Poe's Mystery Visitor: A Tradition Nevermore?

Is a tradition nevermore?

The mysterious visitor to Edgar Allen Poe's grave has failed to show up for a birthday tribute to the legendary American writer.

For decades an unidentified person has left three roses and a half-bottle of cognac at Poe's grave at a church in downtown
Baltimore.

Tuesday is the 201st anniversary of the writer's birth and some three dozen Poe fans waited all night with the curator of the Poe House and Museum for the visitor to arrive. Some traveled from as far as Illinois and Texas for the annual ritual.

At 5:30 a.m., curator Jeff Jerome emerged to announce that the mysterious visitor, who had always appeared between midnight and 5:30 a.m., never showed.

He had no explanation why.

As part of this year's birthday celebration, a portrait of Poe that's never been seen in public will be unveiled in Baltimore, according to the New York Times.

Poe's Philadelphia home is on 7th Street near Spring Garden.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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