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Edgar Allan Poe: Poems
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Poe published fiction, notably his most horrifying tale, Berenice, in the Messenger, but most of his contributions were serious, analytical, and critical reviews that earned him respect as a critic. He praised the young Dickens and a few other contemporaries but devoted most of his attention to devastating reviews of popular contemporary authors. His contributions undoubtedly increased the magazine's circulation, but they offended its owner, who ... took exception to Poe's drinking. The January 1837 issue of the Messenger announced Poe's withdrawal as editor but also included the first installment of his long prose tale, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, five of his reviews, and two of his poems. This was to be the paradoxical pattern for Poe's career: success as an artist and editor but failure to satisfy his employers and to secure a livelihood.
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While in Baltimore, Poe introduced himself to the prestigious William Wirt, former Attorney General of the United States, and one-time resident of Virginia. He asked Wirt's opinion of a lengthy fantasy poem entitled "Al Aaraaf." Wirt believed that modern readers would thoroughly enjoy the poem, but doubted that old-fashioned ones like himself would "take." As a result, he advised Poe to seek an introduction to a literary critic in Philadelphia, such as Robert Walsh, editor of the American Quarterly Review. While in Philadelphia, Poe attempted to find a publisher for his volume of works, which included "Al Aaraaf" and other poems; but due to his inability to provide financial backing for his proposed volume, Poe was unable to have his works published. Once again, Poe returned to Baltimore, where a couple of young men named Hatch and Dunning published Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems under terms which Poe described as "advantageous to me" (Silverman 50-51).
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David Keltz gave his first performance as Edgar Allan Poe on Halloween night 1991 at Poe’s grave. Delighting all ages, he commands more than four hours of Poe’s poems, short stories, essays, literary criticism, letters and reported conversations.
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The standard edition is the Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe, edited by T. O. Mabbott et. al., 3 vols. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1969. Volume 1 of this edition is the best edition of Poe's poems.
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Photographs of two women Poe hoped to marry toward the end of his life, Sarah Helen Whitman and Sarah Elmira Royster Shelton, hang over the staircase. Marriage to Mrs. Whitman, a poet and the subject of his second "To Helen" poem, was thwarted by her family and by Poe's reputation. The respected critic, author, and gentleman came face to face with the disreputable drinker and debtor and went down in defeat.
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The literary critic Daniel Hoffman has argued that Poe longed for a realm separate from--indeed superior to--base, material reality. In "Al Aaraaf," Hoffman writes, Poe "writes as though the real world were completely irrelevant" (38). Citing details from this poem, agree or disagree with Hoffman's argument.
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