Unpublished Correspondence by Edgar Allen Poe [pp. 421-430]

A4PPLETONS' JO URNAL.
now send) much the best I have ever written-but an
author can seldom depend on his own estimate of
his own works-so I wish to know what my Annie
truly thinks of them-also your dear sister and Mr.
C. Do not let these verses go out of your possession until you see them in print-as I have sold
them to the publisher of the -...
The next letter is without date, but was evidently written soon after that just quoted from:
"... ANNIE-You will see by this note that I
am nearly, if not quite, well-so be no longer uneasy on my account. I was not so ill as my mother
supposed, and she is so anxious about me that she
takes alarm often without cause. It is not so much
ill that I have been as depressed in spirits- I cannot express to you how terribly I have been suffering from gloom.... I begin to have a secret terror
lest I may never behold you again.... Abandon
all hope of seeing me soon.... You know how
cheerfully I wrote to you not long ago-about my
prospects-hopes-how I anticipated being soon out
of difficulty-well! all seems to be frustrated-at
least for the present. As usual, misfortunes never
come single, and I have met one disappointment
after another. The Columbian Magazine, in the
first place, failed-then Post's Union (taking with it
my principal dependence); then the Whig Review
was forced to stop paying for contributions-then
the Democratic-then (on account of his oppression
and insolence) I was obliged to quarrel, finally, with
; and then, to crown all, the (from
which I anticipated so much, and with which I had
made a regular engagement for $io a week throughout the year) has written a circular to correspondents, pleading poverty and declining to receive any
more articles. More than this, the S. L. Messenger,
which owes me a good deal, cannot pay just yetand altogether I am reduced to Sartain and Graham
-both very precarious. No doubt, Annie, you attribute my'gloom' to these events-but you would
be wrong. It is not in the power of any mere
worldly consideration, such as these, to depress me.
... No, my sadness is unaccountable, and this makes
me the more sad. I am full of dark forebodings.
Nothing cheers or comforts me. My life seems
wasted-the future looks a dreary blank; but I will
struggle on and'hope against hope.'... What do
you think? I have received a letter from Mrs.
, and such a letter! She says she is about to
publish a detailed account of all that occurred between us, under guise of romance, with fictitious
names, &c.-that she will make me appear noble,
generous, &c., &c.-nothing bad-that she will' do
justice to my motives,' &c., &c. She writes to know
if'I have any suggestions to make.' If I do not
answer it in a fortnight, the book will go to press as
it is-and more than all this-she is coming on immediately to see me at Fordham. I have not replied
-shall I? and what? The'friend' who sent the
lines to the h. J. was the friend who loves you best
-was myself. The so misprinted them that I
was resolved to have a true copy. The has
two of my articles yet-' A Sonnet to My Mother,'
and'Landor's Cottage.'... I have written a ballad called'Annabel Lee,' which I will send you
soon. Why do you not send the tale of which you
spoke??"
To the above Mrs. Clemm appends these words:
"Thank you a thousand times for your letter, my
dear Annie. Do not believe Eddy; he has been
very ill, but is now better. I thought he would die
several times. God knows I wish we were both in
our graves-it would, I am sure, be far better."
From the last letter of this series the following
passages are selected:
" FORDHAM, - Yune i6.
"You asked me to write before I started for
Richmond, and I was to have started last Monday
(the iith)-so, perhaps, you thought me gone, and
without having written to say'good-by'-but indeed, Annie, I could not have done so. The truth is,
I have been on the point of starting every day since
I wrote-and so put off writing until the last moment-but I have been disappointed-and can no
longer refrain from sending you, at least, a few
lines to let you see why I have been so long silent.
When I can go now is uncertain-but, perhaps, I
may be off to-morrow, or next day:-all depends
upon circumstances beyond my control.... "
On June 29th Poe left his home at Fordham
never to return; Mrs. Clemm (" Muddy ") never beheld him again. Upon July 9th she wrote to "Annie: " " Eddy has been gone ten days, and I have
not heard one word from him. Do you wonder that
I am distracted? O Annie, Annie, I fear everything. He left in such wretched spirits. He was
so much distressed at not hearing from you....
Do you wonder that he has so little confidence in
any one? Have we not suffered from the blackest
treachery?... Eddy was obliged to go through
Philadelphia, and how much I fear he has got into
some trouble there..... Before he left home he arranged all his papers, and told me what to do with
them should he die.... If Eddy gets to Richmond
safely and can succeed in what he intends doing,
we will be relieved of part of our difficulties." In
a letter from Mrs. Clemm, of June 30th, she informs
"Annie" that she has heard from "Eddy," and
that he is now in Richmond. With Poe's last visit
to Richmond is connected and concluded one of the
most romantic episodes of his history.
III.-MRS. SHELTON.
Referring to the boyish poet-love of Byron, Edgar Poe says, "It was born of the hour, and of the
youthful necessity to love," adding that in similar
circumstances of frequent and unrestricted intercourse, such as the children are represented to have
enjoyed, "it was not merely natural, or merely probable; it was as inevitable as destiny itself." That
any maiden, not positively repulsive, would have
428