The Life and Death of Edgar Allan Poe

The Life and Death of Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe had a writing style that was rather unique. He had a way of rhyming and expressing himself that no other author had at the time. He was in himself a genius in his own demented way.

Many of Poe's writings reflected his life, be it happy or sad. Poe had a very difficult life, different from many others. All the women in his life seemed to die. Many died of Tuberculosis. Those who didn't die of Tuberculosis still seemed to die. These deaths played a major effect on Poe's writing style. Men were often the "bad guys" in Poe's literature, and nearly every story Poe wrote was about death. Many times there were obscure circumstances surrounding the deaths in the stories.

That fact, and the fact that his writings intrigue me are the sole factors as to why I chose to write about this amazingly depressing man.

Early Life

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January nineteenth, 1809. His actor parents, Betty and David Poe orphaned Edgar at the age of three. John and Francis Allan of Richmond, Virginia took Edgar in.

When Edgar grew into his teens, his family moved around a lot. They finally moved to a house that they got from William Galt in 1822 or 1823. Edgar continued his education during this time and when he was fourteen, he attended the academy of Joseph H. Clarke, and after that he studied with William Burke.

Edgar's schooling in Richmond encouraged his gift for the written art, and he was good at Latin and French. When he was sixteen, he wrote one of his earliest surviving poems; "Oh Tempora! Oh Mores!" Edgar wrote enough poems to publish a book, but his teacher persuaded John Allan not to.

When Edgar returned fro...

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... identifiable ancestor of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie's Hurcule Poirot, Erle Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason and all those other heroes whose minds are "resolvent and creative." (E. A. Poe)

Bibliography:

Bibliography

Mabbott, Thomas Ollive, Collected Works of Edgar Allan, Volume I, Poems, Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1969

Quinn, Arthur Hobson, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography, New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1941

Thomas, Dwight and David K. Jackson, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe 1809-1849, Boston: G. K. Hall and Co., 1987

www.helpwurld.com -- Edgar Allan Poe

www.oracleorange.com -- Edgar Allan Poe Biography

www.poedecoder.com -- The Army and the Death of Fanny Allan

www.poesattic.com -- Edgar Allan Poe 1809-1849

www.poedecoder.com -- Edgar's Teens