[page 245:]

FROM a correspondence with Mrs. Clemm, who, there can be no reasonable doubt, is correctly described by Willis as “one of those angels upon earth that women in adversity can be,” we find the most positive testimony that Dr. Griswold’s association with collecting the works of Poe, and of writing a memoir of the author, was purely voluntary and speculative.

It presents simply the fact of a designing and unscrupulous man, prompted by hatred and greed of gain, taking advantage of a helpless woman, unaccustomed to business, to defraud her [page 246:] of her rights, and gratify his malice and his avarice at her expense.

A small sum having been given to Mrs. Clemm in exchange for Poe’s private papers, Dr. Griswold draws up a paper for Mrs. Clemm to sign, announcing his appoinment [[appointment]] as Poe’s literary executor, not omitting, of course, a touching allusion to himself. This is duly signed by Mrs. Clemm, and printed over her signature in the published editions of Poe’s works. But if the wording of this curious paper be carefully observed, it will be noted that nothing whatever is said in it of any request by Poe that Dr. Griswold should write a memoir of his life. This duty was properly assigned to Mr. Willis — of all men familiar with the subject, the most competent to fulfil such a task, — and his tender and manly tribute to the stricken genius was all that could have been wished, all that the world called for.

Mrs. Clemm had no idea, at the time she signed the paper, which she scarcely understood, that Dr. Griswold had any intention of supplementing Mr. Willis’s obituary with any memoir by his own pen. It was a piece of gratuitous malice — [page 247:] the act of a fiend exulting over a dead and helpless victim.

The tone of Poe’s critique of Griswold, in his review of the” Poets and Poetry of America,” which unquestionably inspired the reverend doctor’s malignant hatred, scathing as it is, will impress the reader with its outspoken manliness and integrity of purpose. What a contrast to the biography that, while undermining the very foundations of Poe’s moral and social character, yet hypocritically professes to be dictated by friendship, and written in a generous spirit! We are convinced that Dr. Griswold’s precious specimen of his generosity will go on record in the history of literature as an everlasting monument of his despicable meanness.

It is certainly to be regretted that the vindications of the poet, after his death, were left to the ephemeral fate of newspaper issue only, and that no permanent place has, in any American memoir of Poe, been given to the manly and spirited defence of the poet, written by George R. Graham, and published in “Graham’s Magazine” in 1850.

Mr. Graham was peculiarly fitted to speak of [page 248:] the maligned poet, for no one of Poe’s literary contemporaries had known him as intimately, both in the mercantile and the domestic relations.

His testimony to the memory of the stricken genius will, it is to be hoped, be forever embalmed in all future biographies of the poet; for, without it, none would be complete.

We quote it here, as the most important tribute to the poet’s personal worth, ever offered by one of his contemporaries.

Numerous other memoirs and biographies of Poe have also appeared since his death. Many of them have been founded upon Griswold’s, and have already been alluded to. Such should be dismissed without other consideration than that they have unquestionably had, aside from the unjust estimate which they have conveyed of the poet, a deteriorating effect upon the popularity of his works, both in America and England. The effect of the Griswold biography upon the’ intelligent reader may be exactly measured by the impression formed by an English reviewer of [page 265:] Hannay’s biography, founded upon Griswold’s; to wit, —

“Should any man of taste and sense, not acquainted with Poe, be so unfortunate as to look at Dr. Griswold’s preface before reading the poetry, it is extremely probable he will throw the book into the fire, in indignation at the self-conceit and affected smartness by which the preface is characterized.”

In 1859, Mrs. S. H. Whitman, in her volume “Edgar Poe and his Critics,” which we have had occasion to repeatedly commend in this volume, made a most valuable contribution to literary biography, and offered a significant tribute to the memory of Poe, which was probably not fully appreciated, issued, as it was, at a time when the country was disturbed and unsettled by the excitements of the impending civil war.

Mr. James Woods Davidson made a very complete collection of Poe material, which was, unfortunately, destroyed during the seige [[siege]] of Charleston.

Mr. Thomas Cottrell Clarke made a collection which he eventually disposed of, and to which we have had access in the preparation of this work. [page 266:]

It is not to be regretted that Mr. Clarke never completed and published his memoir, for although a near personal friend of the poet, he was lacking in the enterprise and determination necessary to the adequate fulfilment of such a task.

Mr. J. H. Ingram, of London, possessing both enterprise and determination, has written and published a memoir of Poe, which, considering the disadvantage of collecting literary material at the distance of three thousand miles from the poet’s birthplace, is a creditable work, although, in some essential points, it is unreliable.

Mr. R. H. Stoddard wrote an interesting memoir for Routledge’s London edition of the poet’s works.

Mr. Thomas C. Latto, now of Brooklyn, New York, has made a collection, designing, it is understood, to write a memoir of the poet.

Francis Gerry Fairfield wrote a paper, entitled “A Mad Man of Letters,” for “Scribner’s Magazine,” October, 1875, which he presumed to class the author of “The Raven” as an epileptic. The article was written, like many others concerning Poe, with a reckless disregard of facts, and was unanswerably controverted by Mrs. S. H. [page 267:] Whitman, in a letter published in “The New York Tribune.”

Mr. Eugene Didier, of Baltimore, has written a biographical sketch of the poet, to preface a new edition of Poe, issued by W. J. Widdleton, of New York.

Miss Sarah E. [[S.]] Rice, of Baltimore, aided by Wm. Hand Browne, Esq., of that city, has prepared a memorial volume, containing an account of the monument erected in Baltimore to the memory of the poet, and some interesting reminiscences of Poe by one of his schoolmates.

The late J. P. [[R.]] Thompson wrote a lecture on Poe, which was, we are informed, delivered in Baltimore. These, with our lecture, “The Romance of Edgar A. Poe,” our vindication of the poet originally published in “Lotos Leaves,” and subsequently in the Diamond edition of Poe’s poems, issued by Widdleton, and our reminiscences of the poet in “Laurel Leaves;” comprise the principal isolated papers on Poe, not founded on Griswold, that have been published, aside from the sketches to be found in the cyclopaedias, and the numerous contributions that have, from time to time, appeared in the newspapers. [page 268:]

Before alluding to the most significant public tribute ever offered to the memory of Poe, the erection of the monument dedicated at Baltimore in November, 1875, it should be stated that impression that no fitting marks of respect to the dead poet, have ever been offered by his relatives, is erroneous. A suitable slab, bearing the inscription, “Hic tandem felice conduntur Reliquiae, Edgar Allan Poe,” was prepared by the order of Neilson Poe, Esq.

But the relentless fate that pursued the unhappy poet during his lifetime, followed him after death, and a phenomenal catastrophe prevented the erection of the slab over his grave.

On the day before it was to have been erected, a freight train on the Northern Central Railroad jumped the track, and ran into the marble yard, near by the depot, in which the slab was placed, awaiting transportation to the cemetery. The slab was directly in the course of the heavy train, and was shivered to atoms.

Poe’s grave, therefore, remained neglected until efforts of the Baltimore School Teachers Association, and the munificence of George W. Childs, Esq., of Philadelphia, secured the substantial [page 269:] monument now placed over his tomb. The interesting ceremonies of the dedication took place November 17, 1875. The account here given is gathered from the graphic description published in ‘’The Cincinnati Commercial,” and from the Baltimore papers of November 18.

“For several years, the school teachers of this city have been accumulating a fund for the purpose of erecting a suitable memorial above the last resting-place of this rare genius, and they were generously aided in their efforts by Geo. W. Childs, of Philadelphia, whose donation amounted to nearly half the cost of the monument. The ceremonies of unveiling this memorial to-day were most interesting. Crowds were assembled at the western female high school, adjoining Westminster Church, where, ten years ago, the first entertainment on behalf of the movement was given.

“Professor Elliott gave a history of the movement, while Professor Shepherd’s scholarly production treated more exclusively of ‘Poe as a poet and man of genius.’

“The reminiscences of Mr. Latrobe were delivered in a most impressive manner, and were received with the greatest enthusiasm. [page 270:]

“Miss Rice, who has always been most active in the work, read letters from our own poets who were unable to attend, and also one from Alfred Tennyson; and Mr. W. F. Gill, of Boston, who has done much, by his earnest vindication of the poet’s memory, to remove false impressions, gave the finest rendition of ‘The Raven’ to which we ever listened. The large audience was absolutely spell-bound by his perfect elocution; and his resemblance to the recognized ideals of Mr. Poe himself, made the personation of his horror and despair almost painful.

“A few words by Mr. Neilson Poe, cousin of the poet, who was present at his burial, twenty-six years ago, expressing gratification at the completion of the work undertaken by the committee, concluded the exercises in the hall.

“While the monument was being unveiled, a dirge was sung, and a superb wreath of laurel and choice flowers, the contribution of the dramatic profession, of which Poe’s mother was a member, was placed upon it; after which “Annabel Lee” was recited in the same masterly manner by Mr. Gill, and a lady gave a very good rendition of ‘The Bells.’ [page 271:]

“The monument is a plain Grecian obelisk of purest marble upon a granite base, and at present is only ornamented with a medallion bust of the poet, with his name and the dates of his birth and death. An inscription written by Tennyson is to be added hereafter.

“The day was lovely, though rather windy and cold, and, to-night, the pale beams of the moon will shine on the grave — no longer neglected — of Edgar Allan Poe.”

The platform at the head of the hall was filled with a number of gentlemen. Principals of the high schools, those who were to take part in the exercises, gentlemen who had been acquaintances or associates of the poetic genius in honor of whose memory the meeting was held, and other invited guests. Among them was prominent the venerable head of Walt Whitman, the poet, his silver hair sweeping his shoulders; Prof. John Hewitt, once editor of the “Saturday Visitor,” in which Poe’s .weird story of “The Manuscript Found in a Bottle “first appeared; Dr. John H. Snodgrass, also a former editor of the “Visitor,” Prof. N. C. Brooks, who edited the” American Magazine,” in’ which some of Poe’s earliest [page 272:] productions appeared, and Prof. Joseph Clarke, a very venerable gentleman, whose school at Richmond, Virginia, had been attended by Poe when a boy, were also upon the platform. Among others were Prof. J. C. Kinear, of Pembroke Academy; Dr. N. H. Morison, provost of Peabody Institute; John T. Morris, Esq., president of the School Board; the Rev. Dr. Julius E. Grammer, Judge Garey, Joseph Merrefield, Esq., Dr. John G. Morris, Neilson Poe, Esq., Ichabod Jean, Esq., Summerfield Baldwin, Joseph J. Stewart, Esq., Professors Thayer and Hollingshead, John T. Ford, Esq., George Small, Esq., the Faculty of the Baltimore City College, M. A. Newell, Esq., State School Superintendent, as well as those who were to take part in the proceedings. The exercises began shortly after two o’clock with the performance of the “Pilgrims’ Chorus” of Verdi, by the Philharmonic Society, who occupied raised seats in the rear of the hall, under the direction of Professor Remington Fairlamb.

At the close of the music, Professor William Elliott, Jr., president of the Baltimore City College, delivered the following address, containing the [page 273:]

HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, — I purpose, in discharging the duty assigned me on this occasion, to give a brief historical sketch of the movement which culminates, to-day, in the dedication of a monument to the memory of the great American poet, Edgar Allan Poe, the first and only memorial expression of the kind ever given to an American on account of literary excellence.

This extraordinary and unique genius, born in Boston, January 20, 1809, during a brief sojourn of his parents in that place, died on the 7th of October, 1849, in this city, which is undoubtedly entitled to claim him as one of her distinguished sons. Two days thereafter, on the 9th of October, his mortal remains were interred in the cemetery attached to the Westminster Presbyterian Church, adjoining the building in which we are now assembled.

“In this connection, acting as a truthful chronicler, I deem it proper to state some facts in relation to the circumstances of the interment. The reliability of the statement I shall now make is sufficiently attested by. the evidence of at least three of the gentlemen present on that occasion — possibly the only three who yet survive. [page 274:]

“I have been informed that the day was, for the season, more than ordinarily unpleasant, the weather being raw and cold; indeed, just such a day as it would have been more comfortable to spend within than without doors.

“The time of the interment was about four o’clock in the afternoon; the attendance of persons at the grave, possibly a consequence of the state of the weather, was limited to eight, certainly to not more than nine, persons, one of these being a lady.

“Of the number known to have been present were, Hon. Z. Collins Lee, a classmate of the deceased at the University of Virginia; Henry Herring, Esq., a connection of Mr. Poe; Rev. W. T. D. Clemm, a relative of Mr. Poe’s wife; oui well-known fellow-citizen, Neilson Poe, Esq., a cousin of the poet; Edmund Smith, Esq., and wife, the latter being a first cousin of Poe, and at this time his nearest living relative in this city, and possibly Dr. Snodgrass, the editor of the ‘’Saturday Visitor,” the paper in which the prize story written by Poe first made its appearance. The clergyman who officiated at the grave was Rev. W. T. D. Clemm, already mentioned, a [page 275:] member of the Baltimore Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, who read the impressive burial service used by that denomination of Christians, after which, all that was mortal of Edgar Allan Poe was gently committed to its mother earth.

“Another item, which it may not be inappropriate to record in this historical compend, I will now mention, namely, that George W. Spence, who officiated as sexton at the burial of Mr. Poe, is the same person who, after the lapse of twenty-six years, has superintended the removal of his remains, and those of his loving and beloved mother-in-law, Mrs. Clemm, and their re-interment in the lot in which the monument now stands.

“For a number of years after the burial of the poet, no steps seem to have been taken toward making his grave, until, at length, a stone was prepared for this purpose by order of Neilson Poe, Esq. Unfortunately, however, this stone never served the purpose for which it was designed. A train of cars accidentally ran into the establishment of Mr. Hugh Sisson, at which place the stone was at the time, and so damaged it as to render it unfit to be used as intended. [page 276:]

“Another series of years intervened, but yet no movement to mark the grave. True, articles almost innumerable, ad nauseam, made their appearance at short intervals during that time in different newspapers, but the authors of those articles were mostly of that class of persons who employ their energies in finding fault with others, totally oblivious of the fact that they themselves, no less, deserved the censure they so liberally meted out to others.

“ ‘Poe’s neglected grave’ was the stereotyped expression of these modem Jeremiahs. Nor were they content to indulge in lamentations; not unfrequently our good city was soundly berated because of its alleged want of appreciation of the memory of one whose ashes, they intimated, had he been an Englishman, instead of filling an unmarked grave in an obscure cemetery, would have had accorded to them a place in that grand old abbey which England has appropriated as a mausoleum for her distinguished dead.

“But the ‘neglected grave ‘ was not always to remain such. At a regular meeting of the Public School Teachers’ Association, held in this hall, October 7, 1865, Mr. John Basil, Jr., principal of [page 277:] No. 8 Grammar School, offered a paper, of which the following is a copy: —

‘This resolution was unanimously adopted, and a committee, consisting of Messrs. Basil, Baird and J. J. G. Webster, Miss Veeder and Miss Wise, appointed to carry out the purpose named.

“This committee reported in favor of the erection of a monument, and recommended that measures be at once taken to secure the funds necessary to accomplish this object. This recommendation was heartily indorsed by the Association, and, without delay, the committee entered upon the work of raising the funds.

“In this work the young ladies of the western female high school took an active and, as will be seen, a successful part. An entertainment of select readings by the pupils of that school, held [page 278:] in this hall, on the evening of October 10, 1865, under the superintendence of Miss S. S. Rice, yielded the handsome sum of $380. A literary and musical entertainment, held in Concordia Hall, December 7, 1865, in which the pupils of the eastern and western female high schools and those of Baltimore City College took part, increased the fund by the addition thereto of $75-92. May 15, 1866, a contribution of $50 was received from Prof. Charles Davies, of New York, and on the 19th of the same month a donation of $54 was received as an offering of the young ladies of ‘Troy Female Seminary.’ These sums, with interest added, amounted, as per report of Thomas D. Baird, treasurer submitted March 23, 1871, to $587.02. The enthusiasm that characterized the undertaking at the outset seemed now to have greatly abated, and serious thoughts were consequently entertained of abandoning the project. At this juncture, a new committee, consisting of Messrs. Elliott, Kerr and Hamilton, Miss Rice and Miss Baer, was appointed to consider the matter.

“After mature deliberation this committee reported, April 15, 1872, as follows: “First, resolved, [page 279:] that the money now in the hands of the treasurer of the ‘Poe Memorial Fund,’ be appropriated to the erection of a monument, the same to be placed over Poe’s remains. Second, that a committee of five be appointed by the president, with power to act as stated in the first resolution.” These resolutions were adopted, and the committee therein provided for, appointed as follows: Wm. Elliott, Jr., A. S. Kerr, Alexander Hamilton, Miss S. S. Rice and Miss E. A. Baer. September 2, 1874, committee received, from the estate of Dr. Thomas D. Baird, deceased, the late treasurer of the ‘Poe Memorial Fund,’ $627.55, amount of principal and interest to that date, which was immediately deposited in the Chesapeake Bank, of this city. Believing that this amount could be increased to $1000 by donations from some of our fellow-citizens who favored the project, the committee applied to Mr, George A. Frederick, architect of the City Hall, for the design of a monument to cost about that sum.

“Mr. Frederick, in due time, submitted a design ‘at once simple, chaste and dignified,’ but requiring for its realization much more than the [page 280:] amount included in the expectations of the committee. Moreover, a new feature was now introduced that of placing a medallion likeness of the poet on one of the panels of the monument, which would still further increase the cost. With a view of determining whether the amount necessary to complete the monument, according to the proportions it had now assumed, could be raised, applications were made to a number of our citizens for contributions. From one, of acknowledged æsthetic taste, a check of $100 was promptly received. Two other gentlemen contributed $50 each, while Miss S. S. Rice a member of the committee collected in small sums [[of]] $52 more.

“A knowledge of the ‘world-wide’ known liberality of Mr. George W. Childs, of Philadelphia, formerly one of cur fellow townsmen, induced the chairman of the committee to drop him a note on the subject. Within twenty-four hours, a reply was received from that gentleman, expressive of his willingness to make up the estimated deficiency of $650.

“The necessary amount having now been secured, the committee proceeded to place the construction [page 281:] and erection of the monument in the hands of Mr. Hugh Sisson, his proposal being the most liberal one received. How faithfully he has executed his commission will be seen when the covering that now veils the monument is removed. No one, so well as the chairman of the committee, knows how anxious Mr. Sisson has been to meet even more than the expectations of those most concerned. To his generous liberality are we largely indebted for the reproduction of the classic lineaments of the poet, in the beautiful and highly artistic medallion that adds so much to the attractiveness of the monument.

“To most of those present, I presume, it is known that the lot in which the monument is now located is not the one in which it was first placed. In deference to what was considered by the committee the popular wish, the monument was removed from its first location to its present one. The remains of Mr. Poe, and also those of his mother-in-law, were, as before intimated, removed at the same time. The new lot was secured mainly through the efforts of Mr. John T. Morris, president of the school board, to whom, and to all others who have in any way [page 282:] contributed to the consummation of this undertaking, I wish here, on behalf of the committee, to render thanks.

“In conclusion, allow me to congratulate all concerned that Poe’s grave is no longer a neglected one.”

Upon the conclusion of Professor Elliott’s address, which was listened to with deep attention, Miss Sarah S. Rice was introduced to the audience. To this lady, well known to the public from her elocutionary attainments, the greatest possible credit is due for the successful completion of the enterprise. The first money raised for the erection of the monument was through her personal efforts, and the entire monument, from its inception to the close, has enjoyed the benefits of her unremitting attention and effort. Miss Rice read the following

LETTERS FROM THE POETS,

Prof. Elliot read the following letter from G. W. Childs, of Philadelphia, regretting that he could not be present: —

After the conclusion of the letters the following poem, contributed by the well-known dramatic critic and litterateur Mr. William Winter, was read by Miss Rice, with exquisite delicacy and utterance, and received with a burst of applause:

The Philharmonic Society then rendered the grand chorus, “He, Watching over Israel,” from the “Elijah” of Mendelssohn, with fine effect.

ADDRESS OF PROF. HENRY E. SHEPHERD.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, — It is my purpose to speak of Edgar A. Poe, principally as a poet and as a man of genius. I shall abstain, for the most part, from personal incidents or biographical details. These, though not devoid of interest, pertain properly to the historian of literature or to the biographer. Let his ‘strange, eventful history’ be reserved for some American Masson, Boswell or Morlen.

“Edgar A. Poe was born in 1809, the birth year of Alfred Tennyson, and of Mrs. Browning, the most gifted poetess of any age. The third great era in English letters had then fairly commenced. The spirit of the elder day was revived; the delusive splendor that had so long gilded the Augustan age of Addison, of Bolingbroke and of Johnson, paled before the marvellous intellectual expansion, the comprehensive culture, that distinguished the first thirty years of the present, century; the genius of poesy, no longer circumscribed [page 296:] by artificial limits, no longer restrained by the arbitrary procedures of a reflective age, ranged in unchecked freedom, reviving the buried forms of mediaeval civilization, the lay of the minstrel, the lyric of the troubadour, the forgotten splendors of the Arthurian cycle. One day was as a thousand years in the growth and development of the human mind.

“Edgar was in his childhood when our last great literary epoch had attained the full meridian of its greatness. He spent five years at school in England, from 1816 to 1821. The term of Edgar’s school life in England was a period of intense poetic activity and creative form, heroic emprise, knightly valor, and brilliant achievement. In 1822, Edgar, then in his fourteenth year, returned to his native land. He attained to manhood at a time when, by a revolution familiar in the history of every literature, the supremacy was reverting from poetry to prose. The cold generalizations of philosophy chilled the glowing ardor of the preceding epoch. The publication of Macaulay’s [[‘]]Essay on Milton’ in 1825 marks the transition from the sway of the imaginative faculty to the present unsurpassed period in our prose literature. [page 297:]

From this desultory outline of English literature during the early years of the poet, you will observe that his intellectual constitution was formed under peculiar circumstances. He does not belong chronologically to the age of Shelley, Byron and Keats; his position is one of comparative isolation, like that of Wyatt, Sackville or Collins, in the midst of an unpoetic generation, unsustained by the sweet consolations of poetic association, of the tender endearments of poetic sympathy. When he attained to the consciousness of his great powers, none of those stimulating influences existed, save as matters of history or poetic tradition. Tennyson in England was viewing nature in perspective, and involving his critics in mazes as tangled as the web which enveloped the fated Lady of Shalott. Wordsworth had abjured the teachings of his early manhood. Shelley, Keats and Byron were dead. Morris and Swinburne were yet unborn, and the thrones of the elder gods were principally filled by the ‘Idle singers of an empty day.’ American poetry had then produced little that ‘future ages will not willingly let die.’ [page 298:]

POE’S MASTERPIECE.

“Having traced the conditions of the ora during which the poet’s mind was blooming into maturity, we are now prepared to appreciate the distinctive characteristics of his genius, as revealed in his prose, and especially in his poetry. It is known to students of our literature that in all ages of our literary history, from the time that our speech was reduced to comparative uniformity by the rare perception and philological discrimination of Chaucer, there have existed two recognized schools of poet, the native or domestic, and the classical. In some poets the classical element is the animating principle, as in Milton, whose pages, ‘sprinkled with the diamond dust of classic lore,’ ‘thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks in Vallambrosa,’ afford the most impressive illustration of its power. A wonderful impulse was communicated to the development of classical poetry, by that ‘morning star of modem song,’ the poet Keats, and since his advent our poetry has tended, more and more, to divest itself of native sympathies, and to assume an artistic or literary character. Our poetry may have lost pliancy. [page 299:] but it has gained in elaboration and perfection of structure. Genius and imagination are not repressed, but are regulated by the canons of art, and from their harmonious alliance arises the unsurpassed excellence of Poe’s poetry. In the school of literary or classical poets he must be ranked in that illustrious procession which includes the names of Milton, Ben Jonson, Herrick, Shelley and Keats. Having assigned to Poe an honorable eminence in the school of classical poets, I proceed to speak of the originality, the creative power, displayed in his poetry, as well as his brilliant achievements in metrical combination. Specific points of resemblance may be discovered between his poetry and that of his contemporaries or predecessors, but no general or well-defined likeness, and few poets have displayed a more surpassing measure of creative power. Some of his maturer poems are almost without precedent, in form as well as in spirit. The ‘Legend of the Raven,’ related by Roger De Hoveden, and referring to the era of the Latin conquest of Constantinople, nor the Legend of Herod Agrippa,’ cited by De Quincey in his celebrated ‘Essay on Modem Superstition,’ [page 300:] furnishes an adequate foundation for the text of Poe’s masterpiece. The raven has constituted a prominent character in English poetry for many ages. In ‘Hamlet’ in ‘Macbeth’ in ‘Sir David Lindsay’ in Tickell’s exquisite ballad of ‘Collin and Lucy’ the appearance of this ominous bird of yore will readily suggest itself to all lovers of our dramatic and lyric poetry. But none of these can be considered as the precursor of Poe’s ‘Raven.’ The nearest approach to any distinctive feature of ‘The Raven’ is to be found, I suspect, in the dramas of Shakspeare, those unfailing sources of intellectual nutriment. The one word, ‘Mortimer,’ of Harry Percy’s ‘Starling,’ presents a marked phonetic resemblance to the ‘Nevermore’ of ‘The Raven’ whose melancholy refrain seems almost the echo of the ‘Starling’s’ unvarying note. No poem in our language presents a more graceful grouping of metrical appliances and devices. The power of peculiar letters is evolved with a magnificent touch; the thrill of the liquids is a characteristic feature, not only of the refrain, but throughout the compass of the poem, their ‘linked sweetness, long drawn out,’ falls with a mellow [page 301:] cadence, revealing the poet’s mastery of those mysterious harmonies which lie at the basis of human speech. The continuity of the rhythm, illustrating Milton’s ideal of true musical delight, in which the sense is variously drawn out from one verse into another, the alliteration of the Norse minstrel and the Saxon bard, the graphic delineation and sustained interest, are some of the features which place ‘The Raven’ foremost among the creations of a poetic art in our age and clime.

“Another distinguishing characteristic of Poe’s poetry is its rhythmical power and its admirable illustration of that mysterious affinity which binds together the sound and the sense. . Throughout all the processes of nature, a rhythmical movement is clearly discernible. Upon the conscious recognition of this principle are based all our conceptions of melody, all systems of intonation and inflection. In this dangerous sphere of poetry, he won a mastery over the properties of verse that the troubadours might have aspired to emulate.

CLASSIC ELEMENTS.

“Permit me next to direct your attention to the [page 302:] classic impress of Poe’s poetry, its blending of genius and culture, and to the estimation in which his productions are held in other lands. The Athenian sculptor, in the palmiest days of Grecian art, wrought out his loveliest conceptions by the painful processes of unflagging diligence. The angel was not evolved from the block by a sudden inspiration or a brilliant flash of unpremeditated art. By proceeding upon a system corresponding to the diatonic scale in music, the luxuriance of genius was regulated and directed by the sober precepts and decorous graces of formal art. No finer illustration of conscious art has been produced in our century than ‘The Raven.’ In all the riper productions of our poet, there is displayed the same graceful alliance of genius, culture and taste. He attained a mastery over the most difficult metrical forms, even those to whose successful production the spirit of the English tongue is not congenial. The sonnet, that peculiarly Italian type of verse immortalized by the genius of Petrarch, a form of verse in which few English writers have succeeded, has been admirably illustrated in Poe’s ‘Zante.’ Indeed, much of the acrimony of his [page 303:] criticism arose from his painful sensitiveness to artistic imperfection and his enthusiastic worship of the beautiful. The Grecian cast of his genius led to a pantheistic love of beauty incarnated in palpable or material forms. This striving after sensuous beauty has constituted a distinctive characteristic of those poets who were most thoroughly imbued with the Grecian taste and spirit. It has left its impress deep upon the texture of our poetry, and many of its most silvery symphonies owe their inspiration to this source. In addition to the classic element, his poetry is pervaded by that magic of style, that strange unrest and unreality, those weird notes, like the refrain of his own ‘Raven,’ ‘so musical, so melancholy,’ which are traceable to the Celtic influence upon our composite intellectual character. The quick sensibility, the ethreal temper of these natural artists, have wonderfully enlivened the stolid character of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors, and much of the style and consecutive power that have reigned in English poetry from the days of Lajamon, Walter Mapes, and of Chaucer, nay be attributed to the Celtic infusion into the Teutonic blood. Conspicuous examples [page 304:] of its power may be discovered in Shakspeare, in Keats, in Byron and in Poe.

POE’S GENIUS

“I have thus endeavored to present to you the intellectual character of Edgar A. Poe as it has revealed itself to me from the diligent study of his works, and from many contrasts and coincidences that literary history naturally suggests. I have attempted to show the versatile character of his genius, the consummate, as well as conscious, art of his poetry, the graceful blending of the creative and the critical faculty, — a combination perhaps the rarest that the history of literature affords, — his want of deference to prototypes or models, the chaste and scholarly elegance of his diction, the Attic smoothness and the Celtic magic of his style. Much of what he has written may not preserve its freshness, or stand the test of critical scrutiny in after-times, but when subjected to the severest ordeal of varying fashion, popular caprice, the ‘old order changing, yielding place to new,’ there is much that will perish only with the English language. The riper productions of Poe have received the [page 305:] most enthusiastic tributes from the sober and dispassionate critics of the Old World. I shall ever remember the thrill of grateful appreciation with which I read the splendid eulogium upon the genius of Poe in ‘The London Quarterly Review,’ in which he is ranked far above his contemporaries, and pronounced one of the most consummate artists of our era, potentially the greatest critic that ever lived, and possessing perhaps the finest ear for rhythm that was ever formed. You are doubtless familiar with the impressions produced by ‘The Raven’ upon the mind of Mrs. Browning, ‘Shakspeare’s daughter and Tennyson’s sister.’ It is but recently that one of the master spirits of the new poetic schools has accorded to Poe the pre-eminence among American poets. Alfred Tennyson has expressed his admiration, who, with true poetic ken, was among the first to appreciate the novelty and the delicacy of his method, and who, at a time when the laureate’s fame was obscured by adverse and undisceming criticism, plainly foresaw the serene splendor of his matured greatness. An appreciative and generous Englishman has recently added to the treasures of our literature [page 306:] a superb edition of his works,* in which ample recognition is accorded to his rare and varied powers, and the slanders of his acrimonious biographer are refuted by evidence that cannot be gainsaid or resisted. No reader of English periodical literature, can fail to obscure the frequent allusions to his memory, the numerous tributes to his genius, that have appeared in ‘The Athenæum,’ ‘The Academy,’ the British quarterlies, and the translations of the new Shakspeare Society. Nor is this lofty estimate of his poems confined to those lands in which the English language is the vernacular speech; it has extended into foreign climes, and aroused appreciative admiration where English literature is imperfectly known and slightly regared [[regarded]].

“Let us rejoice that Poe’s merits have found appropriate recognition, and that the Poets’ Corner in our Westminster is rescued from the ungrateful neglect which, for a quarter of a century, has constituted the just reproach of our State and metropolis. I recognize in the dedication of this monument to the memory of our [page 307:] poet an omen of highest and noblest import, looking far beyond the mere preservation of his fame by the ‘dull, cold marble’ which marks his long-neglected grave. The impulse which led to its erection coincides in form and spirit with those grand movements which the zeal and enthusiasm of scholars and patriots in Great Britain and in America have effected within the past ten years for the perpetuation of much that is greatest in the poetry of the English tongue. At last, we have the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, restored to their original purity by the praiseworthy diligence of Skeats, Furnival, Child and Bradshaw. At last, we are to add to the golden treasury of our literature genuine editions, of Shakspeare, in which the growth of his genius and his art will be traced by the graceful scholarship and penetrating insight of Ingleby, Tennyson, Spedden and Simpson. Ten years have accomplished what centuries failed to achieve, in rescuing from strange and unpardonable indifference the masterpieces of our elder literature, the Sibylline leaves of our ancient poesy. This graceful marble, fit emblem of our poet, is the expression — perhaps unconscious, undesigned, [page 308:] but none the less effective — of sympathy with this grand intellectual movement of our era. I hail these auspicious omens of the future of our literature with gratitude and delight. But while we welcome these happy indications, while we rejoice in the critical expansion of our peerless literature, let us not disregard the solemn injunction conveyed by this day’s proceedings. While we pay the last tributes of respect to the memory of him who alone was worthy, among American poets, to be ranked in that Illustrious procession of bards around whose names is concentrated so much of the glory of the English tongue, from Chaucer to Tennyson, let us cherish the admonition to nurture and stimulate the poetry of our land, until it ascend, ‘with no middle flight,’ into the ‘brightest heaven of invention,’ and the regions of purest phantasy.”

Professor Shepherd was frequently interrupted with applause during the delivery of his eloquent address. Poe’s famous poem of “The Raven” was then read by Mr. William F. Gill, who was made the recipient of an ovation at its close, at the hands of the audience. The “Inflammatus,” [page 309:] from Rossini’s “Stabat Mater,” by Miss Ella Gordon and the Philharmonic Society, followed John H. B. Latrobe, Esq., then gave his interesting personal reminiscences of Poe,* which were received with peculiar acceptance,

REMARKS OF MR. NEILSON POE.

After Mr. Latrobe had concluded his remarks, Mr. Neilson Poe, Sr., a cousin of the poet, was introduced by Prof. Elliott.

Mr. Poe, upon being introduced, said the relatives of the late poet would indeed be wanting in sensibility, as well as gratitude, if they let this occasion pass without some acknowledgment of their special obligation to those who have reared the memorial soon to be unveiled over the grave of their kinsman. It is impossible that they can be indifferent to the increasing fame of one whose ancestry is common to themselves, and who share his blood. They cannot but look with gratification at the fact that the imputations on the personal character of Poe, which envy [page 310:] has invented and malice magnified, can now, under a closer investigation and an impartial criticism, be judged with charity and justice, Person animosity may have created slanders which a kindlier spirit is now rejecting, and the good and noble traits of character of the dead are being recognized by an impartial public.

AT THE GRAVE.

Those present then repaired to Westminster Churchyard, where all that is mortal of Poe reposes. The remains have been removed from their first resting-place, in an obscure comer of the lot, to the corner of Fayette and Greene streets, where the monument now covering the grave can be seen from Fayette street.

While the Philharmonic Society rendered the following dirge, written for the occasion by Mrs. Eleanor Fullerton, of Baltimore, known in the literary world under the pseudonym of “Violet Fuller,” the Committee on the Memorial, and others, gathered around the monument.

The dirge is an adaptation of Tennyson’s “Sweet and Low,” by Mrs. Fullerton. Prof. Elliott and Miss’ Rice removed the muslin in which the memorial was veiled while the dirge was being sung, and the memorial was then, for the first time, presented to the gaze of the public. The monument was crowned with a wreath composed of ivy, and another of lilies and evergreens. After the dirge, Mr. William F. Gill, of Boston, recited Poe’s poem, “Annabel Lee,” and Mrs. Dillehunt, a former school teacher, selections from “The Bells.” This concluded the exercises, [page 312:] and the throng which had collected in the graveyard came forward to view the monument. During the exercises a large throng was gathered in the vicinity of Fayette and Greene streets, unable to gain admission to the female high school or the churchyard.

THE MONUMENT.

The monument is of the pedestal form, and is eight feet high; the surbase is of Woodstock granite, and six feet square, the balance being of Italian marble. The pedestal has an Attic base, three feet ten inches square; the die block is a cube three feet square and three feet two inches high, relieved on each face by a square-projecting and polished plane, the upper angles of which are broken and filled with a carved rosette. On the front panel is the bas-relief bust of the poet, modelled by Frederick Volck from a photograph in possession of Mr. Neilson Poe. The other panel contains an inscription of the dates of the birth and death of Poe. The die block is surmounted by a bold and graceful frieze and cornice four feet square, broken on each face, in the centre, by a segment of a circle. [page 313:] The frieze is ornamented at the angles by richly carved acanthus leaves, and in the centre by a lyre crowned with laurel. The whole is capped by a blocking three feet square, cut to a low pyramidal form. The monument is simple and chaste, and strikes more by graceful outline, than by crowding with unmeaning ornament. It was designed by Geo. A. Frederick, architect, and built by Col. Hugh Sisson.

A TRIBUTE FROM THE STAGE.

A pleasing feature of the ceremonies was the placing upon the monument of a large wreath of flowers, made up principally of camelias, lilies and tea roses. Together with this, was deposited a floral tribute in the shape of a raven, made from black immortelles. The large petals of the lilies suggested the “bells” immortalized by Poe’s genius, the significance of the other emblems being obvious. These were tributes from the company at Ford’s Grand Opera House, Mrs. Germon being mainly instrumental in getting them up. Poe’s mother had been an actress at Holliday-Street Theatre, which fact had been preserved in the traditions of the stage, and had something to do with inspiring this tribute. [page 314:]

MEMORIAL SUGGESTIONS.

The inscriptions upon the monument have yet (1875) to be determined upon. Various suggestions have been received, among them that from the poet Longfellow, read as a portion of the exercises. Oliver Wendell Holmes has suggested the following, taken from Poe’s verses, “To one in Paradise:”

James Russell Lowell, in a letter to Miss Rice, has recommended that some passage from Foe’s works be selected, in allusion to the self-caused wretchedness of his life, and suggests the stanza of “The Raven” beginning, “An unhappy master,” &c., to the end of the verse. Together with this, he recommends a selection expressing the peculiar musical quality of Foe’s genius, and suggests a verse of the “Haunted Palace,” beginning, “And all with pearl and ruby glowing.”

In response to a letter of inquiry, the venerable poet Bryant furnishes the following as a suitable inscription: — [page 315:]

[[Footnotes]]

[The following footnote appears at the bottom of page 306:]

*  Edition of Adams and Charles Black, Edinburgh.

[The following footnote appears at the bottom of page 309:]

*  Given in connection with the account of the Baltimore prizes in our memoir.