Tomorrow afternoon, a new bronze statue “Poe Returns To Boston” will be unveiled at Edgar Allan Poe Square, close to the Boston Commons and the iconic author’s birthplace. Almost 165 years to the day after his death at age 40, Edgar Allan Poe returns to the city of his birth in the form of a life-size bronze statue. Striding against the wind, coat and hair blown back, the ever popular writer stares straight ahead. An imposing raven flies in his path, as a trail of manuscript pages flies from his briefcase, along with a telltale heart.
Poe only lived briefly in Boston after his birth. Before he was two, he was abandoned by his father and his mother had died. But he returned to Boston in 1827 when his first book of poetry “Tamerlane and Other Poems” was published there.
The sculptor Stephanie Rocknak says that she hoped to foster a genuine connection between the viewer and Poe when they stand in front of the statue. She made the piece only 5’8″ tall so people could relate to another human being, not just a famous historical figure.
Robert Pinsky, the former US Poet Laureate, will speak at the dedication, and there will be a series of readings and musical events around Boston’s Literary Cultural District to mark the dedication.
