Politian (play)

Politian
"Scenes from Politian, an unpublished Drama. By Edgar A. Poe." Southern Literary Messenger, T.W. White, Richmond, VA, December, 1835.
Written by	Edgar Allan Poe
Original language	English
Genre	Melodrama
Setting	16th century Rome

Politian (1835) is the only play known to have been written by Edgar Allan Poe, composed in 1835, but never completed.

The play is a fictionalized version of a true event in Kentucky: the murder of Solomon P. Sharp by Jereboam O. Beauchamp in 1825. The so-called "Kentucky Tragedy" became a national headline and attracted several fictional representations. Poe, however, chose to set his version in 16th-century Rome. Poe wrote the play during his time with the Southern Literary Messenger and during some personal crises. The first installment of Politian was published in that journal in December 1835 as "Scenes from an Unpublished Drama". A second installment was issued in January 1836, but the play was never completed.

Politian did not receive good reviews. Its failure prompted Poe to stop writing longer works and instead focus on short stories. Politian remains unfinished and is the only play written by Poe.

The play takes place in 16th-century Rome. Castiglione, the son of a duke, becomes engaged to his cousin Alessandra, inciting the jealousy of his father's ward, the orphan Lalage. Lalage meets Politian, the Earl of Leicester, and, after some flirtation, convinces him to take revenge on Castiglione. In the drama, Politian recites the poem "The Coliseum", which Poe had previously published in 1833.

Politian was written in blank verse and styled after Jacobean-era tragedies. Like many of Poe's tales, Politian questions the finality of death or what happens when life is over. Politian proposes a suicide pact to an orphan named Lalage so that they can meet in the afterlife.

The title character is named after a 15th-century Italian poet, scholar and teacher named Poliziano.