Essay About Life Of Edgar Alan Poe And Ward Of John Allan

The Life of Edgar Alan Poe
Essay title: The Life of Edgar Alan Poe
The Life Of Edgar Alan Poe
a Biography
1809 — 1849
He gained some fame from the publication in 1845 of a dozen stories as well as of
The Raven and Other Poems, and he enjoyed a few months of calm as a respected critic
and writer. After his wife died in 1847, however, his life began to unravel even faster as he
moved about from city to city, lecturing and writing, drinking heavily, and courting several
older women. Just before marrying one, he died in Baltimore after being found
semiconscious in a tavern – possibly from too much alcohol, although it is a myth that he
was a habitual drunkard and drug addict.
Admittedly a failure in most areas of his personal life, he was recognized as an
unusually gifted writer and was admired by Dostoevsky and Baudelaire, even if not always
appreciated by many of his other contemporaries. Master of symbolism and the macabre,
he is considered to be the father of the detective story and a stepfather of science fiction,
and he remains one of the most timeless and extraordinary of all American creative artists.
Edgar Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 19, 1809, the second of
the three children of David Poe and Elizabeth (Arnold) Poe, both of whom were
professional actors and members of a touring theatrical company. Eclipsed by his more
famous wife, his own promising career ruined by alcoholism, Poes father deserted the
family when Edgar was still an infant; nothing conclusive is known of his life thereafter.
While appearing professionally in Richmond, Virginia, Poes mother became ill and died on
December 8, 1811, at the age of twenty-four. Her three children, who would
maintain contact with one another throughout their lives, were sent to live with different
foster families. Edgar became the ward of John Allan, a successful tobacco merchant in
Richmond, and his wife Frances, who had no children of their own. Although never
formally adopted by them, Poe regarded the couple, especially Mrs. Allan, as parents, and
he took their surname as his own middle name. In 1815, business reasons led Allan to
move to England for what would be a five-year stay. Both in London and then in
Richmond after the familys return, Poe was well educated in private academies. In 1825,
he became secretly engaged to a girl named Elmira Royster. The engagement, opposed by
both families, was subsequently broken off.
In 1826, Poe entered the University of Virginia, newly founded by former
President Thomas Jefferson. He distinguished himself as a student, but he also took to
drinking, and he amassed gambling debts of $2,000, a significant amount of money at the
time, which John Allan, although he had recently inherited a fortune, refused to honor.
After quarreling with Allan, Poe left Richmond in March 1827 and sailed to Boston,
where, in relatively short order, he enlisted in the United States Army (under the name
Edgar A. Perry, and claiming to be four years older than his actual age of eighteen) and
published a pamphlet called Tamerlane and Other Poems, whose author was cited on the
title page only as “a Bostonian.” This little book did not sell at all, but its few surviving
copies are among the most highly prized items in the rare-book market; one accidentally
discovered copy, bought for a dollar, was recently auctioned for $150,000. Poes military
career went more successfully.