Edgar Allan Poe’s Richmond

By Jean Nealon
In "To One in Paradise," Edgar Allan Poe describes his longing for:
A green isle in the sea, love, A fountain and a shrine, All wreathed with fairy fruits and flowers, And all the flowers were mine.
The garden of the Poe Museum in Richmond creates just such a spot where visitors (and perhaps the poet's spirit) can linger.
The Poe Shrine is an open brick shelter, constructed of materials salvaged from the Southern Literary Messenger building where Poe worked as an editor. A bust of the poet looks out on an island of green grass, a two-tiered fountain, and a stone planter overflow...