Encyclopedia of world biography edgar allan poe

Edgar, at the age of two, becomes the foster son of John and Frances Allan, from whom Poe receives his middle name. Poe attends school in Chelsea untilwhen the family returns to Richmond. Poe then moves to Boston.

Encyclopedia of world biography edgar allan poe

May 26, Edgar Allan Poe enlists in the U. Army under the pseudonym "Edgar A. December 1, Edgar Allan Poe writes a letter to his foster father, John Allan, expressing his dissatisfaction with the army, in hopes that Allan can help release Poe from his five-year commitment to the service. December 15, While in the U. Military Academy at West Point.

Although he does not win a prize, the tales are published anonymously during Found in a Bottle"—about a midnight accident at sea and a mysterious ship that appears out of the "watery hell"—wins a competition sponsored by the Baltimore Saturday Visiter. His poem "The Coliseum" would have been awarded best poem, but the judges prefer not to offer both prizes to a single author.

Poe receives the job and is soon promoted to editor. January Edgar Allan Poe leaves his job as editor of the Southern Literary Messenger and moves north, working in various editorial posts, most notably at Graham's Magazine in Philadelphia. Broadway Journal. January The New York Evening Mirror publishes Edgar Allan Poe's poem, "The Raven," a disturbing account of its grief-stricken narrator's encounter with a bird that knows only one word: "Nevermore.

January Edgar Allan Poe's wife Virginia dies of tuberculosis, sending Poe into bouts of depression and torturous grief, during which he reportedly seeks the comforts of alcohol. Poe decides to marry her and move to Richmond. He never makes it to New York. October 3, Edgar Allan Poe is discovered unconscious and dangerously ill inside a Baltimore, Maryland, tavern.

October 7, Edgar Allan Poe dies in the hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and receives a swift burial in his grandfather Poe's cemetery lot in the Westminster Presbyterian Church Cemetery. Griswold publishes The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poeas well as an unjust and inflammatory fifty-page memoir detailing Poe's life. This sketch helps in part to create the caricature of Poe that has survived in American literary legend—as a death-obsessed, drug-addled debaucher.

Fisher, Benjamin F. He edited the Broadway Journal until it folded in He died in Baltimore on 7 October John J. Moran, the physician who attended Poe, reported symptoms of delirium tremensand others who knew him attributed his death to alcohol. Literary Style. Poe was both a romantic and a rationalist. Fascinated with the world of dreams, trances, madness, and horror, Poe at the same time was strongly interested in scientific analysis and thought and sought-in his short stories to draw realistic portraits of particular mental states in ways that would appeal to mass audiences.

Auguste Dupin was a forerunner of Sherlock Holmes. With a similar emphasis on effect Poe argued that the best poetry should be short, in order to be an easily comprehended whole, and as closely imitative of music as possible since both music and poetry sought to capture an all but inexpressible eternal beauty. Editor and Critic. As an editor Poe published a significant amount of literary criticism, most of it sharply critical.

In this review Poe prefigured his most famous poem in suggesting how Dickens might have done more with the figure of a raven that appears in the story:. Its croakings might have been prophetically heard in the course of the drama. Its character might have performed, in regard to that of the idiot [character] much the same part as does, in music, the accompaniment in respect to the air.

Each might have been distinct. Each might have differed remarkably from the other. Yet between them there might have been wrought an analogical resemblance, and although each might have existed apart, they might have formed together a whole which would have been imperfect in the absence of the either. Kenneth Silverman, Edgar A. Unquestionably one of America's major writers, Edgar Allan Poe was far ahead of his time in his vision of a special area of human experience—the "inner world" of dream, hallucination, and imagination.

He wrote fiction, poetry, and criticism and was a magazine editor. Edgar Allan Poe was encyclopedia of world biography edgar allan poe known to his own generation as an editor and critic; his poems and short stories commanded only a small audience. But to some extent in his poems, and to an impressive degree in his tales, he pioneered in opening up areas of human experience for artistic treatment at which his contemporaries only hinted.

His vision asserts that reality for the human being is essentially subterranean, contradictory to surface reality, and profoundly irrational in character. Two generations later he was hailed by the symbolist movement as the prophet of the modern sensibility. Poe was born in Boston on Jan. By the time he was 3, Edgar, his older brother, and younger sister had lost their mother to consumption and their father through desertion.

The children were split up, going to various families to live. Edgar went to the charitable Richmond, Virginia, home of John and Frances Allan, whose name Poe was to take later as his own middle name. The Allans were wealthy then and were to become more so later, and though they never adopted Poe, for many years it appeared that he was to be their heir.

They treated him like an adopted son, saw to his education in private academies, and took him to England for a 5-year stay; and at least Mrs. Allan bestowed considerable affection upon him. As Edgar entered adolescence, however, bad feelings developed between him and John Allan. Allan disapproved of his ward's literary inclinations, thought him surly and ungrateful, and gradually seems to have decided that Poe was not to be his heir after all.

When, inPoe entered the newly opened University of VirginiaAllan's allowance was so meager that Poe turned to gambling to supplement his income. Allan's refusal to help him led to total estrangement, and in March Poe stormed out on his own. Poe managed to get to Boston, where he signed up for a 5-year enlistment in the U. Inas well, he had his Tamerlane and Other Poems published at his own expense, but the book failed to attract notice.

By Januaryserving under the name of Edgar A. Perry, Poe rose to the highest noncommissioned rank in the Army, sergeant major. He was reluctant to serve out the full enlistment, however, and he arranged to be discharged from the Army on the understanding that he would seek an appointment at West Point. He thought that such a move might cause a reconciliation with his guardian.

That same year Al Araaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems was published in Baltimore and received a highly favorable notice from the novelist and critic John Neal. Armed with these new credentials, Poe visited Allan in Richmond, but another violent quarrel forced him to leave in May The West Point appointment came through the next month, but, since Poe no longer had any use for it, he did not last long as a cadet.

Lacking Allan's permission to resign, Poe sought and received a dismissal for "gross neglect of duty" and "disobedience of orders. During his early years of exile Poe had lived in Baltimore for a while with his aunt Maria Clemm and her 7-year-old daughter, Virginia. He returned to his aunt's home inpublishing Poems by Edgar Allan Poe and beginning to place short stories in magazines.

In he received a prize for "MS. In Poe married his cousin Virginia—now 13 years old—and moved to Richmond with his bride and mother-in-law. Excessive drinking lost him his job inbut he had produced prolifically for the journal. He had contributed his Politian, as well as 83 reviews, 6 poems, 4 essays, and 3 short stories. He had also quintupled the magazine's circulation.

Rejection in the face of such accomplishment was extremely distressing to him, and his state of mind from then on, as one biographer put it, "was never very far from panic. The panic accelerated after In 2 years he boosted its circulation from 5, to 20, and contributed some of his best fiction to its pages, including "The Fall of the House of Usher.

But there was trouble at Burton's, and in Poe left for the literary editorship of Graham's Magazine. It was becoming clear that 2 years was about as long as Poe could hold a job, and his stay at Graham's confirmed this principle. Though he contributed skillfully wrought fiction and unquestionably developed as a critic, his endless literary feuding, his alcoholism, and his inability to get along very encyclopedia of world biography edgar allan poe with people caused him to leave after His wife, who had been an absolutely crucial source of comfort and support to him, began showing signs of the consumption that would eventually kill her.

When his burden became too great, he tried to relieve it with alcohol, which made him ill. After great struggle Poe got a job on the New York Mirror in He lasted, characteristically, intoswitching then to the editorship of the Broadway Journal. Although he was now deep in public literary feuds, things seemed to be breaking in his favor. The publication of the poem "The Raven" finally brought him some fame, and in the publication of two volumes, The Raven and Other Poems and Tales, both containing some of his best work, did in fact move him into fashionable literary society.

But his wife's health continued to deteriorate, and he was not earning enough money to support her and Clemm. Poe's next job was with Godey's Lady's Book, but he was unable to sustain steady employment, and amid the din of plagiarism charges and libel suits, his fortunes sank to the point that he and his family almost starved in their Fordham cottage in the winter of Then, on Jan.

The wonder is not that Poe began totally to disintegrate but that he nevertheless continued to produce work of very high caliber. In he published the brilliantly ambitious Eureka, and he was even to make a final, heart-wrenching attempt at rehabilitation. He returned to Richmond inthere to court a now-widowed friend of his youth, Mrs. They were to be married, and Poe left for New York at the end of September to bring Clemm back for the wedding.

On the way he stopped off in Baltimore. Nobody knows exactly what happened, and there is no real proof that he was picked up by a gang who used him to "repeat" votes, but he was found on October 3 in a stupor near a saloon that had been used as a polling place. He died in a hospital 4 days later. It is not hard to see the connection between the nightmare of Poe's life and his work.

Behind a screen of sometimes substantial, sometimes flimsy "reality, " his fictional work resembles the dreams of a distressed individual who keeps coming back, night after night, to the same pattern of dream. At times he traces out the pattern lightly, at other times in a "thoughtful" mood, but often the tone is terror. He finds himself descending, into a cellar, a wine vault, a whirlpool, always falling.

The women he meets either change form into someone else or are whisked away completely. And at last he drops off, into a pit or a river or a walled-up tomb. Poe's critics interpret this pattern to represent the search of the individual for himself by going deep into himself and his ultimate arrival at the unplumbed mystery of his inner self.

His works are as compelling today as they were more than a century ago. An innovative and imaginative thinker, Poe crafted stories and poems that still shock, surprise, and move modern readers. The Biography. We have worked as daily newspaper reporters, major national magazine editors, and as editors-in-chief of regional media publications. Among our ranks are book authors and award-winning journalists.

Our staff also works with freelance writers, researchers, and other contributors to produce the smart, compelling profiles and articles you see on our site. The 13 Most Memorable Inauguration Performances. Nikki Giovanni. A Huge Shakespeare Mystery, Solved. How Did Shakespeare Die? William Shakespeare. Christine de Pisan. Amanda Gorman. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below.

Poe moved back with the Allans to Richmond, Virginia in In MarchJohn Allan's uncle [6] and business benefactor William Galt, said to be one of the wealthiest men in Richmond, died and left Allan several acres of real estate. By summerAllan celebrated his expansive wealth by purchasing a two-story brick home named Moldavia. Poe withdrew permanently from the school after only one year of study, and, not feeling welcome in Richmond, especially when he learned that his sweetheart Royster had married Alexander Shelton, he traveled to Boston in Aprilsustaining himself with odd jobs as a clerk and newspaper writer.

Using the name "Edgar A. Perry," he claimed he was 22 years old even though he was Poe was promoted to "artificer," an enlisted tradesman who prepared shells for artilleryand had his monthly pay doubled. He revealed his real name and his circumstances to his commanding officer, Lieutenant Howard. Howard would allow Poe to be discharged only if he reconciled with John Allan.

His foster mother, Frances Allan, died on February 28,and Poe visited the day after her burial. Perhaps softened by his wife's death, John Allan agreed to support Poe's attempt to be discharged in order to receive an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Poe was discharged on April 15,after securing a replacement to finish his enlisted term for him.

Poe traveled to West Point and matriculated as a cadet on July 1, On February 8,he was tried for gross neglect of duty and disobedience of orders for refusing to attend formations, classes, or church. Poe tactically pled not guilty to induce dismissal, knowing he would be found guilty. He left for New York in Februaryand released a third volume of poems, simply titled Poems.

The book was financed with help from his fellow cadets at West Point; they may have been expecting verses similar to the satirical ones Poe had been writing about commanding officers. Corps of Cadets this volume is respectfully dedicated. His elder brother Henry, who had been in ill health in part due to problems with alcoholismdied on August 1, Poe secretly married Virginia, his cousin, on September 22, She was 13 at the time, though she is listed on the marriage certificate as being One evening in JanuaryVirginia showed the first signs of consumption, now known as tuberculosiswhile singing and playing the piano.

Poe described it as breaking a blood vessel in her throat. Virginia died there on January 30, Increasingly unstable after his wife's death, Poe attempted to court the poet Sarah Helen Whitman, who lived in Providence, Rhode Island. Their engagement failed, purportedly because of Poe's drinking and erratic behavior. However, there is also evidence that Whitman's mother intervened and did much to derail their relationship.

On October 3,Poe was found on the streets of Baltimore delirious, "in great distress, and All medical records, including his death certificate, have been lost. Newspapers at the time reported Poe's death as "congestion of the brain" or "cerebral inflammation," common euphemisms for deaths from disreputable causes such as alcoholism ; the actual cause of his death, however, remains a mystery.

Poe was the first well-known American author and poet to try to live on his writing alone. After his early attempts at poetry, Poe turned his attention to prose. He placed a few stories with a Philadelphia publication and began work on his only drama, Politian. Found in a Bottle". Kennedy, a Baltimorian of considerable means. He helped Poe place some of his stories, and introduced him to Thomas W.

White, editor of the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond.