A brief post tonight. Here is an image very likely-- and likely to be believed-- as Edgar Allan. This portrait was pained by a John McDougall, about 1846 in New York City. This likeness is one of only a select handful of images believed to be authentically Poe. Unlike the more commonly thought image of Poe moustached and with deep, sullen and sunken eyes, this picture would likely be more close to how Edgar would have looked during the composition of some of his earllier works.
Showing posts with label Poe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poe. Show all posts
Monday, October 7, 2013
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
A brief post tonight. Here is an image very likely-- and likely to be believed-- as Edgar Allan. This portrait was pained by a John McDougall, about 1846 in New York City. This likeness is one of only a select handful of images believed to be authentically Poe. Unlike the more commonly thought image of Poe moustached and with deep, sullen and sunken eyes, this picture would likely be more close to how Edgar would have looked during the composition of some of his earllier works. 
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Good news for Edgar
Some very welcomed Poe-themed news came my way today. For today, in Baltimore, Maryland, the Edgar Allan Poe House in museum reopened to the public. The historic attraction closed almost a year ago, after the city of Baltimore cut funding for the attraction that up until then had drawn tourists each year by the thouands.
The brick museum which was home to the visionary Edgar in the 1830s was designated a landmark in 1972. In this home, Edgar lived during pieces of his prime, with his dear Virginia. I have never been able to make the trip, though it is certainly somewhere I want to see before I leave this life.
The newly formed organization "Poe Baltimore," which was helped with city funding and has worked toward ways to make the historic site financially sound and self-sufficent, has now assumed all responsibility for the operating and funding of the museum.
Someday, I hope to visit that space.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
On Edgar's day, a visit from the dead.
In honor of Edgar Allan Poe's 204th Birthday on this cold January 19 afternoon, I give you a piece of his work, mixed in with some of mine, in small tribute.
"Thy soul shall find itself alone
'Mid dark thoughts of the grey tomb-stone;
Not one, of all the crowd, to pry
Into thine hour of secrecy.
"Spirits of the Dead" was first published in 1829 under the title "Visits of the Dead," in Poe's "Tamerlane and Other Poems." Edgar changed the title when publishing "Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems" two years later.
"Spirits of the Dead"
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"Thy soul shall find itself alone
'Mid dark thoughts of the grey tomb-stone;
Not one, of all the crowd, to pry
Into thine hour of secrecy.
Be silent in that
solitude,
Which is not loneliness- for then
The spirits of the dead, who stood
In life before thee, are again
In death around thee, and their will
Shall overshadow thee; be still.
Which is not loneliness- for then
The spirits of the dead, who stood
In life before thee, are again
In death around thee, and their will
Shall overshadow thee; be still.
The night, though
clear, shall frown,
And the stars shall not look down
From their high thrones in the Heaven
With light like hope to mortals given,
But their red orbs, without beam,
To thy weariness shall seem
As a burning and a fever
Which would cling to thee for ever.
And the stars shall not look down
From their high thrones in the Heaven
With light like hope to mortals given,
But their red orbs, without beam,
To thy weariness shall seem
As a burning and a fever
Which would cling to thee for ever.
Now are thoughts thou
shalt not banish,
Now are visions ne'er to vanish;
From thy spirit shall they pass
No more, like dew-drop from the grass.
Now are visions ne'er to vanish;
From thy spirit shall they pass
No more, like dew-drop from the grass.
The breeze, the
breath of God, is still,
And the mist upon the hill
And the mist upon the hill
Shadowy, shadowy, yet
unbroken,
Is a symbol and a token.
How it hangs upon the trees,
A mystery of mysteries! "
Is a symbol and a token.
How it hangs upon the trees,
A mystery of mysteries! "
-Edgar Allan Poe
All Photos Copyright Bryan Ball Photography, All Rights Reserved.
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