Dr. Thomas Holley Chivers, the eccentric Southern poet, and maker of
most unusual verse forms, was born near Washington, Georgia, December
12, 1807. He was instructed in the classics by his mother, and, choosing
medicine as his vocation, he went to Lexington, Kentucky--most probably
making the long journey on horse-back--and entered the medical school of
Transylvania University. Chivers matriculated in November, 1828, and
took up his abode at the old Phoenix Hotel, as his father was wealthy
and liberal with him. He took one ticket and made it during his first
year. The college records show that he returned for the fall session of
1829, and that, during his second year, he took two tickets, graduating
on March 17, 1830. The thesis he submitted for his degree of Doctor of
Medicine was _Remittent and Intermittent Bilious Fever_. Kentucky was
the birthplace of the first poems Chivers wrote, and, very probably, the
birthplace of his first book, _Conrad and Eudora, or The Death of
Alonzo_ (Philadelphia, 1834). This little drama, intended for the study,
was set in Kentucky, and founded upon the Beauchamp-Sharp murder of
1825, which was still the chief topic of conversation in the State when
the poet reached Lexington in 1828. Chivers's second book of poems,
called _Nacoochee_ (New York, 1837), contained two poems written while a
student of Transylvania, entitled _To a China Tree_, and _Georgia
Waters_. A short time after the publication of this book Chivers and
Edgar Allan Poe became acquainted; and the remainder of their lives they
were denouncing and fighting each other. It all came about by Chivers
claiming his _Allegra Florence in Heaven_, published in _The Lost
Pleiad_ (New York, 1845), as the original of _The Raven_. Of course, the
world and the critics have smiled at this claim and let it pass. After
Poe's death Chivers claimed practically everything the Virginian did to
be a plagiarism of some of his own poems. His most famous work was
_Eonchs of Ruby_ (New York, 1851). This was followed by _Virginalia_
(Philadelphia, 1853); _Memoralia_ (Philadelphia, 1853); _Atlanta_
(Macon, Ga., 1853); _Birth-Day Song of Liberty_ (Atlanta, Ga., 1856);
and _The Sons of Usna_ (Philadelphia, 1858). Bayard Taylor, in his
famous _Echo Club_, mentioned _Facets of Diamond_ as one of the poet's
publications, but a copy of it has not yet been unearthed. Dr. Chivers
died at Decatur, Georgia, December 19, 1858. No more pathetic figure has
appeared in American letters than Chivers. Had he been content to write
his poetry independently of Poe or any one else, he would have left his
name clearer. He was a wonderful manipulator of verse-forms, but he was
not what Poe was--a world-genius.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. _In the Poe Circle_, by Joel Benton (New York,
1899); _The Poe-Chivers Papers_, by G. E. Woodberry (_Century
Magazine_, Jan., Feb., 1903); _Representative Southern Poets_, by
C. W. Hubner (New York, 1906); _Library of Southern Literature_
(Atlanta, Georgia, 1909, v. ii).