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Maria Clemm
Poems by Edgar A. Poe
(April 1831 - August 1831)
Edgar published his new volume of poems, sponsored by the
cadets, in New York around April 1831. It was 124 pages,
printed on cheap paper, entitled "Poems by Edgar A.
Poe... Second Edition" dedicated to
"To the U.S.
corps of cadets". In the book appeared several
poems from the 1829 volume, among others, revised versions
of "Tamerlane" and
"Al Aaraaf". Six poems from the previous
volume were dropped and six new added, e.g.
"To Helen" and
"The Doomed City". The book did not get much attention and
the reviews described it as promising but bizarre and
obscure. The cadets thought even worse of it, probably
expecting the satirical work he had written at West Point.
This they apparently found as "ridiculous doggerel" by a
"cracked" author.
Edgar's new poems showed on his preference in mixing
past and present, dream and reality, and myth and science.
The conflict between the desire for power and need for
nurture in "Tamerlane" recurs in "To Helen" where the poet
is an adventurous man who longs to be home. In the preface
Edgar tells us about how writers tend to steal from
eachother and he emphasizes the importance of originality.
Still a lot of his own work are virtually rip-offs from
other authors. For example the song in his 1827 volume:
I saw thee on the bridal day --
When a burning blush came o'er thee,
Compared to John Lofland's lines:
I saw her on the bridal day
In blushing beauty blest.
American culture at the time fostered a preoccupation
with death, and Edgar's poems reflects much of his thoughts
of death and the afterlife. This can be seen in, among
other poems, "Al Aaraaf", "Evening Star", "To Helen",
"Israfel", "The Valley of Nis", "Irenë", "A Paean",
and "The Doomed City". In Edgar's work there's often a
fine line between life and death. In "Irenë" for
example the speaker is uncertain whether a woman is dead or
asleep and in "To Helen" he mixes the living with a
lifeless statue.
This "obsession" with death is hard to explain but it
is said that when adults lose someone they learn to
live with it by gradually withdrawing their involvement
with the person, while children have difficulties in
understanding death and tend to look for a substitute.
Edgar did not find this substitute and an underlying denial
for death can have influenced his poems.
Maria Clemm
William Henry Leonard Poe
Edgar was the fourth generation of Poes in Baltimore. His
paternal great-grandfather, John Poe, came to America from
northern Ireland before the American Revolution. Among the
Poes who had lived in Baltimore was Edgar's grandfather
General David Poe, who left behind his wife, his
daughter Maria, and his son
David Poe, the actor who
disappeared or died.
Maria Clemm got her name from her husband, William
Clemm Jr., whom she married at the age of 27. She gave
birth to three of his children. About eight and a half year
after the marriage, William Clemm died leaving Maria with
their children and without property except for a parcel
of land.
In Baltimore Edgar got to meet many of his blood
relatives such as his first cousins, Virginia Clemm and
Elizabeth Herring and his second cousin Neilson (pronounced
Nelson) Poe, who had studied law and married one of Maria
Clemm's stepdaughters. Edgar also had the opportunity to
spend some more time with his brother William Henry
Leonard.
Henry who also was born in Boston, though two years
earlier than Edgar, had spent most of his childhood with
General David Poe's
family. He was, like Edgar, heavily
affected by Eliza's death. When she died he had retained a
lock of her hair which he referred to as "this gift of
her I loved so well", and he wrote about her in a
poem:
...I have had thy last caress,
And heard thy long, thy last farewell
In his teens Henry had joined the navy, or merchant
marine, and visited remote parts of the world such as the
West Indies, South America and possibly Russia. Later on he
worked in Baltimore law office and during that time he
published about twenty stories, poems, and sketches under
the initials "W.H.P.". Although growing up in different
families and different cities, Edgar and Henry tried to stay
in touch with eachother. Henry had written to Edgar and
visited him and Rosalie in Richmond and he had also
accompanied Edgar and his friend Ebenezer Burling to see
Elmira Royster. Edgar on his side had turned to Henry when
in trouble, but he found Henry "entirely given up to
drink & unable to help himself, much less me.". After
his court-martial Edgar again sought Henry's help but again
discovered that "he cannot help me".
Henry and Edgar were psychologically close, like many
other orphaned brothers or sisters, this can be seen in for
example Edgar's use of Henry's name as Henri Le Rennet and
that Henry named one of the heroes in his stories Edgar
Leonard. This hero, like both Edgar and Henry, lost his
parents at an early age, he also had a romance with
"Rosalie"
using their sister's name. Edgar and Henry also had poems published
that are virtually identical, for example:
Henry:
The happiest day -- the happiest hour,
My sear'd and blighthed heart has known,
The brightest glance of pride and power
I feel has flown--
Edgar:
The happiest day -- the happiest hour
My sear'd and blighthed heart hath known,
The highest hope of pride, and power,
I feel hath flown.
Another poem Henry published was identical through 34
lines with a poem in Edgar's 1827 volume. It is not certain
who originally wrote the poems or if they worked
together.
Edgar's reunion with Henry lasted for only six months,
for Henry died August 1, 1831, and his funeral was held the
following day. He was said to have died of "intemperance"
and apparently he had not been able to give up his
drinking. Henry was 24 when he died, just as Eliza had been
when she died, and considering Henry's suicidal slides, that
may not have been a coincidence. Many of his poems concern
women who through death abandon their loved ones, who longs
to join them.
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