The Life of Edgar Alan Poe

The Life Of Edgar Alan Poe

a Biography

1809 -- 1849

He gained some fame from the publication in 1845 of a dozen stories as well as of

The Raven and Other Poems, and he enjoyed a few months of calm as a respected critic

and writer. After his wife died in 1847, however, his life began to unravel even faster as he

moved about from city to city, lecturing and writing, drinking heavily, and courting several

older women. Just before marrying one, he died in Baltimore after being found

semiconscious in a tavern - possibly from too much alcohol, although it is a myth that he

was a habitual drunkard and drug addict.

Admittedly a failure in most areas of his personal life, he was recognized as an

unusually gifted writer and was admired by Dostoevsky and Baudelaire, even if not always

appreciated by many of his other contemporaries. Master of symbolism and the macabre,

he is considered to be the father of the detective story and a stepfather of science fiction,

and he remains one of the most timeless and extraordinary of all American creative artists.

Edgar Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 19, 1809, the second of

the three children of David Poe and Elizabeth (Arnold) Poe, both of whom were

professional actors and members of a touring theatrical company. Eclipsed by his more

famous wife, his own promising career ruined by alcoholism, Poe's father deserted the

family when Edgar was still an infant; nothing conclusive is known of his life thereafter.

While appearing professionally in Richmond, Virginia, Poe's mother became ill and died on

December 8, 1811, at the age of twenty-four. Her three children, who would

maintain contact with one another throughout their lives, were sent to live with different

foster families. Edgar became the ward of John Allan, a successful tobacco merchant in

Richmond, and his wife Frances, who had no children of their own. Although never

formally adopted by them, Poe regarded the couple, especially Mrs. Allan, as parents, and

he took their surname as his own middle name. In 1815, business reasons led Allan to

move to England for what would be a five-year stay. Both in London and then in

Richmond after the family's return, Poe was well educated in private academies. In 1825,

he became secretly engaged to a girl named Elmira Royster. The engagement, opposed by

both families, was subsequently broken off.

In 1826, Poe entered the University of Virginia, newly founded by former

President Thomas Jefferson. He distinguished himself as a student, but he also took to

drinking, and he amassed gambling debts of $2,000, a significant amount of money at the

time, which John Allan, although he had recently inherited a fortune, refused to honor.

After quarreling with Allan, Poe left Richmond in March 1827 and sailed to Boston,

where, in relatively short order, he enlisted in the United States Army (under the name

Edgar A. Perry, and claiming to be four years older than his actual age of eighteen) and

published a pamphlet called Tamerlane and Other Poems, whose author was cited on the

title page only as "a Bostonian." This little book did not sell at all, but its few surviving

copies are among the most highly prized items in the rare-book market; one accidentally

discovered copy, bought for a dollar, was recently auctioned for $150,000. Poe's military

career went more successfully. After two years, he had been promoted to sergeant major,

the highest noncommissioned rank. He was honorably discharged in 1829, and decided to

seek an appointment to West Point in the hope of becoming a career commissioned

officer. He entered West Point in May of 1830, but chafed under the regimen and, after

deliberately missing classes, roll-calls, and compulsory chapel attendance, was expelled in

January 1831.

He gained some fame from the publication in 1845 of a dozen stories as well as of

The Raven and Other Poems, and he enjoyed a few months of calm as a respected critic

and writer. After his wife died in 1847, however, his life began to unravel even faster as he

moved about from city to city, lecturing and writing, drinking heavily, and courting several

older women. Just before marrying one, he died in Baltimore after being found

semiconscious in a tavern - possibly from too much alcohol, although it is a myth that he

was a habitual drunkard and drug addict.

Admittedly a failure in most areas of his personal life, he was recognized as an

unusually gifted writer and was admired by Dostoevsky and Baudelaire, even if not always

appreciated by many of his other contemporaries. Master of symbolism and the macabre,

he is considered to be the father of the detective story and a stepfather of science fiction,

and he remains one of the most timeless