Edgar Allan Poe, An Appreciation   ::   По Эдгар Аллан

On the contrary, he gained a creditable record as a student, although it is admitted that he contracted debts and had «an ungovernable passion for card-playing.» These debts may have led to his quarrel with Mr. Allan which eventually compelled him to make his own way in the world.

Early in 1827 Poe made his first literary venture. He induced Calvin Thomas, a poor and youthful printer, to publish a small volume of his verses under the title «Tamerlane and Other Poems.» In 1829 we find Poe in Baltimore with another manuscript volume of verses, which was soon published. Its title was «Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Other Poems.» Neither of these ventures seems to have attracted much attention.

Soon after Mrs. Allan's death, which occurred in 1829, Poe, through the aid of Mr. Allan, secured admission to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Any glamour which may have attached to cadet life in Poe's eyes was speedily lost, for discipline at West Point was never so severe nor were the accommodations ever so poor. Poe's bent was more and more toward literature. Life at the academy daily became increasingly distasteful. Soon he began to purposely neglect his studies and to disregard his duties, his aim being to secure his dismissal from the United States service. In this he succeeded. On March 7, 1831, Poe found himself free. Mr. Allan's second marriage had thrown the lad on his own resources. His literary career was to begin.

Poe's first genuine victory was won in 1833, when .he was the successful competitor for a prize of $100 offered by a Baltimore periodical for the best prose story. «A MSS. Found in a Bottle» was the winning tale. Poe had submitted six stories in a volume. «Our only difficulty,» says Mr. Latrobe, one of the judges, «was in selecting from the rich contents of the volume.»

During the fifteen years of his literary life Poe was connected with various newspapers and magazines in Richmond, Philadelphia and New York. He was faithful, punctual, industrious, thorough. N. P. Willis, who for some time employed Poe as critic and sub-editor on the «Evening Mirror,» wrote thus:

«With the highest admiration for Poe's genius, and a willingness to let it alone for more than ordinary irregularity, we were led by common report to expect a very capricious attention to his duties, and occasionally a scene of violence and difficulty. Time went on, however, and he was invariably punctual and industrious. We saw but one presentiment of the man-a quiet, patient, industrious and most gentlemanly person.

«We heard, from one who knew him well (what should be stated in all mention of his lamentable irregularities), that with a single glass of wine his whole nature was reversed, the demon became 'uppermost, and, though none of the usual signs of in

Poe's first genuine victory was won in 1833, when he was the successful competitor for a prize of $100 offered by a Baltimore periodical for the best prose story. «A MSS. Found in a Bottle» was the winning tale. Poe had submitted six stories in a volume. «Our only difficulty,» says Mr. Latrobe, one of the judges, «was in selecting from the rich contents of the volume.»

During the fifteen years of his literary life Poe was connected with various newspapers and magazines in Richmond, Philadelphia and New York. He was faithful, punctual, industrious, thorough. N. P. Willis, who for some time employed Poe as critic and sub-editor on the «Evening Mirror,» wrote thus:

«With the highest admiration for Poe's genius, and a willingness to let it alone for more than ordinary irregularity, we were led by common report to expect a very capricious attention to his duties, and occasionally a scene of violence and difficulty. Time went on, however, and he was invariably punctual and industrious. We saw but one presentiment of the man-a quiet, patient, industrious and most gentlemanly person;

«We heard, from one who knew him well (what should be stated in all mention of his lamentable irregularities), that with a single glass of wine his whole nature was reversed, the demon became uppermost, and, though none of the usual signs of intoxication were visible, his will was palpably insane. In this reversed character, we repeat, it was never our chance to meet him.»

On September 22, 1835, Poe married his cousin, Virginia Clemm, in Baltimore. She had barely turned thirteen years, Poe himself was but twentysix. He then was a resident of Richmond and a regular contributor to the «Southern Literary Messenger.» It was not until a year later that the bride and her widowed mother followed him thither.

Poe's devotion to his cbild-wife was one of the most beautiful features of his life. Many of his famous poetic productions were inspired by her beauty and charm. Consumption had marked her for its victim, and the constant efforts of husband and mother were to secure for her all the comfort and happiness their slender means permitted. Virginia died January 30, 1847, when but twenty-five years of age. A friend of the family pictures the death-bed scene-mother and husband trying to impart warmth to her by chafing her hands and her feet, while her pet cat was suffered to nestle upon her bosom for the sake of added warmth.

These verses from «Annabel Lee,» written by Poe in 1849, the last year of his life, tell of his sorrow at the loss of his child-wife:

I was a child and she was a child, In a kingdom by the sea;

But we loved with a love that was more than love— I and my Annabel Lee;

With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven Coveted her and me. And this was the reason that, long ago; In this kingdom by the sea. A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling My beautiful Annabel Lee;

So that her high-born kinsmen came And bore her away from me, To shut her up in a sepulchre In this kingdom by the sea,

Poe was connected at various times and in various capacities with the «Southern Literary Messenger» in Richmond, Va.; «Graham's Magazine» and the «Gentleman's Magazine» in Philadelphia.; the «Evening Mirror,» the «Broadway journal,» and «Godey's Lady's Book» in New York. Everywhere Poe's life was one of unremitting toil. No tales and poems were ever produced at a greater cost of brain and spirit.

Poe's initial salary with the «Southern Literary Messenger,» to which he contributed the first drafts of a number of his best-known tales, was $10 a week! Two years later his salary was but $600 a year. Even in 1844, when his literary reputation was established securely, he wrote to a friend expressing his pleasure because a magazine to which he was to contribute had agreed to pay him $20 monthly for two pages of criticism.