Edgar Allan Poe’s Funeral
October 13th, 2009
Apparently not having had one when he died, Baltimoreans staged a funeral for the great/young/dead man Edgar Allan Poe this Sunday. I really would’ve liked to have been there in my turn of the century tux and topper with maybe just a little blood seeping from an open wound.
Here is the local newspaper page from the day of his death including his obit.
DREADFUL CALAMITY – We learn from a correspondent, that the Rev. James Nicols, of Caroline Conty, Md., who has for a long time been laboring under an aberation of mind, on Thursday last, shot dead Miss Julie Nichols. …
STRAYED from home on Friday, 5th instant, a COLORED BOY namde BILL, about ten years old, slightly marked with small pox. … All persons are warned not to harbor said boy, at the peril of the law…
DEATH OF EDGAR A. POE — We regret to learn that Edgar A. Poe, Esq., the distinguished American poet, scholar and critic, died in this city yesterday morning, after an illness of four or five days. This announcement, coming so sudden and unexpected, will cause poignant regret among all who admire genius, and have sympathies for the frailties too often attending it. Mr. Poe, we believe, was a native of this state, though reared by a foster father at Richmond, Va., where he lately spent some time on a visit. He was in the 38th year of his age.
FITS! FITS!! FITS!!! HART’S VEGETABLE EXTRACT is the only remedy for EPILEPSY, a FALLING SICKNESS, CONVULSIONS, SPASMS, &c. …
THE SEWING MACHINE, which attracted so much attention at the Fair, has been removed to the corner of Baltimore and South streets, where the public can witness its operation.
COURTNEY TAYLOR-TAYLOR
27 Comments
Danette says: How interesting – I never realized Edgar Allan Poe had missed out on having a funeral. Or that his death had come around the same time as the sewing machine. Thanks for sharing!
That is great. James Nicols was certaining laboring under an aberation of mind to shoot some lady down. I want more on that story.
Gabriel Szoke says: I knew enough about Poe to know his death didn’t bother too many people, but Edgar Allan Poe not having a proper funeral is like.. no one baking a cake on Betty Crocker’s birthday. He not only should have a decent funeral, It should be the most magnificent, eerie, poetically-just funeral ever staged.
G
Maybe his funeral will finally allow him to rest and put an end to the incessant knocking I hear eminating from his grave. You hear it too, don’t you? Don’t you?
Kevin Williams says: Richmond, VA (Poe grew up there) has been doing a big year-long event for Poe because it’s the 200th anniversary of his birth. The Poe museum there has a lot of cool stuff, like his clothes, some of the stuff he had in his pockets when he died and even a lock of his hair. Lots of his handwritten letters and rare pics of him too. Very cool, indeed. I think the webpage is http://www.poemuseum.org. I don’t know if they still do this, but they used to have a monthly “Unhappy Hour” at the museum with live music and booze.
martine says: bonsoir Courtney, thank you so much for talking about Edgar poe ! He, and Boris Vian and Oscar Wilde and Baudelaire are the poets, writers, novellists who impressed me the most in my youth ..
Les Histoires extraordinaires, i read and read , he was honoured, admired and traduced by Mallarmé and Charles Baudelaire ..his tales were prefiguring science fiction, fantastic the universe Edar Poe was, and his life is fascinating whenever he died sadly but so admired .
These late funerals have something strange too but like a way to give the envy to read again this american romantic great poet.
Danette’s comment made me crack up for some reason.
I bet Poe would’ve gotten along great with Kafka. That would’ve been a match made in a Bosch sort of heaven…..
Iain Shaw says: Love your music!
Thought your performance in Zurich was “profesional” and lacking in any poetic or human contact….
You are pretentious beyond belief……:-)
American Twats
Leave our poets to rest in Peace
XXX
everyday says: wow. someone above has my name!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Trisha Bowie and Haywood Jablome. Haywood Jablome said: RT @TheDandyWarhols Edgar Allan Poe’s Funeral: http://bit.ly/4zbfZm [...]
Mike says: There is still a mystery of sorts about Poe’s death. One theory that he was a victim of “cooping” since his death happened around an election day- “Cooping” is a ballot-box-stuffing scam in which victims were shanghaied, drugged, and used as a pawn to vote for a political party at multiple locations.
This theory is more interesting than lead poisoning…
Lany says: I love Poe. Thank you so much Court for sharing this. I was just reading “Monody on Doctor Olmsted” the other night. There has to be something said for such a person as he who was ahead of his time. The imagination…the sarcasm…the morbidness and yet, the love. In his time, he had achieved what I believe every aspiring writer ( or at least myself ) dreams of. Sometimes I wonder what his nightmares were like and what (if anything at all) he was afraid of. He is truely a legend and a great one at that.
Lany says: “My Ode to Poe”
I dreamed of a dream
In that dream I had dreamt
That nothing that seamed
Was something that meant
That the footprints that we plant
Of the steps that we take
And the words that we rant are the memories that we make
Are the little piece of history
That we leave of ourselve for others to see
You’ll always be awesome, but now you are free
Rest in pliancy, Mr.Poe, find peace by the sea
Find that peace that you’ve searched for in Annabel Lee
martine says: Lany i just see your poem, so you know Edgar Poe ..beautiful one ! Mike, , interesting .. so ! searching right now in my books… Kafka ..oui, too..
xx
Jennifer says: I will never forget being read “The Raven” by my father when I was little because it gave me nightmares for weeks. Heck, I’m still having nightmares over that poem.
Claysters says: Edgar Allen Poe is dead??
Lany says: I love “The Raven”. The one that scared me (but I only saw the movie, so I had never actually read it) was “The Black Cat”. (atleast I think that was the name of it, so I’m open for corrections if I’m wrong.) Anyway…it was so freaky that I didn’t wanna be alone for a while after watching it. But it was absolutely genius. I heard reading it was better though. But the story contained so much depth that I was blown away by it.
Danette says: When I was a kid, my parents used to listen to the radio show versions of Edgar Allan Poe stories, and “The Black Cat” was the one that scared the bejesus out of me! He sure had a flair for pulling a person into his stories.
In any case, I think it’s fantastic that he is being celebrated this long after his life ended. Talk about immortality!
sarah says: that’s a fucking shame. Poe was a great man, very important man and he had not funerals ! i’m chocked ! 38 years after his death he will finally have funerals … that’s not too early ! pffff
thanks for sharing this interesting post Courtney.
Joe says: We plan to expose our students to Poe next week. I just love watching that moment of realization when they finally understand that EP’s brand of deep, psychological terror and drama is 99,000% more traumatizing than SAW XIII could ever be.
sarah says: i’d like to see them too !
Mike says: “The Telltale Heart” is the one that scared me! Martine- drop me an email sometime- easternzhou@hotmail.com
Jennifer says: Two things occur to me. One, why was my dad reading me scary ass poems at bedtime when I was 6? And two, if Mr. Poe were alive today, I think he’d be a Dandy Warhol’s fan. But what would his favorite song be?
Lany says: Hmmm…that’s very deep, Jennifer. After hearing Poe’s poems at bedtime, did you make your dad check the closet for monsters? That’s what I would have done. As far as what his fav. song would be, oh gosh…I’m too tired to think. Maybe if the Dandies ever do a cover of something freaky from a scary movie, like the “Halloween” theme song or something. Poe probably would’ve liked that. I’m still puzzled about what his nightmares were like. I mean, if the man came up with terrifying poems and stories as he did when he was awake…I wonder what was in his subconscience….and I wonder if it scared him at all. Then again, maybe nothing did.
Lany says: Wait….I got it. After much careful thought and consideration, I think Poe would like “I Am Over It”. I could totally see him burning one. I could never smoke the stuff because it always affected me way too much. Now Poe, on the other hand, would probably write even more in depth if he was high.
martine says: Jennifer , Lany, i adore reading you ! i think of “Welcome to the third world “?
bisous !
