Poe
po, Edgar Allan (1809-1849), an American poet. He was born at Boston and died at Baltimore. The Poes were of Irish descent. Edgar's mother was an English actress. Mrs. Poe appears to have remained on the stage. Both Mr. and Mrs. Poe died in Richmond, Florida, of consumption, within a few weeks of each other. Edgar was adopted by Mr. John Allan, a wealthy merchant of Richmond, whence the Allan in the poet's name. Poe was sent to a dame's school in Richmond. She was accustomed, so runs the story, to hang a carrot around the neck of a bad boy. Edgar put out for home with the carrot dangling from his neck and brought back Mr. Allan who gave the astonished dame a terrible scolding for humiliating his adopted son in such a manner. The Allans made a tour of Great Britain and placed Edgar in school near London. Poe afterward described this school in the story of William Wilson. In 1822 Poe returned to the United States and to his home with the Allans in Richmond.
He was a handsome lad with bright eyes, curly hair, and an expressive face. He was a great story teller. Like Byron, he was a strong swimmer. It is related that he once swam from Richmond to Warwick, a distance of seven and one-half miles, against a tide running from two to three miles an hour. In 1826 Poe entered the University of Virginia. It is said that the university was at that time a most dissolute place and that Edgar Poe became one of its most dissipated students, but with high rank, however, in scholarship. Mr. Allan made Poe a liberal allowance, but refused to honor some of the drafts with which the reckless youth had paid his gambling debts. The consequence was a quarrel, Poe quitting the house in a rage.
At this time the Greeks were fighting against the Turks; Byron had died in their service a year or two before. Campbell was writing poetry in their favor, and Halleck in New York had just written his Marco Bozzaris. Poe, who was practically running away from home, seems to have tried to reach Greece, but turned up at St. Petersburg where he got into difficulties with the Russian authorities and might have ended his days in Siberia had not the United States minister interfered in his behalf and sent him back to Mr. Allan at Richmond. Poe's reception cannot have been very cordial. Mr. Allan, however, had him appointed to a cadetship at West Point. Habits of dissipation, neglect of duties, and disobeyed orders soon caused his dismissal, and Poe returned to Richmond. Mr. Allan died soon afterward, leaving a large fortune, but none of it to Poe.
The next authentic item of interest in Poe's life, for no one seems to know just how he earned his bread, though he appears to have enlisted in the army and to have deserted, is his entering into competition for a prize offered by the Baltimore Saturday Visitor for the best poem and the best tale. The prize was awarded Poe, and he was requested by one of the committee, Mr. John P. Kennedy, the author of Horseshoe Robinson, to call. Poe came with his coat collar turned up to hide the want of a shirt. Cracks in his boots showed that he wore no hose. It is pretty difficult to follow Poe from this time on. He wrote brilliant poems and tales for a number of papers and lived the life of a sot. He married a beautiful girl, but, as might be expected, neglected her. At times he had money and lived well. At times he was in utter destitution. Many tried to stand his friend, and Poe made many efforts to reform but without success.
He tumbled into Baltimore one evening in a drunken condition. Zealous election agents got hold of him and voted him in eleven different precincts. Six days later he died and was buried October 8, 1849, in the burial ground of Westminster Church, Baltimore.
Poe's writings fall naturally into three groups--critical writings, poems, and tales. As a critic of books and of writers of books he showed intelligence and discrimination, and was influential in throwing into disrepute the romance of exaggerated sentimentality. His work in this line, however, is no longer of interest to the general reader. His best known poems are The Raven, The Bells, Annabel Lee, Lenore, and Israfel. As a writer of short stories Poe must be ranked among the masters. In invention, in keen analysis of sensitive and morbid natures, in the power of visualizing the unreal, and in fine execution of details, Poe cannot be surpassed. His stories are, however, weird and full of horrors. They are therefore less pleasant reading than those which depict everyday life and ordinary human beings. Among the best known are: The Gold Bug, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, and The Domain of Arnheim.