j d worthington
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- Joined
- May 9, 2006
- Messages
- 13,889
As I recall (some 10 or so years after reading about it) Poe had tried to become involved in politics, but didn't receive enough votes to matter. Also, he was a very outspoken critic who could be quite acerbic -- adjusting for the mores of the time, about as much so as, say, Harlan Ellison today -- and made more than his share of enemies. The people of Providence certainly weren't too fond of him, even in HPL's day; he still had something of a reputation even then. While it's quite possible he "fell off the wagon" yet again, there are enough questions remaining unanswered to make a dogmatic position on this shaky.
As for the article on who is underneath the monument -- who knows? It wouldn't be the first time such a blunder took place and was never corrected. Also, the poem quoted was not Poe's last, but among his first: "Tamerlane", as I recall (though my Poe is packed away where I can't get to it at present). But a very interesting discussion and Poe might well have appreciated the mystery (though he would almost certainly have tried to solve it a la Marie Roget/Mary Rogers).
As for the article on who is underneath the monument -- who knows? It wouldn't be the first time such a blunder took place and was never corrected. Also, the poem quoted was not Poe's last, but among his first: "Tamerlane", as I recall (though my Poe is packed away where I can't get to it at present). But a very interesting discussion and Poe might well have appreciated the mystery (though he would almost certainly have tried to solve it a la Marie Roget/Mary Rogers).
