After
the class on Thursday I began researching Poe along with some of his work to
get a better idea of who he was as a person. I am fascinated by the actual
voice of Poe and not just the voice of the narrator in his stories. I decided that the best way to do this would
be to actually try and find an introduction he wrote for something. However,
there has been very little I could find in the way of personal writings of
Edgar Allan Poe, simply because of the nature of Poe’s life and the mystery
that surrounds it. I managed to find a love letter supposedly addressed to
Frances Sargent Osgood. Frances Osgood was another American poet from Boston
who was romantically linked to Poe. The two had a rather short affair, lasting
about two years, while Poe’s wife Virginia was still alive. There are several
similarities between the two women including some physical similarities, but
the most interesting commonality was both women suffered from tuberculosis.
Osgood died of tuberculosis in 1950 and Virginia Poe died in 1847. Although the
true nature of Poe and Osgood’s relationship is not really know, it was
reported to be platonic, however, there was some scandal surrounding the
relationship. A well known valentine from Poe to Osgood that was published by
Poe in the Broadway Journal, which he
was part owner of, under a pseudonym. The journal was the medium Poe used to
publish several of Osgood’s poems. Within the valentine Poe carefully conceals
Osgood’s name within the text. The valentine reads as follows:
 |
| Frances Osgood |
For her this rhyme is
penned, whose luminous eyes,
Brightly
expressive as the twins of Leda,
Shall find
her own sweet name, that nestling lies
Upon the
page, enwrapped from every reader.
Search narrowly
the lines! they hold a treasure
Devine - a
talisman - an amulet
That must be
worn at heart. Search well the measure -
The words -
the syllables! Do not forget
The trivialest
point, or you may lose your labor
And yet there
is in this no Gordian knot
Which one might
not undo without a sabre,
If one could merely
comprehend the plot.
Enwritten upon the
leaf where now are peering
Eyes scintillating
soul, there lie perdus
Three eloquent words
oft uttered in the hearing
Of poets, by poets
- as the name is a poet's, too,
Its letters, although
naturally lying
Like the knight Pinto-Mendez
Ferdinando-
Still form a synonym for
Truth - Cease trying!
You will not read the riddle,
though you do the best you can do.
 |
| Virginia Clemm Poe |
What I found particularly
interesting with the relationship between Osgood and Poe was, firstly, Virginia
Poe did not have anything against it. In comparison she never accepted
Elizabeth Ellet who was either enamored with Poe and had been rejected by him
or was involved in an affair with him depending on which source you access.
Virginia even claimed on her deathbed to have been murdered by Ellet although
there is no evidence supporting this final claim. The relationship between Poe
and Osgood was short-lived. The two had a falling out in 1847 and never spoke
again. However, the termination of the friendship between Osgood and Poe did
not end coldly and Osgood continued to defend both Edgar and Virginia Poe
claiming, “She [Virginia] was the only woman he [Edgar Allan Poe] ever loved.” Secondly,
the relationship was built on mutual respect for each other’s work. Poe commented
on several occasions on the nature of Osgood’s poetry and as mentioned earlier
published several in the magazine, Broadway
Journal, he partially owned. I shall conclude by including a final poem
from Poe to Osgood published in 1845. I find these poems illustrate a stark
contrast to the harsh image of Edgar Allan Poe created by his other more gothic
works and give us an insight into the romantic life of Poe.
Thou wouldst be loved?--then let thy
heart
From its present pathway part not;
Being everything which now thou
art,
Be nothing which thou art not.
So with the world thy gentle ways,
Thy grace, thy more than beauty,
Shall be an endless theme of
praise.
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