I am doing a report on some of poe's work. I have yet to find any useful information, yet any information, on a poem he wrote called "A Valentine". Please give anything you may know, i would greatly appreciate it.

Thank You, Kristy Singer,17 Bay City, MI.

-- Anonymous, March 23, 2000

Answers

Kristy,

The poem you mentioned, A Valentine was first printed in the New York Evening Mirror on February 21, 1846 as To Her Whose Name is Written Below.

It appears that Edgar not only loved writing poetry, but he also enjoyed having a bit of fun while he did it. The poem contains the name of the person to whom it was dedicated. Youll just have to search for it. There are twenty lines in the poem and each line contains a letter of the persons name. Use the first letter of the first line, then the second letter of the second line, and so on and so on through the last line to determine her name.

About 1845, I believe, Edgar and his wife Virginia were living in New York. He had been working for the New York Mirror but left in March to become editor for the Broadway Journal. During this period, Edgar would socialize periodically with other writers at the home of Anne Lynch. At times, her health permitting, his wife Virginia would accompany him to these social gatherings and Poe would graciously respond to requests to recite his poetry. This is most likely where he met this lady, a poetess. She developed a warm and amiable friendship with Poe and his wife Virginia. In 1850, prior to her own death, she expressed public admiration and respect for Poes character and his sincere devotion to his wife Virginia. This public expression contradicted the negative and rather contemptible depiction of Poe by Rufus W. Griswold.

Good hunting, Kristy. Let us know if you find it.

-- Anonymous, March 24, 2000

Thank You Jetis!!!!! sincerely, Kristy

-- Anonymous, March 25, 2000

You can find the poem at: http://bau2.uibk.ac.at/sg/poe/works/poetry/valentin.html

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2000

I don't know if this is useful to you but it is something pretty neat I found out about "A Vanlentine" To translate the adress, read the first letter of the first line in connection with the second letter of the seccond line, third letter of the third line, fouth of the fourth, and so on to the end. A name will appear. Now I'm not sure what that name symbolizes, but good luck!

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2000