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No name in the poetical world is more firmly established than that of Fitz-Green Halleck. (Ghost of Poe voice)

Edgar Allan Poe wrote these words about Fitz green Halik for Graham’s Magazine in 1843. This episode will take a look at Halleck as inspiration for some of America’s first homoerotic works.

My name is George Bartley, and this is Episode Episode 383 - to clasp thy hand in mine revisited. This is the first of a series of podcast episodes for Pride months dealing with some of the individuals in Poe’s literary circle - some of the I people who were responsible for some of the earliest homoerotic literature in the United States.
If you have been listening to past episodes of Celebrate Poe, you probably know by now that I really like memory aids - especially when introducing a new subject or individual. Probably the most important name to remember is Fitz-Greene Halleck. At first, I wasn’t sure if the name was pronounced HALeck or HAYeck - but think of the computer Hal in 2001 - A Space Odyssey - Hal - who has the famous line “I’m sorry Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Think Hal - for Halleck. And if I say HAYLeck instead of HALeck - which I probably will do - just chalk it up to me pronouncing the word wrong - it should be HALeck.

Fitz-Greene HALeck was born in 1790 - almost 20 years before Poe - in Guillford, Connecticut. Haleck and Guilford had an interesting relationship - it is said that the town never fully accepted Fitz Greene, and even though Halleck moved back to Guilford for the last two decades of his life, it appears that he never really felt at ease in his own hometown.

Now when Fitz-Greene was two years old, two drunken soldiers were passing by his father’s front door. The soldiers thdought it would be funny to discharge their rifles loaded only with powder right next to the side of the infant’s head. They thought it would be funny to watch the infant scream.

As a result, little Fitz-Greene had severe hearing problems in his left ear for the rest of his life - often appearing isolate in his relationships with other people because he just wasn’t able to hear what they said.

Thank you for experiencing Celebrate Poe.