A dark unfathomed tide
Of interminable pride -
A mystery, and a dream,
Should my early life seem;
I say that dream was fraught
With a wild and waking thought
Of beings that have been,
Which my spirit hath not seen,
Had I let them pass me by,
With a dreaming eye!
(Edgar Allen Poe, Imitation)
The mysterious person known only as the Poe Toaster again managed to leave a half empty bottle of cognac and three red roses on the grave of Edgar Allen Poe. As in past years, the Poe Toaster managed to slip in and out of the Baltimore graveyard where Poe lies buried without being seen. This has happened every year since 1949 – although at least one person claims the entire thing was made up as a publicity stunt in the 1970s.
The visitor did not leave a note, Jerome said, electing not to respond to questions raised in the past year about the history and authenticity of the tribute.
Sam Porpora, a former church historian who led the fight to preserve the cemetery, claimed last summer that he cooked up the idea of the Poe toaster in the 1970s as a publicity stunt.
"We did it, myself and my tour guides," Porpora, a former advertising executive, said in August. "It was a promotional idea."
Porpora said someone else has since "become" the Poe toaster.
Jerome disputes Porpora's claims and says the tribute began in 1949 at the latest, pointing to a 1950 article in The (Baltimore) Evening Sun that mentions "an anonymous citizen who creeps in annually to place an empty bottle (of excellent label)" against the gravestone.
Jerome invites a handful of Poe enthusiasts to join him inside the church every year but withholds details of the tribute in an effort to help the toaster maintain his anonymity. He said the visitor no longer wears the wide-brimmed hat and scarf he donned in the past.
In 1993, the visitor left a note reading, "The torch will be passed." A later note said the man, who apparently died in 1998, had handed the tradition on to his two sons.
Some mysteries are better left unexplained. If it's a stunt, it's harmless. If it is a real tribute, it's harmless.
“Poe, who wrote poems and horror stories including “The Raven” and “The Telltale Heart,” died Oct. 7, 1849, in Baltimore at the age of 40 after collapsing in a tavern.”
They always mention Poe’s poems and horror stories and he was a master of both genre. However, they always leave out his other major accomplishment – Father of American Science Fiction and, arguably, of the entire modern Science Fiction genre. His story “The Gold Bug” published in 1843 is considered the first Science Fiction short story. It was also his most popular short story.
Just my way of adding a little useless information to a wintery Saturday.
If it is a real tribute, it’s harmless.
And cool.