Edgar Poe, whose full name is Edgar Allan Poe, born January 19, 1809. Poet, critic and editor. The work of this writer is a vivid example of American romanticism.
He gained popularity mainly due to his "gloomy" stories. The work of this writer contributed to the emergence of such a genre as science fiction. Edgar's parents were actors of a traveling troupe and died when the boy was still very young. His mother was English, and his father was Irish-American. After the death of his parents, the orphan was adopted by a wealthy man - merchant John Allan.
As a child, Edgar had everything. He studied at an expensive boarding school, then went to college, which he graduated in 1826. From childhood, Poe developed very well, was physically strong and had a passionate character.
The rich life of Edgar Allan Poe ended shortly before he was 17 years old. In 1826, John Allan had a violent quarrel with his adopted son because he did not want to pay Edgar's gambling debts. From that moment on, Edgar Allan Poe began to lead a wandering lifestyle. After leaving home, he went to Boston. Already, while in Boston, he wrote his debut collection of poems, entitled "Tamerlane and Other Poems", which was never published. Having no shelter, out of hopelessness, Edgar went to serve as a soldier in the army, and after serving there for a year, he asked his adoptive father for help to hire a deputy, and Edgar was released.
As a result, the newly free Edgar Allan Poe returns to poetry. In 1829 he published his second collection of poems. In 1830, at the insistence of his father, Poe enters the Military Academy to complete his education, but a year later he is expelled. The exclusion of the adopted son was the reason for another quarrel. Edgar Allan Poe leaves for New York, where he is already writing his third collection of poems.
From 1831-1833 the writer went through a very difficult period in his life, he lived in poverty.
In 1835 he married his cousin Virginia Clemm. From that moment on, the poet wrote a lot. Until 1840, he published a large number of stories and poems.
In 1847, Edgar's wife dies, and the poet is going through a serious shock. For the next two years, Poe tossed about, experienced the joy of success and the bitterness of falling, endured slander and was in a semi-mad state. The attacks of alcoholism brought the writer to a severe nervous breakdown, and as a result, on October 7, 1849, he died.
In the history of poetry and memory, Poe will remain as an artist who could, with a simple verbal word, reflect an elusive shade of thought and subtle feelings.
Edgar Allan Poe. Born January 19, 1809 in Boston, USA - died October 7, 1849 in Baltimore, USA. American writer, poet, essayist, literary critic and editor, representative of American Romanticism. Creator of the form of the modern detective and the genre of psychological prose.
Some of Edgar Poe's works contributed to the formation and development of science fiction, and such features of his work as irrationality, mysticism, doom, anomalous states depicted, anticipated decadent literature.
Edgar Poe was one of the first American writers to make the short story the main form of his work. He tried to earn money exclusively by literary activity, as a result of which his life and career were fraught with severe financial difficulties, complicated by a problem with alcohol.
For twenty years of creative activity, Poe wrote two stories, two poems, one play, about seventy stories, fifty poems and ten essays, published in magazines and almanacs, and then collected in collections.
Despite the fact that during his lifetime Edgar Allan Poe was known mainly as a literary critic, later his works of art had a significant impact on world literature, as well as cosmology and cryptography. He was one of the first American writers whose fame in his homeland was significantly inferior to Europe. Particular attention was paid to his work by the symbolists, who drew from his poetry the ideas of their own aesthetics.
Edgar Allan Poe was praised by Arthur Conan Doyle, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, recognizing his role as a pioneer in the genres they popularized.
Edgar Poe was born January 19, 1809 in Boston., in the family of actors Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe and David Poe, Jr. Elizabeth Poe was born in the UK. At the beginning of 1796, together with her mother, also an actress, she moved to the United States, where she began performing on stage from an early age.
Poe's father was born in Ireland, the son of David Poe Sr., who emigrated to America with his son. Edgar Poe's grandfather had the rank of major, actively supported the revolutionary movement in the United States and was a direct participant in the War of Independence. David Poe Jr. was supposed to become a lawyer, but against the will of his father, he chose the profession of an actor.
Edgar was the middle child in the family, he had an older brother, William Henry Leonard, and a younger sister, Rosalie.
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. On 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 in. 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, John Allan's wife) went to Great Britain. 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. Memories of Edgar Allan Poe about 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 the 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 journey. In the summer of 1820, a transatlantic sea voyage took place, and already on August 2 the family arrived in Richmond.
On February 14, 1826, Edgar Allan Poe left for Charlottesville where he enrolled at the newly opened University of Virginia. Tuition at the institution founded by Thomas Jefferson was expensive (in a letter to his stepfather, Poe calculated the total cost and indicated the amount of $ 350 a year), so the students of the university were children of wealthy families of 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 Poe's school day ended at 9:30, the rest of the time was supposed to be devoted to reading educational literature and preparing homework, but the offspring of wealthy parents, brought up in the "true spirit" of gentlemanly, could not resist the temptation of "eternally fashionable" card games in the highest environment and wine . 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 first started drinking.
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 his exams, he could no longer stay at the university and after the end of the academic year, on December 21, 1826, he 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 a pseudonym "Bostonian", came out in June 1827. 50 copies were printed, consisting of 40 pages, they were sold at 12.5 cents apiece.
In 2009, an unknown collector at an auction purchased one of the surviving copies of Poe's debut collection, paying for it a record amount for American literature - $ 662,500.
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”. In the preface to the publication, the author apologized for the possible low quality of poetry, justifying this by saying that most of the poems were written in 1820-1821, when he "was not even fourteen yet." Most likely, this is an exaggeration - Poe, of course, began to write early, but he really turned to poetry during his studies at the university and later.
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.
On 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's duty station was Fort Moultrie on Sullivan Island, located at the entrance to Charleston Bay, the same fort that 50 years ago proved impregnable to the British army. The nature of the island on which the writer spent a year was subsequently reflected in the story. "Gold Bug".
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.
In late February 1829, Francis 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 on April 15, 1829, he was discharged from the army.
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: brother Henry Leonard, aunt Maria Clemm, her children Henry and Virginia, and also Elizabeth Poe is the elderly widow of David Poe Sr. Not having enough money to rent his own home, the poet, with the permission of Maria Klemm, settled in their house.
The time spent waiting for a response from Washington passed in courting his consumptive brother (who aggravated the disease with alcoholism) and preparing for the publication of a 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 - at the end of December 1829 the collection was published. 250 copies "Al-Aaraaf", "Tamerlane" and small poems" were published by the Baltimore publishing house Hatch and Dunning.
Near Christmas, Poe returned home to Richmond, where in May 1830 he 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, unambiguously 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.
At the end of June 1830, 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.
Among the cadets, pamphlets and satirical parodies of officer mentors and life within the walls of the academy were especially popular. 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, he began to ignore verifications 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." On February 8, 1831, Poe was dismissed from the service of the United States, and already on February 18 he left West Point.
Poe went to New York, where in April 1831 the third book of the poet was published - a collection "Poems", which, in addition to the reprinted "Tamerlane" and "Al-Aaraafa", included new works: "Israfel", "Paan", "The Condemned City", "To Helen", "Sleeping". Also on the pages of the collection, Poe first turned to literary theory, writing "Letter to ..." - an essay in which the author discussed the principles of poetry and the problems of national literature. "Poems" contained a dedication to the "US Army Corps of Cadets". 1,000 copies of the book were printed at the expense of West Point cadets who subscribed to the collection in anticipation of the usual parodies and satirical verses with which they were once entertained by a classmate.
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 - he decided to take part in the competition for the best short story by an American author with a $100 prize.
Edgar Poe approached the matter in detail: he studied magazines and various publications of that time in order to determine the principles (stylistic, plot, compositional) of writing short prose, which was popular with readers. The result of the study was "Metzengerstein", "Duke de L" Omelette, "On the Walls of Jerusalem", "Significant Loss" and "Failed Deal" - stories that the novice prose writer submitted to the competition. The results, which were disappointing for their author, were summed up on December 31, 1831 of the year - Edgar Allan Poe did not win. Over the next year, these stories without attribution (such were the conditions) were published in the newspaper that organized the competition.
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, from which at the end of 1832 he formed a collection that was never published. "Folio Club Stories".
In June 1833, another literary competition was held, in which the prizes were $ 50 for the best story and $ 25 for the best poem. It was known that the jury included competent people - well-known writers of that time, John Pendleton Kennedy and John Latrobe.
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 Poe's Manuscript Found in a Bottle won Best Short Story, the best poem - "Song of the Winds" Henry Wilton (this pseudonym was the editor-in-chief of the newspaper that organized the competition).
Subsequently, John Latrobe confirmed that Edgar Poe was also the author of the really best poem. The jury praised the young writer's work very highly, noting that it was extremely difficult for them to choose one best story from his six. In fact, this was the first authoritative recognition of Poe's talent.
Despite winning the competition, Poe's financial situation in 1833-1835 remained extremely difficult. There were no regular cash receipts, the writer continued unsuccessful attempts to find a job related to literature. The only source of income in the family was the pension of the paralyzed widow David Poe Sr. - $ 240 a year, which was paid irregularly.
In August 1834, Richmond printer 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 of Poe's pen appeared - "The extraordinary adventure of a certain Hans Pfaal".
On May 16, 1836, 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 to write his largest prose text - "A 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.
In May 1837, an economic crisis broke out in the United States. He also touched the sphere of publishing: newspapers and magazines were closed, there were massive layoffs of employees. Edgar Poe was also in a difficult situation, having been left without a job for a long time. But forced idleness was not in vain - he could finally concentrate on creativity.
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 on July 30, 1838. However, Poe's first voluminous prose work was not a commercial success.
In early December 1839, Lea & Blanchard published Grotesques and Arabesques, a two-volume collection of 25 short stories Poe had written up to that point.
In April 1841, a story was published in Graham's Magazine, 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.
In January 1842, Poe's young wife suffered 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.
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 story of Auguste Dupin's investigations was continued. The Snowden "s Ladies" Companion magazine published the story "The Secret of Marie Roger", based on a real murder that took place in New York in 1841. Using all the materials available to the investigation, he conducted his own investigation on the pages of the story (moving the action to Paris and changing the names) and pointed to the killer. Shortly thereafter, the case was solved, and the correctness of the writer's conclusions was confirmed.
It is worth noting that during the difficult period of 1842, Poe managed to personally meet with, whose work he appreciated very highly. They discussed near-literary questions and exchanged opinions during the latter's short visit to Philadelphia. Dickens promised to assist with the publication of Poe's works in England. Even though nothing came of it, Dickens noted that Poe was "the only writer he wanted to help with the publication".
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. The need was great, since the writer began to look for work other than literary, which brought an unstable income. 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 on January 13, 1843, the Philadelphia District Court declared Edgar Allan Poe bankrupt, but the prison term was avoided.
Despite the difficult financial situation and the decline in spirit associated with the illness of his wife, Poe's literary fame grew steadily. His works were published in many publications throughout the country, they were devoted to critical reviews, many of which noted the author's extraordinary talent and the power of his imagination. Laudatory reviews were written even by literary enemies, making them even more valuable.
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, the New York edition of The Pioneer published the famous "Leenor". Poe returned to poetry, but the main form of his work continued to be short prose.
In July 1844, the New York Dollar Newspaper organized a contest for the best short story, with a $100 prize for first place. The winner was "Gold Bug" Edgar Poe. The work, in which the author revealed his talent as a cryptographer, became the property of Dollar Newspaper and was subsequently reprinted many times.
On April 6, 1844, Edgar and Virginia Poe moved to New York. A month later, Maria Klemm joined them. It is difficult to overestimate the role of mother-in-law in the life of Edgar Allan Poe. Her thriftiness, diligence and endless care, with which she surrounded her son-in-law and daughter, was noted by many contemporaries who knew the family personally. Edgar loved his "Muddy" (probably short for "mummy" ("mommy") and "daddy" ("daddy"), as he often called her in letters, because with the appearance in his life she really became like a mother to him .
In 1849, he dedicated to her, full of tenderness and gratitude, the poem "To My Mother".
A week after the move, Edgar Allan Poe becomes the hero of a sensation: a huge stir in reading circles caused "The Balloon Story" published by the New York Sun in a special issue. Originally conceived as a hoax, the story was stylized as a news article. The idea for the plot was unconsciously suggested by John Wise, a well-known aeronaut at the time, who announced in one of the Philadelphia newspapers that he was going to make a transatlantic flight. The writer managed to achieve the desired effect - the next morning after the publication, the building of the publishing house was literally "stormed" by people.
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.
Some time after reuniting with Maria Clemm, the family moved into a new home: the Brennan family rented out part of their mansion located outside the city to them. 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 a work that became the poetic magnum opus of the writer - a poem "Crow".
It is not known whether Poe wrote The Crow with the goal of obtaining final and unconditional recognition, inspired by the success of The Gold Bug and The Balloon Story, but that he carefully and carefully approached the process of creating this work, there is no doubt.
It was an immediate and resounding success: publications throughout the country reprinted the poem, it was talked about in literary circles and beyond, and numerous parodies were written about it. Poe became a national figure and a frequent guest at social events, where he was asked to recite the famous poem. In the words of the writer's biographer Arthur Quinn, "The Raven made an impression that perhaps no other poetic work in American literature has been able to surpass." Despite the huge success with readers and the wide recognition of the public, the poem did little to improve the financial situation of the writer.
On February 21, 1845, Poe became a co-owner of the Broadway Journal., whose head believed to increase sales of the publication by attracting a new celebrity to cooperate. According to the terms of the contract, Poe received a third of the sales of the magazine, the cooperation promised to be mutually beneficial.
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 entitled "The demon of contradiction". The discussions on the theme of human nature, which are contained in its preamble, allow a good understanding of the nature of the contradictory nature of the author himself. 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.
On the pages of the magazine, of which he became a co-owner, Poe did not publish any of his new works, only reprinted the old ones (which were edited and finalized each time). The lion's share of his work at that time consisted of literary articles, reviews, and criticism. It is not known what caused this, but Poe became more ruthless than ever in his criticism: not only did the authors, personally unpleasant to him, with whom he conflicted, but also those who treated him favorably. As a result, within a short period of time, subscribers began to refuse Broadway Journal and authors turned away, the publication became unprofitable. Both of Poe's companions soon left him, leaving Poe as the sole owner of the distressed journal.
Poe tried desperately to keep it alive by sending out many letters to his friends and relatives asking for financial help. Most of them were not satisfied, and the money that he did receive was not enough. On January 3, 1846, the last issue came out, and Edgar Allan Poe closed the Broadway Journal.
In April 1846, Poe started drinking again. Realizing the destructive role that alcohol played in his life, he still took a fatal step. 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 of the first essays by Edgar Allan Poe from the series "New York Writers". In them, Poe gave a personal and creative description of famous authors - his contemporaries, which for the most part was extremely negative. The reaction followed immediately: the newspapers, at the suggestion of the "victims", began a war against Poe - they denigrated his reputation, accusing him of immorality and godlessness. The image of Poe as a deranged alcoholic with no control over his actions dominated the press. They also remembered his literary romance with the poetess Francis Osgood, which ended in scandal. Among those hurt by criticism, Thomas English especially distinguished himself. In the past, a friend of the writer, he published in one of the newspapers "An answer to Mr. Poe", in which he added the accusation of forgery to the image of a poor godless alcoholic.
The publication Poe collaborated with advised him to go to court, which he did. On February 17, 1846, Poe won a libel case against the Mirror magazine that published The Answer and received $225 in damages.
In May 1846 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. In one of the letters, he refers to his illness - literary "wars" and scandals did not go unnoticed. Bedridden Virginia's condition only worsened.
Virginia's condition seriously deteriorated in January 1847: fever and pain intensified, hemoptysis became more frequent. On January 29, Poe wrote a desperate letter to Mary Shew, asking her to come and say goodbye to Virginia, who had become so attached to her. Mrs. Shew arrived the next day and caught her alive. On January 30, 1847, towards nightfall, Virginia Poe died.
After the funeral of his wife, Edgar Allan Poe himself found himself bedridden - the loss was too heavy for a subtle, experiencing nature.
The central work of the last years of Poe's life was "Eureka". 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.
At five o'clock in the morning on October 7, 1849, Poe died. According to Dr. Moran, just before his death, he uttered his last words: "Lord, help my poor soul."
Edgar Allan Poe's modest funeral took place at 4 pm on October 8, 1849, at Westminster Hall and Burying Ground Cemetery, which is now part of the grounds of the University of Maryland College of Law. The ceremony, attended by only a few people, was presided over by the Reverend W. T. D. Clemm, Virginia Poe's uncle. It lasted only three minutes due to the cold and dank weather. The psalmist George W. Spence wrote, "It was a gloomy and overcast day, there was no rain, but it was damp and a thunderstorm was coming." Poe was buried in the far corner of the cemetery, next to the grave of his grandfather, David Poe Sr., in a cheap coffin, without handles, nameplate, bedspreads and pillows under his head.
On October 1, 1875, Poe's remains were reburied at a new location, not far from the front of the church. The new monument was made and erected at the expense of the residents of Baltimore and the writer's admirers from other US cities. The total cost of the monument was a little over $1,500. The festive service took place on November 17, 1875. On the 76th anniversary of Poe's birth, January 19, 1885, Virginia Poe's remains were reburied next to her husband's.
The circumstances that preceded the death of Edgar Allan Poe, as well as its immediate cause, remain unclear to this day. All medical records and documents, including the death certificate, if they existed at all, were lost. There are several different theories about the cause of Poe's death, ranging in plausibility from hypoglycemia to conspiracy to kill.
There is another theory, which is distinguished by many biographers of the writer. Elections to the Congress and the Maryland State Legislature were scheduled for October 3 in Baltimore. At that time, there were no voter lists, which were used by opposing candidates and parties that formed special groups of voters. People under the influence of alcohol were gathered in special places, and then forced to vote several times. Probably Poe, who was the victim of a criminal scheme similar to a "carousel", became useless due to his condition and was abandoned near the 4th district polling station, where he was found by Joseph Walker. However, this theory also has detractors, who argue that Po, as a well-known person in the city, would be difficult to participate in such a scheme.
Every year, since 1949, an unknown person visited the grave of Poe, paying tribute to the memory of the writer's talent. In the early morning of January 19, a man dressed in black came to Poe's grave, made a toast and left a bottle of cognac and three roses on the tombstone. Sometimes notes of various contents were found on the tombstone. In one of them, left in 1999, it was reported that the first secret admirer had died the previous year and the obligation to continue the tradition was assigned to his "heir". The tradition continued for 60 years until 2009, when the secret admirer was last seen at the grave.
On August 15, 2007, 92-year-old Sam Porpora, a historian at the Westminster church where Poe is buried, stated that it was he who started the tradition of visiting the writer's grave every year on his birthday. He said that the purpose of his action was to raise funds for the needs of the church and increase interest in it. However, his story was not confirmed - some of the details he expressed did not fit in with the facts.
In 2012, Jeff Jerome, curator of the Poe House Museum, who had previously denied rumors that he was a fan, announced the end of the tradition.
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, John Allan's wife) 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 the 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 journey. 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. Tuition 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, unambiguously 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. Clark 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 was published 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
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. have 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
😉 Greetings to regular and new readers of the site! Gentlemen, in the article "Edgar Poe: a brief biography, interesting facts" - the main points of the writer's life path: childhood, career and personal life. Related video.
Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 - October 7, 1849) was an American writer, the founder of the modern detective story and psychological fiction. He became famous as the author of mystical stories and poems. Zodiac sign - .
Edgar Allan Poe: biography
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston. At the age of two, he lost his parents, who were actors, from close people there was an older brother and a younger sister. The elder brother was taken by his father's parents, and Edgar and his sister Rosalie were taken to be raised in different families.
There were no other children in the foster family, and all the love and care of the new parents went to him. At the age of six, he entered a London boarding school and studied there for five years. Returning to the US, he began to study at college. The next step was the University of Richmond.
Studying was easy: at the age of five he began to read, at school he received a versatile education - English literature, general history, mathematics, natural sciences. Physically, he was well developed, his studies were accompanied by collective pranks.
From an early age, he was fond of poetry, made fantastic plans, and loved psychological experiments.
His prosperous life ended in the first year of university. Edgar had an uneven, eccentric character, as a result, in his youth, it became difficult for him to find a common language with his adoptive father. There are different versions, which was the reason for the break.
After leaving home and university, our hero went to his hometown of Boston. There he publishes a collection of his poems "Tamerlane and other poems." This does not bring him success, and in order to have a livelihood, at the age of eighteen he enters the army, in an artillery regiment.
He successfully served for a year under the name of Edgar A. Perry and even received the rank of sergeant major. The strict military framework is not for him, and at his request, the adoptive father found a replacement for his son, freeing him from service.
The beginning of the creative path
Once free from service, Edgar devotes himself to creativity. His paternal uncle George Poe introduces the young man to Baltimore newspaper editor William Gwin. They publish a collection of poems "Al-Aaraaf, Tamerlane and small poems", but this does not bring success.
In March 1830, Edgar was sent by his adoptive father against his will to the military academy. At the academy, the young man had to unlearn five years. But at the age of 22 (a year after admission), he is expelled, and relations with his adoptive father are again ruined. Edgar leaves for New York and publishes a third collection of his poems there, again without success.
Career
After the unsuccessful edition of the third collection of poems, he returns to Baltimore, where he lives with his mother's aunt. A difficult period begins. Po writes novels, poems, short stories. Within two years, his life becomes materially scarce, and by the autumn of 1833 - simply hungry.
So in 1833 he sent six of his stories and an excerpt from the poem "Colosseum" to a competition in the Baltimore weekly. His works are recognized as the best, and he receives a prize of $100.
After that, life changed. He starts working for the Southern Literary Messenger, which is published in Richmond. At this time, many of his stories and poems were published. In 1838 he and his family moved to Philadelphia.
Work in new magazines is connected with the move. In 1844, the writer's fame peaked. This is due to the publication of the poem "The Raven". Next came the story "The Demon of Contradiction."
Personal life
The writer married at the age of 27 his cousin Virginia Clemm, who at that time was 13 years old.
In 1847, Virginia dies of tuberculosis and the effects of a burst blood vessel. The writer had a severe nervous breakdown, which was not the first in his life. At first, his friend Mrs. Shew helps him.
But after Edgar's mental state continues to deteriorate and his bouts of alcoholism become more frequent, Shew withdraws from him. Further, the writer tried to find his happiness in communicating with women, but he did not get married.
The trip to Richmond, where he gave a lecture on the "Poetic Principle", was the last of his life. At the age of 40 (October 7, 1849), he dies in a Baltimore hospital.
The twenty years during which Poe wrote his works glorified him. Jules Verne bowed before his work, considering him the founder of the genre in which they later worked.
Edgar Poe: short biography (video)
