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Edgar Allan Poe

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  Edgar Allan Poe was born January 19, 1849 to Elizabeth (Betty) Arnold Poe, who had been a child actress from England, and David Poe, also an actor. Poe had one older brother, William Henry. David Poe was not much of a father- he borrowed money constantly, was drunk much of the time, and was a total failure as an actor. His wife, Betty, however, could always find work as an actress, and it made David jealous. He continued to drink and finally he walked out on his family, leaving Betty with two young children-William Henry and Edgar- and pregnant with another child on the way. David's father took in William Henry but Betty kept Edgar. They moved to Richmond, VA. Soon after the third child, Rosalie, was born, Betty died. Orphaned at a young age, Poe was taken in by Mrs. Frances Allan and his sister, Rosalie, was adopted by Mrs. William Mackenzie. Frances Allan was the wife of John Allan, a very rich and successful tobacco merchant. The Allans didn't have any children and John, though he was a rather hard-headed man, was happy to have an heir. He even had Edgar baptized as Edgar Allan. They didn't formally adopt Edgar though, because of Edgar's unstable background-both parents being actors and his father always being drunk, so John Allen wanted to wait and see what Edgar would turn out like. To adopt Edgar was to assume a lifelong responsibility, to John Allen, so Edgar's last name remained Poe.

  Growing up, Poe enjoyed every luxury. He went to a boarding school in England for several years and returned to the United States in 1820. From there he continued with his education in private schools. When he was a teenager, he started to write poetry. He would sit in his foster-father's office and scribble verses instead of paying attention to business. He announced he was going to be a second Lord Byron. John Allan was upset- this was not the occupation he wanted his foster-son to work as. Allan was glad he had never formally adopted Poe and he started to ridicule Poe about his penniless orphaned state in front of his friends. Edgar rebelled by picking fights in school and showing off. He was alone more and more. He was seen almost daily in the fields citing poetry out loud.

  About this time, Frances Allan, Poe's foster-mother, learned that John Allan had two illegitimate children. Poe and Frances drew together, in a general alliance against John Allan. John Allan retaliated against Poe by bringing out letters of Poe's real mother, proving that his little sister, Rosalie, was also illegitimate. The Allan house was not a happy one. Needing someone to talk to, he became close to a friend's mother- Mrs. Stanard. Mrs. Stanard listened with a sympathetic ear. This was Poe's "first purely ideal love," as he himself put it. However, Jane Stanard died at the age of thirty-one. Poe was crushed-and spent many nights at the grave of Mrs. Stanard. He wrote the poem, "To Helen", in her honor. However he was still young and in time, Poe turned to Elmira Royster, a daughter of a friend of the Allans. The Roysters made no objection to Poe, since he was the foster-son of John Allan, one of Richmond's richest men. Poe went off to the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, and frequently wrote to Elmira. However, there were so many letters travelling between Poe and Elmira that Mr. Royster spoke to Mr. Allan. When Mr. Royster learned that Poe planned to be a poet, he put a stop to Elmira and Poe's correspondence by intercepting his daughter's letters. Poe was left looking in vain for Elmira's letters and Elmira was left looking for Poe's letters.

  Meanwhile, Poe was short on money and after already borrowing quite a bit from the Allans, he turned to gambling. However, he wasn't very good at it and soon owed over two thousand dollars. He also started drinking, just like his father. When he went back to Richmond at Christmas, he found Elmira was engaged to the wealthy Barrett Shelton and he couldn't talk to her. He didn't learn of what Mr. Royster had done until later. Back at the Allan house, there was more fighting- John Allan refused to pay Poe's debts. After Poe refused to stop "wasting his time" by becoming a poet, he was kicked out of the house. So in 1827, he left without any money and went to Boston. There he had no other choice but to enlist in the army.

  He served a two year term in the army and during that time published his first two books: Tamerlane and Other Poems, in 1827, and Al Aaraaf, in 1829. Soon after this, Poe was reconciled with John Allan, partly on the behalf of Frances Allan's death, and Allan secured him a place at West Point, U.S. Military Academy. However, for Poe, West Point was unbearable. When John Allan took a second wife, he saw no point in staying at West Point and after only a few months, Poe was dismissed for neglect of duty.

  Now John Allan disowned him permanently and Poe moved to Baltimore, to live with his aunt, Maria Clemm, and her daughter, Virginia. In 1831, Poe's third book of poems, titled Poems, was published. In 1834, his story, "A MS. Found in a Bottle" won a contest sponsored by Baltimore Sunday Visitor. From 1835 to 1837, Poe lived in Richmond, Virginia and was an editor for the Southern Literary Messenger. His reviews, though very frequently cruel, displayed good taste and learning, and the circulation of the paper soared. During this time, John Allan died and Poe found he was not even mentioned in his will. In 1836, Poe married his young cousin, Virginia. Virginia was not quite 14 and Poe was already 27. Virginia and her mother moved to Richmond to be with Poe.

  In 1837, Poe was fired from his job because of drinking. However, word of his talents were spreading and he worked as an editor for the Gentleman's Magazine in Philadelphia, PA and then as an editor in New York City. During this time he also spent his nights working on his stories and poetry. Readers all over the world started experiencing something very different in the way of literature- "The Fall of the House of Usher" was published in 1839, "Murders in the Rue Morgue" in 1841 and "The Tale-tell Heart" in 1843. "The Raven," published in 1845, became Poe's most famous poem-still read the world over. In 1847, Virginia died and because of her death, Poe became very ill. His poem "Annabel Lee" is a tribute to Virginia.

  In time, he recovered somewhat, and moved to Richmond once again. There he met up with his childhood sweetheart Elmira- now a widow. She accepted his marriage proposal (although he died before they were married) and Elmira's money helped finance his own magazine, called The Penn Magazine. The last year of his life was a happy one, in spite of all the tragedies he had lived through. But finally, probably due to his drinking problem (and possibly drug problem), he suffered an early death on October 7, 1849. The eerie poems and stories he left behind are still quoted and argued over today.

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