Celebrate Poe

To Clasp Thy Hand in Mine Again

June 25, 2022 George Bartley Season 2 Episode 121
Celebrate Poe
To Clasp Thy Hand in Mine Again
Show Notes Transcript

This episode is about a very popular writer from the 19th century who is little known today - Fitz-Greene Halleck.  This episode concentrates on his time in New York and relationship with the extremely handsome Joseph Rodham Drake.


  • 00:00 Introduction
  • 02:18 Early life  
  • 02:54 Discussion of Hearing Loss 
  • 07:02 Fitz-Greene goes to New York
  • 11:17 Joseph Rodman Drake (and names)
  • 13:22 Sir Francis Drake story
  • 19:01 Halleck and Drake’s Relationship
  • 27:52 Monuments erected to Halleck
  • 31:12 Future Episodes
  • 31:37 Sources



  • Learn about Halleck’s early life in a small town
  • Learn about his membership in the Ugly Club
  • Listen to Mr. Bartley’s childhood story about “Sir Francis” and marriage equality
  • Learn where “to clasp thy hand in mine” comes from
  • Learn about the love between Greene and Joseph Drake
  • Learn about the statue of Halleck in Central Park

Episode 121 - To Clasp Thy Hand in Mine Again

00:00 Introduction

No name in the poetical world is more firmly established than that of Fitz-Green Halleck.

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

Introduction Music (Come Rest in This Bosom)

Welcome to Celebrate Poe - My name is George Bartley, and this is Episode 121 - To Clasp Thy Hand in Mine Again  .  Before we go any further, I like to encourage you to write me at celebratepoe@gmail.com  Any comments, criticisms, and advice would be greatly appreciated - and quite frankly keeps me going.  These episodes take a long time to research - and I love every minute - but I want to deal with the subjects you want to learn about.

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 today is Fitz-Greene Halleck.   At first, I wasn’t sure if the name was 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.

02:18 Early life 

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 the town.   

Now when Fitz-Greene was two years old, two drunken soldiers were passing by his father’s front door. The soldiers thought 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 isolated in his relationships with other people because he just wasn’t able to hear what they said.

Not surprisingly, he tried all kinds of “remedies” - but none of them worked .  The loud noise at such a close distance had caused serious nerve damage. For example, during 1820, he went to a French physician, then in New York, for a special operation.  A burning cylinder of cotton, saturated with oil, was applied behind the ear.  Then the idea was to have the cylinder and oil burn the ear until the patient could not stand it any more.  But when the oil was removed, Fitz-Greene Halleck’s hearing was not improved in the least - he was just in a lot more pain.

02:54 Discussion of Hearing Loss

I say this because, in comparison to most writers, Poe spoke quite highly of Fitz-Greene Halleck.  And Poe was so routinely critical of other writers, that he was referred to as the Tomahawk Man. I have never seen this addressed before, but Poe did seem to have a unique empathy for the individual we might call the outsider.

In earlier podcasts you may remembera fascinating lady by the name of Susan Archer Talley Weiss who claimed to be one of Poe’s closest friends.  It is well documented that Susan Weiss lost her hearing in childhood as a result of an illness.  Oh, I know in academic Poe circles, much of what she wrote about Poe is considered unreliable, and even just plain weird.  And I will look into all this later because Susan Talley Weiss is such an important source for what we do know about Poe.  As someone who has done his share of interpreting for deaf people in college classes, I know that many college professors - especially in the past - feel extremely uncomfortable with hearing loss. Such professors often discount any communication from individuals who they consider as less than normal.   No, I am not saying that you find a great deal of this in current society, but during Poe’s time, disabled people were all too frequently considered confused objects of pity - not as sources of reliable information. 

Or maybe I want to give Susan Archer Weiss a chance is because I have worked with deaf individuals most of my career, and know that Deaf individuals can often have unique perspectives.

Also, there are really not that a many biographies of Poe in audiobook format - stories and tales BY Poe - yes, but not good biographies. But for some reason, Susan Archer Weiss’s classic “The Home Life of Poe” is easily obtainable.  It is in the public domain - it is free - and I  have it on my iPhone and enjoy listening to it while exercising.

But I digress:

Fitz-Greene certainly received a good early education in Guilford, Connecticut.  His schoolmaster was Samuel Johnson, Junior, the compiler of A School Dictionary, the first dictionary compiled and published in the United States.  Fitz-Greene was extremely intelligent, and I am sure that his schoolmaster passed on his passion for words.  At 15, Fitz-Greene left school to work in his father’s shop in Guillford.

07:02 Fitz-Greene goes to New York

But it was pretty obvious that small town life - was holding Fitz-Greene Halleck back.  When Halleck was 20, he set out for the big city - New York.  (If I could afford to pay the rights for the clip “It’s up to you, New York, New York” from the movie “New York, New York” I would insert it here.) It has been written that Halleck discovered a life much to his liking in Manhattan - a place that, according to the book Homosexuality and the Fall of Fitz-Greene Halleck, provided him with life’s richest experiences and life’s sweetest friends.”

Actually Fitz-Greene Halleck looked in New York for a month, but did not have any real luck finding employment in the city.  He made plans to move to Richmond, Virginia, but was hired by a banker named Jacob Barker.  Fitz-Greene Halleck must have been happy, because he worked for Jacob Barker for the next 20 years.

A little sidebar - you may remember episode 16 - the episode about the War of 1812 - where I mentioned that Dolly Madison saw to it that the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington was saved during the first attack on Washington DC.  But what happened to the painting? Well, during that time, Dolly Madison trusted Jacob Barker so much that she gave him the portrait of Washington for safekeeping until the War of 1812 was over.   By the way, the episode about the War of 1812 and the attack on the capitol has had more than any episode in this podcast, and I am going to
play some portions of with some current observations on July 4.

Two sources I would especially like to point out now include The Life and Letters of Fitz-Greene Halleck by James Grant Wilson and published in 1869 - so obviously it is in the public domain and free.  The Life and Letters of Fitz-Greene unknowingly emphasizes what a big deal Fitz-Greene was in literary circles of the time - that he was one of the “biggies.”

The other source is I really found useful was  “The American Byron: Homosexuality and the Fall of Fitz-Greene Halleck” by John W.M. Hallock.  By the way, the author is a distant relative of Fitz-Green Halleck, but the author’s last name is Hallock - not Halleck - Hallock Not Halleck.  And being published in the year 2000 - over 170 years later - it can deal with aspects of Fitz-Greene’s life that the early biography would not dare state in print.  After all, this was back when Fitz Greene and many of his friends engaged in “a love that dare not speak its name.”

  Joseph Rodman Drake (and names)

But back to Fitz-Greene. Like many a youth who is confused about his potential relations with others, Halleck knew that he was lonely, but had not met anyone who he really felt close to.  Then he starting writing professionally with his friend Joseph Rodman Drake.

Let’s stop here - and get those names down.

For Joseph in Joseph Rodman Drake - think Joseph in Joseph and His Friend.  Actually, Bayard Taylor wrote Joseph and His Friend largely ABOUT the relationship between Joseph Drake and Fitz-Greene.  In the book, Joseph Rodman Drake is the younger and innocent one.  In real life, the younger and more innocent partner is also called Joseph.  By the way, his middle name is Rodman - like the basketball player, Dennis Rodman - NOT Hillary Rodham Clinton.  In the book, the older and more experienced partner is Phillip.  Phillip was modeled after Fitz-Greene Halleck who was also the older and more experienced partner.

I think sometimes one of the hardest parts of history is getting the names right.
Joseph Rodman Drake was born in New York City in 1795, and orphaned at a young age. 
Interesting enough, it was said that he was descended from Sir Francis Drake. Now Sir Francis Drake was considered a hero by England because of his naval exploits.  Sir Francis Drake was the first man to circle the globe. Spain considered him a dangerous pirate, and offered 6 million pounds for his capture or death.  Sir Francis Drake and the policies of Elizabeth I made England a global power during their lifetimes.

Door  slam

13:22 Sir Francis Drake story

Its time for your daily Sir Francis Drake joke.  Actually this is the only Sir Francis Drake joke I know of, but I had it in the back of my head and wanted to get it into a podcast somehow. When I read that Joseph Rodman Drake was a descendant of Sir Francis Drake, I realized this was the right place for my Sir Francis Drake based story - a story that indirectly involves a group of kids and marriage equality.

A little bit of background - I have a wonderful cousin who is a retired college professor - her first name is Sarah and middle name is Francis - so you have Sarah Francis.  But for some reason, some members of my family would always run the two names together in conversation so instead of Sarah Francis, it came out Sir Francis.  And I grew up thinking that my cousin was named Sir Francis.  Ok - so far just one kid’s misconception.
Oh, and when I was a kid I was called G.G. - for George Glenn -to distinguish me from my father, George Sr.  It somehow seemed reasonable at the time.  But when I later realized that the only GGs I knew were Leslie Caron or French poodles, I started calling myself George.

Now stay with me on this one - when I was in elementary school, we had a unit on discoverers - including Columbus, Magellan, John Cabot, and Sir Francis Drake.   As some of you might know based on comments I made in earlier episodes, I was an EXTREMELY shy kid in school - never raised my hand - always afraid of calling attention to myself.

My teacher (who could be very stern) started talking about various explorers and pointed out that if we had any questions or comments to just raise our hands.   She continued talking, and after a few minutes - I will never forget it - I slowly raised my hand.

And like it was happening in slow motion, she looked at me and beamed - probably thinking “why G.G. has something to say.  What explorer would you like to discuss?”

By now, my face was beet red, but I made what I thought was a perfectly logical statement that I somehow thought the class would find fascinating.  And the teacher seemed especially encouraging, that little GG was finally going to speak aloud in class and join in a discussion.

I spoke confidently to the teacher - “I have a cousin named Sir Francis!”

The rest all seemed to happen in slow motion.

The teacher momentarily looked at me as though she did not know how to respond - but going under the assumption that I wasn’t try to be a smart aleck or tell a joke - I wouldn’t know HOW - she replied as though I had said something totally rational - Oh, is your cousin from England?

I instantly replied - Oh, no. Sir Francis is from Virginia.   And my parents took me to Sir Francis’s wedding last summer!   Sir Francis married a wonderful man!

Now Marriage Equality was not legal in the United States until 2013, and this would have been during the late 1950s in the South - so the class hooted and hollered - and a voice came from the back of the room - Sir Francis married a MAN!  several times.  Then the class took up the chant and I slid down in my seat in hopes that the floor would swallow me up.

To her credit, the teacher respected my fragile ego by not becoming angry at me.  She reprimanded the class, and then looked at me and said, “That was a funny story, Mr. Bartley.  Strange,  but slightly funny.  I don’t need to remind you, but marriage is just between a man and a woman, and always will be.”  Looking back, I guess she felt she needed to make the school/county/state policy clear.

Still, I later saw the fact that the teacher did not tell my parents or the principal (that I know of) about Sir. Francis was a tolerant sign.

Last week, I talked by phone with my cousin Sarah Francis, and told her that story,   She howled and howled with laughter - and said “Imagine - I definitely broke two barriers - maybe three - I was the first woman to be knighted and the first American to be a knight - and depending on your perspective I was the first American knight to have a same sex marriage.

So that’s my Sir Francis story - I am going to hazard a guess - and assume that you have not heard a joke about Sir Francis Drake all week - maybe even all month.

19:01 Halleck and Drake
Well, getting back to Halleck and Drake - sounds like a Rock Band - like Hall and Oats.

Halleck and Drake continued to work together.  And in 1819, they wrote and published the Croaker Papers - very trendy papers at the time which were satires of New York society.  Halleck soon wrote what was to become his most popular poem - Fanny, a satire of the literature, politics, and fashions of the time.  It was modeled on some of Lord Byron’s works.  Fanny was first sold for 50 cents, but later editions routinely fetched up to $10.00.  That’s like a 19.99 book today routinely selling for $400.00.  Halleck wrote an additional 50 stanzas, and Fanny continued to be a big best seller for more than 2 years.  By the way, I just found out that Fanny was based on Halleck’s feelings for Drake.

Now I am not going to subject you to all of Fanny - just less than one minute total

I am sure it would pass the censors easily - even when it was written, but notice a certain note of dejection at the end as though Fanny was rejecting a guy who seriously wanted someone - anyone! - to love him.
And what does the male author mean by the lines ”
Heaven forbid that I Should get myself in trouble by revealing A secret of this sort?”

Check out the first four stanzas
Fanny was younger once than she is now,
   And prettier of course; I do not mean
To say that there are wrinkles on her brow;
   Yet, to be candid, she is past eighteen---
Perhaps past twenty---but the girl is shy
About her age, and Heaven forbid that I

Should get myself in trouble by revealing
   A secret of this sort; I have too long
Loved pretty women with a poet's feeling,
   And when a boy, in day-dream and in song,
Have knelt me down and worshipped them: alas!
They never thanked me for't---but let that pass.

I've felt full many a heartache in my day,
   At the mere rustling of a muslin gown,
And caught some dreadful colds, I blush to say,
   While shivering in the shade of beauty's frown.
They say her smiles are sunbeams---it may be---
But never a sunbeam would she throw on me.

19:01 Halleck and Drake’s Relationship


Remember that Halleck and Drake - still sounds like a rock group - were associated with the New York society writers of the time. By far the most influential group of reporters was known as the Knickerbocker Group - no this doesn’t have anything to do with the Knicks or basketball, but is very, very New York.  Drake had the idea of convincing his by now close friend Halleck to work towards become a nationally known poet.  Eventually, both Halleck and Drake became members of the New York Ugly Club, a very exclusive club specifically for handsome young men.

While Halleck was older, Drake was praised for inheriting his father’s good looks, trim physique, height (over six feet two inches,)  and breathtaking appearance.  Drake was also an accomplished flautist and Shakspearean orator.  For the first time in his life, Fitz-Greene had met someone his equal who seemed to feel the same way.  Previously, Halleck had written to a friend “I abhor the sound of a flute and ever shall.”  But those feelings completely changed when he heard the handsome medical student play the instrument.

Drake was said to be the most eligible bachelor in New York.  But Drake came to the conclusion that he was never going to become wealthy writing, and married Sarah Eckford, an extremely rich heiress.

I like to compare Drake’s situation to that of an Anderson Cooper today.  While there is quite a difference in age - Drake was in his twenties - both men would check the attractiveness and intelligence boxes.  The situations are not exactly the same, but I think Anderson Cooper is a figure that most listeners know about. The differences is that an Anderson Cooper of today would have more choices  - freedom to marry whoever he chose, and acceptance by most of the United States - well, except for some areas of the South.  Drake had no choice but to marry, even if he was ruining a young lady’s life.

On the other hand, Halleck never married. His biographer Hallock - remember this is HalLOCK - learned that Halleck had fallen for a young Cuban named Carlos Menie when the writer was 19.  He even dedicated a few of his early poems to Carlos.  And most scholars believe that Halleck was deeply in love - or as much as he could be -  with his friend Joseph Rodman Drake.
Now I remarked earlier how The Life and Letters of Fitz-Greene Halleck by James Grant Wilson and published in 1869 was a comparatively uncontroversial account of Halleck’s life.  But note how Fitz Green described serving as best man at Drake's wedding in the book:
"[Drake] has married, and, as his wife's father is rich, I imagine he will write no more. He was poor, as poets, of course, always are, and offered himself a sacrifice at the shrine of Hymen to shun the 'pains and penalties' of poverty. I officiated as groomsman, though much against my will. His wife was good natured, and loves him to distraction. He is perhaps the handsomest man in New York, — a face like an angel, a form like an Apollo and, as I well knew that his person was the true index of his mind, I felt myself during the ceremony as committing a crime in aiding and assisting such a sacrifice.”
Not exactly subtle about his feelings.
Unfortunately Joseph Rodham Drake died at age 25 from tuberculosis.
This left Drake’s widow with a young daughter.  She did show interest in having Halleck as a second husband - but he was aghast at the idea of having her as a romantic partner. He wrote satires regarding her, and in one, even referred to her as a witch. She died young in 1828.

By 1830 Halleck had become a kind of celebrity for his poetry, and in 1832, Halleck was hired as the private secretary to John Jacob Astor.  John Jacob Astor later choose Halleck as one the original trustees of the Astor Library - which is basis of the New York Public Library.
Halleck became even more well known in New York as an important part of literary society. His association with the Knickerbocker Group allowed him to meet writers from all over the world - such as Charles Dickens.

When someone as wealthy as Astor died, you might expect that he would leave someone like Halleck an incredible amount of money.  But Halleck was left an annuity of only $200.00.  His son, William, increased the amount to $1,500.

In 1849 Halleck retired to his hometown of Guilford and lived there with his unmarried sister Marie Halleck for the remainder of his life. On November 19, 1867, around 11:00 at night, he called out to his sister, "Marie, hand me my pantaloons, if you please." He died without making another sound before she could turn around

27:52 Monuments erected to Halleck


In 1869, a granite monument was erected to Halleck in Guilford.  This was the the first monument ever to memorialize an American poet.  The speaker chosen was Bayard Taylor, and he said that in establishing this monument to an American poet "we symbolize the intellectual growth of the American people.... The life of the poet who sleeps here represents the long period of transition between the appearance of American poetry and the creation of an appreciative and sympathetic audience for it
I wonder if many of the citizens of that small town could have imagined that with both Joseph Drake and Fritz-Greene Halleck dead, Bayard Taylor would go on to write the first gay novel by an American - Joseph and His Friend -  a novel largely based on the relationship between the two men.

In 1877, a memorial statue of Fitz-Greene Halleck was erected in New Yorks City’s Central park. The odd thing is that Halleck is the only American writer on the Literary Walk.  The statue was dedicated by then President Rutherford B. Hayes, with 10,000 people attending - they have a statue of Robert Burns and naturally Shakespeare - but no Whitman, or even Poe - just Fitz-Greene Halleck to represent the United States.
I’d like to begin the conclusion of this episode with six short verses from a very popular piece that Fitz Green Halleck wrote about Joseph Rodman Drake

“Lines on the Death of Joseph Rodman Drake”
Green be the turf above thee,
Friend of my better days!
None knew thee but to love thee,
Nor named thee but to praise.
 Tears fell when thou wert dying,
From eyes unused to weep,
And long, where thou art lying,
Will tears the cold turf steep.
When hearts, whose truth was proven,
Like thine are laid in earth,
There should a wreath be woven
To tell the world their worth.

And I, who woke each morrow
To clasp thy hand in mine,
Who shared thy joy and sorrow,
Whose weal and wo were thine-

It should be mine to braid it
Around thy faded brow,
But I’ve in vain essayed it,
And feel I cannot now.

While memory bids me weep thee,
Nor thoughts nor words are free;
The grief is fixed too deeply,
That mourns a man like thee.

 31:12 Future Episodes
 

  An episode on the homoerotic works of Walt Whitman will drop at midnight at Monday, June 29..  Walt Whitman was one of America’s greatest poets, and a man Poe actually met and regarded highly.

31:37 Sources


Sources include The Life and Letters of Fitz-Greene Halleck by James Grant Wilson,” “The American Byron: Homosexuality and the Fall of Fitz-Greene Halleck” by John W.M. Hallock, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight R. Thomas and David K. Jackson, Edgar Allan Poe: The Man by Mary E. Phillips, and The Home Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Susan Archer Talley Weiss.
Why not visit my podcast web site at celebratepoe.buzzsprout.com - click on the episode you want to learn more about to see its show notes and a transcript. 


Thank you for listening to Celebrate Poe.