Edgar Allan Poe Influences
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor, and literary critic. He started off writing poems and then books. He experienced so many tragedies in his life that his writings got darker. His writing was influenced by the loss of so many loved ones, his unstable love life and his alcohol abuse. His horror stories are some of the scariest stories ever written.
Edgar Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston Massachusetts. His father abandoned the family and his mother died of tuberculosis. He always thought about how much better his home life would have been if he had never had to live with a foster family. Edgar was taken in by John Allan and Frances Keeling Valentine Allan, and moved to Richmond. He wasn’t officially adopted but added the name Allan to his name. His foster father, John Allan was often under the …show more content…
influence of alcohol and would get very abusive and physical. They fought so much Edgar joined the Army to get away. Edgar published his first book in the military, Tamerlane and Minor Poems. This book had a lot of poems he wrote for girls.
Frances Keeling Valentine Allan, the foster mom, was very sweet to Edgar.
She would try to protect him from her abusive husband as much as she can. She taught him many school subjects like history, reading and writing. He enjoyed these lessons. Edgar’s close relationship with his foster mother made her death extremely difficult for him to handle.
Edgar failed as an officer 's cadet and left West Point and went to live with his Aunt Maria Clemm. This is when he started writing short stories. While here he found out his brother, William Henry Leonard Poe, died of tuberculosis at a very young age, just like his biological mother. Even though they had never had a close relationship this news hit Edgar very hard. He grieved for his brother for a long time. He then wrote two works: Ligeia and The Fall of the House of Usher. Then he published The Raven, a never-ending remembrances of the three deaths he had dealt with.
Regardless of the relationship Edgar had with his foster father his death affected Edgar and this is when he started adding opium to his alcohol. He wrote more about sudden death and had some drunken
appearances.
Edgar worked for The Messenger magazine, his writing was very good and popular but drinking got him fired. From there he moved up north and married his 13 year old cousin, Virginia. In 1847 his wife Virginia died of tuberculosis. This death caused him to drink even more. He started working on The Conqueror Worm while his wife was slowly dying; this poem is about the decay of humankind when maggots and worms feast on the dead. Virginia’s sickness also influenced The Tell-Tale Heart and The Pit and the Pendulum, two of his horror tales. His poem, ‘Annabel Lee’ is one of the saddest ones written that Virginia influenced.
After Virginia’s death, Edgar got engaged to a childhood friend. They were set to marry on October 17, 1849. Before the wedding, he took a trip to meet his friends in New York but he never even made it to Baltimore. After five days of no one knowing where he was found in a haze of delirium. He was taken to a hospital where he died on October 7, ten days before his wedding. The cause of his death is unknown but it was rumored it had to do with alcohol, brain congestion, cholera, drugs, heart disease, rabies, suicide, and/or tuberculosis. His last words were “Lord help my poor soul”.
Death kept occurring in Edgar Allan Poe’s life so his work reflected darkness and sorrow. He dealt with the pain of deaths with more drinking. Regardless of his reputation as a drunk he is still widely known as an American writer.
Works Cited
Kennedy, X. J. and Dana Gioia. Literature. An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Twelfth Edition. Print.
"Poe, Edgar Allan (1809 - 1849)." The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Credo Reference. Web. 26 September 2013.
Wikipedia contributors. "Edgar Allan Poe." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 18 Sep. 2013. Web. 26 Sep. 2013.
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor, and literary critic. He started off writing poems and then books. He experienced so many tragedies in his life that his writings got darker. His writing was influenced by the loss of so many loved ones, his unstable love life and his alcohol abuse. His horror stories are some of the scariest stories ever written.
Edgar Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston Massachusetts. His father abandoned the family and his mother died of tuberculosis. He always thought about how much better his home life would have been if he had never had to live with a foster family. Edgar was taken in by John Allan and Frances Keeling Valentine Allan, and moved to Richmond. He wasn’t officially adopted but added the name Allan to his name. His foster father, John Allan was often under the …show more content…
influence of alcohol and would get very abusive and physical. They fought so much Edgar joined the Army to get away. Edgar published his first book in the military, Tamerlane and Minor Poems. This book had a lot of poems he wrote for girls.
Frances Keeling Valentine Allan, the foster mom, was very sweet to Edgar.
She would try to protect him from her abusive husband as much as she can. She taught him many school subjects like history, reading and writing. He enjoyed these lessons. Edgar’s close relationship with his foster mother made her death extremely difficult for him to handle.
Edgar failed as an officer 's cadet and left West Point and went to live with his Aunt Maria Clemm. This is when he started writing short stories. While here he found out his brother, William Henry Leonard Poe, died of tuberculosis at a very young age, just like his biological mother. Even though they had never had a close relationship this news hit Edgar very hard. He grieved for his brother for a long time. He then wrote two works: Ligeia and The Fall of the House of Usher. Then he published The Raven, a never-ending remembrances of the three deaths he had dealt with.
Regardless of the relationship Edgar had with his foster father his death affected Edgar and this is when he started adding opium to his alcohol. He wrote more about sudden death and had some drunken
appearances.
Edgar worked for The Messenger magazine, his writing was very good and popular but drinking got him fired. From there he moved up north and married his 13 year old cousin, Virginia. In 1847 his wife Virginia died of tuberculosis. This death caused him to drink even more. He started working on The Conqueror Worm while his wife was slowly dying; this poem is about the decay of humankind when maggots and worms feast on the dead. Virginia’s sickness also influenced The Tell-Tale Heart and The Pit and the Pendulum, two of his horror tales. His poem, ‘Annabel Lee’ is one of the saddest ones written that Virginia influenced.
After Virginia’s death, Edgar got engaged to a childhood friend. They were set to marry on October 17, 1849. Before the wedding, he took a trip to meet his friends in New York but he never even made it to Baltimore. After five days of no one knowing where he was found in a haze of delirium. He was taken to a hospital where he died on October 7, ten days before his wedding. The cause of his death is unknown but it was rumored it had to do with alcohol, brain congestion, cholera, drugs, heart disease, rabies, suicide, and/or tuberculosis. His last words were “Lord help my poor soul”.
Death kept occurring in Edgar Allan Poe’s life so his work reflected darkness and sorrow. He dealt with the pain of deaths with more drinking. Regardless of his reputation as a drunk he is still widely known as an American writer.
Works Cited
Kennedy, X. J. and Dana Gioia. Literature. An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Twelfth Edition. Print.
"Poe, Edgar Allan (1809 - 1849)." The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Credo Reference. Web. 26 September 2013.
Wikipedia contributors. "Edgar Allan Poe." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 18 Sep. 2013. Web. 26 Sep. 2013.