The life of Edgar Allan Poe .. . andsome, so impassivein his wonderful intellectual beauty, so proud andreserved, and yet so confidentially communica-tive, so entirely a gentleman, upon all occasionsthat I ever saw him, so tasteful, so good a talker,was Poe, that he impressed himself and his Vvish-es, almost without words, upon those with whomhe spoke. On this occasion I was introduced to the 3oungwife of the poet, and to the mother, then morethan sixty years of age. She was a tall, digni-fied old lady, vv^ith a most lady-like manner, andher black dress, old and much worn, looked reallyelegant
The life of Edgar Allan Poe .. . andsome, so impassivein his wonderful intellectual beauty, so proud andreserved, and yet so confidentially communica-tive, so entirely a gentleman, upon all occasionsthat I ever saw him, so tasteful, so good a talker,was Poe, that he impressed himself and his Vvish-es, almost without words, upon those with whomhe spoke. On this occasion I was introduced to the 3oungwife of the poet, and to the mother, then morethan sixty years of age. She was a tall, digni-fied old lady, vv^ith a most lady-like manner, andher black dress, old and much worn, looked reallyelegant on her. She seemed hale and strong,and appeared to be a sort of universal Providencefor her strange children. Mrs. Poe looked very young ; she had largeblack eyes and a pearly whiteness of complexionwhich was a perfect pallor. Her pale face, herbrilliant eyes and her raven hair gave her an un-earthly look. One felt that she was almost a dissolved spirit;and when she coughed, it was made certain thatshe was rapidly passing MAKIA Daguerreotype taken in Lowell in 1849. REMINISCENCES OF FORDHAM. 1S3 The cottage had an air of taste and gentihtythat must have been lent to it by the presence ofits inmates. So neat, so poor, so unfurnished, and yet socharming a dwelling I never saw^. The sitting-room was laid with check matting; four chairs,a light-stand and a hanging book-shelf completedits furniture. There were pretty presentation copies of bookson the little shelves, and the Brownings had apost of honor on the stand. With quiet exulta-tion Poe drew from his side-pocket a letter that hehad recently received from Elizabeth BarrettBrowning. He read it to us. It was very flat-tering. . He was at this time greatly depressed. Theirextreme poverty, the sickness of his wife, and hisown inability to write, sufficiently accounted forthis. We strolled away into the woods, and hada very cheerful time, till some one proposed agame at leaping ; I think it must have been Poe,as
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