The Mystery of Edgar Allan Poe

1486 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Contribution of edgar allan poe in literature

The Mystery of Edgar Allan Poe

What was the mystery of Edgar Allan Poe? Why was he so special? He was special because he helped change poetry by giving it different focuses. Through looking at Edgar Allan Poe's life, we will understand what motivated him to write what he did, what the meaning was behind these works, and how this changed poetry.

Before Edgar Allan Poe, the common belief was that poetry should be about Truth, and that it should impart some morals. Poe disagreed, and strongly felt that poetry was not at all about passing along the Truth. Poetry should be about Beauty, and the excitement of the soul. For Poe, the truth was far too harsh to be included in poetry. The truth for Poe was that life is harsh. Poe was abandoned at a very young age. His father had abandoned his family, and his mother had died by the age of three. From there, his life did not get better. A wealthy merchant family, the Allan?s, unofficially adopted him. With the help of the Allan?s, he received a top-notch education. His early education consisted of boarding schools in England were he learned Latin and French, as well as many other subjects. After his stay in England, Poe came home with an education superior to his peers in America. He continued his education until his enrollment into the University of Virginia. There, due to reasons unknown, John Allan sent him to school with insufficient funds (Meyers 235). He did not have enough money to buy books for the first semester. He had to gamble to earn money enough to buy him clothes and money to live on, since Allan would not send him more money. After one year, Poe had to end his education, being broke and an alcoholic. After this he had many bouts with the army. In b...

... middle of paper ...

...oe, do not think of him as a sick man who was obsessed with death. Think of him as a man that was tired of the sorrow life was throwing him, who used poetry as only a way to counter this sorrow by catching a glimpse of the Beauty that was divine.

Works Cited

Frank, Frederick S., and Anthony Magistrale. The Poe Encyclopedia. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1997.

Howarth, William L., ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Poe?s Tales. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1971.

Meyers, Jeffrey. Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Charles Scribner?s Sons, 1992.

Poe, Edgar A. ?The Poetic Principle?, The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe, vol.III, 1850, pp. 1-20. http://www.eapoe.org/works/essays/poetprnd.htm.

Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Introduction. The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. By Edward H. O?Neill., ed. New York: Barnes and Noble Books,1992.

Show More
Related

  • Hutchinson Gilford Progeria Syndrome Essay

    848 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hutchinson Gilford Progeria Syndrome is a genetic disorder that causes premature aging. It is caused by a point mutation in the gene, Lamin A. The child has normal emotions and intelligence. It does not impact the brain only the health and appearance.

    Read More

  • Decent and Street People in the Code of the Streets by Elijah Anderson

    1687 Words  | 4 Pages

    Anderson’s theory examined African Americans living in America’s inner cities that are driven to follow the “street code” and work to maintain respect, loyalty, and their own self-image. The “street code” Anderson is referring to is “a cultural adaptation” which is the cause of violent crime in America’s inner cities (Anderson Article PDF, 3). Since these people are living in mainly impoverished neighborhoods with easy access to drugs and guns, as well as high rates of crime and violence, “everyone feels isolated and alienated from the rest of America” (Vold, 187). Anderson continues to distinguish between “decent” people and “street people.” Those who are “decent” families live in accordance with a “civil code” that upholds values in comparison with the rest of society such as maintaining a job, obtaining an education, protecting their children and following the law. Additionally, “street” families tend to fend for themselves, and when young, grow up without adult supervision and are often abused. This alone causes a dangerous environment because children then, “learn that to solve any kind of interpersonal problem one must quickly resort to hitting or other violent behavior” (Anderson Article PDF, 5). When brought up in an inner city “street” family, racism is a leading factor that causes the youth to construct a negative outlook on the rest of society. When these inner city, lo...

    Read More

  • Tragedies Influence Poe's Works

    761 Words  | 2 Pages

    Poe, Edgar Allan. Ligeia. 8th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. 692-701. Print.

    Read More

  • “Because I could not stop for Death” and “Annabel Lee”: Similarities, Differences, and Their Authors

    1506 Words  | 4 Pages

    New York: A.C. Armstrong & Son., 1884. xv-xxvi. EPUB file. Sova, Dawn B. "Poe, Edgar Allan.

    Read More

  • Progeria Syndrome Essay

    1759 Words  | 4 Pages

    The human genome is a remarkable system composed of over 3 billion DNA base pairs that encode for the characteristics that makes people distinctly human and unique themselves. Without the genome’s nearly flawless ability to self-replicate the human species would cease to exist. As incredible as this replication methodology is, it is not without its faults. Genetic mutations, though rare and typically harmless, can strike at any time and in various ways. Still, when they do cause harm the effects can be profound and impossible to ignore. Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS) is an instance where the mutation of just one nucleotide has devastating results. The Mayo Clinic defines progeria as a progressive genetic disorder that causes children to age rapidly, beginning in their first two years of life. This study defines the disease of progeria by outlining symptoms and identifying causes that lead to its diagnosis. In addition, treatment methods and extensive research that give those affected by the disease hope for a brighter future are highlighted.

    Read More

  • Edgar Allan Poe's Life and Work

    1406 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...story writers all over the world. Although he had an unusual, unique, and peculiar way of writing he still had a great influence and impact on society during his time, up to the present day. Poe’s writing has changed the way present day writers write about love, pride, beauty and death.

    Read More

  • The Life and Works of Edgar Allan Poe

    1475 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the life of Edgar Allan Poe, he suffered many unfortunate events and endured several difficult situations. Some speculate that it was these experiences that helped to formulate the famous writing style of Edgar Allan Poe. His dark tales such as "The Masque of the Red Death" and "The Tell-Tale Heart" are horrific, and his poems such as "Alone" and "The Raven" show evidence that his life experiences influenced their dreariness. Poe's story plots and his own life are undeniably related and this relationship is intricately defined in many of his works.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Racial Disparity In The Criminal Justice System

    1236 Words  | 3 Pages

    Years after the United States civil rights movement, the removal of formal segregation laws, and implementation of anti-racist policies, the American criminal justice system still fails to display the same reform. As one of the largest superpowers and industrialized nations in the world, the United States has not attained a “post-racial status,” defined as being a society in which race, although it remains a concept, does not influence individuals. The failure of the United States to attain “post-racial status” is exemplified in the criminal justice system by overwhelming evidence of disproportionate levels of crime, arrests, and incarceration that primarily affect minority populations. Past and present patterns of American society dealing with crime and the people involved committing crime show extreme racial disparity in terms of individuals’ predisposed environments that increase ones likelihood of being involved in the criminal justice system, the system itself that processes individuals, the encouragement of mass incarceration by mainstream society, and the effects these processes have on society.

    Read More

  • Essay On Edgar Allan Poe

    709 Words  | 2 Pages

    Edgar Allan Poe, the man known as the father of horror stories. His short stories and poems are known to be gloomy, dark, and morbid. Most people are not aware that many of his works are reflections of his own life. Throughout his whole life, Poe experienced numerous tragedies. Many of his hard experiences can be seen in his poems Annabel Lee, Alone, and Israfel. His short stories were also affected by his past. The Raven also has small depictions of Poe’s life. A tragic past, consisting of a lack of true parents and the death of his wife, made Edgar Allan Poe the famous writer he is today, but it also led to his demise and unpopularity.

    Read More

  • The Hazards of Milk

    1739 Words  | 4 Pages

    The USDA say that the average person needs to drink 2-3 fluid cups of milk per day, depending on age and gender, to maintain a healthy diet (USDA), “claims, which are misleading in the extreme" (Cancer Prevention Coalition, Para3). Milk is a beverage that can cause various levels of diseases that the process of pasteurization does not filter, along with additive hormones that also effects cows that are treated with these hormones and all the while, there are people in the world that have little or no dairy intake that find calcium in places other than dairy and who are generally a more healthy people.

    Read More

  • Comparing Masque of the Red Death and Hop Frog

    893 Words  | 2 Pages

    Poe, Edgar Allan. The Collected Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. New York: The Modern Library 1992

    Read More

  • Essay On Progeria

    1549 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (Progeria or HGPS) is a rare genetic mutation that is characterised by premature aging. Only 40 cases have been recognized worldwide. It is characterised by medical features that develop in childhood and they resemble some features of accelerated aging. (Eriksson, 2003) The name “Progeria” comes from the Greek and it means “prematurely old.” There are different types of Progeria, but this is the classic type and was named after the doctors who first discovered it.

    Read More

  • Progeria Essay

    689 Words  | 2 Pages

    90% of children with Progeria have a mutation on the gene that encodes Lamin A, a protein that holds the nucleus of the cell together (Conley 4). Lamin A protein makes the nucleus stable it leads to the process of premature aging among Progeria patients.

    Read More

  • The Developing and Controversial Industry of Cow’s Milk

    1444 Words  | 3 Pages

    Milk is the first food of mammals, providing all the necessary nutrients for survival and initial growth until weaning (Velten 10). It is only a small percentage of the world’s population that actually drinks milk. Most people prefer processed dairy products, such as butter, cheese and yogurt. Cow’s milk is probably the most controversial of foods. Its qualities and associated

    Read More

  • The Black Cat Analysis

    1101 Words  | 3 Pages

    Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-Ending Remembrance. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1991. book.

    Read More

More about The Mystery of Edgar Allan Poe

Open Document