Edgar Allan Рое

Edgar Allan Рос (1809—1849), was one of America's great­est poets, short-story writers, and literary critics. «The Raven» is one of the best-known poems in American literature, and an exam­ple of the haunting quality of many of Poe's works. With «The Murders in the Rue Morgue» and other short stories, Рое became the father of modem mystery and detective fiction. «The Fall of the House of Usher», «The Masque of the Red Death», and other such tales made him a forerunner of symbolism, impressionism, and the grotesque in modern literature. «The Poetic Principle», the «Mar­ginalia», and his reviews contain important principles of literary criticism, which, together with his poetry and fiction, influenced many later writers.

For many years, critics disagreed on Poe's place in literature. Up to World War I, he was admired mainly for his romantic lyric poems, his tales of terror, and his clever detective stories. Since that time, scholars have become more concerned with Poe's sym­bolic poems and talcs-those in which mystery, atmoshphere, and extraordinary events and characters represent the interplay of con­flicting feelings and values.

Poe's life. The mystery of Рое the man and the artist has fasci­nated biographers. Рое was hounded by economic troubles, hurt by his enemies, and haunted by nightmares and visions. Yet out of the very frustrations and failures of his personal life came his artistic successes.

Early life. Рое was born in Boston on Jan. 19, 1809. His fa­ther deserted the family and his mother died before Рое was three years old. John Allan, a tobacco exporter in Richmond, Va., and his wife Frances raised Рое as a foster child, but never legally adopted him. From 1815 to 1820, the family lived in England, and Рое attended a private school near London, where he did well in his studies.

In 1826, Рое entered the University of Virginia, where he was an excellent student. But because his foster father sent him barely enough money to live, Рое gambled to try to win money for books and clothing. His resulting debts caused Allan to withdraw him from the university. Allan then wanted Рое to study law, but Рое determined to follow a literary career. After the two quarreled in March, 1827, Рое left home for Boston, where he later enlisted in the Army as «Edgar А. Репу».

By the time he was honorably discharged in 1829, he had at­tained the rank of sergeant major. He then moved to Baltimore to live with his aunt, Mrs. Maria Clemm, and her daughter, Virginia. In 1830, Рое entered the U.S. Military Academy in a final effort to gain Allan's good will. But Frances Allan had died in 1829 and when Allan decided to remarry in 1830, Рое concluded he would never be reconciled with Allan or receivc an inheritance. So he deliberately broke regulations to force his dismissal from West Point.

Early literary career. Poe's career began with two volumes of poetry, «Tamerlane and Other Poems» (1827) and «А1 Aaraaf, Ta­merlane», and «Minor Poems» (1829). Poems (1831) included three of his best works — «To Helen», «The City in the Sea», and «Is- rafel». But, discouraged by lack of recognition, he started writing short stories. The first five were published in 1832.

In 1833, Poe's story «MS. Found in a Bottle» won a S50 prize and the friendship of John P. Kennedy, a novelist and lawyer. Kennedy helped Рое gel a job with the «Southern Literary Messen­ger», which Рое edited so well that subscriptions increased from 500 to over 3,500. In 1836, Рое married his cousin Virginia Clemm, who was then not quite 14 years old. As he could not support his wife and aunt on a salary of S10 a week, he resigned from the mag­azine and moved to New York City in 1837.

Midcarcer. Poe's most productive period as a fiction writer and critic extended from 1837 to 1845. He spent the first 18 months in New York City. Рое then moved to Philadelphia in 1838, and edit­ed two magazines there. Despite his success as an editor and writ­er, however, he was so underpaid that he and his family often went without enough food.

In Philadelphia, Рое wrote significant reviews of the works of Longfellow and Hawthorne. Some of his greatest talcs appeared in a collection of his first 25 stories, «Tales of the Grotesque and Ar­abesque» (1840). But it brought him neither important recognition nor money.

From 1844 until his death, Рое lived in New York City. During the mid-1840's, he wrote and edited as much as 15 hours a day and enjoyed a growing reputation as a short-story writer. His tale «The Gold-Bug» (1843) sold 300,000 copies. In many ways, 1845 was his best year— 12 stories published in «Tales» and 30 poems in «The Raven and Other Poems». «The Raven» brought him his greatest recognition. Also in 1845, James Rus­sell Lowell wrote the first essay-length appreciation of Рое as a writer. He praised Рое as «the most discriminating, philo­sophical and fearless critic upon imaginative works who has written in America».

The tragic period. The last years of Poe's life were marked by tragedy. His wife died of tuberculosis in 1847 after five years of illness. This «intolerable sorrow» led Рое to occasional drinking to ease his despair. His drinking, or gossip about it, sometimes spoiled his chances to get or hold a job. But according to his business asso­ciates, Рое was usually sober, responsible, courteous, and hard­working. His drinking troubles were largely due to a low tolerance for alcohol. Contrary to what some persons believe, he was neither a habitual drunkard nor a drug addict.

In 1849, Рое became engaged to marry the widowed Mrs. Sa­rah Royster Shelton, his boyhood sweetheart. On his way to bring Mrs. Clemm to the wedding, Рое stopped in Baltimore, probably on September 28. There arc various theories about the events of the next few days. All that is known is that Рос was found lying out side a voting place on October 3. He died in a hospital four days later, without regaining consciousness. The cause of his death re­mains unknown.