The life of Edgar Allan Poe .. . oets death thereexisted between these two an unbroken friend-ship. Mrs. Weiss truly says, that this evidenceas to the character of Poes real disposition isone of many examples of the untruthfulness ofGriswolds characterization of him as morose,*choleric, and wholly unamiable ; a statementuncorroborated by a single person who knew thepoet in his early life. The poets inherited histrionic tendencies, ofwhich we find fitful gleams, both in his life andin his works, were occasionally illustrated atthis epoch of his life. He frequently masquer-aded under various gui
The life of Edgar Allan Poe .. . oets death thereexisted between these two an unbroken friend-ship. Mrs. Weiss truly says, that this evidenceas to the character of Poes real disposition isone of many examples of the untruthfulness ofGriswolds characterization of him as morose,*choleric, and wholly unamiable ; a statementuncorroborated by a single person who knew thepoet in his early life. The poets inherited histrionic tendencies, ofwhich we find fitful gleams, both in his life andin his works, were occasionally illustrated atthis epoch of his life. He frequently masquer-aded under various guises, successfully deludinghis most intimate acquaintances. Once, when asked why he did not go uponthe stage, the poet replied, that he had consid-ered the idea, and felt that he would succeed asan actor, but that the publicity and bustling lifeof the stage was unsuited to his tastes. Professor Clarke removed from Richmond in1823. His school was taken by Mr. WilliamBurke, and, under him, the poet remained untilthe summer of THE REV. DR. BRANSBY(Poes English Schoolmaster.) SCHOOL DATS IN RICHMOND. 31 Here the embryo poet experienced what hewrote of, in the last year of his hfe, as the oneidolatrous and purely ideal love of his passionateboyhood. As instancing a peculiar phase ofPoes character, his sad, remorseful pity for thedeparted, which, as Mrs. Whitman writes, iseverywhere a distinguishing feature in his proseand poetry, this characteristic incident, which thelady describes in her monograph on Poe, affords astriking illustration. One day, while at the academy at Richmond,he accompanied a schoolmate to his home, wherehe saw for the first time Mrs. Jane Stanard,the mother of his young lady, on entering the room, took his handand spoke some gentle, gracious words of wel-come, which so penetrated the sensitive heart ofthe orphan boy as to deprive him of the powerof speech, and, for a time, almost of conscious-ness itself. He returned home in a dream, with but
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