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David Shew
Professor Renee Simms
March 9, 2011
CW 160: Introduction to Poetry

Edgar Allan Poe

Dark…foreboding...horror…morbid…depressing…weird…confusing…loss…death.

One word can gives all these words a common factor. That word is Poe. On paper, "Poe" is just a

word, it doesn't mean much. Or it can mean many things. I crater on Mercury. A common figure

in the Zelda video game series. The Baltimore Ravens’ mascot. A popular Tahitian dish. But, for

writers, English students, followers of Dark Romanticism, and even basic scholars, the word

"Poe" means so much more. "Poe" to the aforementioned people, is an icon, a person they aspire

to be like, or just a very obscure person who is not and probably never will be fully understood.

The word “Poe” to all those people refers to the famous poet, short story writer, critic, and author

to a few books, known as E.A. Poe, or Edgar Allan Poe, whom most studied persons just know

as Poe. For them, if someone mentioned the word Poe, they would immediately think of Edgar

Allan Poe. As previously stated, Poe was a very obscure person whom many literary scholars

still try to make head or tails of. The favorable reason to his macabre works is thought to be the

result of having so many losses early in his life. Whatever the reason, whether it be because of

inopportune deaths or just because he was sick in the head, Poe’s works did a great deal for

English literature and for scholars’ minds. He is the most renowned writer of Dark Romanticism,

namely gothic fiction.

Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809 to actors Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins and

David Poe Jr. in Boston, Massachusetts. Infant Edgar had but a short time with his natural

parents as they split up in 1810, due to Mr. Poe abandoning the family. A year after the

abandonment, on January 8, 1811, Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins died from what is thought if
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pulmonary tuberculosis. A few days later, on January 10, 1811, Edgar’s father, David Poe was

pronounced dead from an unknown cause (Edgar Allan Poe - Wikipedia). After going through

such tragedy, little Edgar was taken in by Frances and John Allan, a wealthy merchant in

Richmond, Virginia. In 1815, the makeshift family moved to England, and young Edgar attended

school in Chelsea (Edgar Allan Poe - Wikipedia). It was here, in England, where Edgar was

introduced to Gothic fiction. Gothic fiction was said to have died out by this time, having lost

much popularity as an established genre, being replaced by historical romance as popularized by

Sir Walter Scott. However, readers and critics had begun to think that they had greatly

overlooked many of the established works and in fact, Gothic fiction had begun to ascend into its

most creative period (Gothic fiction).

Between 1816 and 1820, Poe had switched from many schools in England and lived

away from his foster family. In 1826, Poe entered the University of Virginia. Though he excelled

there academically, he was forced to leave the university after only a year due to unpaid

gambling debts (Polito). Poe enlisted in the United States Army in 1827 and it was here that he

published his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems, but it did not get much attention

publically or critically (Quinn 129). While serving in the Army, Poe’s unofficial adoptive mother

(Poe was never officially adopted by the Allans) Frances Allan, died and Poe made a visit to

Richmond the day after her burial (Edgar Allan Poe - Wikipedia). After only serving two out of

his enlisted five years in the United States Army, Poe was discharged from his position and

moved to Baltimore where he stayed with his aunt, Maria Clemm, and her children (Polito).

During his stay with his aunt, Poe published his second book, Al Araaf, Tamerlane and Minor

Poems, in December 1829 (Quinn 156). This book also received little recognition (Quinn 165).
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Poe was enlisted into West Point in March of 1830 but did not stay even a year. He got himself

court-martialed and dismissed in February of 1831 (Quinn 174). In February 1831, Poe released

a third volume of poems which was simply entitled Poems. This volume was dedicated to “The

U.S. Corps of Cadets” as a thank you for many cadets’ help in funding the publication for the

book; many of Poe’s fellow cadets donated 75 cents to the cause (Quinn 176).

Poe started his publishing career after he left the military and in 1835 he became the

editor for the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond. He brought with him his aunt and his

12-year old cousin Virginia Clemm, whom he married in 1836 (Edgar Allan Poe). It was during

his time as assistant editor for the Messenger that Poe began to grow as a writer and over the

next ten years he came to edit many literary journals such as Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine

and Graham’s Magazine both of which were based in Philadelphia. Poe also edited the

Broadway Journal in New York (Polito). Through this time, even though he was getting a great

deal of work, Poe was still financially insecure, but he continued to write and his works were

becoming recognized and praised which helped further his reputation (Edgar Allan Poe). Also

during this time, Poe published some of his best known works such as “The Fall of the House of

Usher”, “The Tale Tell Heart”, and “The Raven” (Polito).

Poe’s wife, Virginia Clemm first showed signs of tuberculosis, formerly known as

consumption, in 1842. Under stress from Virginia’s illness, Poe began to drink heavily and fell

into a state of depression (Polito). When the Broadway Journal fell through in 1846, Poe and

Virginia moved to a cottage in The Bronx, New York (now known as “Poe Cottage”) where

Virginia died on January 30, 1847 (Edgar Allan Poe – Wikipedia).

Poe’s death is, to this day, still under conjecture. There are too many unknown facts to be

a hundred percent positive as to exactly how Poe died. What is known, however, is that Poe was
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found on the streets of Baltimore on October 3 1949, delirious and drunk. He was taken to

Washington College Hospital where he died at 5:00 October 7. What is odd though, is that Poe

was found wearing clothes that were not his own and the few times Poe was conscious in the

hospital, he would yell out “Reynolds!” though the meaning to the name is unclear (Quinn 639-

640). Edgar Allan Poe’s last words before he died were, “God help my poor soul!”

Edgar Allan Poe’s writings and works left a remarkable impact on both American and

international literature, and more specifically in the genres of horror and detective fiction

(Polito). Poe is often credited for being the “architect” of the modern short story. The phrase “art

for art’s sake” came from Poe’s tenacity to critique the effect of style and structure of a literary

work (Polito). Poe’s works became figureheads in international literature when Charles

Baudelaire translated Poe’s stories into French, which is why Poe is dutifully respected in France

(Edgar Allan Poe – Wikipedia). He was one of the first American authors of the 19th century to

become more popular in Europe than in the United States (Edgar Allan Poe – Wikipedia).

The fictitious C. Auguste Duplin from Poe’s early detective fiction tales, was the basis

for literature’s future detectives – a quote from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, “Each is a root from

which a whole literature has developed…. Where was the detective story until Poe breathed the

breath of life into it?” (Edgar Allan Poe – Wikipedia).

Poe is still read in today’s classrooms not just because his writing is renowned, but also

because there is something in his writing for everyone. Not all of his works are dark, dreary and

utterly confusing. Some of his works contain joy, passion, and hope (Edgar Allan Poe Society of

Baltimore). Poe’s use of technique and control of words is able to appeal to his every reader. The

reason Poe is still studied is that through his writing, the reader is able to understand him or
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herself more. The reader is able to enter and be a part of Poe’s stories and they are reinvented

inside of us all.
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Works Cited

"Edgar Allan Poe." Mystery Net.com: Online mysteries, mystery games, mystery books. N.p., n.d.

Web. 11 Mar. 2011. <http://www.mysterynet.com/edgar-allan-poe/>.

"Edgar Allan Poe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p.,

n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe#Early_life>.

"Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - General Topics - Edgar Allan Poe's Enduring Fame."

Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - The Life and Writings of Edgar Allan Poe. N.p.,

n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2011. <http://www.eapoe.org/geninfo/poesfame.htm>.

"Gothic fiction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d.

Web. 11 Mar. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_fiction#The_Romantics>.

Polito, Robert. "Edgar Allan Poe- Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More." Poets.org - Poetry,

Poems, Bios & More. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2011.

<http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/130>.

Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe, a critical biography, . New York: D. Appleton-

Century Co., 1941. Print.