Be Still

The Death of Edgar Allan Poe

In a hauntingly atmospheric episode set in December 1848, a broken Edgar Allan Poe confesses to his oldest friend John Mackenzie that the gruesome corpses and tormented souls in

Key takeaways

• Edgar Allan Poe reveals to John Mackenzie that every corpse in his stories is a real spirit demanding he write their tale for salvation or revenge.
• The phrase 'Be still' was discovered in Poe's childhood when it silenced the nightly apparition of his mother, Elizabeth, who died of tuberculosis.

Main topics

• Grief and mourning
• Spiritualism and mediumship

Notable quotes

"I fear being dead alone."

Conclusion

The episode reframes Poe's dark literary output as both a supernatural

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:13) With many cares and toils oppressed. Speaker 1 (0:18) Weary, I laid me on a couch to rest. Speaker 1 (0:24) A man lies on an old, discarded couch outside of Gunner's Hall in Baltimore, 1849. Speaker 1 (0:34) Unconscious, undone, his clothes ill-fitting and soaked in gin. On a cold October morning, barely dawn. Street lamps flicker, dimly lighting frosted golden Speaker 3 (0:49) leaves above. Speaker 1 (0:51) So quiet. Nothing but the nearly silent snow tingling on the shoulders of Edgar Allan Poe. Speaker 2 (1:06) Sir? Sir, are you alright? Mr. Mr. Poe? Edgar! John! Speaker 1 (1:14) How did Speaker 2 (1:15) you get in my room? Speaker 1 (1:16) Edgar lies outstretched on the frosted grave of his wife, disheveled, drunk, in Fordham, New York. It is December 1848. He sits like a rag doll, tossed, slumped upon the dirt. His black overcoat is torn at the pockets. His leather shoes worn through at the soles. A gathering of weeping mourners surrounds the plot beside him. He doesn't notice them. At all. His oldest friend, John McKenzie, kneels down beside him. Speaker 2 (1:50) I was told I'd find you here. Who told you? Maria told me. I arrived about an hour ago. I called at your house, and she told me that you spend your mornings here. Speaker 2 (2:04) And afternoons and evenings. Did she Speaker 3 (2:07) also tell you that? Speaker 3 (2:10) What else did she tell you? Speaker 2 (2:11) I'm pleased to see you too, Ed. Speaker 2 (2:17) Help Speaker 3 (2:17) me up, John. Speaker 1 (2:18) He hooks an arm around John's shoulders, throws a wine bottle to the ground as snow begins to fall, and they walk unsteadily toward the gate. Maria Clem, Edgar's mother-in-law, is home in the cottage she shares with Poe, mourning the loss of her daughter as well, Virginia, who died almost a year ago. In this time, Edgar has fallen to ruin. Speaker 1 (2:52) Edgar's hands tremble around a hot bowl of soup across from his friend of 35 years in a warm oak booth in the Fordham Hotel restaurant. His eyes sunken, face pale and gray, John bright and light, smiling kindly and carefully on his friend. Edgar's ghastly, grim visage contrasts with the jolly Christmas wreaths and fur garlands hung on window panes. Red velvet bows and bells tied to the boughs of a tree in the corner. John traveled by train from Richmond to New York after receiving an alarming letter. Speaker 2 (3:31) Why are you here, John? I received a worrisome letter from a Sarah Whitman asking that I come. Sarah. That will be the last time that name is said in my presence. Speaker 2 (3:44) What did she say? She was very concerned. Huh. Was she? A friend of yours? We were engaged. What did she say? That you were in need of a friend. Is that all? That you had an unfortunate experience in Boston. Speaker 3 (3:57) I drank enough laudanum to flatten an elephant. But thanks to the wonders of science, I sit here, resplendent before you. Saved. Reborn. Speaker 2 (4:06) Although I appreciate hers and your concern, it is not necessary. It was not only her who contacted me. about Boston, Edgar. Oh? Who? Friends, Edgar. I have no friends! You do indeed have friends, and they are afraid for you. Afraid for your health, your mind. You've suffered so. And as one of my closest friends, dearest friends, I would feel as if I had failed you if I did not catch you now. I'm falling again. But come here, not to know for judgment, not merely a plea that you put down the bottle, but an ear. A kind ear. You carry so much weight, Ed. I have studied every piece you have ever written, every poem, every review, critique of stories and writings I have never even read. Because everything that you ride is magnificent. Speaker 2 (4:58) But the blackness... Please, tell me why this blackness saturates you, consumes you. Perhaps if you speak on it, you can release it. This is what I do with my writing, John. And clearly writing alone is not helping, if I may say. There's something below all of this. A spirit you cannot exercise. It has been there as long as I have known you. Something that I implore you. to release into the arms of a friend with a loving open heart, not a publisher, a friend. And anything you say, I will hear. Speaker 2 (5:38) I'm a failure, John. I've failed in all things. No, Ed. You said you would hear me! I did not say that you could lie to me. You are not a failure. Speaker 1 (5:48) Edgar's eyes well. He breathes a deep sigh, locks his lips, tense, pained. He has seen such little reward for his work. Any success has been fleeting. His defeat can be seen in every line of his face. Speaker 2 (6:04) I want to show you something, and then I promise I will allow you to speak. Even if all you want to do is lie to me, I will allow you. But on this one point, I will protest. I brought you something to show you that I will not give you, it is mine. My treasured copy. Oh, John. My Speaker 3 (6:24) firstborn. Tamerlane. You kept this all these years? I Speaker 2 (6:30) did. Speaker 3 (6:30) It Speaker 2 (6:30) sold only 40 copies. You were a boy when you wrote these gems. I had these precious gems. You know, if you sell that, you may be able to get half a penny and some pocket money for