Poe’s book corrects falsehoods, explores spiritual development of Edgar Allan Poe

Union University News ^ | April 20, 2009

[Colofornian]

JACKSON, Tenn. – April 20, 2009– A new book by Union University’s Harry Lee (Hal) Poe seeks to correct some of the misconceptions about his ancestor, Edgar Allan Poe.

“He’s generally thought of as a gloomy, dark loner, obsessed with death and that sort of thing, said Hal Poe, the Charles Colson Professor of Faith and Culture at Union. “Actually, he was a rather cheerful, witty, friendly person who enjoyed music and singing with his friends around the piano.”

In the new book, “Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories,” Poe provides some biographical information about Edgar Allan Poe, who was his great-great grandfather’s cousin. The popular picture of Edgar Allan Poe as brooding and depressed was created by one of his literary enemies, Rufus Griswold, after Poe’s death.

Though scholars have long since discredited Griswold and the fabrications he created about Poe’s life, Hal Poe said such scholarship seldom makes its way to the public.

“So essentially, what this book is doing is popularizing the 20th century scholarship about Poe,” Hal Poe said.

In the book, Hal Poe also discusses some of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories, and traces his spiritual development. Hal Poe said Edgar Allan Poe became a Christian before his death.

“It’s a story of Poe’s spiritual experience and how he came to believe in the God who created the universe, and how he came to go forward at a revival meeting five weeks before he died,” Hal Poe said. “The book discusses all of his stories in light of the spiritual questions he was asking.”

The book includes dozens of images and removable memorabilia, including a portion of Edgar Allan Poe’s handwritten manuscript for the poem, “A Dream Within a Dream,” contentious letters he exchanged with his foster father, John Allan, and his controversial obituary as it appeared in the New York Daily Tribune.

Published by Metro Books and available for purchase at Barnes and Noble, the book was commissioned by Barnes and Noble for the bicentennial of Poe’s birth in 1809.

Hal Poe will be the guest speaker at the Union Auxiliary’s annual spring luncheon April 21. He will talk about his new book and about the family life of Edgar Allan Poe. The event begins at noon in the Carl Grant Events Center. Tickets are $12.

[Colofornian]

From the article:
2009– A new book by Union University’s Harry Lee (Hal) Poe seeks to correct some of the misconceptions about his ancestor, Edgar Allan Poe. “He’s generally thought of as a gloomy, dark loner, obsessed with death and that sort of thing, said Hal Poe, the Charles Colson Professor of Faith and Culture at Union. “Actually, he was a rather cheerful, witty, friendly person who enjoyed music and singing with his friends around the piano.” ...In the book, Hal Poe also discusses some of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories, and traces his spiritual development.

Hal Poe said Edgar Allan Poe became a Christian before his death. “It’s a story of Poe’s spiritual experience and how he came to believe in the God who created the universe, and how he came to go forward at a revival meeting five weeks before he died,” Hal Poe said. “The book discusses all of his stories in light of the spiritual questions he was asking.”

[Alex Murphy]

Hal Poe said Edgar Allan Poe became a Christian before his death. “It’s a story of Poe’s spiritual experience and how he came to believe in the God who created the universe, and how he came to go forward at a revival meeting five weeks before he died,” Hal Poe said. “The book discusses all of his stories in light of the spiritual questions he was asking.”

Ping to read later

[Gman]

It looks as though Harry Lee Poe has quite a body of interesting work. Look him up.

[elcid1970]

Maybe Edgar Allan was reunited with his tragic wife Virginia Clemm, in a better place.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

A good fake: Lincoln and Poe.

This is before Lincoln developed his other passions.

[ifinnegan]

Cool post, enjoyed seeing it.

[jobim]

Very interesting. I taught Fall of the House of Usher to high school juniors, and in there he lays, symbolically, his cosmological view. It's fascinating how he does this. But It's most fascinating to hear that he found Christ just before death.

[Disambiguator]

Here are some of Poe's writings set with music (Orson Welles narrating).

Dream Within a Dream

The Fall of the House of Usher

[dfwgator]

“The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Feather” is the best song on that album.

[SunkenCiv]

Annabel Lee
By Edgar Allan Poe

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee—
With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we—
Of many far wiser than we—
And neither the angels in Heaven above
Nor the demons down under the sea
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea