| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| 1 | 90 | 180 | 269 | 359 |
|
as an alms, we could not drop so poisonous a one into any man's hat. The
critic's ink may suffer equally from too large an infusion of nutgalls
or of sugar. But it is easier to be generous than to be just, and we
might readily put faith in that fabulous direction to the hiding place
of truth, did we judge from the amount of water which we usually find
mixed with it.
Remarkable experiences are usually confined to the inner life of
imaginative men, but Mr. Poe's biography displays a vicissitude and
peculiarity of interest such as is rarely met with. The offspring of a
romantic marriage, and left an orphan at an early age, he was adopted
by Mr. Allan, a wealthy Virginian, whose barren marriage-bed seemed the
warranty of a large estate to the young poet.
Having received a classical education in England, he returned home and
entered the University of Virginia, where, after an extravagant course,
followed by reformation at the last extremity, he was graduated with
the highest honors of his class. Then came a boyish attempt to join the
fortunes of the insurgent Greeks, which ended at St. Petersburg, where
he got into difficulties through want of a passport, from which he
was rescued by the American consul and sent home. He now entered the
military academy at West Point, from which he obtained a dismissal
on hearing of the birth of a son to his adopted father, by a second
marriage, an event which cut off his expectations as an heir. The death
of Mr. Allan, in whose will his name was not mentioned, soon after
1
5
Page
Quick Jump
|