Edgar Allan Poe: One of America's Greatest Authors

Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe was a writer of often bleak and morbid short stories and poems. He attained a certain amount of fame during his life, but had he lived long enough he would have seen himself become one of the most popular American writers of all time. His short stories have been put on film; his poems are quoted by fans daily; his work is required reading in many English courses. More than 150 years after his death, Edgar Allan Poe’s work could very nearly be called the best of its genre.

Edgar Allen Poe was simply Edgar Poe when he was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809. His parents, David and Elizabeth Poe, were both actors and Edgar was the second child that they had together. They had no more children; David left his family the year after Edgar was born. One year after that, in 1811, Elizabeth Poe died of tuberculosis. A tobacco merchant named John Allan took Edgar to Richmond, VA shortly thereafter.

John Allan raised Edgar as a son and so Edgar Poe took on the name Edgar Allan Poe. In 1926, with the aid of his foster father, Edgar enrolled in the University of Virginia. A few months later, he abandoned his schooling and joined the United States Army. Right before he joined the Army, he published his first collection of poems, called "Tamerlane and Other Poems." By 1929, he was out of the Army and by 1930, he was on a train to West Point Academy.

Things did not work out for the headstrong man at West Point. He was thrown out of the academy for breaking rules. His writing career was a bit more successful though. Edgar Allan Poe published three poetry collections by 1931. After leaving West Point, he continued to write and publish his works. John Allan died in 1934. The following year, Edgar got a job as an assistant editor at the Southern Literary Messenger.

In 1936, Poe got married. His bride was his thirteen-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm. Around a year after his wedding, Edgar left his job at the Southern Literary Messenger and continued to write and publish short stories and poetry. He went on to work for several other publications and continued publishing his work nearly every year for the rest of his life.

Virginia Poe died of tuberculosis in 1847. Edgar’s health was also on the decline by this point. It is suspected that he suffered from a brain lesion. However, the end of his life is clouded in mystery and much of what is said about it is pure speculation. One thing is certain, though. On October 3, 1849, Edgar Allan Poe was found unconscious on the side of a road in Baltimore. He died four days after he was discovered.

Sources

Edgar Allan Poe, retrieved 8/10/09, uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allan/17841865/lit/poe.htm

Edgar Allan Poe, 1809-1849, retrieved 8/10/09, docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/poe/bio.html