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Name: Edgar Allan Poe
Date of Birth: January 19, 1809
Place of Birth: USA, Boston, Massachusetts
Edgar Poe - biography
Edgar Poe is an outstanding American writer, poet and critic of the 19th century. His works had a significant impact on the formation of the detective and science fiction genres. Poe was one of the first writers to create short stories. His talent was highly appreciated by Arthur Conan Doyle and Jules Verne, calling Po their teacher.
The future writer was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston into an acting family. He was the middle of three children. The life of traveling artists involved numerous moves, so his parents temporarily left his grandfather, who lives in Baltimore. Poe spent the first months of his life there.
When Edgar was one year old, his father left the family. In 1811, at the age of two, the boy lost his mother - she died of consumption. A two-year-old orphan child liked a wealthy merchant from Richmond, John Allan. He and his wife adopted the boy and surrounded him with care, love and prosperity. In 1815, the Allan family was forced to move to England - the work of Poe's adoptive father began to deteriorate, and he decided to establish trade relations in Europe. In London, Edgar graduated from the elementary school of Madame Dubois, further education was interrupted due to Allan's departure to the United States.
At home, the future writer continued his studies at school. He has established himself as an excellent connoisseur of literature. The young man's interests included ancient literature and foreign languages. According to the memoirs of teachers, Edgar read many ancient authors in the original, as he was fluent in Latin and ancient Greek. During this period, Poe became seriously interested in poetry and tried his hand at creating poems.
In 1826, Edgar entered the University of Virginia, a prestigious educational institution where children from wealthy families studied. At the university, Po studied two courses - classical philology and modern languages. Living an independent life away from his parental home, Edgar decided to try the entertainment that "noble gentlemen" indulged in - card games and wine. In one school year, Edgar managed to lose more than two and a half thousand dollars and became addicted to alcohol. His adoptive father paid only a tenth of the debt. Poe could not remain in Charlottesville in this position, and after completing his freshman year, he was forced to return home.
Relations with the adoptive father were completely ruined, and the future writer settled in a local tavern. At that time, the beginning of Poe's intensive literary activity falls. His first book was a collection of poems "Tamerlane" and other poems, published under the pseudonym Boston. The writer's debut work was agreed to be published in 1827 by a familiar publisher, Calvin Thomas, but this work did not bring reader recognition to the young author.
Lack of livelihood forced the aspiring poet to sign a five-year contract with the army. Edgar was engaged in paperwork, as he was perfectly literate and had neat handwriting. Two years later he was promoted to chief sergeant.
During his military service, Poe continues to engage in creativity, writing new poems and hatching the idea of creating another poetry collection. Another work of the poet was published at the end of 1829. After serving for two years, Edgar retired from the army, and in 1930 entered the West Point Military Academy. The cadet life of a young man was not easy, but the experience gained helped Edgar quickly get used to the strict army discipline. Every day, Po was busy from morning to evening, but he managed to find free time for creativity. In 1831, Edgar firmly decided to devote his life to literary work and leave the academy.
After the expulsion, the novice writer went to New York, where his third collection of poetry was published. However, the difficult financial situation forced the poet to take up prose - he decided to take part in the competition for the best short story, the prize fund of which was one hundred dollars. The result of his literary efforts were the works “Metzengerstein”, “The Deal That Failed”, “Significant Loss” and some others. However, the results of the competition were disappointing - Edgar did not win. But, despite this, the novice prose writer continued to hone his skills in this genre. His stories contained elements of mysticism and detective story - new literary trends of that time. In 1932, his prose works were collected in the Folio Club Stories collection, which never went out of print.
In 1833, the next literary competition was held, where Edgar sent six stories and one poem. Poe's short story "The Manuscript Found in a Bottle" won. After that, he began to communicate closer with John F. Kennedy, a well-known critic and writer. He became the literary patron of the novice prose writer and helped him with the publication of his first stories - "Berenice" and "The Extraordinary Adventure of a Hans Pfaal". Soon, Edgar received the position of assistant editor, but his passion for alcohol became the reason for his dismissal. After some time, Poe again turned to the publishing house with a request for a job, and he was accepted on the condition that he would give up alcohol. At that time, Edgar went into literary criticism - he carefully analyzed the works of famous authors and uncompromisingly poured reasonable remarks on them, thanks to which the popularity of his magazine grew significantly.
At the end of the thirties - the beginning of the forties, the most fruitful period of the writer's work fell. Edgar wrote the largest work - "The Tale of the Adventures of Arthur Gordon Pym", many psychological and mystical stories, poems and critical articles. For the first time, the talented writer received great fame after the publication of the collection of short stories “Grotesques and Arabesques” in 1839. Edgar, who worked as an editor for several publications, began to think about launching his own magazine, but this idea failed. In 1841, the prose writer published the first detective work, recognized as one of his best books - "Murder in the Rue Morgue".
In the early forties, the health of Edgar's wife deteriorated sharply, which led the writer into a deep depression and constant binges. During this period, Poe creates dark works in the horror genre. According to the reader's ratings, the most popular were the works "The Heart-Revealer", "Black Cat", "Premature Burial". He periodically wrote poetry, but the story remained the main form for him. His most popular poem is "The Raven", thanks to which the name of Poe became known far beyond the borders of the United States.
Glory is firmly entrenched in the new celebrity. Poe becomes a co-owner of a prestigious American publication and lectures on literary topics, which brought him a good income. However, constant binges undermined his reputation. In 1947, after the death of his wife, the famous writer began to take drugs, suffered from constant nervous breakdowns. He continued to create stories and essays, but the former performance was no longer there.
In 1949, Poe was found unconscious near the Baltimore train station. He died in the hospital at the age of forty. The cause of his death is still a mystery. In honor of the legendary writer, several monuments were opened, commemorative medals were issued and a prize named after him was established.
The work of an outstanding American writer is a real breakthrough in literature. Almost all of Poe's books are innovative and constantly experimenting with genres, both in poetry and prose. His work influenced modern cinema - in the middle of the 20th century, a number of films based on the works of the prose writer were released. In addition, film adaptations of episodes of his stories are complemented by many modern films in the horror genre. Also, some of Poe's works formed the basis of musical works - operas and symphonic poems.
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All books by Edgar Allan Poe
Book Series - The Stories of Auguste Dupin
- Murder in the Rue Morgue
- Mystery of Marie Roger
- stolen letter
A series of books - Bilingual. We listen, we read, we understand
- The Murders in the Rue Morgue (+MP3)
Book Series - Garfang Collection
- Arthur Gordon Pym's Message (compilation)
Book Series - Folk Poetry
Series of books - Foreign classics (AST)
- Golden bug (compilation)
Book Series - Detective's Golden Library
- Four Pious. Golden bug (compilation)
Book series - Classical literature (Karo)
- Buried alive. Book to read in English
A series of books - Ilya Frank's method of teaching reading
- English with Edgar Poe. The Fall of the House of Usher / Edgar Allan Poe. The Fall of the House of Usher
Series of books – School Library of Ukrainian and Foreign Literature
- Well and pendulum. stories
Book Series - Classic Detective Collection
- Golden bug (compilation)
Book Series - Masters of Magical Realism (AST)
- The worlds of Arthur Gordon Pym. Anthology
Book Series - Best Seller of All Time
- Very scary stories / Best Horror Stories
Book Series - Flip and Read
- The Picture of Dorian Grey. The Fall of the House of Usher (compilation)
Book series - The Worlds of Edgar Allan Poe
- The Fall of the House of Usher (compilation)
- Crowd Man (compilation)
Book Series - Parallel Text Edition
- The Gold-bug / The Gold-bug (compilation)
No series
- 100 poems that touch the most severe men (collection)
- 100 love poems
- Enchanted castle. Collection
Edgar Allan Poe (eng. Edgar Allan Poe; January 19, 1809 - October 7, 1849) - American writer, poet, literary critic and editor, is a representative of American romanticism. He is best known for his dark stories. Creator of the modern detective uniform. The work of Edgar Allan Poe contributed to the emergence of the science fiction genre.
Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, USA. His parents, actors of a traveling troupe, died when Edgar was only two years old. Edgar's mother, Elizabeth Arnold Poe, was an Englishwoman. Edgar's father, David Poe, is Irish-American. The boy was adopted and adopted by a wealthy merchant from Virginia, John Allan.
Edgar's childhood passed in a rather rich environment. The Allans did not spare money for his upbringing: he was dressed “like a prince”, he had his own horse, his own dogs. When Edgar was six years old, the Allans went to England and sent the boy to an expensive boarding school in London, where he studied for five years. Upon the Allans' return to the United States in 1820, Edgar entered college, graduating in 1826. Edgar was sent to finish his education at the University of Richmond.
Edgar developed early: at the age of five he read, drew, wrote, recited, rode horseback. At school, he studied well, acquired a large stock of knowledge in literature, especially English and Latin, in general history, in mathematics, in some branches of natural science, such as astronomy, physics. Physically, Edgar was strong, participated in all the pranks of his comrades, and at the university - in all their revels. The character of the future poet from childhood was uneven, passionate, impulsive. There were many strange things in his behavior. From an early age, Edgar wrote poetry, was fond of fantastic plans, loved to make psychological experiments on himself and others. Conscious of his superiority, he made others feel it.
Life in wealth ended for Edgar when he was not even 17 years old. He stayed at the university for only a year. In the autumn of 1826 there was a break between John Allan and his adopted son. The reason for the quarrel was that Allan refused to pay Edgar's gambling debts.
For Edgar Allan Poe began a wandering life. After leaving the Allan house, he went to his native Boston, where, under the pseudonym "Bostonian", he published a collection of poems "Tamerlane and Other Poems", which was never published. Having no shelter, he joined the army under an assumed name. He served for about a year, was in good standing with his superiors, and even received the rank of sergeant major. In early 1828, the poet turned to his adoptive father, asking for help. Allan paid for the hire of a deputy and secured Edgar's release.
Having received freedom, Edgar Allan Poe again turned to poetry. He again visited Baltimore and met his paternal relatives there. In late 1829, a second collection of Poe's poems was published in Baltimore under his name.
Meanwhile, John Allan insisted that Edgar complete his education. He entered the Military Academy at West Point in March 1830. In March 1831, he was expelled and again quarreled with his adoptive father.
From West Point, Poe left for New York, where he hurried to publish a third collection of poems.
Edgar Allan Poe married a thirteen-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm. Her early death influenced some of the poet's works.
From autumn 1831 to autumn 1833 - the most difficult period for Poe. He reached extreme poverty. In 1835 he married his cousin Virginia Clemm. By the time of the marriage, he was 27 years old, and Virginia 13.
There is no doubt that during these years the young poet worked hard. He wrote a number of short stories - the best in the early period of his work.
However, a serious test soon lay in wait for him. In 1847 his wife dies.
The last years of Poe's life, 1847-1849, were years of throwing, semi-madness, successes, falls and constant slander.
Poe's bouts of alcoholism drove him to a mental breakdown. On October 7, 1849, he died.
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Edgar Poe - American novelist, poet, essayist, literary critic and editor, representative of American Romanticism - was born January 19, 1809 in Boston, in the family of actors Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe and David Poe, Jr.
Edgar was the middle child in the family, he had an older brother, William Henry Leonard (1807-1831) and a younger sister, Rosalie (1810-1874). The life of touring actors involved constant moving, which was difficult to carry out with a child in her arms, so little Edgar was temporarily left with his grandfather in Baltimore. There he spent the first few months of his life. A year after the birth of Edgar, his father left the family. Nothing is known for certain about his subsequent fate. December 8, 1811 Poe's mother died of consumption. The little boy, left without parental care, liked the wife of John Allan, a wealthy merchant from Richmond, and soon the childless family took him to her. Sister Rosalie came into the Mackenzie family, who were neighbors and friends of the Allans, while brother Henry lived with his father's relatives in Baltimore.
Poe's adopted family was among the wealthy and respected in Richmond. John Allan was a co-owner of a company that traded tobacco, cotton and other goods. The Allans had no children, so the boy was easily and happily accepted into the family. Edgar Poe grew up in an atmosphere of well-being, they bought him clothes, toys, books, a certified teacher studied with him at home.
In 1815 the family (as well as Ann Valentine - the elder sister of Francis, wife of John Allan) went to the UK. John Allan, whose business was experiencing some difficulties associated with the decline of the economy after the Napoleonic Wars, sought to improve trade relations with Europe. Arriving in Liverpool, the family went to live with Allan's relatives in Scotland, in the cities of Erwin and Kilmarnock. A few weeks later, another move took place - to London, where Poe graduated from Madame Dubois' elementary school. In 1817 studies continued at the Reverend John Bransby School in Stoke Newington, a suburb of the capital. Poe's memories of this period of life are reflected in the story "William Wilson".
Edgar finished his last academic year ahead of schedule. The reason for this was a hasty return trip to the United States - John Allan's affairs in England did not work out, serious financial difficulties ensued, his wife Francis was seriously ill. The merchant even had to borrow money from a companion for the return trip. Summer 1820 a sea transatlantic voyage took place, and already August 2 the family arrived in Richmond.
The first year after returning to America was difficult for the Allans. Their house was rented out for a long time, so they had to settle with John Allan's partner, C. Ellis, who allowed them to live free of charge. In the same year, Poe went to school, where he studied ancient literature and history, Latin, Greek and French, and mathematics. Attention was also paid to English literature, represented by Ben Jonson, Alexander Pope, John Milton and other authors. During this period, Poe's interest in native literature was born, and his first steps in poetry also belong to him.
In 1824 Richmond was visited by the Marquis de Lafayette, the celebrated hero of the revolution and associate of David Poe Sr. In the city, for the arrival of the general, solemn events and a parade were organized, in which Edgar Poe was also a participant. He was chosen as a lieutenant of the Richmond Young Volunteers, which consisted of students from the best schools in the city.
Early 1825 due to illness, the uncle of John Allan, one of the richest people in Virginia, died. He had no direct heirs, but there were many potential heirs in the person of relatives, but they all lived in Scotland. In his last will, he bequeathed the bulk of his fortune to a Richmond nephew. John Allan received $ 750,000 - a huge amount for those times, and the life of the family immediately changed. The company's business took off, a luxurious mansion was bought, and Edgar was taken out of school and hired teachers to prepare him for university.
February 14, 1826 Edgar Allan Poe left for Charlottesville, where he entered the newly opened University of Virginia. Education at the institution founded by Thomas Jefferson was expensive, so the students of the university were the children of wealthy families in the state. Upon admission, Poe chose two courses for study (out of a possible three): classical philology (Latin and Greek) and modern languages (French, Italian, Spanish). The seventeen-year-old poet, who left his parental home, was left to himself for the first time for a long time.
Edgar Allan Poe, educated in London and brought up in a respectable family, undoubtedly considered himself a gentleman. The desire to confirm this status, and later the need for livelihood, led him to the card table. At the same time, Edgar Allan Poe began to drink for the first time.
By the end of the school year, Poe's total debts were $2,500 (about $2,000 of which were card debts). Having received letters demanding payment for them, John Allan immediately left for Charlottesville, where a stormy explanation took place with his stepson. As a result, Allan paid only a tenth of the total (payment for books and services), refusing to recognize Edgar's gambling debts. Despite Poe's obvious progress in his studies and successfully passed the exams, he could no longer stay at the university after the end of the academic year, December 21, 1826 left Charlottesville.
Returning home to Richmond, Poe had no idea about his future prospects. Relations with John Allan were seriously damaged, he did not want to put up with the "careless" stepson. At this time, Poe was intensively engaged in creativity. Probably, it was in the Allan house that many of the poems that were later included in the first collection of the novice poet were written. Poe also tried to find a job, but his stepfather not only did not contribute to this, but also prevented his employment in every possible way as educational measures. In March 1827 The "silent" conflict turned into a serious quarrel, and Allan kicked his adopted son out of the house. Poe settled in the Court-House tavern, from where he wrote letters to Allan accusing him of injustice and justifying him, continuing to sort things out in an epistolary form. Later, these letters are replaced by others - with requests for money, which the adoptive father ignored. After staying in a tavern room for several days, on March 23, Poe set off for Norfolk and then on to Boston.
In his hometown, Edgar met a young publisher and typographer, Calvin Thomas, by chance, and he agreed to print his first collection of poems. "Tamerlane and Other Poems", written under the pseudonym "Bostonian", was published in June 1827.
In his first poetry collection, Edgar Allan Poe included the poem "Tamerlane" (which he would later repeatedly edit and refine), the poems "K ***", "Dreams", "Spirits of Death", "Evening Star", "Imitation", " Stanzas”, “Dream”, “Happiest Day”, “Lake”. As expected, the collection did not attract the attention of the reader and critics. Only two publications wrote about his release, without giving him any critical assessment.
May 26, 1827 Edgar Allan Poe, in dire need of money, signed an army contract for a period of five years and became a private in the First Artillery Regiment of the US Army.
Poe served at the headquarters, was engaged in paperwork, which is not surprising for a man who was literate (a rather rare phenomenon for the army of that time) and had a neat handwriting. And the "gentleman's" origin, good upbringing and diligence ensured sympathy among the officers. January 1, 1829 Edgar A. Perry was given the rank of master sergeant of the regiment, the highest non-commissioned rank.
In December 1828 The regiment was transferred to Fort Monroe, located in the Hamptons, near Norfolk. The soldier at the headquarters had enough time free from service, and Edgar Allan Poe spent it on reading and writing. He not only wrote new poems, but also finalized the old ones, hatching a plan to publish the next collection of better quality in terms of material. At the same time, the service began to weigh on Po, he understood that he was losing time, and, having enlisted the support of a fellow officer, he decided to make an attempt to demobilize ahead of schedule. Edgar Poe wrote several letters to his adoptive father expressing a desire to enter West Point Academy, but John Allan did not answer any of them.
At the end of February 1829 Frances Allan's condition worsened. The disease, which made itself felt back in England, only progressed. On the night of February 28, when his wife's condition became critical, John Allan wrote a short letter asking his adopted son to come immediately. Frances Allan died that morning. Edgar Allan Poe was able to arrive in Richmond only on March 2, not even having time for the funeral of his adoptive mother, whom he loved very much.
Staying at home for the rest of his layoff, Poe turned to Allan again, and this time they reached an understanding. Having received the necessary documents from his adoptive father, Poe returned to the army, where the process of releasing him from service immediately began. The order was signed and April 15, 1829.
After returning from Washington, where he traveled to pass the papers and recommendations necessary for admission to West Point, Poe went to Baltimore, where his relatives lived. Here, Poe was preparing for the publication of the second collection of poetry. Poe edited the available material, conducted an active correspondence with magazines and publishing houses. And the efforts were not in vain - late December 1829 the collection saw the light of day.
On Christmas Eve, Poe returned home to Richmond, where in May 1830 received confirmation of his enrollment at West Point. In the same month, a fatal quarrel occurred between him and his adoptive father. The reason for it was a letter that was not intended for John Allan and should not have been in his hands. In it, Edgar Allan Poe spoke impartially about his guardian, unequivocally accusing him of drunkenness. The quick-tempered Allan could not stand this and for the second and last time drove Edgar Allan Poe out of the house. They still corresponded after this breakup, but never saw each other again. Soon John Allan married a second time.
Late June 1830 Edgar Allan Poe became a cadet at the US Army Military Academy. The training was not easy (especially the first 2 months of camp life), but the army experience helped the poet quickly get used to it. Despite the tough daily routine and almost full daily employment, Edgar Allan Poe found time for creativity. The third collection of poems was being prepared for publication. The studies were successful, cadet Poe was in good standing and had no complaints from the officers, but in January he wrote a letter to John Allan, asking for his assistance in leaving West Point. Probably, the reason for such a harsh decision was the news of the marriage of the guardian, which deprived Edgar Allan Poe of the most illusory chances of being officially adopted and inheriting something. And without waiting for an answer, Edgar Allan Poe decided to act on his own. In January 1831 a year later, he began to ignore inspections and classes, did not go out on guard and sabotaged formations. The result was the arrest and subsequent trial, in which he was accused of "gross violation of official duties" and "ignoring orders." February 8, 1831 Edgar Poe was dismissed from the service of the United States, and already 18th of Febuary he left West Point.
Edgar Allan Poe went to New York, where in April 1831 the third book of the poet was published - the collection "Poems", which, in addition to the reprinted "Tamerlane" and "Al-Aaraaf", included new works: "Israfel", "Paan", "Condemned City", "To Elena", "Sleeping ". Also on the pages of the collection, Poe first turned to literary theory.
Without a livelihood, Poe moved to relatives in Baltimore, where he made futile attempts to find work. Desperate lack of money prompted the poet to turn to prose. Failure did not force Poe to abandon the form of short prose in his work. On the contrary, he continued to hone his skills, write stories, of which late 1832 formed the collection "Stories of the Folio Club", which was never published.
In June 1833 2009, a literary competition was held, with prizes of $50 for the best story and $25 for the best poem. Edgar Allan Poe participated in both nominations, submitting 6 stories and the poem "Coliseum" to the competition. On October 12, the results were announced: Edgar Allan Poe's "Manuscript Found in a Bottle" was recognized as the best story, and Henry Wilton's "Song of the Winds" was recognized as the best poem (under this pseudonym the editor-in-chief of the newspaper that organized the competition was hiding).
Despite winning the competition, Poe's financial situation in 1833-1835 remained extremely difficult for years. March 27, 1834 John Allan died without mentioning Poe in his will.
After winning the competition, Poe became close to John P. Kennedy, who became his friend and literary patron. Kennedy not only helped the writer with money during difficult periods, but also tried in every possible way to draw the attention of publishers and periodicals to the new talent of American literature.
In August 1834 Richmond typographer Thomas White began publishing a new monthly magazine, the Southern Literary Messenger, to collaborate with famous writers of the time, including John F. Kennedy. He, in turn, recommended Edgar Allan Poe as a promising talented writer to White, initiating their collaboration. Already in March 1835 the story "Berenice" appeared on the pages of the monthly, and in June the first hoax by Poe's pen was published - "The Extraordinary Adventure of a Hans Pfaal".
In September, Poe returned to Baltimore, where he became engaged to Virginia Clemm and a marriage license was issued allowing the marriage.
May 16, 1836 Edgar Poe married Virginia Clemm. She was his cousin, and at the time of the marriage she was only 13 years old. The couple honeymooned in Petersburg, Virginia. Around this time, Poe began writing his largest prose text, The Tale of the Adventures of Arthur Gordon Pym. The decision to write a voluminous work was dictated by reader preferences: many publishing houses refused to publish his stories, referring to the fact that the small prose format was not popular.
Nothing foreshadowed trouble, however, at the end of December, Poe left the Southern Literary Messenger. The reason for the spat between White and Poe remained unclear. Anyway, early 1837 Poe left Richmond and went to New York with his wife and mother-in-law.
In the New York period, the stories "Ligeia", "The Devil in the Bell Tower", "The Fall of the House of Usher", "William Wilson" came out from the writer's pen, work continued on "Arthur Gordon Pym". The rights to the story were sold to the reputable New York publishing house Harper and Brothers, where it was published. July 30, 1838. However, Poe's first voluminous prose work was not a commercial success.
Edgar Poe with family midsummer 1838. There, with the help of his old acquaintance, he managed to arrange cooperation with the newly created monthly American Museum. During the year, Poe's works appeared in it: stories, poems, criticism, reviews of book novelties.
The American Museum did not last long, and Poe could again find himself in an already difficult situation, but in May 1839 he managed to get a job as an editor at Burton's Gentleman's Magazine. Relations between Poe and the owner of the magazine, William Burton, developed poorly, which, in addition to personal conflicts, was due to their different views on the policy of the publication.
Early December 1839 Lea & Blanchard published Grotesques and Arabesques, a two-volume collection of 25 short stories Poe had written to date. Summer 1840 he left Burton's Gentleman's Magazine due to growing disagreements with the owner, which was sold to publisher George Graham at the end of the year.
In June 1840 Poe began to develop the idea of his own magazine, starting to search for authors, correspondents, printers and potential subscribers. Soon the first prospectus of the future edition came out, to which Edgar Allan Poe gave the name The Penn. The original release date was January 1, 1841. Later, the release was postponed to March, but even then it did not happen.
In April 1841 Graham's Magazine published a story, which later brought worldwide fame to the founder of the detective genre - "Murder in the Rue Morgue". In the same place in May, "The overthrow into the Maelström" was printed. During Edgar Poe's tenure as editor of Graham's Magazine, he went national.
In January 1842 Edgar Allan Poe's young wife had the first severe attack of tuberculosis, accompanied by throat bleeding. Virginia was bedridden for a long time, and the writer again lost his composure and the ability to work. The depressed state was accompanied by frequent and protracted binges. In May 1842 Poe left Graham's Magazine. The last story published in an issue of Graham's magazine, in which Edgar Poe was involved, was "The Mask of the Red Death" ( May 1842).
All subsequent time, the condition of Poe's wife had a huge impact on his mental health, extremely susceptible to the slightest deterioration in the situation. The second exacerbation of Virginia's illness occurred in the summer of the same year, and again the writer's deep feelings and mental anguish were reflected in his work - they are saturated with the stories “The Well and the Pendulum” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” written shortly after the incident. Poe found salvation in writing. In November 1842 the history of the investigations of Auguste Dupin was continued. Snowden's Ladies' Companion published the short story "The Mystery of Marie Roger" based on a real-life murder that took place in New York in 1841.
It should be noted that during the difficult period 1842 Poe was able to personally meet with Charles Dickens, whose work he appreciated very highly.
Finding himself without a job, and therefore without a livelihood, Edgar Allan Poe, through a mutual friend, turned to the son of President Tyler with a request to help him get a job in Philadelphia customs. Poe did not get the position because he did not appear at the meeting, explaining this by his illness, although there is a version that drinking was the reason for the absence. The family, which found itself in a difficult situation, had to change its place of residence several times, as there was a catastrophic lack of money, debts grew. A case was brought against the writer, and January 13, 1843 The Philadelphia District Court declared Poe bankrupt, but the prison term was avoided.
In January 1843 Poe found a partner who agreed to help with the publication of his magazine. They became the head of the weekly Saturday Museum Thomas Clark. The name of the future edition was changed to The Stylus. Clarke took care of the financial side of the project, Poe took care of the preparation of the prospectus and the search for subscribers. Especially for the first issue of the magazine, Poe wrote the story "The Gold Bug", from which he expected a huge effect on readers. Poe's reputation for being unreliable and suffering from drunkenness carried over to Clark. However, their agreement was still in effect. until May 1843, when Clark announced in his magazine that he was refusing to participate in Poe's enterprise for "economic reasons".
Despite the difficult financial situation and the decline in spirit associated with the illness of his wife, Poe's literary fame grew steadily. Devoting himself entirely to prose, Poe did not turn to poetry for three years (the last published poem was Silence, published in 1840). The "poetic silence" was broken in 1843 with the release of one of the writer's darkest poems - "The Victorious Worm", in which all the mental anguish and despair of recent years, the collapse of hopes and illusions, seemed to be concentrated.
In February 1843 in the New York edition of The Pioneer, the famous Lenore was published. Poe returned to poetry, but the main form of his work continued to be short prose. The last years spent in Philadelphia were marked by the release of works, many of which are among the best in the author's creative heritage: The Black Cat was published ( August 1843), "Glasses" ( March 1844), "The Tale of Steep Mountains" ( April 1844), "Premature Burial" ( July 1844), "Mesmeric Revelation" ( August 1844), "Angel of the inexplicable" ( October 1844) and other stories.
April 6, 1844 Edgar and Virginia Poe moved to New York. A week after the move, Poe becomes the hero of a sensation: a huge stir in reading circles was caused by the "History with a Balloon", which was published by the New York Sun in a special issue. Poe's hoaxes, in which great attention was paid to the details based on the technical innovations of the time, gave impetus to the subsequent development of the science fiction genre in literature.
Poe continued to contribute to many publications, offering them his articles and critical reviews. During this period, he had no problems with publications, but his income was still modest. In the Brennan mansion, Poe wrote the poem "Dreamland", which reflected the beauty of the nature around him. There, work began on the work that became the poetic magnum opus of the writer - the poem "The Raven".
February 21, 1845 Poe became co-owner of the Broadway Journal. At the same time, Poe took up lecturing, which would become an important source of income for him. The first theme of the talks in New York and Philadelphia was "The Poets and Poetry of America."
In July 1845 Poe published a short story called "The Demon of Controversy". Tormented by his own "demon", he repeatedly committed rash and illogical acts during his life, which inevitably led him to collapse. This happened at the peak of his fame, when, it seemed, nothing foreshadowed trouble.
January 3, 1846 the last issue came out, and Edgar Allan Poe closed the Broadway Journal.
In April 1846 Po drank again. Again, the time of clouded consciousness came: lectures were disrupted, public conflicts arose, and the reputation suffered seriously. The situation became even more complicated with the release in May 1846 the first essays by Edgar Allan Poe in the New York Writers series. In them, Poe gave a personal and creative description of famous authors - his contemporaries, which for the most part was extremely negative.
May 1846 Edgar Allan Poe moved into a small cottage in Fordham, a suburb of New York. The family was again in poverty, desperately lacking money - in the summer and autumn, Poe did not write anything.
Bedridden Virginia's condition worsens in January 1847. January 30, 1847, closer to the night, Virginia Poe passed away.
After the funeral of his wife, Edgar Allan Poe himself found himself bedridden - the loss was too heavy for a subtle, experiencing nature. It was another serious mental breakdown that happened to the writer more than once before.
For the previous 1846 year Edgar Poe published a collection of essays "Marginalia", the stories "The Sphinx" and "The Cask of Amontillado" (a literary response to Thomas English). After a forced break, he again returned to literary activity, which was no longer as active as before. In 1847 only four new publications took place: one review, one article, the poem “To M.L.Sh.” and the ballad "Ulyalum". The last piece appeared anonymously in the American Review.
Eureka became the central work of the last years of Poe's life. The "poem in prose" (as Poe defined it), which spoke about subjects "physical, metaphysical, mathematical", according to the author, was supposed to turn people's ideas about the nature of the universe. He began working on Eureka as soon as he recovered from Virginia's death. Early 1848 Poe began lecturing again. "Eureka" was published in June 1848. It was the last new book published during the writer's lifetime.
In April 1849 Poe received a letter from a wealthy Kentucky admirer named Edward Patterson, who suggested that he start a national magazine. He took over the entire financial side of the project, and completely entrusted the literary side to the writer. Poe accepted the offer with great enthusiasm.
June 29 Poe left Fordham and headed for Richmond. The waypoint was Philadelphia, the city where Poe got drunk on arrival. He also lost his lecture bag and all the travel money he had. After spending some time in Philadelphia, Poe, with the help of his friends, finally got to Richmond. The writer managed to cope with a difficult situation, and he stopped drinking, restored lectures and began to successfully speak with his literary work - "The Poetic Principle".
Keywords: Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe- one of the greatest American romantics of the XIX century - was born January 19, 1809 in Boston. His father abandoned the family, and his mother died of a serious illness when little Edgar was not even three years old ... The child was taken in by the family of a wealthy merchant from Richmond, John Allan, who after some time moved to England, where the boy was sent to study in prestigious boarding house. In 1820 the Allan family returned to Richmond, where Edgar went to college. In college, Poe fell in love with the mother of one of his fellow students - Jane Craig Stenard, but the first love ended tragically, in 1824 Jane died ...
In 1826, Edgar graduated from college and entered the University of Virginia, where he studied for only a year. At the same time, Poe makes an attempt to secretly marry his new lover - Sarah Royster, which causes the anger of his adoptive father and he kicks him out of the house ... Edgar leaves for Boston, where he publishes his first collection of poems, which, alas, is not successful ...
In 1829, Edgar met his paternal relatives, they helped him publish a second collection of poems, which also turned out to be a failure, did not bring fame to the writer and the third collection, published a year later in New York, but in June 1833 his story “Manuscript found in a bottle" takes first place in the competition of the literary magazine "Baltimor saturday visitor", Poe becomes a sought-after prose writer and finally in December 1835 becomes the editor of the magazine "Southern literary messeger", his paternal aunt Marie Clem and her thirteen-year-old daughter Virginia, whom Edgar married six months later ... Soon he refuses to work in a magazine and moves to New York with his new family, where he publishes several short stories, but the fees were negligible and the writer was in constant need.
In 1838, Edgar accepted an offer to take the position of editor in the Gentelmen's magazine and moved to Philadelphia because of this. In 1839 he accumulated enough wealth to publish the book Grotesques and Arabesques. during this time he published about thirty stories and many literary critical articles ...
In 1844, Edgar returned to New York and published several short stories there, but they were not successful with the public, but the poem “The Raven” published in 1845 and the collection of the same name made Poe incredibly popular. But soon the bright streak of life ended, poverty came again ... Virginia died of a long illness ...
From grief and hopelessness, the writer completely loses his head, drinks a lot, begins to use drugs to brighten up his loneliness, he increasingly visits prostitutes, and during the next binge he even tries to commit suicide ... At this time, his book “Eureka "- he considered it "the greatest revelation that humanity has ever heard", but in the hearts of "humanity" the work does not find a response ...
On October 3, 1849, he was found unconscious on the railway tracks, and four days later he died without regaining consciousness ...
American writer, poet and critic Edgar Allan Poe (Edgar Allan Roe) was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston (USA) in a family of actors of a traveling troupe. At the age of two, he was left an orphan, after which he was adopted by a merchant from Virginia - John Allan. He was brought up in a boarding school in England; in 1826 he entered the aristocratic University of Virginia in Charlottesville. In his student years, he was fond of gambling, participated in revelry, which provoked conflicts with his stepfather. After one of these quarrels, the future writer left the house of foster parents.
In 1828, with the financial support of his adoptive parents, he returned to Boston, where he published the collections Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Small Poems (Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems, 1829) and Poems (Poems, 1831), but these undertakings were not successful. had.
In 1830 he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, but soon left his studies, which provoked a final break with John Allan. Left without financial support, Edgar Allan Poe again found himself on the verge of poverty.
In 1833, he first appeared as a prose writer with the story "A manuscript found in a bottle" (A manuscript found in a bottle), for which he received the Baltimore Saturday Visitor magazine award.
During the 1830s he continued to write short stories, published regularly in the literary magazine "Southern Literary Messenger" (Southern Literary Messenger) in Richmond, where he gained a reputation as an original and witty critic. These publications later made up the famous two-volume Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (1840).
In 1836 Poe married his cousin Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe.
In 1837 he moved to New York in search of a better paid job, but due to the financial crisis he could not find work there.
From 1838-1843 he lived with his wife and her mother in Philadelphia, worked for Burton's Gentleman's Magazine and Graham's Magazine, and tried to publish his own magazine, The Stylus. He published about thirty stories and many literary critical articles.
In October 2009, 160 years after his death, Edgar Allan Poe was honored with a second funeral. The costumed ceremony was held at the writer's museum in Boston, where a coffin with a mannequin of Edgar Allan Poe was on display.
The originality of Poe's style did not find followers in America. In the European literary tradition, Poe was influenced by Charles Baudelaire, Stéphane Mallarmé, Maurice Maeterlinck, Oscar Wilde, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Robert Louis Stevenson. Russian symbolists were also fond of Poe's work - Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Konstantin Balmont, Valery Bryusov.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
