Edgar Allen Poe by Bllksavedme

1809

Hi0riy0isc00li0 — 2024-03-12 17:54:00 UTC

Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston Massachusetts. His parents were Elizabeth Arnold and David Poe Jr; Poe’s parents were professional actors. On December 10, Poe's sister Rosalie is born. Shortly after her birth, or possibly even before it, David Poe abandoned the family, leaving Poe's mother alone with three children. Making matters worse, Elizabeth Poe soon falls ill with tuberculosis. On December 8, 1811, both of Poe’s parents died of tuberculosis. His mother died in Richmond, Virginia, and David Poe Jr would die soon after. After their parent’s deaths the Poe siblings would part ways, Henry went to live with his paternal grandparents, while Poe and Rosalie were put in foster care. Poe was took in by John and Frances Allan but they never officially adopted him, meanwhile Rosaline was adopted by another Richmond family, the Mackenzie’s.

1820-1830

Hi0riy0isc00li0 — 2024-03-12 18:05:42 UTC

On November 3, 1824, when he was 15 years old, Poe wrote his first known poem: “Last night, With many cares & toils oppres’d/ Weary, I laid me on a couch to rest.” Poe enlisted in the army on May 26, 1827, under the name “Edgar A. Perry.” Shortly after, he released his first book, a poetry collection,“Tamerlane And Other Poems.” The author was only listed as “A. Bostonian.” Poe enrolled at the University of Virginia on February midway through the year; Poe soon ran up a gambling debt of $2,000 dollars while at college, Poe got into an argument with his foster father when he refused to give Poe money to pay off the debt. After the argument, Poe abandoned college and the Allans; he moves to Baltimore to join relatives there. His foster mother dies on February 28, 1829, due to tuberculosis; Poe was a Sargent Major at that time but he obtained to leave so that he could attend his foster mother’s funeral, whom he was still close too. On April 15, 1829, Poe is appointed to the U.S military at West Point, a few months later he published his second book of poetry, Al Aaraaf.

1830

Hi0riy0isc00li0 — 2024-04-10 18:12:01 UTC

In Baltimore on August 1, 1831, Poe’s brother, Henry, died of tuberculosis likely in the same room or even the same bed he shared with his brother Edgar. He was a heavy drinker and he may have been an alcoholic. Henry’s obituary misspelled his name as “W. H. Hope”. Poe met his cousin Virginia in August of 1829, four months after he was discharged from the army. Virginia was seven at the time. Poe and his family were able to use Virginia’s pension to rent a home on what was then 3 North Amity Street in Baltimore. Poe wrote his first novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pam, on November 4, 1838, the only complete novel written by Poe: the novel has captured many readers attention due to its perturbing nature, and it has continued to due so for many generations.

1840

Hi0riy0isc00li0 — 2024-04-11 15:15:17 UTC

The story collection Tales of the Grotesque And Arabesque was published in two volumes on November 4, 1840. The collection was published by the Philadelphia firm Lea & Blanchard. The publisher was willing to print the collection due to the success of Poe’s recent story, “The fall of the House of Usher”. Despite this, Lea & Blanchard refused to pay Poe any royalties; his only payment was 20 free copy’s. Poe wanted to endorse the book so he sought to Washington Irving, he wrote him a letter that read, “If I could be permitted to add even a word or two from yourself… my fortune would be made” On November 4, 1845, Poe published the hit poem “The Raven.” The dark and morbid poem depicts Poe’s own difficult life. “The Raven” is the most well know poem by Edgar Allan Poe; The poem consists of a cryptic bird that only speaks one word, “Nevermore”, in an grim and ominous tone, to a man stricken by grief, mourning the death of his love. A few years later on January 30, 1847, Virginia passed away due to Tuberculosis at her and Poe’s home in Bronx. By this time Virginia had developed consumption , it was first seen in mid January 1842. When Virginia would sing and play the piano she would bleed from the mouth, though Poe said that she merely “ruptured a blood vessel”. Virginia’s heath declined and she became an invalid, which drove Poe into a deep depression, especially when she occasionally showed signs of improvement. In a letter Poe wrote to his friend he described his resulting metal state: “Each time I felt all the agonies of her death…”

1849

Hi0riy0isc00li0 — 2024-04-12 18:07:22 UTC

On October 7, 1849, Poe was found delirious on the streets of Baltimore, Maryland, “in great distress, and …in need of immediate assistance”, this was said by the man who found him, Joseph W. Walker. The circumstances leading up to his death have remained a mystery and the cause of death is disputed. The clothes Poe wore at the time he was found looked disheveled and out of place: “he had evidently been robbed of his [own] clothing or cheated in an exchange.” Snodgrass and his uncle, Henry Herring, both presumed that Poe was in a inebriated state and agreed to send him to Washington College Hospital where he later died at 5:00 in the morning.