“Don’t think that you are in the middle of one of Poe’s most shocking horror stories (“The Black Cat”) if you come across one or two of the coal-colored cats (Edgar and Pluto) while strolling the “Enchanted Garden” of the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond.” That’s what I have told the guests of my “Unhappy Hour” tours for the last five years. I explain that the two felines were not brought to the museum to add color but were part of a larger liter that was born behind the garden around the same time I started volunteering for the museum. I say that no one knows whether an ironic owner left the cats there to be born, or if the mother instinctively knew that the museum would be a good place for them to live their lives in notoriety. One cat was named Edgar by museum staff for obvious reasons and the other one, Pluto, whose name was inspired by the cat who survived and outsmarted his cruel owner in the “Black Cat” tale. There’s certainly no cruelty being wrought on these cats, as they are petted and photographed by museum visitors each day and “liked” regularly on Facebook and Twitter. If you don’t believe this, go the Poe Museum Facebook page and see the many featured pictures of the cats with different people or in different poses. I have had some tour folks tell me that they traveled to the museum from other states, mainly to see the cats in the garden. This claim is also confirmed on Facebook.
This garden is a good place for us to begin our tour of the Poe Museum, as several of its components date back to or before Poe’s lifetime in the nineteenth century. Many of the bricks we stand on along the walkway of the garden and support the columns of the shrine of Poe were re-constituted from the original nearby Southern Literary Messenger building that Poe worked in during the 1830’s. Through his efforts and writing, the journal became one of the most important ones in the country. The walkways are lined with holly plants collected from the nearby St. Johns Church from the graveside of Poe’s mother, Eliza. My guests usually know that this is the same church that Patrick Henry gave his “Give me Liberty or give me Death” speech. Harder to notice, I say, is that the walls are topped with shards of broken glass, which is a reference to Poe’s story, “William Wilson,” which was inspired by his experiences as a youth in a strict boarding in England. After being shown that, some visitors want to climb up on the wall and run their fingers along the sharp glass, but I heavily discourage such notions (with some visitors).
The landscape we see has been named the “Enchanted Garden, mainly because it is dedicated to Poe’s vision of an Earthly Paradise. As the garden is a monument to both the wonder of nature and Richmond history, it is one of the few maintained by the Garden Society of Virginia. In the present era, we highlight this garden because Poe believed that nature was the perfect expression of the love and beauty of the Creator. To highlight his inspiration, Poe wrote a poem called, “To One in Paradise.” Invariably, someone on the tour asks me to recite a few lines from the poem. I say that it opens with an apparent reference Poe’s romantic memories from his courtship with young fiancée, Elmira Royster Shelton, where we see the couplet:
“Thou was all to me, love/For which my soul did pine.”
There are some accounts of Poe having spent quality time courting Elmira in the nearby, still existing garden of Linden Hall. The present Enchanted Garden is also thought to somewhat resemble the one of Poe’s youth. I point to the present garden’s grass, flowers, running water fountain and shrine, and then recite Poe’s most enchanted lines:
“A green isle in the sea, love, a fountain and a shrine/All wreathed with fairy fruits and flowers/And all the fruits are mine.”
During the April 29th, 2018 “Unhappy Hour” event, the museum celebrated its exact 96th anniversary. On that evening, there were three museum tours, a local jazz band, a special food truck, a cash bar, and special readings of Poe’s stories by museum Curator, Chris Semtner (see cover photo). Chris is the information-central guy about all things Poe and is recognized as one of the top scholars on him in the world. He helped to get me involved in Poe studies when I started my Master’s program in English at VCU, guided me to many resources while I was putting a thesis together on Poe and Science, and even showed up to support me at my MA defense in 2015.
In recognition of its upcoming 100th Anniversary, Chris and several of the museum’s staff, volunteers, and contractors have completed major renovations and upgrades to the display areas and gift shop, and more are planned for the future. One noted new feature is that we now have a modest reading room and library upstairs in the Memorial Building. My tour group wants to move on to the first landmark, the Old Stone House, which I say is the oldest still standing residential house in Richmond (circa 1730-40). Invariably, people ask if Poe ever lived in that house. The answer is always “no, but there are records indicating that he lived nearby and that he visited the house at least once as a youth, helping to guide a tour for General Marquis de Lafayette.” More about that another time. Contact me at ellisonms2@vcu.edu or the poemuseum.org for any questions or more information.
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