edgar allan poe bio
Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most celebrated of all American authors. Heavily influenced by the German Romantic Ironists, Poe made his mark in Gothic fiction, especially through the tales of the macabre for which he is now so famous. Although he regarded himself primarily as a poet, he is one of the few indisputably great writers of the short story, alongside Guy de Maupassant and O. Henry. Besides redefining that form as a vehicle for literary art, Poe also contributed to the modern detective genre and wrote highly influential literary criticism.
Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809 to David Poe, Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins - both of whom died before their son was three. Young Edgar went to live in Richmond, Virginia with John Allan, a wealthy tradesman, while his older brother William Henry and his half-sister Rosalie were sent to other families.
The Allans regarded Edgar as a son and financed his private school education, but in Edgar's adolescent years, conflict arose between Edgar and his guardians over his literary ambitions. Poe enrolled in the University of Virginia but received very little financial support from John Allan, and was prevented from returning when Allan refused to help him with his hefty gambling debts. In 1827, Poe enlisted in the U.S. Army and rose in two years to the rank of sergeant major, but he chose to leave the Army with the understanding that he would enroll at West Point.
Prior to enlisting, Poe had published a volume of poetry, Tamerlane and Other Poems. After his army time and while a student at West Point, he published a second volume: Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems, which critics favorably received. Physically weaker and older than most of his classmates, Poe felt out of place at the school, and he devoted much of his time to studying the Romantic poets such as Byron, Shelley, Coleridge, and Wordsworth. He played pranks involving bloody ganders posing as decapitated heads, and he was eventually
Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809 to David Poe, Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins - both of whom died before their son was three. Young Edgar went to live in Richmond, Virginia with John Allan, a wealthy tradesman, while his older brother William Henry and his half-sister Rosalie were sent to other families.
The Allans regarded Edgar as a son and financed his private school education, but in Edgar's adolescent years, conflict arose between Edgar and his guardians over his literary ambitions. Poe enrolled in the University of Virginia but received very little financial support from John Allan, and was prevented from returning when Allan refused to help him with his hefty gambling debts. In 1827, Poe enlisted in the U.S. Army and rose in two years to the rank of sergeant major, but he chose to leave the Army with the understanding that he would enroll at West Point.
Prior to enlisting, Poe had published a volume of poetry, Tamerlane and Other Poems. After his army time and while a student at West Point, he published a second volume: Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems, which critics favorably received. Physically weaker and older than most of his classmates, Poe felt out of place at the school, and he devoted much of his time to studying the Romantic poets such as Byron, Shelley, Coleridge, and Wordsworth. He played pranks involving bloody ganders posing as decapitated heads, and he was eventually