The Life Of Edgar Allen Poe

4 Pages 997 Words

Edgar Allen Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston to Elizabeth Arnold Poe, an English born actress, and David Poe, Jr., an actor from Baltimore, Maryland. His life was that of most children, until his mother tragically died in 1811.
The young Edgar Allen went to live with his godfather, John Allen, and his wife who were childless. From 1815 to 1820, his godfather sent him to England and Scotland to begin his classical education. When he returned to Richmond, Virginia, he studied Greek, Latin, French, Spanish, and Italian. He was bright, but while at university, he gambled so excessively that John Allen pulled him out and wouldn’t let him continue.
Upon returning to Richmond from university, Edgar Allen Poe was heartbroken to find his girlfriend, Elmira Royster, engaged to another man. He left home once more, this time going to Boston where he published a pamphlet of poems entitled Tamerlane and Other Poems. Some of the poems in this collection allude to his lost Elmira.
Edgar Allen Poe had become incredibly poor. Publishing small works did not bring in the amount of money he was accustomed to living with. Because of his lack of money, he decided to join the army under a false name-Edgar A. Perry. When his foster mother died, John Allen purchased for him a release from the army, and helped to get him appointed at a United States Military Academy at West Point. Before leaving for military school, he published Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems. Edgar Allen hated military school, and successfully got himself expelled by being absent from all the drills and classes for a straight week.
Poe went to New York City briefly after this incident, and then returned to Baltimore where he wrote MS. Found in a Bottle and won $50 for it in a contest. In 1835, he became the editor of the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond and made a name for himself as a critical reviewer.
In his mid-twenties, Poe began to think of m...