Today, January 19, 2026 marks the 223rd birthday of Sarah Helen Whitman and Edgar Allan Poe’s 217th—born on the same day six years apart.
Fans around the world celebrated Poe’s birthday with events, parties, readings, and virtual programs. Few of those fans likely gave thought to Whitman. We were among the few here in snowy Providence—throwing a wonderful birthday bash for our favorite poetic couple in a very special location. It felt as though the spirits of Sarah and Edgar were there, hovering lovingly at our tribute to their lives.
Evening Star
By Edgar Allan Poe
’Twas noontide of summer,
And mid-time of night;
And stars, in their orbits,
Shone pale, thro’ the light
Of the brighter, cold moon,
’Mid planets her slaves,
Herself in the Heavens,
Her beam on the waves.
I gaz’d awhile
On her cold smile;
Too cold—too cold for me—
There pass’d, as a shroud,
A fleecy cloud,
And I turn’d away to thee,
Proud Evening Star,
In thy glory afar,
And dearer thy beam shall be;
For joy to my heart
Is the proud part
Thou bearest in Heav’n at night,
And more I admire
Thy distant fire,
Than that colder, lowly light.
Arcturus
By Sarah Helen Whitman
Written in October
“Our star looks through the storm.”
Star of resplendent front! thy glorious eye
Shines on me still from out yon clouded sky—
Shines on me through the horrors of a night
More drear than ever fell o’er day so bright—
Shines till the envious Serpent slinks away,
And pales and trembles at thy steadfast ray.
Hast thou not stooped from Heaven, fair star? to be
So near me in this hour of agony?—
So near—so bright—so glorious, that I seem
To lie entranced as in some wondrous dream—
All earthly joys forgot—all earthly fear,
Purged in the light of thy resplendent sphere:
Kindling within my soul a pure desire
To blend with thine its incandescent fire—
To lose my very life in thine, and be
Soul of thy soul through all eternity.
Edgar Allan Poe: Rhode Island 