The saddest scene in which any great
American author figured was witnessed in that cottage in "the bleak
December," when his wife, Virginia, lay dying in the bitter cold. Because
there was insufficient bed clothing to keep her warm, Poe gave her his coat
and placed the family cat upon her to add its warmth.
Her death made him almost completely irresponsible. The stunning effect of
the blow may be seen in the wandering lines of _Ulalume_ (1847). The end
came to him in Baltimore in 1849, the same year in which he wrote the
beautiful dirge of _Annabel Lee_ for his dead wife. He was only forty when
he died. This greatest literary genius of the South was buried in Baltimore
in a grave that remained unmarked for twenty-six years.
In anticipation of his end, he had written the lines:--
"And oh! of all tortures,--
_That_ torture the worst
Has abated--the terrible
Torture of thirst
For the napthaline river
Of Passion accurst:--
I have drank of a water
That quenches all thirst."
HIS TALES.--He wrote more than sixty tales, some of which rank among the
world's greatest short stories. The most important of these productions may
be classified as tales (1) of the supernatural, like _The Fall of the House
of Usher_ and _Ligeia_, (2) of conscience, like _William Wilson_, that
remarkable forerunner of _Dr.
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