The Haunting Quill of Edgar Allan Poe by Lee Allan Nelson

Murder, death, madness, grief, and psychological horror were common themes in his work, which fit the dour spirit of the Victorian age. He published his Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque in 1839, which included one of his most famous short stories, “The Fall of the House of Usher.' In 1841, he released “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” the first modern detective story, which would later go on to inspire the creator of the most famous detective of all time, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He published his third volume of poetry, Poems, in 1831.įrom that point on, he worked as a writer, editor, and literary critic for several newspapers and magazines, traveling around cities on the East coast from Richmond, Virginia to Boston, Massachusetts.

Most notably, he was the first American author to try to make a professional living as a writer. Ultimately he chose a life as a writer over military service. Military Academy at West Point where he was dishonorably discharged for neglect of duty in 1831. That same year he published his second book of poems, Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems.Īfter a stint in the army, he attended the U.S.

In 1829, his foster mother, Frances Allan, died, marking the second loss of a prominent female figure in his life. It was around this time that he began to publish poetry seriously, releasing Tamerlane and Other Poems the same year. By the time he was an adult, Poe was disowned by the Allan family altogether.Īfter a failed attempt at the University of Virginia, where his gambling left him in severe debt, Poe enrolled in the U.S. By all accounts, Poe was close to his foster mother, but his relationship with his foster father worsened over time. He was educated at private academies and even traveled abroad. Rechristened Edgar Allan Poe, he went on to live a comfortable early life with his foster family. Poe was left in the care of John and Frances Allan, a well-to-do family from Richmond, Virginia. 'The death of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world.” -Edgar Allan Poe, 'The Philosophy of Composition”Īfter the death of his birth mother, Poe and his siblings were split up and sent to live with separate families.

Best known for his dark tales of horror, psychological terror, and madness, Poe’s own life was marked by both internal and external tragedies that undoubtedly shaped his work.īorn to traveling actor parents as Edgar Poe, his father, David Poe Jr., abandoned the family, leaving Poe and his two siblings with their actress mother, Elizabeth “Eliza” Arnold Hopkins Poe, who died a year later from tuberculosis. While he was much too young (only two years old) to truly remember his birth mother, she was the first in a long string of women he loved that he would lose. The Master of Macabre, the Father of American Gothic, Detective Fiction, and the Short Story, Edgar Allan Poe was born on Januin Boston, Massachusetts.

The Haunting Quill of Edgar Allan Poe by Lee Allan Nelson