Perhaps best known for his rabidly racist The Birth of a Nation, D. W. Griffith was nevertheless influential in early filmmaking. I’m fascinated by how literature made its way to celluloid, particularly in the early days. It was thus that I discovered Griffith’s Edgar Allen [sic] Poe, a silent film from 1909. A dramatized version of Poe’s writing of “The Raven,” this seven-minute movie opens with Virginia Poe—the “Lenore” of the poem—in the process of dying at the Poe’s hovel. Not able to keep warm or to find nourishment, she languishes on a cot until Poe arrives home and covers her with his coat. At that moment a raven appears on the bust of Pallas above the chamber door, leading Poe to write the poem in a white heat. He knows it’s a masterpiece and leaves Virginia promising success.
In a scene only too familiar to any writer, Poe takes the poem to the publishers, three of whom simply dismiss him, the third laughing at his work. This particular scene rings so true. A fourth editor buys it from him on the spot. This is, in fact, how publishing works. I’ve had 33 short stories either published or accepted for publication. By far the majority of them were rejected multiple times. One of them, previously turned down by six editors, ended up winning a prize. So it goes. You’ll never find an editor who “gets” you every time. Even those who like your work may eventually start sending you elsewhere. I often wonder how many writers of what would be classics died unpublished because of some editor’s choice. But back to Poe.
Screenshot
" data-orig-size="800,575" data-image-title="Screenshot" data-orig-file="https://steveawiggins.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/actor_herbert_yost_left_as_edgar_allan_poe_in_1909_biograph_film.jpg" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"Screenshot","created_timestamp":"1618742940","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"Screenshot","orientation":"1"}" width="800" data-medium-file="https://steveawiggins.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/actor_herbert_yost_left_as_edgar_allan_poe_in_1909_biograph_film.jpg?w=300" data-permalink="https://steveawiggins.com/2025/01/19/poe-day/screenshot/#main" alt="" height="575" class="wp-image-24227" data-large-file="https://steveawiggins.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/actor_herbert_yost_left_as_edgar_allan_poe_in_1909_biograph_film.jpg?w=800" />Screenshot: public domain,Newly paid for his work, he buys food and a blanket and returns home jubilant. Of course, it is only to find Virginia dead. Poe’s life did have its share of intense drama. His death remains mysterious all these years later, and Virginia’s death was a severe blow to him. “The Raven” was published in 1845 and Virginia died two years later, with Poe himself passing yet two years beyond that. This film, which I learned about from Jonathan Elmer’s In Poe’s Wake, was made sixty years after Poe’s death. He’d already become an icon by then, instantly recognizable in pancake makeup. But even now, more than a century later, publishing is still a matter of the same process. One of my own novels has been declined over 100 times, despite having once been under contract. I do know the feeling of being rejected by publishers, even as I participate in a ritual as old as writing for publication. Happy birthday, Mr. Poe.
