Edgar allan poe (1809-1849)

Edgar Allan Poe, an outstanding romantic poet, romancer, and short-story writer, was one of the first professional writers of the United States.

He was born in Boston in 1809. His parents were second-rate actors, and very poor. After a few years of hardships his father disappeared and was never heard of again; and at the end of 1811, while acting in Richmond, his mother died. The homeless child was brought up by a childless couple, Mr. John Allan, a well-to-do merchant, and his wife.

His foster-mother was very fond of Edgar, he was treated so kindly by her, that it led to jealousy on the part of her husband: as a result the boy was never legally adopted though he remained with the family for many years. Edgar grew into a handsome youth, skilled in riding and swimming.

Mr. Aliais business took him abroad, and from 1815 to 1820 Poe lived with the family in Scotland and England. There he attended a fine classical preparatory school. Back in the Unites States, he was sent to the University of Virginia where he showed remarkable ingenuity in mathematics, chemistry and medicine. He wrote poems and read a lot. Yet Poe was unhappy at the University. At the end of the first year Mr. Allan decided to take him from the University. He wanted him to become a clerk in his tobacco business. Poe immediately ran away and went to Boston.

In Boston he published his first volume of poetry, not a single copy was sold. His disappointment and poverty forced him to enlist in the army. In this new life he succeeded better than he himself had expected. But very soon he could not stand army life any longer. When he arrived in Richmond, Mrs. Allan had died. There Mr. Allan signed the obligation that the young man would serve for five years. His second volume of poems passed unnoticed.

Poe spent a year at the West Point Academy, disliking his duties more and more. He left the Academy. Two years later Mr. Allan died, he didn’t mention Poe in his will, and Edgar was left penniless.

In 1831, Poe published his third edition of poems. But he first became famous not as a poet, but as a writer of fiction. His story won him a prize of 50 dollars. This story opened the way for him into journalism. For some time Poe lived in Baltimore and wrote for various publications. As a poet and writer his fame spread slowly, he was known more for his literary reviews.

In 1836, while still in Baltimore, Poe had married a very young girl, Virginia Clemm. Their home life was very happy, but soon his young wife became very ill with tuberculosis. Poe was desperate because he had no money to cure her. This increased Poe's weakness for alcohol. Things went from bad to worse when his reviews and critical articles increased the number of his enemies.

In January 1847 Virginia died in a little cottage in Fordham. (She was only 24.)

Edgar Allan Poe's life ended under very strange circumstances. He was in Richmond, giving lectures with brilliant success and even earned a large sum of money. Six days later he was found unconscious on the streets of Baltimore. It was suspect-ed that he had been given opium and robbed of the money he had earned. He died 4 days later, on October 7, 1849 in the Baltimore City hospital.