Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer. He wrote horror stories and poems.
Edgar Allan Poe | |
|---|---|
 Poe, 1848 | |
| Born | January 19, 1809 Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Died | October 7, 1849 (aged 40) Baltimore, Maryland |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Virginia |
| Genre | Horror stories Poems |
| Notable works | "The Fall of the House of Usher" "The Tell-Tale Heart" "The Raven" "To Helen" |
| Spouse | Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe (m. 1836; her death, 1847) |
| Parents | Elizabeth Poe (mother) David Poe, Jr. (father) |
Early life
Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809. His parents were two touring vaudeville actors, David Poe Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins. David left the family under unknown circumstances while Poe was an infant. When Poe was two his mother died of tuberculosis, leaving Edgar an orphan. The wealthy John Allan took Edgar into his home in Richmond, Virginia. In 1815, the Allan family moved to England. Young Poe went to an English private school. After five years, the family moved back to Richmond, Virginia.
After moving back to Virginia, Poe entered the University of Virginia in 1826. While there, he gambled, lost money, and went into debt. John Allan became angry, and cut off all contact with Poe. In 1827, Poe published his first work, a collection of poetry titled, Tamerlane and Other Poems. Poe did not have his name published in the book; it was attributed to "a Bostonian."
Military life
Poe enlisted in the army. He used the name Edgar A. Perry and lied about his age. He was successful as a soldier and quickly became a sergeant major. While in the army his foster-mother Frances Allan died. Poe attempted to mend his relationship with John Allan. Poe soon left the army and enrolled at West Point in New York state.
Poe did not enjoy his time at West Point and got very bored. He was expelled in March 1831. At this point, John Allan disowned him. Poe was well-liked by other cadets. They contributed money to pay for Poe to publish a book of his poems called Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems. He soon moved to Baltimore, Maryland.
Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York
In Baltimore, Poe lived with his aunt, Maria Poe Clemm. She was the sister of Edgar's real father. Clemm also had a daughter named Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe. Virginia admired Poe very much. In 1836, when Virginia was thirteen, she and Poe married.
Poe was writing a lot by this time. He sold his first short story in 1832. His writing did not earn very much money. He also worked as an editor for various magazines over the years, becoming very well known for his literary criticism. Poe also was drinking off and on during these years.
In 1842, while Poe was living with Clemm and Virginia in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Virginia became sick with tuberculosis. The family moved to New York City. They later settled in The Bronx. On 29 January 1845, Poe published his most famous poem, "The Raven", making him very popular. Virginia died a few years later, on 30 January 1847, due to pulmonary tuberculosis. Poe was devastated after her death.
Death
On September 27, 1849, Poe left Richmond after a short visit. It is not known what happened to him until October 3; On that day, he was discovered outside of Gunner's Hall by Joseph W. Walker in Baltimore. He was taken to Washington College Hospital. While in the hospital. he became delirious and started seeing hallucinations. He died on October 7, 1849, in the hospital. It is not known what his cause of death was. There are several possible theories. They include congestion of the brain, alcoholism withdrawal, tuberculosis and rabies.
Poe was buried in the grounds of the Westminster Church and Burying Ground after a small funeral with only a few people. On May 17, 1875, Poe was reburied at the front of the churchyard after a city-wide campaign to raise money to build a large monument. He is buried there alongside his wife Virginia, and Virginia's mother Maria Clemm.
Selected works
Short stories
- "Berenice" (1835) Horror story about obsession
- "The Black Cat" (1845) Horror story about a cat
- "The Cask of Amontillado" (1846) A story of revenge
- "A Descent Into The Maelström" (1845) Man vs. Nature, Adventure Story
- "Eleonora" (1841) A love story
- "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" (1845) Talking with a dead man
- "The Fall of the House of Usher" (1839) An old house and its secrets
- "The Gold Bug" (1843) A search for pirate treasure
- "Hop-Frog" (1845) A dwarf seeks revenge
- "The Imp of the Perverse" (1845) Procrastination and confession
- "Ligeia" (1838) A haunting supernatural tale
- "The Man of the Crowd" (1845) How to follow someone
- "Manuscript Found in a Bottle" (1833) Adventure at sea
- "The Masque of the Red Death" (1842) The horror of the plague
- "Mesmeric Revelation" (1849) Conversation with a hypnotized dying man
- "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1841) A detective story
- "Never Bet the Devil Your Head" (1841) A comedy with a moral
- "The Oval Portrait" (1842) A tragic love story
- "The Pit and the Pendulum" (1842) A torture chamber
- "The Premature Burial" (1844) About being buried alive
- "The Purloined Letter" (1845) A detective story
- "Silence - A Fable" (1838) A dream
- "Some Words With a Mummy" (1845) A mummy speaks
- "The Spectacles" (1844) A comedy about love at first sight
- "The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether" (1845) Inside an insane asylum
- "The Tell-Tale Heart" (1843) A murderer's guilt
- "William Wilson" (1839) A doppelganger story
Poems
- "The Conqueror Worm"
- "The Raven"
- "To Helen"
- "The Bells"
- "Annabel Lee"
- "A Dream Within A Dream"
- "To Ulalume: A Ballad"
- "For Annie"
Edgar Allan Poe Media
Plaque marking the approximate location of Poe's birth on Carver Street in Boston
In May 1827, Poe enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he was first stationed at Fort Independence in Boston
In 1835, at age 26, Poe obtained a license to marry his cousin Virginia Clemm, who was then age 13; they were married for 11 years until her death, which may have inspired some of Poe's writing.
An 1845 portrait of Poe by Samuel Stillman Osgood
Poe is interred at Westminster Hall in Baltimore, Maryland (Lat: 39.29027; Long: −76.62333); the circumstances and cause of his death remain uncertain.
An 1875 illustration of Poe by French impressionist Édouard Manet for the Stéphane Mallarmé translation of "The Raven"
Poe depicted in a modern retouched version of the daguerreotype
The Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site in Philadelphia, one of several preserved former residences of Poe
An 1848 "Ultima Thule" daguerreotype of Poe
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Related pages
Other websites
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Wikisource has original writing related to this article: |
- Poe's resting place
- Poe's life, poems, works Archived 2006-10-20 at the Wayback Machine
- Poe Museum Archived 2006-10-03 at the Wayback Machine
- Best Edgar Allan Poe Poems