Be Still My Beating Heart
Having read the great many works of Edgar Allan Poe in my short lifetime, I am befuddled with the ideas of who Poe is and why he wrote such aberrant works. Looking into the stories of “The Mask of The Red Dead” and “The Cask of Amontillado”, Poe writes of morbid and even ghastly death, tenebrous scenery, and grave misfortunes. Is Poe an evil and foreboding soul? Letters have been written and the great detective writer’s mystery needs the case to be cracked to interpret the truth here in; the writings are a great key to answers of the riddle. Is his works evidence of his sorrow or just the brilliant mind of the forefathers in Dark Romanticism?
If you look into the timeline of Poe’s writing and cross reference the details of the works with the life he is leading, you will understand more in depth the reality of the man, the myth, and the legend. Poe wrote his feelings into the works. He was not absent of heart or soul. He was not evil and maliciously unjust. Poe was born in 1809, his mother and father both died within three years of his birth. Taken into a new family, one of which he was never entirely welcome, he lived a life searching for happiness, wealth, and success of being. As if his private life was not enough concern for Poe, he was absolved from his engagement when his fiancé took up another man, “Humiliated by his poverty and furious with Allan for not providing enough funds in the first place, Poe returned to Richmond and visited the home of his fiancée Elmira Royster, only to discover that she had become engaged to another man in Poe’s absence. The heartbroken Poe’s last few months in the Allan mansion were punctuated with increasing hostility towards Allan until Poe finally storme...
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...ithout the suffering he endured we would not have the works of today. To have the strength he possessed and write with dignity, it is the beauty of the man’s caliber and grace of his definition. Poe was not a madman, but a mad man. Angry and enlightened he was a powerful force of immortal prose left for the world to remember eternally.
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Editor, Poe Museum. "The Museum of Edgar Allan Poe." 2010. Poe Museum. 16 March 2011 .
Editors, New World Encyclopedia. Dark Romanticism. 19 February 2009. 3 April 2011 .
Poe, Edgar Allan. The Cask of Amontillado. 1847.
—. The Mask of The Red Death. 1842.
Edgar Allan Poe was inarguably one of the most well known American poets. His criticisms, stories, and poems far out lived the man, but not his reputation. Even today any search of the poet Edgar Allan Poe will bring up facts that are dark, disputable, disgusting, and at times tragic. Mr. Poe wrote words of love, despair, anger, and mystery. He wrote what he knew best and he left behind a legacy that is unique, riveting, and thought provoking, even today. The question is did Edgar Allan Poe deserve the scathing final review that was his obituary? Are his beautiful and disturbing words the ravings of a mad man? It is generally accepted that he suffered from alcoholism and that was the reason of his death. However, his reputation was such that
Edgar Allan Poe is one of America’s most celebrated classical authors, known for his unique dealings within the horror genre. Poe was a master at utilizing literary devices such as point of view and setting to enhance the mood and plot of his stories leading to his widespread appeal that remains intact to this day. His mastery of aforementioned devices is evident in two of his shorter works “The Black Cat” and “The Cask of Amontillado”.
One only needs to look at Edgar Allan Poe's works to see how disturbed he truly was. Poe wrote about men being buried alive, a heart that would not stop beating even after it was taken from the body, a man being tortured by a swinging blade, and a tormented man being haunted by a raven. Why would a person write about such horrors? What demons did he seek to exorcise through his writings? What made him so tormented and cynical? Maybe for Poe it was because both his mother and his bride were snatched from him by tuberculosis. Or maybe it was because the world around him was surrounded by violence and death. Or maybe Poe was just that tortured, due to his broken upbringing.
Redfield, J. S. "The Genius of Poe." Foreword. The Works of Edgar Allan Poe. Ed. A.C. Armstrong & Son. New York: A.C. Armstrong & Son., 1884. xv-xxvi. EPUB file.
Poe, Edgar Allan. Ligeia. 8th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. 692-701. Print.
Poe, Edgar Allan, Andrew Barger, Harry Clarke and Gustave Dore´. Edgar Allan Poe. [Memphis, Tenn.]: BottleTree Books, 2008. Print.
Do you remember in elementary school when you read Annabel Lee or The Raven? Remember how afterwards you and your friends would run around and say “Nevermore”? Even today when you see those lines you remember they day you were first introduced to Poe. This is a reality for most people. For some reason Edgar Allan Poe never leaves us. He stays with us for years upon years not only as individuals but as a society. Edgar Allan Poe’s influence can be seen throughout pop culture as well as other famous and historical people, places, and ideas.
Edgar Allan Poe has a style that is dark and morbid. His tone is very gloomy and obscure. The tone of “The Cask of Amontillado” is almost tame compared to the tone of “The Black Cat”, his other work we covered. The tone of that work is almost maddening. “The Cask of Amontillado” tone is very sinister and methodic. Whereas “The Black Cat”, has a pulse to a cadence and rhythm though no clear pattern is established. Poe’s style of writing seems so personal, as a reader I had to remind myself this was fiction. His first-person style of writing is so detailed and intricate it is very easy to become invested in the world he creates. “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Black Cat” both have themes of revenge where the supposed victim is untimely
... though, he was not loved nor recognized much for his talents during his lifetime. It wasn’t until he died and his literature rival begin dishing dirt on him, that people started recognizing Poe and his talents. Throughout Poe’s life, it seemed like writing was his way of letting out some of the pain that life had brought down upon him; a way to keep himself sane it almost seemed. It reflects his difficult childhood, his devastating love life, and his depressing views on life. That concludes Edgar Allan Poe and his literature.
Poe’s frightening stories acts as helpful inspiration for entertainment in the present, and for many years to come. The timeless relevance of his work, and its merciless scrutiny of the human condition, solidifies its place in history and its position of high admiration. In conclusion, the extraordinary-fleeting-tragic life of Edgar Allan Poe will forever remain on record as the tale of an orphan, a gentleman, a soldier, and one of the most prominent literary figures in American history.
First one needs to know some background information on Edgar Allan Poe. Poe was born in Boston, Massachutes, to David Poe and Elizabeth Arnold. He lost both his father, who abandoned the family, and his mother, who died of tuberculosis, at a very young age. He was taken in by John Allan, a wealthy business man. As Poe aged, he and his father relationship became very strained. In 1826, while attending the University of Virginia, Poe and his father had a falling out over his supposed drinking and his gambling debts. In 1827, Poe enlisted in the U.S. Army. After two years of service, his father helped him get accepted into West Point Military Academy. It was only a few months before Poe was expelled from school and disowned by his father. In 1832 he moved to Baltimore to live with his aunt, Mrs. Clemm, and Cousin Virginia. Four years later Poe and his young cousin were married. She soon became very sick and suffered from repeated illness until she died in 1847.
Edgar Allan Poe's deplorable life was filled with unfortunate calamity, endless tragedies, and pathetic misery, which inevitably led to his pessimistic view on life and obsession with death. His personal mind frame is automatically conveyed in his essays, which for him was a primary form of expression. Thus, a strong emphasis on somber despondency has proven to be a thematic element of his literary career.
Best known for his poems and short fiction, Edgar Allan Poe deserves more credit than any other writer for the transformation of the short story into a respected literary work. He virtually created the detective story and perfected the psychological thriller. He also produced some of the most influential literary criticism of his time. Although he contributed so much to the writing world, little is known about the Poe himself. Historians have been trying for years to piece together the life of this literary genius. In almost every biographical publication Poe’s life is divided into three sections: his early life, his career, and his death.
In final anyalysis, the work of Edgar Allan Poe has more meanings than those that meet the eye. Tragic events and gloomy details of his life are transcribed on paper, not clearly, but hidden in each of his publications. His stories can be viewed more as footprints rather than allegories: they are his footprints he left behind in the universe. His life story, all of his experiences, good and bad, influenced his writing in some way or another. Today, we can analyze this information and infer facts about Poe's life, much like detectives unveiling clues from the forgotten past, yet the past wasn't totally forgotten. Poe is gone now, but he is alive and well in our hearts today when we read his prose as well as poetry. His bold and powerful words are in essence the entire life of Edgar Allan Poe.
Brookfield, CT: Twenty-First Century, 2003. 105. The Print. The. Poe, Edgar Allan (1809 - 1849) - Credo Reference Topic.