∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
123. Sarah Helen Whitman to John H. Ingram. Item 262
Nov. 20, 1875
My dear friend,
Yours of Nov. 4th, with a postcard of the same date, received yesterday. I am so glad you liked my Tribune letter. It has been very warmly received, generally. Curiously enough, a copy of the Tribune of Wed. Nov. 17th was sent me yesterday morning containing two long-delayed articles, dated Oct. 18. I will send you a copy of them as soon as I can obtain another paper. The first is a letter from John S. Hart of Philadelphia. I will copy it for you here:
“The Bells” & “Annabel Lee”
Original Form of “The Bells” — Alterations
of Both Poems by the Author
To the Editor of the Tribune.
Sir: Mr. Fairfield in his letter on the chronological order of Mr. Poe's writings, makes one slight mistake, which it may be well to correct, as the subject is undergoing a careful scrutiny, & especially as there is a curious piece of unwritten history connected with one of these poems. Mr. Fairfield says “The Bells” & “Annabel Lee” were written prior to 1847. “The Bells” was first published in the November number of Sartain's Magazine, for 1849, of which periodical I was the editor. The poem, when first left with me for publication, sometime in June or July of that year, consisted of only two short stanzas, as follows:
The Bells — A Song.
The Bells! — hear the bells!
The merry wedding bells!
How fairy-like a melody there swells
From the silver tinkling cells
Of the bells, bells, bells!
Of the bells!
The bells! — ah, the bells!
The heavy iron bells!
Hear the tolling of the bells!
Hear the knells!
How horrible a monody there floats
From their throats —
From their deep-toned throats!
How I shudder at the notes
From the melancholy throats
Of the bells, bells, bells!
Of the bells!
This was the entire poem in its original form, as first offered to Sartain's Magazine. It was accepted in that form & put in type, but before its appearance the author enlarged it to nearly its present size & form, & again, before its actual publication, he sent us a second version in the form in which it finally appeared.
The poem of “Annabel Lee” was also sent to me for publication in Sartain's Magazine in the latter part of 1849. It was in type ready for publication, but before its appearance in the magazine the author died, whereupon Mr. Griswold, who was Poe's literary administrator, & who probably found a copy of the poem among Poe's manuscripts, forthwith published it in one of the New York papers — The Tribune, I believe. The poem, as put forth by Mr. Griswold, appears to have been from Poe's first draft. The copy, which was sold to Sartain's Magazine, & which first appeared in that magazine in January, 1850, contained several alterations & improvements by the author, & in this form the poem has found its permanent place in our literature.
John S. Hart.
Philadelphia, Oct. 18, 1875. [page 368:]
The article by Fairfield I enclose. It is another exposition of his folly & weakness. Dr. Marvin (F.K.M.) is as well known to the medical world as any man in the profession. Though I fancy that when Fairfield wrote the impotent reply to him on the very day M[arvin]'s article was published that he did not know the initials F.K.M. to be those of Dr. Marvin. As for F.G.F., I think we have spiked his guns.
The same Tribune contains a long editorial on Poe — probably by Ripley — in which antagonism is well masked by a good deal of reluctant praise & professed sympathy. In today's Journal I find a brief abstract of the ceremonies at the dedication of the monument, which I enclose. The poem by William Winter is exquisitely tender & not more tender than it is superbly imaginative: the fourth & fifth verses in the depth & splendor of their contrasted imagery are wonderfully fine & impressive. Do try to have them republished, with a word of appropriate recognition of the author's genius.(1) I have seen but few of Winter's poems, but the few that I have seen made a profound & indelible impression.
And now to your letter. You ask if you have had the passage from Poe's letter which Gill copied for publication with my consent when he was in Providence two years ago. You have not, because I had hoped long ere this to have seen you and allowed you to have made your own selections, but I will copy it for you now & enclose it in my letter. I have shrunk from having my personal relations to the poet unveiled until I should be no longer a dweller on this oblique planet, but as I draw near the time of my enfranchisement, I feel less of this sensitiveness — more as if I had already thrown off the mortal coil.
Gill says nothing of Poe's second visit to Europe. Indeed his article is in no sense an attempt at a consecutive life, only a collection of separate facts.
I thought that he had quoted a letter from Clarke about the Stylus, but I now think that the letter he quoted was a letter or note to Clarke about the projected periodical by a Mr. Alexander of St. Louis.
I think there were some particulars about the West Point career that I had not seen before, though it is so long since I saw the article in Harper's on that subject that I cannot be sure. Do you remember two satirical verses of Poe's about Joseph Locke, one of the officers at West Point? I may have seen them before I saw them in Gill's article, but if so, I had forgotten it.
You ask about Mrs. Hale. I knew her in Boston and she published some early poems of mine in a volume, a collection of poems called The Ladies Wreath, published in 1836, I believe. I have been looking for a very kind letter which I received from her four or five years ago in reply to one in which I asked her if she could tell me in what English periodical Lady Blessington had spoken with praise of one of my [page 369:] poems which appeared in that volume. She could not throw any light on the subject & did not know that her volume had been noticed in the English papers. I had never seen the article, but two or three persons had spoken to me of seeing it at the Providence Athenaeum in the Albion or the Athenaeum or some of the English papers taken there. I supposed that Mrs. Hale would know all about it, & addressed her on the subject. Her letter was so very kind that if you write to her & say that I suggested it to you, it might prompt her to additional readiness to give you all the information about Poe in her power. Poe spoke of her as having been very kind & liberal toward him as an editress. If I find her letter I will send it to you.
I have had a letter from Dr. Buchanan under date of Louisville, Nov. 6, [18]75. He says:
My dear Madam,
I greatly regret that you had occasion to write the letter of Nov. 2 which I have just received. My impression was that I found the MS. of Mr. Poe about the year 1860 & forwarded it to you. Owing to removal from my former residence and the War, some of my most valued autographs have been lost. As I believe, I have not seen Poe's autograph for fifteen years. If it is not with you, I fear it is gone beyond recovery. I am almost positive as to having Mr. Poe's MS. about 1860, & designing to send it to you, & not having it since. I have just examined my repository of treasures without finding any clue to the lost poem. ...
Little that has been written will live, but Poe is of those that will be longest remembered.
Yours with high respect,
J. R. Buchanan
“Only this & nothing more.”
When I receive the Politian article in the London [Quarterly] I will certainly notice it.
I liked the St. James article.
Ever and ever your faithful friend & ally,
S. H. Whitman
I never heard of “Siope,” have never seen the Tales of the Grotesque & Arabesque. I see you have already written to Mrs. Hale. If anybody can unearth Clarke's Museum, it will be you.
I have marked with a blue pencil that portion of the extract from Edgar's letter which G[ill] has quoted.
Your poem of the “Two Girls” is charming. I shall have it republished.
S.H.W.
1. William Winter (1836-1917) was an author and a dramatic critic as well as a poet.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Notes:
None.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
[S:0 - PHR, 1979] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Bookshelf - Poe's Helen Remembers (J. C. Miller) (Entry 123)