Poe’s Final Days
from Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-Ending Remembrance
by Kenneth Silverman
BACKGROUND
This biography traces the last few days of Edgar Allan Poe’s
life. He had just parted from Elmira Shelton, to whom he
had recently been engaged. Shelton lived in Richmond,
Virginia, and Poe set out from there for Baltimore,
Maryland, with plans to go to New York City. He never
completed his journey.
In the early morning of September 27, a Thursday, Poe
began the first leg of his return to the North, setting out from
Richmond for Baltimore on the 4 a.m. steamer,1 with a trunk
containing some clothing, books, and manuscripts.
No reliable evidence exists about what happened to or
A
READING FOCUS
Based on the first two
paragraphs and the article
title, what do you think is
the main idea of this piece?
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
within Poe between that time and October 3, a week later, when
a printer named Joseph Walker saw him at Gunner’s Hall, a
Baltimore tavern, strangely dressed and semiconscious. A
It was Election Day for members of Congress, and like
10
other local watering holes2 the tavern served as a polling place.
Poe seemed to Walker “rather the worse for wear” and “in great
distress.” Apparently flooded with drink, he may also have been
ill from exposure. Winds and soaking rains the day before had
sent Baltimoreans prematurely hunting up overcoats and seeking
charcoal fires for warmth. . . . Poe managed to tell Walker that
he knew Joseph Evans Snodgrass, the Baltimore editor and
physician with whom he had often corresponded while living in
Philadelphia. As it happened, Walker had worked as a typesetter
1.
2.
steamer (STEE MUHR): steamship, or ship driven by steam power.
watering holes: informal for “bars; taverns.”
Excerpt (retitled “Poe’s Final Days”) from Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-Ending Remembrance by Kenneth
Silverman. Copyright © 1991 by Kenneth Silverman. Reproduced by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
No alterations of any type may be made to this selection without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.
Readings About Poe’s Death
125
for Snodgrass’s Saturday Visitor. He sent Snodgrass a dire note,
A
READING FOCUS
20
warning that Poe needed “immediate assistance.”
When Snodgrass arrived at Gunner’s Hall, he found Poe
Underline any evidence you
can find in this paragraph
that supports Snodgrass’
belief that Poe might have
been robbed or cheated out
of his clothing.
sitting in an armchair, surrounded by onlookers. Poe had a look
of “vacant stupidity.” He wore neither vest nor tie, his dingy
trousers fit badly, his shirt was crumpled, his cheap hat soiled.
Snodgrass thought he must be wearing castoff clothing, having
B
been robbed or cheated of his own. A He ordered a room for
VOCABULARY
Poe at the tavern, where he might stay comfortably until his
Selection Vocabulary
If you don’t know the
meaning of the word
insensible, try breaking it
into its parts. The prefix inmeans “not.” Look up the
word sensible. What does
insensible mean as it is used
here? Explain your answer.
relatives in Baltimore could be notified. Just then, however, one
of them arrived—Henry Herring, Poe’s uncle by marriage, who
30
somehow had also learned of his condition. A lumber dealer now
nearly sixty years old, he had wed Muddy’s3 sister, and spent time
with Poe during his early days in Baltimore and later when both
families lived in Philadelphia. But he refused now to take over his
care, saying that on former occasions, when drunk, Poe had been
abusive and ungrateful. Instead, he suggested sending Poe to a
hospital. A carriage was called for. Poe had to be carried into it,
Snodgrass said—insensible, muttering. B
Through the chilly wet streets Poe was driven to the
40
ground of Baltimore. An imposing five-story building with
vaulted gothic windows, it afforded both public wards and
C
private rooms, advertised as being spacious, well ventilated, and
VOCABULARY
directed by an experienced medical staff. Admitted at five in the
Word Study
afternoon, Poe was given a private room, reportedly in a section
What does the word
admitted mean in this
sentence?
reserved for cases involving drunkenness. C He was attended
by the resident physician, Dr. John J. Moran, who apparently had
living quarters in the hospital together with his wife. Moran had
received his medical degree from the University of Maryland
four years earlier and was now only about twenty-six years
50
old. But he knew the identity of his patient—a “great man,” he
wrote of Poe, to whose “rarely gifted mind are we indebted for
many of the brightest thoughts that adorn our literature.” He as
3.
126
Readings About Poe’s Death
Muddy’s: Muddy was Poe’s nickname for Maria Clemm, his aunt and
mother-in-law. Poe had married his cousin, Virginia Clemm.
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
hospital of Washington Medical College, set on the highest
well as the medical students, nurses, and other physicians—all
considered Poe, he said, “an object of unusual regard.”
According to Moran and his wife, Poe reached the hospital
in a stupor,4 unaware of who or what had brought him there. He
remained thus “unconscious” until three o’clock the next morning, when he developed a tremor5 of the limbs and what Moran
D
READING FOCUS
Briefly paraphrase this
paragraph in three to five
sentences. Be sure to include
the main idea in your version
of the paragraph.
called “a busy, but not violent or active delirium.”6 His face was
60
pale and he was drenched in sweat. He talked constantly, Moran
said, addressing “spectral7 and imaginary objects on the walls.”
Apparently during Poe’s delirium, his cousin Neilson Poe came
to the hospital, having been contacted by Dr. Moran. A lawyer
and journalist involved in Whig politics, Neilson was just Poe’s
age. In happier circumstances Poe would not have welcomed the
visit. Not only had Neilson offered Virginia8 and Muddy a home
apart from him; his cousin also, he believed, envied his literary
reputation. Years before he had remarked that he considered “the
little dog,” as he called Neilson, the “bitterest enemy I have in the
70
world.” The physicians anyway thought it inadvisable for Neilson
to see Poe at the moment, when “very excitable.” Neilson sent
some changes of linen and called again the next day, to find Poe’s
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
condition improved. D
Poe being quieted, Moran began questioning him about
his family and about where he lived, but found his answers
mostly incoherent. Poe did not know what had become of his
trunk or when he had left Richmond, but said he had a wife
there, as Moran soon learned was untrue. He said that his
“degradation,” as Moran characterized it, made him feel like
80
sinking into the ground. E Trying to rouse Poe’s spirits, Moran
E
LANGUAGE COACH
An antonym is a word with
the opposite meaning of
another word. Circle the
word in this sentence that is
an antonym of improvement.
told him he wished to contribute in every way to his comfort,
and hoped Poe would soon be enjoying the company of his
friends. . . .
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
stupor (STOO PUHR): dull, half-conscious state.
tremor (TREHM UHR): involuntary trembling, especially from a physical
illness.
delirium (DIH LIHR EE UHM): irrational, raving behavior, often caused by
high fever.
spectral (SPEHK TRUHL): ghostly; unreal.
Virginia: Poe’s wife, Virginia Clemm. She died of tuberculosis in 1847.
Readings About Poe’s Death
127
Then Poe seemed to doze, and Moran left him briefly. A
A
READING FOCUS
On returning he found Poe violently delirious, resisting the
How does Poe’s behavior
at the hospital support the
main idea of this selection?
efforts of two nurses to keep him in bed. From Moran’s description, Poe seems to have raved a full day or more, through
Saturday evening, October 6, when he began repeatedly calling
out someone’s name. It may have been that of a Baltimore fam90
ily named Reynolds or, more likely, the name of his uncle-in-law
Henry Herring. Moran later said that he sent for the Herring
family, but that only one of Herring’s two daughters came to the
hospital. Poe continued deliriously calling the name until three
o’clock on Sunday morning. Then his condition changed. Feeble
from his exertions he seemed to rest a short time and then,
Moran reported, “quietly moving his head he said ‘Lord help my
poor Soul’ and expired!”
The cause of Poe’s death remains in doubt. Moran’s
account of his profuse perspiration, trembling, and hallucinations
100
indicates delirium tremens, mania à potu.9 Many others who had
known Poe, including the professionally trained Dr. Snodgrass,
also attributed his death to a lethal amount of alcohol. Moran
Baltimore newspapers gave the cause of death as “congestion of
the brain” or “cerebral inflammation.”10 Although the terms were
sometimes used euphemistically11 in public announcements of
deaths from disgraceful causes, such as alcoholism, they may in
this case have come from the hospital staff itself. According to
Moran, one of its senior physicians diagnosed Poe’s condition
110
as encephalitis, a brain inflammation, brought on by “exposure.”
This explanation is consistent with the prematurely wintry
weather at the time, with Snodgrass’s account of Poe’s partly
clad condition, and with Elmira Shelton’s recollection that on
9. delirium tremens, mania à potu: “Delirium tremens” refers to an
alcoholic state in which the victim behaves irrationally and sometimes violently, hallucinates (sees imaginary things), and trembles.
Mania à potu is a Latin phrase, meaning “madness from drinking.”
10. “congestion of the brain” or “cerebral inflammation”: These are
terms for conditions of the brain caused by injury or infection.
11. euphemistically (YOO FUH MIHS TUH KLEE): in a manner meant to hide
or substitute for something unpleasant or offensive.
128
Readings About Poe’s Death
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
later vigorously disputed this explanation, however, and some
B
READING FOCUS
Why doesn’t Moran believe
that Poe died of alcohol
poisoning? Write your
answer below and underline
all of the supporting
evidence in this paragraph.
© Rebekah F. Owens,Westminster Preservation Trust, Inc.
leaving Richmond Poe already had a fever. Both explanations
may have been correct: Poe may have become too drunk to care
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
about protecting himself against the wind and rain. B
Readings About Poe’s Death
129
Poe’s Death Is Rewritten
as Case of Rabies,
Not Telltale Alcohol
from The New York Times, September 15, 1996
BACKGROUND
One of the ways doctors keep up with medical advances
in their field is by attending medical conferences. While
attending such a conference, Dr. R. Michael Benitez from
Baltimore came up with a new theory about Poe’s death.
Edgar Allan Poe did not die drunk in a gutter in Baltimore but
rather had rabies, a new study suggests.
READING FOCUS
The researcher, Dr. R. Michael Benitez, a cardiologist1
After reading the first page
of this article, what do you
think is its main idea?
who practices a block from Poe’s grave, says it is true that the
writer was seen in a bar on Lombard Street in October 1849,
delirious and possibly wearing somebody else’s soiled clothes.
But Poe was not drunk, said Dr. Benitez, an assistant
professor of medicine at the University of Maryland Medical
Center. “I think Poe is much maligned2 in that respect,” he added.
The writer entered Washington College Hospital comatose,3
10
Dr. Benitez said, but by the next day was perspiring heavily,
hallucinating, and shouting at imaginary companions.
The next day, he seemed better but could not remember
falling ill. A
1.
2.
3.
cardiologist (KAHR DEE AH LUH JIHST): doctor who specializes in diseases
of the heart.
maligned (MUH LYND): falsely accused of bad conduct; slandered.
comatose (KAH MUH TOHS): deeply unconscious and unable to be
wakened.
“Poe’s Death Is Rewritten as Case of Rabies, Not Telltale Alcohol” from The New York Times, September 15, 1996.
Copyright © 1996 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of the copyright holder.
No alterations of any type may be made to this selection without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.
130
Readings About Poe’s Death
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
A
On his fourth day at the hospital, Poe again grew
confused and belligerent,4 then quieted down and died.
That is a classic case of rabies, the doctor said. His study
is in the September issue of The Maryland Medical Journal.
In the brief period when he was calm and awake, Poe
20
refused alcohol and could drink water only with great difficulty.
B
READING FOCUS
Contrast this article with
“Poe’s Final Days.” On the
lines below, list the differences between the two
accounts.
Rabies victims frequently exhibit hydrophobia, or fear of water,
because it is painful to swallow. B
There is no evidence that a rabid animal had bitten Poe.
About one fourth of rabies victims reportedly cannot remember
being bitten. After an infection, the symptoms can take up to a
year to appear. But when the symptoms do appear, the disease is
a swift and brutal killer. Most patients die in a few days. C
Poe “had all the features of encephalitic rabies,” said
Dr. Henry Wilde, who frequently treats rabies at Chulalongkorn
30
C
READING FOCUS
Paraphrase this paragraph
and state its main idea.
University Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand.
Although it has been well established that Poe died in the
hospital, legend has it that he succumbed in the gutter, a victim
of his debauched5 ways.
The legend may have been fostered by his doctor, who in
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
later years became a temperance advocate6 and changed the
details to make an object lesson of Poe’s death. D
The curator of the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum
in Baltimore, Jeff Jerome, said that he had heard dozens of tales
but that “almost everyone who has come forth with a theory has
40
offered no proof.”
Some versions have Poe unconscious under the steps
D
VOCABULARY
of the Baltimore Museum before being taken to the hospital.
Academic Vocabulary
Other accounts place him on planks between two barrels outside
Recall that portray means
“describe” or “show.” How
does the author portray
Poe’s doctor here?
a tavern on Lombard Street. In most versions, Poe is wearing
someone else’s clothes, having been robbed of his suit.
4.
5.
6.
belligerent (BUH LIHJ UHR UHNT): angry and aggressive or ready to start
a fight.
debauched (DIH BAWCHT): characterized by extreme indulgence in
pleasures.
temperance advocate: someone who believes that people should not
drink alcohol.
Readings About Poe’s Death
131
A
READING FOCUS
© Illustration Works/Getty Images
What supporting evidence
does Mr. Jerome offer for
Dr. Benitez’s theory?
Poe almost surely did not die of alcohol poisoning or
VOCABULARY
withdrawal, Mr. Jerome said. The writer was so sensitive to
Selection Vocabulary
The word conspicuous
means “obvious; noticeable.”
Use conspicuous in a
sentence.
alcohol that a glass of wine would make him violently ill for
days. Poe may have had problems with alcohol as a younger
50
man, Mr. Jerome said, but by the time he died at forty he almost
always avoided it. A
Dr. Benitez worked on Poe’s case as part of a clinical
pathologic conference. Doctors are presented with a
hypothetical7 patient and a description of the symptoms and are
asked to render a diagnosis.
Dr. Benitez said that at first he did not know that he had
been assigned Poe, because his patient was described only as
“E. P., a writer from Richmond.” But by the time he was
scheduled to present his findings a few weeks later, he had
60
figured out the mystery. “There was a conspicuous lack in this
report of things like CT scans and MRI’s,”8 the doctor said. B
“I started to say to myself, ‘This doesn’t look like it’s from the
1990s.’ Then it dawned on me that E. P. was Edgar Poe.”
7.
8.
132
Readings About Poe’s Death
hypothetical (HY PUH THEHT UH KUHL): theoretical; not actual.
CT scans and MRI’s: medical tests that use modern technology. Both
tests produce an image of a cross-section of soft tissue such as the brain.
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
B
If Only Poe Had Succeeded
When He Said Nevermore
to Drink
from The New York Times September 23, 1996
BACKGROUND
To comment on a publication’s article or to challenge it, a reader
may choose to write a letter to the editor. Letters to the editor are
printed in later publications. In response to the previous article,
Burton R. Pollin and Robert E. Benedetto wrote the following letter
disputing Dr. Benitez’s theory.
To the Editor:
Dr. R. Michael Benitez, an assistant professor of
medicine at Maryland University Medical Center, is wrong to
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
ascribe1 the death of Edgar Allan Poe to rabies through animal
infection rather than to the traditionally maintained cause of
C
READING FOCUS
This paragraph states the
main idea of the letter.
Paraphrase this paragraph.
alcoholism (news article, September 15). C
Poe was found outside a Baltimore saloon in an alcoholic
stupor on October 3, 1849, and died four days later. Dr. John
J. Moran’s account of his final days is given in a letter to Poe’s
10
aunt and mother-in-law, Maria Clemm, a New York Herald
article in 1875, and a book by Moran in 1885. Supplementary
accounts of Poe’s alcoholic condition came from Joseph Walker,
a Baltimore printer who first found him; Dr. Joseph Snodgrass,
an editor well known to Poe; and two of Poe’s relatives. None of
these confirm Dr. Benitez’s statement that “Poe was not drunk.”
Evidence of Poe’s chronic binges is strewn through his letters, in
1.
ascribe (UH SKRYB): assign or attribute something to a cause.
“If Only Poe Had Succeeded When He Said Nevermore to Drink” by Burton R. Pollin from The New York Times,
Editorial Desk, September 23, 1996. Copyright © 1996 by Burton R. Pollin. Reproduced by permission of the author.
No alterations of any type may be made to this selection without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.
Readings About Poe’s Death
133
periodic admissions of “recoveries” and promises to his wife,
A
Virginia, and her mother to “reform.” A
VOCABULARY
Dr. Benitez admits the primary weakness of his theory—
Selection Vocabulary
The word chronic means
“frequently occurring.”
Underline the evidence given
in support of the claim that
Poe suffered from chronic
drinking.
20
lack of evidence of a bite or scratch. In those days, rabies was
well known as to causes and symptoms, including itching and
other sensations that could affect an entire limb or side of the
body. How could Moran and his staff ignore such symptoms in a
patient? B
B
QUICK CHECK
And what of Poe’s cat, dearly loved but left behind in the
Bronx over three months earlier? Guiltless was the pet Caterina,
What new facts about rabies
are presented in this letter?
who, uninfected and showing no sign of rabies, died of starvation
when deserted by Clemm after Poe’s death.
In short, there is no need to whitewash2 the self-destructive
30
behavior of this literary genius and major American poet, critic,
and teller of tales.
Burton R. Pollin
Robert E. Benedetto
Bronxville, New York
September 20, 1996
The writers are, respectively, professor emeritus of English, City
READING FOCUS
Compare and contrast this
article to the two previous
pieces. Which account of
Poe’s death does this letter
support?
University of New York, and an associate film professor at the
University of South Carolina. C
2.
whitewash (HWYT WAHSH): cover up the faults or defects of something;
give a favorable appearance to something.
© The Granger Collection, New York
134
Readings About Poe’s Death
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
C