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After Virginia died, Poe went on a frenzied search for a female replacement. Not that any woman could have truly replaced Virginia in his eyes, but only that he found himself quite incapable of maintaining himself without a woman's influence. Poe pursued and was briefly engaged to poetess Sarah Helen Whitman, however the engagement dissolved largely due to Poe's growing reputation as a drunk. After Whitman, Poe passionately pursued Annie Richmond, though for her marriage to another man, their relations remained platonic. At the same time Poe was writing impassioned love letters to Richmond, he formed yet further platonic bonds with Sarah Anne Lewis, and poetess Susan Archer Talley. Finally, in September 1849, Poe became engaged to Elmira Royster, widow of Alexander Shelton and childhood friend.
Unfortunately, this engagement was to be as short-lived as Poe himself. On October 3rd, 1849, Poe was found in a state of delirium on a Baltimore side-street, wearing clothes that didn't fit him and unable to explain to the authorities what had happened to him. After emerging from his delirium long enough to say, "God help my poor soul," Poe died four days later in a Baltimore hospital (Bio.com, final video clip).
No one is certain of what exactly happened to Poe....
One of the more sensational theories is that he was the victim of a political kidnapping-he was found on election day-while some of the more subdued theories involve a drug overdose, alcohol poisoning, succumbing to madness, or some combination of the three. One can only hope that with his final breath, Poe was able to find some peace, such as the peace he speaks of at the end of Burial:
There are moments when, even to the sober eye of Reason, the world of our sad
Humanity may assume the semblance of a Hell-but the intellect of man is no
Carathis, to explore with impunity its every cavern. Alas! The grim legion of sepulchral terrors cannot be regarded as altogether fanciful-but, like the Demons
in whose company Afrasiab made his voyage down the Oxus, they must sleep, or they will devour us-they must be suffered to slumber, or we perish. (Poe, 983)
References
Bio. True Story. (2010). Edgar Allen Poe Biography. Retrieved December 11, 2010, from http://www.biography.com/articles/Edgar-Allan-Poe-9443160?part=0
Bloom, H. (1985). Edgar Allen Poe: Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House
Publishers.
Poe, E.A. (1983). The Unabridged Edgar Allen Poe. Philadelphia: Running Press.
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