To Clasp Thy Hand in Mine Revisted

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.

Transcript

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 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.

Now Fitz-Greene certainly received an excellent 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 Guilford.

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.  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 a much earlier episode about the War of 1812 - where I mentioned mean Dolly Madison saw 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 downloads than any other episode of celebrate poe.  

Now Two sources I would especially like to point out 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.”