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Biography of Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe, an American writer, editor, and literally critic was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. He was the second born of the couple actress Elizabeth Arnold and actor David Poe Jr. His father abandoned the family in 1810 and a year later his mother succumbed to pulmonary tuberculosis. Poe was thereafter taken into the home of John Allan, a successful Scottish merchant in Richmond, Virginia. While with the Allan’s foster family he was given the name ‘Edgar Allan Poe’, regardless of the informal adoption. (Quinn)
“The Allan’s had him baptized in the Episcopal Church in 1812 before sailing to Britain in 1815. Poe attended grammar school in Irvine, Scotland for a short while before joining his family back in London in 1816. There he studied at a boarding school in Chelsea until summer 1817. He was subsequently entered at the Reverend John Bransby’s Manor House School at Stoke Newington, then a suburb four miles (6km) north of London.” (Edgar Allan Poe)
In 1820, Poe went back to Richmond, Virginia with his foster family where four years later he served as the lieutenant of the Richmond youth guard as Richmond commemorated the visit of the Marquis de Lafayette. John’s uncle, a wealthy business man died in the next year leaving the custody of his estate to John Allan. However, there arose tension between John Allan and Edgar, developing from debts, in addition to those losses incurred in gambling, and the expense of secondary education for the young man. Poe attended the University of Virginia for a single semester but dropped out due to financial constraints to fund his learning. (Edgar Allan Poe)
Poe was enlisted in the United States Army on 27th May 1827 as a private with an assumed name Edgar A. Perry. He claimed he was 22 years old even though he was 18. He first served at Fort Independence in Boston Harbor and in the same year, he released his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems, credited only to a Bostonian. (Edgar Allan Poe) The book received poor attention and only fifty copies were published. He was promoted to artificer, an enlisted tradesman who prepared shells for artillery which doubled his monthly pay. He served for two years before being made a Sergeant Major for Artillery (Edgar Allan Poe) . However, Poe sought to end this five-year enlistment early. He went ahead and revealed his real name and circumstances to his commander, Lieutenant Howard. Howard would only discharge Poe upon his reconciliation with John Allan. He wrote to John but the latter was unsympathetic. Allan’s wife, Frances died on 28 February 1829 and Poe visited the day of her burial. Finally, John accented to the pleas of Poe to support him get discharged in order to get an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Poe was thus discharged on April 15, 1829 after securing a replacement to end his enlisted term for him. (Edgar Allan Poe)
Poe travelled to West Point and matriculated as a cadet on July 1, 1830 and John Allan remarried in the same year. This again brought up misunderstanding between Poe and his foster family, and finally he was disowned. Poe purposely opted to move away from West Point to get court-martialed. The following year on February 8, he was tried for gross neglect of duty and disobedience of orders for defaulting to attend classes, formations and church. He tactfully pleaded innocent to attract dismissal, knowing he would be found guilty (Edgar Allan Poe) . He left for New York the same month and released a third volume of poems, simply titled poems. The book was financed with the help of fellow cadets. This book was printed by Elam Bliss of New York, and labelled as “Second Edition” and was dedicated to the U.S. Corps of Cadets. Previous poems were also reprinted in this book, that is, ‘Tamerlane’ and ‘Al Aaraaf’ and other six previously unpublished poems including “To Helen”, “Israfel”, and “The City in the Sea”. (Kenneth)
Poe’s publishing career had then stated picking up, after the dead of his brother. He was first popular American to try to make a living from writing alone and was hampered by lack of an international copyright law. Publisher would pirate British works rather than pay for new work by Americans. The Panic of 1837 had also had an adverse effect to the industry. Fueled by the new technology, American periodicals had a booming growth, though many did not last beyond a few issues. This is because the publishers defaulted payments or delayed payments to the writers. Poe would be humiliated in his pleas for money in his attempt to depend fully on writing for a living.
Poe married his 13-year old cousin, Virginia Clemm. It is believed that her early death may have inspired some of his writing. Poe switched his attention to prose after a previous struggle with poetry. While working with a Philadelphia publication, he placed a few stories and began work on his sole drama, Politian. In 1833, his short story MS. Found in a Bottle earned him a prize with The Baltimore Saturday Visiter. The story made Poe be recognized by Thomas W. White, editor of the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond. Poe became the assistant editor of the periodical in August 1835 but was discharged within a few weeks after being found drunk by the boss. (Edgar Allan Poe) Poe went to Richmond and had a second wedding ceremony with Virginia Clemm in public. By then he was still a messenger. However, he published a number of poems, critiques, stories and book reviews. (Edgar Allan Poe)
Some of his publications include The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1839) and also edited Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine. Poe left Burton for a position as an assistant at Graham’s Magazine a year later. Virginia developed tuberculosis complications in January 1842 and this made Poe to switch to alcoholism to relieve the stress. Poe left Graham and joined Broadway journal where he later became the sole owner. Broadway Journal collapsed in 1846 and Poe moved to a New York where Virginia died in 1847. Poe thus went back to Richmond and reunited to his childhood girlfriend, Sarah Royster. (Marie)
In 1847, a man found Poe on the streets of Baltimore delirious in a severe distress and he was rushed to the Washington College Hospital where he succumbed to his illness Sunday, October 7, 1849 in the morning. Poe was incoherent to explain the cause of his distress. At the night of his death, Poe was heard calling out “Reynolds” with no one aware who he was referring to. Though some sources say Poe’s final words were ‘Lord help my poor soul’. (Edgar Allan Poe)
Works cited
Edgar Allan Poe. 2017. <http://universalmonsters.wikia.com/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe>.
Kenneth, Silverman. "Edgar A. Poe: A Biography." Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance (1992).
Marie, Bornaparte. "The life and works of Edgar Alla Poe." A psyscho-analytic interpretation (1949).
Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. 1997. <https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=0ajYl9fPDfMC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=edgar+allan+poe+biography&ots=HjvIyk1QYt&sig=QhZ6SMod2MSmZvxWT2PWMcObXKk&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=edgar%20allan%20poe%20biography&f=false>.
