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Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe


Edgar Allan Poe was a bizarre and often scary writer.   People throughout
history have often wondered why his writings were so fantastically different and
unusual.   They were not the result of a diseased mind, as some think.   Rather
they came from a tense and miserable life.   Edgar Allan Poe was not a happy man.
He was a victim of fate from the moment he was born to his death only forty
years later.   He died alone and unappreciated.   It is quite obvious that his
life affected his writings in a great way.   In order to understand why, the
historical background of Poe must be known.
Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809.   His parents
were touring actors and both died before he was three years old.   After this, he
was taken into the home of John Allan, a prosperous merchant who lived in
Richmond, Virginia.1   When he was six, he studied in England for five years.
Not much else is known about his childhood, except that it was uneventful.
In 1826, when Poe was seventeen years old he entered the University of
Virginia.   It was also at this time that he was engaged to marry his childhood
sweetheart, Sarah Elmira Royster.   He was a good student, but only stayed for a
year.   He did not have enough money to make ends meet, so he ran up extremely
large gambling debts to trying make more money.   Then he could not afford to go
to school anymore.   John Allan refused to pay off Poe's debts, and broke off his
engagement to Sarah Elmira Royster.   Since Poe had no other means of support, he
enlisted in the army.   By this time however, he had written and printed his
first book, Tammerlane, and Minor Poems (1829).2
After a few months though, John Allan and Poe were reconciled.   Allan
arranged for Poe to be released from the army and enrolled him at West Point.
During this time, his fellow cadets helped him publish another book of poetry.
However, John Allan again did not provide Poe with enough money, and Poe decided
to leave this time before...