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Sarah Helen Whitman

Oil painting at age 35
Born January 19, 1803(1803-01-19)
Providence, Rhode Island
Died June 27, 1878 (aged 75)
Providence, Rhode Island

Sarah Helen Power Whitman (January 19, 1803 - June 27, 1878), was a poet, essayist, transcendentalist, Spiritualist and a romantic interest of Edgar Allan Poe. Events 1419 - Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England completing his reconquest of Normandy. 1803 ( MDCCCIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Events 1358 - Republic of Dubrovnik is founded 1709 - Peter the Great defeats Charles XII of Sweden Year 1878 ( MDCCCLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 1419 - Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England completing his reconquest of Normandy. 1803 ( MDCCCIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Events 1358 - Republic of Dubrovnik is founded 1709 - Peter the Great defeats Charles XII of Sweden Year 1878 ( MDCCCLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common A poet is a person who writes Poetry. Etymology From the Ancient greek: ποιέω, poieō: "I make or compose" This article is an abbreviated list of Essayists - individuals notable for writing essays on various topics Transcendentalism was a group of new ideas in Literature, Religion, Culture, and Philosophy that emerged in New England in the Spiritualism is a Religion founded in part on the writings of the Swedish mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772 Edgar Allan Poe (January 19 1809 – October 7 1849 was an American poet, short-story Writer, editor and Literary critic,

Contents

Early life

She was born in Providence, Rhode Island on January 19, 1803 - the same day as Poe, though a few years before him. Events 1419 - Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England completing his reconquest of Normandy. 1803 ( MDCCCIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a In 1828, she married the poet and writer John Winslow Whitman. John had been co-editor of the Boston Spectator and Ladies' Album, which allowed Sarah to publish some of her poetry using the name "Helen. " John died in 1833; he and Sarah never had children.

Sarah Helen Whitman allegedly had a heart condition that she treated with ether she breathed in through her handkerchief. Ether is a class of Organic compounds which contain an ether group — an Oxygen Atom connected to two (substituted Alkyl A handkerchief (also called handkercher or hanky) is a form of a Kerchief, typically a square of fabric that can be carried in the Pocket [1]

Whitman was friends with Margaret Fuller and other intellectuals in New England. Sarah Margaret Fuller Ossoli (May 23 1810 – July 19 1850 was a Journalist, Critic and Women's rights activist associated with the American She became interested in transcendentalism through this social group and after hearing Ralph Waldo Emerson lecture in Boston, Massachusetts and in Providence. Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25 1803 &ndash April 27 1882 was an American essayist philosopher poet and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early 19th century She also became interested in science, mesmerism, and the occult. [2] She had a penchant for wearing black and a coffin-shaped charm around her neck and may have practiced seances in her home on Sundays, attempting to communicate with the dead. A séance (ˈsay-ons is an attempt to communicate with spirits The word " séance " comes from the French word for "seat" "session" [3]

Relationship with Edgar Allan Poe

Whitman and Poe first crossed paths in Providence in July 1845. Year 1845 ( MDCCCXLV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Poe was attending a lecture by friend and poet Frances Sargent Osgood. Frances Sargent Osgood ( Née Locke (June 18 1811 – May 12 1850 was an American poet and one of the most popular women writers during her time As Poe and Osgood walked, they passed the home of Whitman while she was standing in the rose garden behind her house. Poe declined to be introduced to her. [4]

A friend, Annie Lynch, had asked Whitman to write a poem for a Valentine's Day party in 1848. Anne Charlotte Lynch Botta ( November 11 1815 - March 23 1891) was an American poet, Writer, Teacher Valentine's Day or Saint Valentine's Day is a Holiday celebrated on February 14 She agreed, and wrote one for Poe, though he was not in attendance. Poe heard about the tribute, "To Edgar Allan Poe," and returned the favor by anonymously sending his previously-printed poem "To Helen". " To Helen " is the first of two poems to carry that name written by Edgar Allan Poe. Whitman may not have known it was from Poe himself and she did not respond. Three months later, Poe wrote her an entirely new poem, "To Helen," referencing the moment from several years earlier where Poe first saw her in the rose garden behind her house. [5]

Poe was on his way to see Whitman at the time of his alleged suicide attempt. Before boarding a train to Boston from Lowell, Massachusetts on his way to Providence, he took two doses of laudanum. Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. As of the 2000 census the city had a total population of 105167 Laudanum (ˈlȯd-nəm or ˈlȯ-də-nəm also known as Opium Tincture or Tincture of Opium, is an Alcoholic herbal preparation By the time he arrived in Boston he was very sick and may have almost died. [6] He spent four days in Providence with her immediately after. Though they shared a common interest in literature, Poe was concerned about Whitman's friends, many for whom he had little regard, including Elizabeth F. Ellet, Margaret Fuller, and several other Transcendentalists. Elizabeth Fries Lummis Ellet (October 18 1818 &ndash June 3 1877 was an American writer historian and poet He said to her, "My heart is heavy, Helen, for I see that your friends are not my own. "[7]

The two exchanged letters and poetry for some time before discussing marriage, finally signing an agreement in December 1848. Poe had agreed to remain sober during their engagement - a vow he violated within only a few days. Whitman's mother discovered that Poe was also pursuing Annie Richmond and childhood sweetheart Sarah Elmira Royster. Sarah Elmira Royster Shelton (1810 - 1888 was a childhood sweetheart of Edgar Allan Poe who would become engaged to him right before his death in 1849 Even so, the wedding had come so close to occurring that, in January 1849, a newspaper in New London, Connecticut and others announced their union and wished them well. New London is a seaport city and a Port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States [8] At one point, they chose the wedding date of December 25, 1848, despite criticism of the relationship from friends and enemies alike. Events 274 - Roman Emperor Aurelian Year 1848 ( MDCCCXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap Whitman supposedly received an anonymous letter while she was at the library suggesting that Poe had broken his vow to her to stay sober, directly leading to an end of the relationship. Poe said in a letter to Whitman (addressed "Dear Madam") that he blamed her mother for their split. [6]

Later life

Sarah Helen Whitman, 1869
Sarah Helen Whitman, 1869

Her Hours of Life, and Other Poems was published in 1853. Year 1853 ( MDCCCLIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common In 1860, eleven years after his death, she published a work in defense of Poe against his critics (including Rufus Wilmot Griswold), entitled Edgar Allan Poe and His Critics. Year 1860 ( MDCCLX) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year starting Rufus Wilmot Griswold (February 13 1812 – August 27 1857 was an American anthologist, editor, Poet, and Critic. A Baltimore newspaper said the book was a noble effort "but it does not wipe out the. . . dishonorable records in the biography of Dr. Griswold. "[9] The work likely inspired William Douglas O'Connor to write The Good Gray Poet, a similar defense of Walt Whitman, published in 1866. Walter Whitman (May 31 1819 &ndash March 26 1892 was an American poet, Essayist journalist, and humanist. [10]

She died at the age of 75 in 1878 at the home of a friend at 97 Bowen St. in Providence,[11] and is buried in the North Burial Ground. The North Burial Ground is a Cemetery in Providence Rhode Island, dating to 1700 In her will, she used the bulk of her estate to publish a volume of her own poetry and that of her sister. She also left money to the Providence Association for the Benefit of Colored Children and the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. [12]

References

  1. ^ Sova, Dawn B. Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z. New York: Checkmark Books, 2001. p. 254. ISBN 081604161X
  2. ^ Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York: Harper Perennial, 1991. pp. 347-8. ISBN 0060923318
  3. ^ Benton, Richard P. "Friends and Enemies: Women in the Life of Edgar Allan Poe" as collected in Myths and Reality: The Mysterious Mr. Poe. Baltimore: Edgar Allan Poe Society, 1987. p. 18 ISBN 0961644915
  4. ^ Benton, Richard P. "Friends and Enemies: Women in the Life of Edgar Allan Poe" as collected in Myths and Reality: The Mysterious Mr. Poe. Baltimore: Edgar Allan Poe Society, 1987. p. 17. ISBN 0961644915
  5. ^ Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York: Harper Perennial, 1991. pp. 347-51. ISBN 0060923318
  6. ^ a b Benton, Richard P. "Friends and Enemies: Women in the Life of Edgar Allan Poe" as collected in Myths and Reality: The Mysterious Mr. Poe. Baltimore: Edgar Allan Poe Society, 1987. p. 19 ISBN 0961644915
  7. ^ Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York: Harper Perennial, 1991. pp. 358-359. ISBN 0060923318
  8. ^ Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York: Harper Perennial, 1991. pp. 385-388. ISBN 0060923318
  9. ^ Moss, Sidney P. Poe's Literary Battles: The Critic in the Context of His Literary Milieu. Southern Illinois University Press, 1969. pp. 128-9
  10. ^ Loving, Jerome. Walt Whitman: The Song of Himself. University of California Press, 1999. p. 327. ISBN 0520226879
  11. ^ Miller, John Carl. Poe's Helen Remembers. 1979. Charlottesville: Univ Press of Virginia, 1979: 502.
  12. ^ Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York: Harper Perennial, 1991. p. 521. ISBN 0060923318

External links

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