The Tell-Tale Heart

The city of Boston is rife with statuary, landmarks, and monuments of every size and variety. 

There are revolutionary era examples, such as the steeple of the Old North Church, Paul Revere astride his horse, or the Freedom Trail's red bricks. Then there are those with a whimsical bent; a line of mallards commemorating the children's classic Make Way for Ducklings or the Mapparium, the three-story stain-glass globe found in the Mary Baker Eddy Library. If you're a sports fan you can check out a pair of Larry Bird's size 13.5 bronzed sneakers in Quincy Market or take a selfie beside Bobby Orr's midair Stanley Cup goal celebration.

But for my money, the city's best statue is tucked discreetly beside the Public Garden. It's of Boston-born wordsmith Edgar Allan Poe. With his billowed cape and hair askew, Poe looks as if he is running down Boylston Street. A raven bursts forth from his briefcase and a tell-tale heart lies on a stack of books behind him. If you stand toe to toe with the statue, you'll notice the sculptor has given him a furtive glance, as if Poe sees something we don't.

Isn't that always the case? Poe shedding light on all the things we dare not see.

“Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence." – Edgar Allan Poe