Virginia eliza clemm poe biography

The couple were first cousins and publicly married when Virginia Clemm was 13 and Poe was Biographers disagree as to the nature of the couple's relationship.

Virginia eliza clemm poe biography: Cousin and Wife of Edgar

Though their marriage was loving, some biographers suggest they viewed one another more like a brother and sister. In Januaryshe contracted tuberculosisgrowing worse for five years until she died of the disease at the age of 24 in the family's cottageat that time outside New York City. Along with other family members, Virginia Clemm and Edgar Allan Poe lived together off and on for several years before their marriage.

The couple often moved to accommodate Poe's employment, living intermittently in BaltimorePhiladelphiaand New York. A few years after their wedding, Poe was involved in a substantial scandal involving Frances Sargent Osgood and Elizabeth F. Rumors about amorous improprieties on her husband's part affected Virginia Poe so much that on her deathbed she claimed that Ellet had murdered her.

After her death, her body was eventually placed under the same memorial marker as her husband's in Westminster Hall and Burying Ground in Baltimore, Maryland. Only one image of Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe has been authenticated: a watercolor portrait painted several hours after her death.

Virginia eliza clemm poe biography: Virginia Eliza Poe (née

The disease and eventual death of his wife had a substantial effect on Edgar Allan Poe, who became despondent and turned to alcohol to cope. Her struggles with illness and death are believed to have affected his poetry and prose, where dying young women appear as a frequent motif, as in " Annabel Lee ", " The Raven ", and " Ligeia ". Virginia Eliza Clemm was born in [ 1 ] and named after an older sister who had died at age two [ 2 ] only ten days earlier.

Edgar Allan Poe first met his cousin Virginia in Augustfour months after his discharge from the Army. She was seven at the time. The young Virginia served as a messenger between the two, at one point retrieving a lock of Devereaux's hair to give to Poe. In AugustPoe left the destitute family behind and moved to Richmond, Virginiato take a job at the Southern Literary Messenger.

Neilson offered to take her in and have her educated in an attempt to prevent the girl's marriage to Edgar at such a young age, though suggesting that the option could be reconsidered later. Marriage plans were confirmed and Poe returned to Baltimore to file for a marriage license on September 22, The couple might have been quietly married as well, though accounts are unclear.

Amasa Converse. Cleland confirming the bride's alleged age. James Yarrington, [ 26 ] the owner of the boarding house in which Poe, Virginia, and Virginia's mother Maria Clemm were staying. Debate has raged regarding how unusual this pairing was based on the couple's age and blood relationship. Virginia and Poe were by all accounts a happy and devoted couple.

Poe's one-time employer George Rex Graham wrote of their relationship: "His love for his wife was a sort of rapturous worship of the spirit of beauty. Ever with thee I wish to roam — Dearest my life is thine. Give me a cottage for my home And a rich old cypress vine, Removed from the world with its sin and care And the tattling of many tongues.

Virginia eliza clemm poe biography: Virginia Eliza Poe was the wife

Love alone shall guide us when we are there — Love shall heal my weakened lungs; And Oh, the tranquil hours we'll spend, Never wishing that others may see! Perfect ease we'll enjoy, without thinking to lend Ourselves to the world and its glee — Ever peaceful and blissful we'll be. The "tattling of many tongues" in Virginia's Valentine poem was a reference to actual incidents.

At the same time, another poet, Elizabeth F. However, marriage at the age of 13 was. While Edgar was enamoured by her beauty, she idolized him. He was also devoted to his wife because he was orphaned when he was just a child and knew what it was to live without parental support. Edgar was known to flirt with Frances Sargent Osgood, who was a married woman and poet.

Virginia is believed to have encouraged the relationship as it had a sobering effect on her husband, who otherwise was often under the influence of alcohol. Another woman in the life of her husband was a poet, Elizabeth F Ellet, who was jealous of Osgood and Virginia. She went on to create friction between Virginia and her husband by sending her anonymous letters about her husband.

However, she remained devoted to her husband and did not doubt his love for her.

Virginia eliza clemm poe biography: Virginia Eliza Poe (née Clemm; August

In mid, she developed symptoms of tuberculosis and started throwing up blood from her mouth. For the next couple of years the family changed home more than once in the hope that change of surroundings would help her condition. She took up gardening and playing the piano and harp to keep herself occupied. Her husband encouraged her not to lose hope and said that she was his biggest inspiration for his work.

However, he too fell ill with tuberculosis and his health began deteriorating. Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe died in January after suffering for five years. Her death had a devastating effect on her husband who took to alcohol in a big way and ruined his health. He kept a piano to gratify her taste for music, at a time when his income could scarcely afford such an indulgence.

I never knew him to give her an unkind word, and doubt if they ever had any disagreement. Wilmer, Poe died I left to make some arrangements for her comfort. She called me to her bedside, took a picture of her husband from under her pillow kissed it and gave it to me. She opened her work box and gave me the little jewel case I mentioned to you.

In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe. Biography [ change change source ]. References [ change change source ]. New York: Checkmark Books, ISBN Categories : births deaths Deaths from tuberculosis People from Baltimore. Toggle the table of contents.