Edgar Allan Poe & The Time Traveling Poet

I myself do enjoy a few lines of Poe and some spark some controversial situations with actual historical events, that deeply makes one wonder if time travel is merely an application of ones mind rather than actual physical manifestation.

If the mind is limitless and the flesh is limited - What not to say that one can time travel?

The Few Of Many Times That May Convince You That Edgar Allan Poe Might Have Been a Time Traveler.

You must say that although what may seem as a coincidence the first time, a possability the second and the third being the confirming undeniable truth. We can not stop to wonder if indeed Poe and who knows what other specific people through history might have too been time travelers.

Life is filled with unsolved mysteries

What a great topic - Poe was an interesting guy. I used to pore over his stuff in my teens. I doubt he was a time traveler but I always found this poem interesting:

Sonnet—To Science
BY EDGAR ALLAN POE
Science! true daughter of Old Time thou art!
Who alterest all things with thy peering eyes.
Why preyest thou thus upon the poet’s heart,
Vulture, whose wings are dull realities?
How should he love thee? or how deem thee wise,
Who wouldst not leave him in his wandering
To seek for treasure in the jewelled skies,
Albeit he soared with an undaunted wing?
Hast thou not dragged Diana from her car,
And driven the Hamadryad from the wood
To seek a shelter in some happier star?
Hast thou not torn the Naiad from her flood,
The Elfin from the green grass, and from me
The summer dream beneath the tamarind tree?

Poe..one of my favorite guys.
there was definitely a lot going on in there.
time travel? maybe there was more to edgar than we know.

a reply to: TheChuckster

One of my favorite quotes is from Poe:

"Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence– whether much that is glorious– whether all that is profound– does not spring from disease of thought– from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect."

a reply to: TheChuckster

S & F



Very interesting read

originally posted by: Riffrafter
a reply to: TheChuckster

One of my favorite quotes is from Poe:

"Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence– whether much that is glorious– whether all that is profound– does not spring from disease of thought– from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect."

Awesome post, OP! Love all things mysterious, and Poe was an undisputed master of the word. Something out of the ordinary going on with him, for sure.
Very interesting article.

As for the quote, it reminded me of one from Thomas Mann's Dr Faustus (highly recommended). I didn't find the one I had in mind, but did find this:

“Genius is a form of the life force that is deeply versed in illness, that both draws creatively from it and creates through it.”

I've often thought that genius (or anything so far out of the ordinary, really) is as much a curse as a blessing. Lucky for me, I don't have to worry about that

Will look more into this subject, thanks for the nudge!

a reply to: TheChuckster
It is interesting, but but no means pointing to supernatural explanation. As Elvis_Is_Dead posted, Poe seemed like a man dedicated to science, and likely kept up with the most recent discoveries. He was an exceptionally intelligent man and I have no doubt he could have used observation and reason to postulate his own theories.

Even the ancient Egyptians knew that brain injuries affected more than the head itself. It is wholly possible for speculation that it could change personality as well... and had Poe turned out incorrect, he simply wouldn't have become famous. History only remembers the victors.

a reply to: TheChuckster

Interesting OP.

We can not stop to wonder if indeed Poe and who knows what other specific people through history might have too been time travelers.

Or perhaps life just imitates art at times...?

There was a book written in 1898 by Morgan Robertson titled "Futility".

Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan is an 1898 novella written by Morgan Robertson. The story features the fictional ocean liner Titan, which sinks in the North Atlantic after striking an iceberg. The Titan and its sinking have been noted to be very similar to the real-life passenger ship RMS Titanic, which sank fourteen years later.

Plot: The first half of Futility introduces the hero John Rowland. Rowland is a disgraced former US Navy officer. Now an alcoholic fallen to the lowest levels of society, he's been dismissed from the Navy and works as a deckhand on the Titan. One April night the ship hits an iceberg, sinking somewhat before the halfway point of the novel.

Similarities to the Titanic

Although the novel was written before the RMS Titanic was even conceptualized, there are some uncanny similarities between both the fictional and real-life versions. Like the Titan, the fictional ship sank in April in the North Atlantic, and there were not enough lifeboats for all the passengers. There are also similarities between the size (800 ft (244 m) long for Titan versus 882 ft 9 in (269 m) long for the Titanic[3]), speed (25 knots for Titan, 22.5 knots for Titanic[4]) and life-saving equipment.

Beyond the name, the similarities between the Titanic and the fictional Titan include:

Both were triple screw (propeller)

Described as "unsinkable"
The Titan was the largest craft afloat and the greatest of the works of men (800 feet, displacing 75,000 tons, up from 45,000 in the 1898 edition). The Titanic was 46,000 tons and 882 feet long and was deemed "practically unsinkable" (as quoted in Robertson's book).

Shortage of lifeboats
The Titanic carried only 16 lifeboats, plus 4 Engelhardt folding lifeboats,[5] less than half the number required for her passenger and crew capacity of 3000. The Titan carried "as few as the law allowed", 24 lifeboats, which could carry less than half of her total complement of 3000.

Struck an iceberg Moving at 22½ knots,
The Titanic struck an iceberg on the starboard side on the night of April 14, 1912, in the North Atlantic, 400 nautical miles (740 km; 460 mi) away from Newfoundland. Moving at 25 knots, the Titan also struck an iceberg on the starboard side on an April night in the North Atlantic, 400 nautical miles (740 km; 460 mi) from Newfoundland (Terranova).

Sinking
The Titanic sank, and more than half of her 2200 passengers and crew died. Of the Titanic's crew and passengers, 705 survived. 1523 were lost. The Titan also sank, and more than half of her 2500 passengers also drowned. In fact, only 13 ultimately survived the disaster.

So, was Robertson a time traveller like you suggest Poe might have been? I highly doubt it.

Following the Titanic's sinking, some people credited Robertson with clairvoyance. Robertson denied this, claiming the similarities were explained by his extensive knowledge of shipbuilding and maritime trends.

en.wikipedia.org...