth” in either statement, and the second complaint reads like amonstrousbetrayalofhis firstwife.There then followedsomeobscurehintsabouthisrelationshipwithFannyOsgood.Itwasbyhisstandardsapoorperformance.Itiscertainthatforhimwords,andthecadenceofwords,createdtheirownreality. Intheprocessofcompositionhemayhavebelieveditall.Butherehewasrewritingandrevisinghisownlife.In“Berenice”thenarratorconfessesthat“mypassionsalwayswereof

themind,”andwemayinferthistobeapartialdiagnosisofPoe'sowncondition. His yearnings were always of an idealised and spiritualnature.Inhiswork,hewasneverinterestedinanysensualpleasure.Inhislife,wheneveranyphysicalunionseemedtobecomeapossibility,he

fledintodrink.Acontemporarydescribedhimas“ofallthementhatIeverknew,hewasthemostpassionless.”Inhisartandinhislife,hefellinlovewithdyingwomen.EvenbeforeHelenWhitmanreceivedthe letter,Poeappearedbeforeher.Oncemoreheaskedhertoentertainhisofferofmarriage.Hewasonhisway toLowell,wherehewasabout todelivera lecture,andheaskedhertosendafurthermessagetohimthere.But, at Lowell itself, hewas oncemore in the presence of the otherwoman whom he adored in equal measure— Annie Richmond. Afterspending a little time with Mr. and Mrs. Locke, he moved to Annie'shouse nearby. This change in his affections altogether disrupted hisfriendshipwith Jane Locke, but sealed thatwith Annie Richmond.Hebecameherinseparablecompanion,andhersisterrecalledhim“sittingbeforeanopenwoodfire, intheearlyautumnevening,gazingintentlyintotheglowingcoal,holdingthehandofadearfriend—Annie’—whilefora long timenoone spoke.”Thismayhavebeen in thepresenceofAnnie'scomplianthusband,whoclearlydeemedPoetobenothreat.But Poe had also recentlywritten to HelenWhitman that hewouldjoyfully“godownwithyouintothenightoftheGrave.”A few days after his visit to Lowell he wrote a letter to AnnieRichmondinwhichheasked,“WhyamInotwithyounowdarling…”Hisaffectionswereinfinitelymalleable.HeevenconsultedAnnieRichmondon his future with HelenWhitman, and it seems that Mrs. Richmondcounselledmatrimony.Hewasnotnecessarilygrateful,however,forheradvice.“Canyou,myAnnie,”hewrote,“beartothinkIamanother's?”He left her in “an agony of grief,” and travelled once more toProvidence.Even before seeing Helen Whitman, he broke down. He endured a“long, long,hideousnightofdespair”beforepurchasing twoouncesoflaudanum the followingmorning.He travelledon toBoston,wherehewrotea letter toAnnie inwhichheremindedherofher“promisethatunderallcircumstances,youwouldcometomeonmybedofdeath.”SoheimploredhertocomeatoncetoBoston,andnamedtheplacewherehecouldbefound.Heseemedseriouslytobecontemplatingsuicide.Buthewasprincipallyreactingtothethoughtofactuallygoingthroughwith

themarriage toHelenWhitman.He explained toAnnie “howmy soulrevolted from saying the words which were to be said.” Then heswallowedanounceofthelaudanum.Theeffectswereimmediateandprofound,suggestingthatcontraryto

rumourhewasnotan inveterate takerofopium.Hiscousin,ElizabethHerring, indicated that during the period of Virginia's illness he was“ofteninsadconditionfromtheuseofopium.”Itwasanaturalreactiontohisanxietyanddespair. Itwould in factbe surprising ifhehadnotusedopiumortinctureoflaudanumoccasionally,givenitsefficacyandreadyavailability.Itwouldhavebeenausefulalternativetoalcohol.Butthe evidence does not suggest that hewas an habitual imbiber of thedrug.On thisoccasion inBoston, forexample,he lostcommandofhisreason and an unnamed “friend” helped him to cope with “the awfulhorrorswhichsucceeded.”Twodayslater,on7November,hewascomposedenoughtojourney

toProvidence.HelenWhitmanwastooagitatedtoseehim,havingbeentroubledbyhisabsenceoftwodays.Sohesentheranoteorderingherto “writeme oneword to say that you do loveme and that, under allcircumstances, you will be mine.” The changes in his mood arebewilderingandextreme;theydosuggest,attheveryleast,atemporaryderangement fuelledeitherby the laudanumorbyalcohol.Sheagreedtomeethim,attheAthenaeumlibrary,halfanhourlater.Inthecourseofthis interviewherecountedall thathadhappenedtohiminBoston.They met again in the afternoon, when Mrs. Whitman once moreprevaricatedoverhisproposalofmarriage. Shealso readhima letter,fromsomeoneinNewYork,inwhichhischaracterhadbeenabused.Heseemed“deeplypained.”That evening Poe began drinking. In his intoxicated state he

despatcheda“noteofrenunciationandfarewell”toMrs.Whitman.Sheassumed that he had travelled back to New York, but he had in factstayed at Providence in the care of aMr.MacFarlane.MacFarlane, onthe following morning, persuaded Poe to sit for a daguerreotype. Itshowshimquizzical, sarcastic, subduedwith that strange alteration inbothhalvesofhisvisage.Hisfacelookspuffy,thereareringsunderhiseyes, his mouth seems twisted in a sneer, his eyes are deep-set andthoughtful. After being photographed Poe rushed around to Helen

Whitman'shouse“inastateofwild&deliriousexcitement,callinguponme to save him from some terrible impending doom.” His voice was“appalling…neverhaveIheardanythingsoawful,eventosublimity.”Hewasinthethroesofaconditionakintomadness.Mrs.Whitman'smothersatwithhimfor twohours, inanattempt to

calmhim,butwhenHeleneventuallyenteredtheroom“heclungtomeso frantically as to tear away a piece of the muslin dress I wore.” Adoctorwascalled,andhediagnosed“cerebralcongestion.”PoewasthenremovedtothehouseofafriendofMrs.Whitman,whereherecuperatedfortwoorthreedays.Therewereseveralmoreinterviews,duringwhichHelen agreed to a “conditional engagement”—the condition being thatPoe stopped drinking altogether. But Helen's mother was stubbornlyopposed to thematch, telling Poe that her daughter's deathwould bepreferable to any union with him. On the evening of 13 November,frustratedinhismuddleddesireformarriage,PoeleftonasteamerforNewYork.FromNewYorkhecomposedanotetoMrs.Whitman,explainingthat

he felt “your dear love at my heart” but that he sensed “a strangeshadowof comingevil.”He then took the train toFordham,wherehewas at last reunited with Maria Clemm. Mrs. Clemm wrote to AnnieRichmondsayingthat“Godhas…returnedmypoordarlingEddytome.Buthowchanged!Iscarcelyknewhim.”PoealsowrotetoAnnieanotherlongandagonisedletter,inwhichhesaidthat“youknowIloveyou,asnomaneverlovedwoman…oh,mydarling,myAnnie,myownsweetsisterAnnie,mypurebeautifulangel—wifeofmysoul…”Buthehadnotentirelylosthissenseofreality.Fourdayslaterhewas

writingtoaputativebenefactor,askingfortwohundreddollarsfortheestablishment of his proposed literary magazine. He slowly began torecover from the excitement induced by recent events, his composureonlyslightlyruffledbythenewsthatHelenWhitman'smotherhadtakenentirecontroloftheWhitmanestate.

•••

Thenon20December,PoereturnedtoProvidenceinordertodelivera lecture on “The Poetic Principle.” Any othermotivemust remain in

doubt.One poet of his acquaintance,Mary E.Hewitt, asked if hewasalso going to Providence for his marriage. He is supposed to havereplied,“Thatmarriagewillnevertakeplace.”Helecturedbeforesomeeighteen hundred people in the Franklin Lyceum, withMrs.Whitmanamongtheaudience.Onthefollowingdaysheagreedtoan“immediatemarriage,”withthefamiliarstipulationthathewouldneverdrinkagain.Poeattendedaneveningreceptionatherhome,whereheremainedveryquiet.On themorning of the next day hewas seen to take a glass ofwine.HecalleduponHelen,withprofuseapologies.Theapologieswereapparently accepted, for on the following day he wrote a note to theministerof the localEpiscopalchurchaskinghimtopublish thebannsfortheforthcomingmarriage.PoethenwrotetoMariaClemmthat“weshallbemarriedonMonday[ChristmasDay],andwillbeatFordhamonTuesday.”Thesewell-laidplanscametonothing.OnthedayhehadwrittentoMariaClemm,hehadriddenout inacarriagewithhis intendedbride.They visited one of the many libraries in the city, where a note wasplacedinMrs.Whitman'shand.Itwasa“poisonpen”letterofthemostviciouskind,informingher“ofmanythingsinMr.Poe'srecentcareer”andinparticularofhiscontinueddrinking.Itmayalsohavealludedtohis association with Annie Richmond. This was too great a strain forHelen Whitman. When they returned to the Whitman home, shestupefied herself with ether and sank upon the sofa. Poe knelt downbesideher,andbeggedforoneword.“WhatcanIsay?”“Saythatyouloveme,Helen.”“Iloveyou.”Then the unhappy and confused woman collapsed intounconsciousness.Poehad a less passionate interviewwithMrs.Whitman'smother, inwhichshemadeitveryclearthathispresencewasnolongerrequired.The result was that he left the house, complaining of “intolerableinsults,” and boarded the steamer to New York. He never saw HelenWhitmanagain.Itisastrangestory,renderedevenmorebizarrebyPoe'sbafflingand

incoherent conduct. He was writing passionate and devoted letters totwowomenat thesametime,promisingundying lovetoboth.Hewaslike a cuttlefish floundering in its own ink.He had traduced his deadwife'smemory.Hehadexpressed thewish todie inAnnieRichmond'sarms;hehadexpressedsomething like infantiledependenceuponbothwomen.And,significantly,heknewwellenoughthatbothwomenwereultimately unobtainable. In that respect, at least, they resembled theidealisedimageofhisownmother.Therewasonedifference.ToHelen,inhis signatures,hewas “Edgar.”ToAnnie,hewas “Eddy.” It is as iftwo people inhabited the same body—the adult Edgar and the infantEddy.ItwasEddywhowrotethat“Ineednottellyou,Annie,howgreataburdenistakenoffmyheartbymyrupturewithMrs.W…”Therewasonefurthercomplication.ThefamilyofAnnieRichmond'shusband lived in Providence, and were busily retelling all the gossipabout Poe and Helen Whitman, including the information that Mrs.Whitman had withdrawn the marriage banns. This was untrue. Themarriagebannshadneverbeenpublishedatall.Butthesuspicionwas,of course, that itwasMrs.Whitman,notPoe,whohad sundered theirrelationshipandthatshehaddonesoonthebasisofsomenewevidenceagainsthim.Poewrote toHelenWhitman towards theendof January1849,explaining“thatyouMrs.Whaveuttered,promulgatedorinanywaycountenancedthispitiablefalsehood,Idonot&cannotbelieve…Ithasbeenmy intention tosaysimply, thatourmarriagewaspostponedonaccountofyourillhealth.”PerhapsonthesamedayPoewrotetoAnnieRichmondcomplainingthat “I feltdeeplywoundedby the cruel statementsof your letter.”Heenclosed his letter toMrs.Whitman, which he had post-dated, askingAnnie to read it, seal it, and send iton. Itwashisbestopportunityofclearinghisname.HelenWhitmanneverreplied.

HTheLastYear

ewastryingtolookahead.InFebruary1849hewrotearelativelyoptimistic letter to his old friend Frederick Thomas, inwhich he

claimed that “I shall be a litterateur at least all my life.” In the sameperiodhetoldAnnieRichmondthat“Ihavenotsufferedadaytopasswithoutwritingfromapagetothreepages.”Bythespringhecompletedthefinalversionof“TheBells”andbeganthepoemheentitled“AnnabelLee;”hewasalsowritingoneofhismostpeculiar stories, “HopFrog,”about the vengeancewreaked by a dwarfish clown forced to entertainvariousnobleandroyalpatrons.Healsowrotea“hoaxing”story,“VonKempelen and His Discovery,” on the possibility of turning lead intogold.Heclaimedthathehadnotbeendrinkingand,indeed,thathewas“inbetterhealththanIeverknewmyselftobe.”HeandMariaClemmhadtakenthecottageatFordhamforanotheryear.Therewasanotherreason for confidence. A prospective patron for the Stylus hadunexpectedly emerged. A young admirer of Poe, Edward Patterson ofOquawka, Illinois, had offered to subsidise a literary magazine underPoe'sexclusivecontrol.Poewrotebackinenthusiasticterms.Allwouldbewell.Butthentherecametheinevitablereaction.Thejournals,fromwhich

hehadbeenhoping for funds forhiscontributions,collapsedoneafterthe other. By April Poe had become once more seriously unwell. “Ithought,”MariaClemmwrotetoAnnieRichmond,“hewoulddieseveraltimes.”Hehadrelapsedintonervousdespair.HereportedtoAnniethat“mysadnessisunaccountable,andthismakesmethemoresad.Nothingcheersorcomfortsme.Mylifeseemswasted—thefuturelooksadrearyblank.”ItwasthenecessaryresponsetothatperiodofhystericalturmoilinhistwinpursuitofAnnieRichmondandHelenWhitman.Yetoncemorehe travelleddowntoRichmond, inorder todelivera

series of lectures. He may also have welcomed the opportunity ofrenewinghisapproachestoElmiraShelton,thewealthywidowwhohadonce been his belle. And he wanted to find new subscribers for theproposed journal. “I am now going to Richmond,” he told onecorrespondent,“to‘seeaboutit.’”

So,on29June1849,MariaClemmsawhimoffonthesteamboattoPhiladelphia. His words of farewell, according to her memory, were“GodblessmyowndarlingMuddydonot fear foryourEddy seehowgood Iwillbewhile I amaway fromyou,andwill comeback to loveandcomfortyou.”Hewas,essentially,goinghome.Sheneversawhimagain.

•••

He had intended to travel through Philadelphia on his way toRichmond,butarecurrenceofhisoldsicknessdetainedhim.Hebegantodrink.Hissuitcase,whichcontainedtwoofthelectureshewasabouttodeliveratRichmond,was lostat therailwaystation.Thiswasnotagoodsign.Thenexttwoorthreedaysareenvelopedinahaze.PoetoldMaria Clemm, in an hysterical letter written a week later fromPhiladelphia, that“Ihavebeen taken toprisononcesince Icamehereforgettingdrunk;but then Iwasnot. ItwasaboutVirginia.”TheonlyproblemwithhisconfessionisthattheavailableprisonrecordsshownoevidenceofPoeeverbeingarrested.Inturnithasbeensuggestedthathewas detained for his own safety; that hewas recognised in court, andacquitted. But the most likely explanation seems to be that Poe wassuffering from delirium tremens or some form of paranoiachallucination.Onthedayafterhissupposedarrest, forexample,hecalleduponanoldacquaintance,theengraverandpublisherJohnSartain,looking“paleand haggard, with a wild and frightened expression in his eyes.” Hepleadedwith him for protection and explained that “somemen”wereabouttoassassinatehim.Theninhistormentedstateheentertainedtheprospect of suicide and asked Sartain for a razor. He wished only toshave off his moustache, however, so that he could escape detectionfrom the possible murderers. Sartain then performed the deed with apairofscissors.(HerewemayentertainacavilofdoubtaboutSartain'smemory. Poe had a moustache on his arrival in Richmond soonafterwards.)ThateveningtheymadeanexpeditiontothelocalwaterworksbytheSchuylkill River where, according to Sartain's account, foolishly they

mountedthestepstothereservoir.Poethenconfidedtohimhisvisions,or hallucinations, while incarcerated in the Philadelphia jail. TheyincludedthesightofMariaClemmbeingfrightfullymutilated.Hewentintoa“sortofconvulsion,”andSartainhadtohelphimcarefullydownthesteepstepstosafety.Poe stayed with his protector for two or three nights, and on thesecond morning he was recovered sufficiently to leave the houseunaccompanied.Onhisreturnheconfidedthathisrecentdelusionswere“created by his own excited imagination.” Sartain may have alreadycome to that conclusion.A fewdays laterPoewrote toMariaClemm,complaining that “Ihavebeen so ill—havehad the cholera, or spasmsquiteasbad.”Heaskedher tocome tohim immediatelyon receiptoftheletter,withtheominouswarningthat“wecanbutdietogether.Itisnousetoreasonwithmenow;Imustdie.”HesentthelettertothecareofSarahAnneLewis,inBrooklyn,butMrs.LewiswiselydidnotpassitontoMariaClemm.Mrs.Clemm,meanwhile,frettedandworriedaboutpoorEddy.Poewasstillillandimpoverished.HevisitedaPhiladelphiareporter,GeorgeLippard,inhisoffices.Hewaswearingonlyoneshoe.Hehadnomoney, and had not eaten. He said that he had no friends, havingconveniently forgotten about Sartain. Lippard quickly raised somemoney from sympathetic local publishers, and Poe finally scrapedtogetherthefaretomakehiswaytoRichmond.Hefoundhissuitcaseattherailwaystation;but,tohisdismay,ithadbeenopenedandhislecturesstolen.ItisnotclearwhatthiefwouldhavebeeninterestedinPoe'slucubrationsonthestateofAmericanpoetry.Richmond had been his destination all along, but he arrived muchlaterthanheexpected.ThewholeexperienceinPhiladelphiabecameforhimaphantasmagoriaofsuffering,broughtonbywhathedescribedas“mania-a-potu,” or alcoholic madness. It is the first indication that herealised the nature of his true condition. The sequence of events inPhiladelphia is not at all clear, and it is not wise to take the laterrecollectionsofSartainorofLippardatfacevalue.Thereisalwaysmuchmyth-making in stories of Poe. That he did face some kind of crisis,however, is not in doubt. Lippard later recalled that, on their leave-taking at Philadelphia, “there was in his voice, look and manner

somethingofaPresentmentthathisstrangeandstormylifewasnearitsclose.”Thisisknownasthebenefitofhindsight.

•••

As soon as Poe arrived in Richmond he wrote to Maria Clemm,explainingthatforthelastweeks“yourpoorEddyhasscarcelydrawnabreath except of intense agony.” He added towards the end that “myclothesaresohorrible,andIamsoill.”Thenfivedayslater,heseemstohave recoveredhis spirits.Hewas inbetterhealthandwrote toMariaClemmthat “allmayyetgowell. Iwillput forthallmyenergies.”Hehad themost extraordinarypowers of recuperation—or itmaybe thatthewild alterations in hismoods (and in his physicalwell-being) hadmoretodowithwordsthanwithrealities.HetooklodgingsintheSwanTavern,andpaidcallsuponoldfriendsandacquaintances.Herenewedhis ties with his sister, Rosalie, with whom he had previously lostcontact. And he began earning money by lecturing. He was, in fact,somethingofapublic figure. “Mr.Poe isanativeof this cityandwasrearedinourmidst,”onenewspaperreported,“…hereappearsamonguswithincreasedreputation,andastrongclaimuponpublicattention.”HereportedtoMariaClemm,inAugust,that“Ineverwasreceivedwithsomuchenthusiasm.”There are several descriptions of him in Richmond, generally of a

contraryquality.Toonecontemporaryhe seemed“invariablycheerful,and frequently playful in mood.” To another his mouth displayed“firmnessmingledwithanelementofscornanddiscontent.”Ingeneralhewas,when sober, cordial andcourteous;he seemed rarely to smile,buttoexerciseanoverwhelmingself-control.Therewas“muchsadnessin the intonationof the voice.”Therewere timeswhenhe lapsed intoold habits. On one occasion he was taken so ill from excessiveconsumptionofalcoholthathehadtobenursedbyfriends.Itwassaidby a Richmond contemporary that for some days “his life was inimminent danger” and that it was the opinion of his doctors that“anothersuchattackwouldprovefatall.”Heissupposedtohaverepliedthat “if people would not tempt him, he would not fall.” Under thecircumstances, it was not perhaps the most convincing response. Hespent some time in the offices of the Richmond Examiner, however,

where hewas surrounded by convivial spiritswhomight indeed have“tempted”him.MintjulepwasafavouritedrinkinRichmond.He was sturdy enough, however, to renew his advances towardsElmira Shelton.He called upon her several times, and by the summertherewerewidespreadrumoursthathehadbecomeengagedtoher.Onecontemporaryreported,ata laterdate, that“the ladywasawidow,ofwealthandbeauty,whowasanold flameofhis.”But thepathof truelove is not often smooth. Two of Mrs. Shelton's children apparentlyopposedthematch,andherdeadhusbandhadbequeathedhisestatetoheronconditionthatshedidnotremarry.Poe'sintentionswerealsonotentirelyclear.HewrotealettertoMariaClemminwhichhesuggestedthatsheleaveFordhamandremoveherselftoRichmond.Andheaddedthat“IwanttolivenearAnnie…DonottellmeanythingaboutAnnie—Icannotbeartohearitnow—unlessyoucantellmethatMr.R.isdead.”So on the brink of an engagement with Elmira Shelton he was stillexpressing his devotion to another woman. Three weeks later he hadsoftened somewhat towardsMrs. Shelton. “I think she loves memoredevotedly than anyone I ever knew,”hewrote toMariaClemm, “& Icannothelplovingherinreturn.Nothingisyetdefinitelysettled.”Fourdayslater,on22September,anengagementwastentativelyenvisaged.OnthesamedayElmiraSheltonwrotetoMariaClemmexplainingthat“Iamfullypreparedtoloveyou,andIdosincerelyhopethatourspiritsmay be congenial.” She assured her that Poe was “sober, temperate,moral, & much beloved.” So he had made a considerable effort toreassurehisnewinamorata.Onthesameday,too,itwasreportedthathehadjoinedthelocaltemperancesociety.Hewas invited to lecture on “The Poetic Principle,” two days later,andMrs.Sheltonsatinthefrontrowbeforehislectern.Acontemporarynoted “her straight features, high forehead and cold expression ofcountenance … a sensible, practical woman, the reverse of a poet'sideal.”Andsoitproved.Mrs.Sheltonsaidlater,whenquestionedabouttheallegedaffair,that“IwasnotengagedtoPoewhenhelefthere,butthere was a partial understanding, but I do not think I should havemarriedhimunderanycircumstances.”AsinallmattersconcerningPoe,thestoriesareconvolutedanddifficulttounravel.

•••

There was another task to which he had to attend. A pianomanufacturer from Philadelphia, John Loud, had offered Poe onehundreddollarsforthetaskofeditingavolumeofhiswife'spoems.AsPoehadwrittentoMariaClemmatthetime,“Ofcourse,Iacceptedhisoffer.”Sohewasplanningto leaveRichmondforawhile, tocompletethis remunerative but no doubt wearisome task. He calculated that itwould takehim threedays.He alsowished to travel on toNewYork,wherehewouldmakepreparationsforhisnewliterarymagazine.TwoeveningsbeforeheleftRichmondhevisitedsomeoldfriends,the

Talleys, to whom he expressed himself confident and hopeful. Hedeclared that “the last few weeks in the society of his old and newfriendshadbeen thehappiest thathehadknown formanyyears”andthat he believed he was about to “leave behind all the trouble andvexationofhispast life.”SusanTalleyhadapostscript tothischeerfulmeeting. “He was the last of the party to leave the house. We werestandingontheportico,andaftergoingafewstepshepaused,turned,and again lifted his hat, in a last adieu. At the moment, a brilliantmeteorappearedintheskydirectlyoverhishead,andvanishedintheeast.”On the following evening, the last before his departure, he visited

ElmiraShelton.AtalaterdateshewrotetoMariaClemmexplainingthat“hewas very sad, and complainedof beingquite sick. I felt his pulse,andfoundhehadconsiderablefever.”Mrs.Sheltonbelievedthathewastoo ill to travel the next day but, to her chagrin and surprise, shediscoveredthathehadindeedtakenthesteamboattoBaltimore.Hewasbeginningthefatefuljourneythatwouldendinhisdeath,asrelatedinthefirstchapterofthisbook.Hewasfound,sixdayslater,slumpedinatavern inBaltimore.Nooneknewwherehehadbeen,orwhathehaddone. Had he beenwandering, dazed, through the city? Had he beenenlisted for the purposes of vote-rigging in a city notorious for itspoliticalchicanery?Hadhesufferedfromatumourofthebrain?Hadhesimplydrunkhimselfintooblivion?Itisastormentingamysteryasanyto be found in his tales. He died in a hospital, on Sunday, 7 October1849, a sadandbeleagueredend toanunhappyandharassed life.He

wasfortyyearsold.

•••

On the day after his burial Maria Clemmwrote to Mrs. Richmond,“ANNIE,myEddy isdead.Hedied inBaltimoreyesterday.Annie!Prayforme,yourdesolatefriend.Mysenseswillleaveme.”Shemay have been following Poe's statedwisheswhen she left the

workofcollectingPoe'spaperstoRufusGriswold,butthedecisionhadprofound consequences for Poe's posthumous reputation. Griswoldcomposed amemoir, as a preface to the third volume of Poe'sworks,which was part slander and part abuse. The tone had been set inGriswold'sobituaryofPoe,publishedthedayafterthefuneral,inwhichhestatedthathisdeath“willstartlemany,butfewwillbegrievedbyit…hehadfewornofriends.”Thevituperationofthememoiritselfwassuchthat it provoked several rejoinders, but the libels against Poe's namebecamecommoncurrencyfortherestofthenineteenthcentury.Charles Baudelaire once remarked that “this death was almost a

suicide, a suicide prepared for a long time.” In truth Poe believedhimselftohavebeenmarkedoutbyanunluckydestinyfromthedayofhisbirth.Hehadbeenwellversed,fromhisearlydays,inwhatheoncecalled“theironclaspedvolumeofDespair.”Inoneofhisearlieststories,“MSFoundinaBottle,”hisnarratorhadwrittenthat“itisevidentthatwearehurryingonwardtosomeexcitingknowledge—somenevertobeimpartedsecret,whoseattainmentisdestruction.”Poewasfatedtodieinignominy.Hewasfatedtodieraving.Heoncesaidthat“IhaveoftenthoughtIcoulddistinctlyhearthesoundofthedarknessasitstoleoverthehorizon.”Thatdarknesswasalwaysrushingtowardshim.Maria Clemm settled with the Richmonds for some time, and then

became a guest in other sympathetic households; it is clear, however,that shesometimesworeoutherwelcome.Eventuallyshe founda lastrefugeinthe“ChurchHomeandInfirmary”atBaltimore.Poe'sreputationcontinuedtogrowintheyearsimmediatelyafterhis

death, especially in England and in France. He profoundly affectedVerlaine and Rimbaud;Mallarmé and Baudelaire both translated “TheRaven”inhomagetoanAmericanpoetwhoincertainrespectsseemed

to be a precursor of European Romanticism and in particular theharbingerofSymbolismandofSurrealism.Baudelairedeclaredthat,onreading Poe's poems and stories, he had found “not simply certainsubjects,whichIhaddreamedof,butsentenceswhichIhadthoughtout,written by him twenty years before.” Rémy de Gourmont declared, infact, that Poe belonged to French rather than to American literature.Valéry told Gide that “Poe is the only impeccablewriter. He is nevermistaken.”Tennysondescribedhimas“themostoriginalgeniusthatAmericahasproduced,”worthy to stand beside Catullus andHeine. ThomasHardyconsidered him to be “the first to realise in full the possibility of theEnglishlanguage,”andYeatsbelievedthathewas“certainlythegreatestofAmericanpoets.”The science fictionworksof JulesVerneandH.G.Wellsareheavilyindebtedtohim,andArthurConanDoylepaidtributeto Poe's mastery of the detective genre. Nietzsche and Kafka bothhonouredhim,andglimpsed inhis sadcareer theoutlineof theirownsufferingsouls.HewasadmiredbyFyodorDostoyevsky,JosephConrad,andJamesJoyce,who saw inhim the seedsofmodern literature.Theorphan,intheend,foundhistruefamily.

1827—Poe'sfirstbook,TamerlaneandOtherPoems

1829—Poe'ssecondbook,AlAaraaf,TamerlaneandMinorPoems

1831—Poe'sPoems

1838(July)—Poe'sTheNarrativeofArthurGordonPym

1839—Poe'sTalesoftheGrotesqueandArabesque

1843(July)—Poe'sProseRomances

1845—Poe'sTalesandTheRavenandOtherPoems

1848(about15July)—Poe'sprosepoem,Eureka

HerveyAllen:Israfel.TheLifeandTimesofEdgarAllanPoe.Twovolumes(London,1927).

HaroldBloom(editor):EdgarAllanPoe,ModernCriticalViews(NewYork,1985).

MarieBonaparte:TheLifeandWorksofEdgarAllanPoe(London,1985).

DavidHalliburton:EdgarAllanPoe,APhenomenologicalView(Princeton,1973).

KevinJ.Hayes(editor):TheCambridgeCompaniontoEdgarAllanPoe(Cambridge,2002).

DanielHoffman:Poe,Poe,Poe,Poe,Poe,Poe(NewYork,1972).

JeffreyMeyers:EdgarAllanPoe(London,1992).

SidneyP.Moss:Poe'sLiteraryBattles(Carbondale,Illinois,1969).

JohnWardOstrom(editor):TheLettersofEdgarAllanPoe.Twovolumes(NewYork,1966).

MaryE.Phillips:EdgarAllanPoetheMan.Twovolumes(Chicago,1926).

UnaPope-Hennessy:EdgarAllanPoe(London,1934).

ArthurHobsonQuinn:EdgarAllanPoe(NewYork,1941).

KennethSilverman:EdgarA.Poe(London,1992).

FloydStovall:EdgarPoe,thePoet(Charlottesville,Virginia,1969).

JulianSymons:TheTell-TaleHeart(London,1978).

DwightThomasandDavidK.Jackson:ThePoeLog(Boston,1987).

EdwardWagenknecht:EdgarAllanPoe,theManBehindtheLegend(NewYork,1963).

I.M.Walker(editor):EdgarAllanPoe,TheCriticalHeritage(London,1986).

ANOTEABOUTTHEAUTHOR

PeterAckroydisthebiographerofWilliamShakespeare,T.S.Eliot,Dickens,Blake,andThomasMore,andtheauthorof thebestsellingLondon: theBiography.ThesubjectofhispreviousBriefLife was Isaac Newton. He has won the Whitbread Biography Award, the Royal Society ofLiterature'sWilliamHeinemannAward(jointly),andtheJamesTaitBlackMemorialPrize,andisthe holder of a CBE for services to literature.He is the author ofThames: The Biography.Hisnovels includeThe Last Testament of Oscar Wilde (winner of the Somerset Maugham Award),Hawksmoor (Guardian Fiction Prize), Chatterton (shortlisted for the Booker Prize), and mostrecentlyTheFallofTroy.HelivesinLondon.

Copyright©2008byPeterAckroydAllRightsReservedwww.nanatalese.com

DOUBLEDAYisaregisteredtrademarkofRandomHouse,Inc.

LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData

Ackroyd,Peter,1949–Poe:alifecutshort/PeterAckroyd.—1sted.

p.cm.

1.Poe,EdgarAllan,1809–1849.2.Authors,American—19thcentury—Biography.I.Title.

PS2631.A652008b

818′.309—dc22

[B]2008018244

eISBN:978-0-38552945-7

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