Edgar Allan Poe Never Shall I Drink Again Unless I Meet This Lady
Courtesy Lilly Library, Indiana Academy, Bloomington, Indiana
"I tin can just say to you that had I youth and health and beauty, I would live for you and die with yous." Helen Whitman to Edgar Allan Poe
After Poe'due south death, many people were clamoring for a role in the drama and mystery of the situation. Previously silent neighbors made allegations almost his drinking habits. Complete strangers hypothesized over the circumstances of his expiry. Maybe virtually intriguingly, some women began to claim their places in his story and tell their version of his life.
Poe's Relationship with Sarah Elmira Royster Shelton
The first woman to practise then was Sarah Elmira Royster Shelton, rumored to have been his fiancée at the fourth dimension of his death. Poe had known Shelton since childhood, when they were neighbors and get-go took a romantic interest in each other. They vicious out of contact when Poe left for University of Virginia and Shelton married another homo. They did not speak again until 1848 after the death of Poe'due south wife Virginia. By that time, Shelton was a widow and Poe took the opportunity to ask her to ally him. She declined, only he continued to pursue her for several months. Poe wrote to his aunt, Muddy, to tell her that the 2 would be married in Oct 1849 only he died just x days before the supposed wedding date arrived.
In Poe's alphabetic character to Muddy he seemed quite certain that he and Shelton would exist married, just Elmira herself may non take been so sure. Rumors circulated that the ii were not truly engaged. It's unclear if they were ever engaged at all, let alone planning a nuptials.
Despite the rumors and Shelton's possible doubts, later on Poe'due south decease she took a very active function in his family. She wrote to the doctor who had attended to Poe in the calendar week earlier his death request to know every detail of Poe's final days. She mourned Poe's death equally a member of his family. 1 paper cited Shelton as "perhaps the simply person who could speak authoritatively upon the history of the concluding few months of [Poe's] life spent in the metropolis of Richmond." To anybody post-obit the widely-covered story of Poe's death in newspapers and magazines, she presented herself as his devoted fiancée.
Poe's Relationship with Sarah Helen Whitman
Elmira Shelton was not the only woman who continued herself more closely to Poe afterward his decease. Before Shelton, Poe had had a fiancée named Sarah Helen Whitman. Poe met Whitman in 1848, most a year before he reconnected with Shelton. Whitman was also a poet and the two traded passionate poems and letters. Poe pursued Helen Whitman relentlessly only Whitman worried that she was also old for him (she was nearly x years his senior). In one letter of the alphabet, Whitman wrote to Poe, "I can only say to you that had I youth and wellness and dazzler, I would live for you and dice with you. Now, were I to allow myself to love you, I could merely enjoy a bright brief hour of rapture and die." Their courting continued for several months before Poe proposed to her. Like Elmira Shelton, Helen Whitman refused at beginning but Poe convinced her to accept his proposal. Shortly thereafter, Whitman ended the relationship when Poe continued drinking despite his assurances to the contrary.
Helen and Poe did not speak afterward she ended their engagement, and he died 2 years later. After Poe's decease, Whitman challenged those who slandered Poe'due south character and criticized his writing. After reading a particularly defamatory biography of Poe published by one of his largest literary critics, Helen Whitman decided to take matters into her ain hands. She wrote a much more complimentary biography of Poe, praising his life and literary achievements.
Poe's Human relationship with Nancy Richmond
Poe mentioned the failed date in a letter of the alphabet to Nancy Richmond, the wife of a paper manufacturer in Massachusetts. Richmond met Edgar Allan Poe in July 1848 when he lectured in Lowell. Although their relationship remained platonic, Richmond and Poe experienced a mutual allure. Poe called Richmond by the proper noun of "Annie" and wrote his "For Annie" poem for her. After her husband died in 1873 and more than than twenty years after the death of Edgar Allan Poe, Nancy Richmond legally changed her name to Annie. Annie Richmond shared copies of Poe's letters to her with the biographer John Henry Ingram. Ingram and so published the letters confronting her wishes.
A Commitment to Poe'south Legacy
Elmira Shelton, Helen Whitman, and Nancy Richmond shared a commitment to Poe'south legacy. Whether this involvement stemmed from a want to exist involved in the drama, a conviction to protect Poe's reputation, or a love for him that strengthened afterward his tragic death, or all iii, it is difficult to tell. Merely, we have these women to thank for some of the well-nigh compelling and personal records of Poe's life and love.
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Source: https://www.nps.gov/articles/poeromances.htm