This isn't so much a question as it is a statement.

Is anyone aware that when poe was in the hospital dying, that he had mentioned the name "Reynolds". Here's a little something for the more inclined to seek out. Reynolds was an artist. He was an artist who suffered, not so unlike Poe, in his works and his passions. Poe related to Reynolds especially in the areas of wanting to know the secrets of perfection. Poe, within his deeper being, paralleled his own passion and inner sufferings with those of Reynolds. He learned of Reynolds when he was younger and developing his mind and inner vision to know himself. His calling out the name of Reynolds was his inner suffering relating to his own self that which he carried through his life as a form of related desire and drive and as a kindred spirit.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2004

Answers

IF Poe did mention a Reyolds, unfortunately there are more than one candidate- that we know of.

First, in the vote fraud scheme Poe was shanghaied for(according to one powewrful but unproveable theory), there was a Reynolds running for office. Supposwdly was plied with drink and led from poll to poll to vote multiple times.

Second, a wistful favorite of mione was Jeremiah Reynolds, the inspiration for Poe's only novel "The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym", though what connection that had to his last days is only the subject of fantasy.

There were other contemporary Reynolds and speculation is not hindered by any convincing evidence for one or the other. However, singling out Joshua(?) Reynolds the painter needs a lot more work to put him into the running. I think that Reynolds was a rather conventional artist compared to Poe's taste in the expansively romantic American landscape artists. I have not heard of Poe's acquaintance with Reynolds "when he was younger".

In any event, with a lot of controversy about what Poe exactly was able to mutter in his delirium, only imagination reigns, much less than the minimal certitude required for the argument of a scholarly paper.

-- Anonymous, August 06, 2004