Poe's Life

Who is Edgar Allan Poe?

The name Poe brings to mind images of murderers and madmen,

premature burials, and mysterious women who return from the dead. His
works have been in print since 1827 and include such literary classics as
“The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Raven,” and “The Fall of the House of Usher.”
This versatile writer’s oeuvre includes short stories, poetry, a novel, a
textbook, a book of scientific theory, and hundreds of essays and book
reviews. He is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern
detective story and an innovator in the science fiction genre, but he made
his living as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician. Poe’s
reputation today rests primarily on his tales of terror as well as on his
haunting lyric poetry.

Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe
himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or
crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product
of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.

The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three
children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death,
and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within
three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco
merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went
to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but
Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early
poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal
how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business. By the age of thirteen, Poe had compiled enough
poetry to publish a book, but his headmaster advised Allan against allowing this.

In 1826 Poe left Richmond to attend the University of Virginia, where he excelled in his classes while
accumulating considerable debt. The miserly Allan had sent Poe to college with less than a third of the
money he needed, and Poe soon took up gambling to raise money to pay his expenses. By the end of his
first term Poe was so desperately poor that he burned his furniture to keep warm.

Humiliated by his poverty and furious with Allan for not providing enough funds in the first place, Poe
returned to Richmond and visited the home of his fiancée Elmira Royster, only to discover that she had
become engaged to another man in Poe’s absence. The heartbroken Poe’s last few months in the Allan
mansion were punctuated with increasing hostility towards Allan until Poe finally stormed out of the
home in a quixotic quest to become a great poet and to find adventure. He accomplished the first
objective by publishing his first book Tamerlane when he was only eighteen, and to achieve the second
goal he enlisted in the United States Army. Two years later he heard that Frances Allan, the only mother
he had ever known, was dying of tuberculosis and wanted to see him before she died. By the time Poe
returned to Richmond she had already been buried. Poe and Allan briefly reconciled, and Allan helped
Poe gain an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Before going to West Point, Poe published another volume of poetry. While there, Poe was offended to
hear that Allan had remarried without telling him or even inviting him to the ceremony. Poe wrote to
Allan detailing all the wrongs Allan had committed against him and threatened to get himself expelled
from the academy. After only eight months at West Point Poe was thrown out, but he soon published
yet another book.

Broke and alone, Poe turned to Baltimore, his late father’s home, and called upon relatives in the city.
One of Poe’s cousins robbed him in the night, but another relative, Poe’s aunt Maria Clemm, became a
new mother to him and welcomed him into her home. Clemm’s daughter Virginia first acted as a courier
to carry letters to Poe’s lady loves but soon became the object of his desire.

While Poe was in Baltimore, Allan died, leaving Poe out of his will, which did, however, provide for an
illegitimate child Allan had never seen. By then Poe was living in poverty but had started publishing his
short stories, one of which won a contest sponsored by the Saturday Visiter. The connections Poe
established through the contest allowed him to publish more stories and to eventually gain an editorial
position at the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond. It was at this magazine that Poe finally found
his life’s work as a magazine writer.

Within a year Poe helped make the Messenger the most popular magazine in the
south with his sensational stories as well as with his scathing book reviews. Poe
soon developed a reputation as a fearless critic who not only attacked an
author’s work but also insulted the author and the northern literary
establishment. Poe targeted some of the most famous writers in the country.
One of his victims was the anthologist and editor Rufus Griswold.

At the age of twenty-seven, Poe brought Maria and Virginia Clemm to Richmond
and married his Virginia, who was not yet fourteen. The marriage proved a happy
one, and the family is said to have enjoyed singing together at night. Virginia expressed her devotion to
her husband in a Valentine poem now in the collection of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, and Poe
celebrated the joys of married life in his poem “Eulalie.”

Dissatisfied with his low pay and lack of editorial control at theMessenger, Poe moved to New York City.
In the wake of the financial crisis known as the “Panic of 1837,” Poe struggled to find magazine work and
wrote his only novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.

After a year in New York, Poe moved to Philadelphia in 1838 and wrote for a number of different
magazines. He served as editor of Burton’s and then Graham’s magazines while continuing to sell
articles to Alexander’s Weekly Messenger and other journals. In spite of his growing fame, Poe was still
barely able to make a living. For the publication of his first book of short stories, Tales of the Grotesque
and Arabesque, he was only paid with twenty-five free copies of his book. He would soon become a
champion for the cause of higher wages for writers as well as for an international copyright law. To
change the face of the magazine industry, he proposed starting his own journal, but he failed to find the
necessary funding.

In the face of poverty Poe was still able to find solace at home with his wife and mother-in-law, but
tragedy struck in 1842 when Poe’s wife contracted tuberculosis, the disease that had already claimed
Poe’s mother, brother, and foster mother.
Always in search of better opportunities, Poe moved to New York again in 1844 and introduced himself
to the city by perpetrating a hoax. His “news story” of a balloon trip across the ocean caused a
sensation, and the public rushed to read everything about it—until Poe revealed that he had fooled
them all.

The January 1845 publication of “The Raven” made Poe a household name.
He was now famous enough to draw large crowds to his lectures, and he
was beginning to demand better pay for his work. He published two books
that year, and briefly lived his dream of running his own magazine when he
bought out the owners of theBroadway Journal. The failure of the venture,
his wife’s deteriorating health, and rumors spreading about Poe’s
relationship with a married woman, drove him out of the city in 1846. At
this time he moved to a tiny cottage in the country. It was there, in the
winter of 1847 that Virginia died at the age of twenty-four. Poe was
devastated, and was unable to write for months. His critics assumed he
would soon be dead. They were right. Poe only lived another two years and
spent much of that time traveling from one city to the next giving lectures and finding backers for his
latest proposed magazine project to be called The Stylus.

While on lecture tour in Lowell, Massachusetts, Poe met and befriended Nancy Richmond. His idealized
and platonic love of her inspired some of his greatest poetry, including “For Annie.” Since she remained
married and unattainable, Poe attempted to marry the poetess Sarah Helen Whitman in Providence, but
the engagement lasted only about one month. In Richmond he found his first fiancée Elmira Royster
Shelton was now a widow, so began to court her again. Before he left Richmond on a trip to Philadelphia
he considered himself engaged to her, and her letters from the time imply that she felt the same way.
On the way to Philadelphia, Poe stopped in Baltimore and disappeared for five days.

He was found in the bar room of a public house that was being used as a polling place for an election.
The magazine editor Joseph Snodgrass sent Poe to Washington College Hospital, where Poe spent the
last days of his life far from home and surrounded by strangers. Neither Poe’s mother-in-law nor his
fiancée knew what had become of him until they read about it in the newspapers. Poe died on October
7, 1849 at the age of forty. The exact cause of Poe’s death remains a mystery.

Days after Poe’s death, his literary rival Rufus Griswold wrote a libelous
obituary of the author in a misguided attempt at revenge for some of the
offensive things Poe had said and written about him. Griswold followed the
obituary with a memoir in which he portrayed Poe as a drunken, womanizing
madman with no morals and no friends. Griswold’s attacks were meant to
cause the public to dismiss Poe and his works, but the biography had exactly
the opposite effect and instead drove the sales of Poe’s books higher than
they had ever been during the author’s lifetime. Griswold’s distorted image of
Poe created the Poe legend that lives to this day while Griswold is only
remembered (if at all) as Poe’s first biographer.
Poe's Technique
Poe’s Use of Literary Devices in a Short Story
(English SOL 7.4b, 7.5a,b, and c)
Even critics who object to Poe’s subject matter tend to concede that Poe was a master craftsman. The theories he
explained as a literary critic are put into practice in his short stories and poems. Poe’s primary concern was “unity of
effect,” which means that every element of a story should help create a single emotional impact. Poe’s 1846 tale
“The Cask of Amontillado” is one of his best known works. It is the story of a revenge-obsessed man Montressor who
tricks his enemy Fortunato into following him into a catacomb in search of a pipe of Amontillado (a kind of sherry).
Over the course of their journey, Montressor gradually reveals his plan to his victim, who is too drunk to notice.
Finally, the murderer chains his victim to a wall and bricks him up alive in a compartment. In the following excerpt
from the opening paragraphs of “The Cask of Amontillado,” Poe quickly and effectively foreshadows the gruesome
conclusion of the story with a minimum of unnecessary detail. Notice the ironic details probably intended for
humorous effect. For example, even the victim’s name, Fortunato, is ironic because he is, in fact, very unfortunate.
At the time Poe wrote this story he was engaged in a literary feud with writer Thomas Dunn English, who Poe would
eventually sue for libel.
From “The Cask of Amontillado”
The thousand injuries 1 of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he
1. Hyperbole: “the thousand injuries” * Poe does not
ventured upon insult I vowed revenge.2 You, who so well know the nature of tell us exactly what Fortunato has done to deserve
my soul, will not suppose, however, that gave utterance to a threat.3 At length Montressor’s wrath, but Poe deliberately exaggerates
the number and severity of Fortunato’s offenses only
I would be avenged; this was a point definitely, settled --but the very
say that those offenses pale in comparison to the way
definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. I must not
in which Fortunato has most recently insulted
only punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when Montressor.
retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger 2. Conflict: The narrator Montressor has been
offended by Fortunato and must have his revenge.
fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.
Montressor does not want to be caught or punished
It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato
for what he will do, so he must conceive of a plan
cause to doubt my good will. I continued, as was my wont to smile in his face, that will allow him to “punish with impunity.” The
and he did not perceive that my to smile now was at the thought of his first paragraph establishes the conflict.
3. Point of View: The story is told from first-person
immolation.
point of view by a narrator who directly addresses a
He had a weak point --this Fortunato --although in other regards he was a man
listener. Some critics believe the narrator is on his
to be respected and even feared. He prided himself on his connoisseurship in deathbed confessing to a priest.
wine.4 Few Italians have the true virtuoso spirit. For the most part their 4. Foreshadowing: Poe reveals that Fortunato has a
enthusiasm is adopted to suit the time and opportunity, to practice imposture weakness for wine, and this will play a major part in
Montressor’s plan.
upon the British and Austrian millionaires. In painting and gemmary,
5. Irony: This term describes a contradiction between
Fortunato, like his countrymen, was a quack, but in the matter of old wines he the appearance of something and its reality. In this
was sincere. In this respect I did not differ from him materially; --I was skilful case, Fortunato thinks Montressor is trying to talk
him out of trying the Amontillado, but the reader
in the Italian vintages myself, and bought largely whenever I could.
knows this is exactly what Montressor wants him to
It was about dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of the carnival
do.
season5, that I encountered my friend. He accosted me with excessive warmth, 6. Setting: The story begins in a carnival. Montressor
for he had been drinking much. The man wore motley. He had on a tight- may have waited until carnival time to have an
fitting parti-striped dress, and his head was surmounted by the conical cap and excuse to wear a mask in public so that no one would
recognize him as he walked with his victim. He
bells. I was so pleased to see him that I thought I should never have done
might have also waited until then to insure that his
wringing his hand. servants would all leave the house to attend the
I said to him --"My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well festivities so that he would have a private setting for
you are looking to-day. But I have received a pipe of what passes for his crime. Poe has set the story in an Italian city,
mostly likely Venice, where such carnivals where
Amontillado, and I have my doubts."
common. He also chose a European locale because
"How?" said he. "Amontillado, A pipe? Impossible! And in the middle of he needed a culture, unlike America, in which
the carnival!" catacombs were common.
"I have my doubts," I replied; "and I was silly enough to pay the full 7. Setting: Instead of going to a wine cellar, the
murder takes his victim to a catacomb. Notice how
Amontillado price without consulting you in the matter. You were not to be
Poe describes not only the appearance but the smell
found, and I was fearful of losing a bargain." and the texture of the catacombs.
"Amontillado!" 8. Metaphor: “two filmy orbs…” Poe uses this image
"I have my doubts." to describe Fortunato’s eyes in such as way that tells
the reader how drunk Fortunato already is.
"Amontillado!"
9. Irony: “Your health is precious.” The murderer
"And I must satisfy them." pretends to show concern for his victim’s health. The
"Amontillado!" reader of the story knows this, but the victim does
"As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchresi. If any one has a not.

critical turn it is he. He will tell me --"

"Luchresi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry."
"And yet some fools will have it that his taste is a match for your own.
"Come, let us go."
"Whither?"
"To your vaults."
"My friend, no; I will not impose upon your good nature. I perceive
you have an engagement. Luchresi--"
"I have no engagement; --come."
"My friend, no. It is not the engagement, but the severe cold with
which I perceive you are afflicted. The vaults are insufferably damp. They are
encrusted with nitre." 5
"Let us go, nevertheless. The cold is merely nothing. Amontillado! You
have been imposed upon. And as for Luchresi, he cannot distinguish Sherry
from Amontillado." Thus speaking, Fortunato possessed himself of my arm;
and putting on a mask of black silk and drawing a roquelaire closely about my
person 6, I suffered him to hurry me to my palazzo.
There were no attendants at home; they had absconded to make merry
in honour of the time. I had told them that I should not return until the
morning, and had given them explicit orders not to stir from the house. These
orders were sufficient, I well knew, to insure their immediate disappearance,
one and all, as soon as my back was turned.
I took from their sconces two flambeaux, and giving one to Fortunato,
bowed him through several suites of rooms to the archway that led into the
vaults. I passed down a long and winding staircase, requesting him to be
cautious as he followed. We came at length to the foot of the descent, and
stood together upon the damp ground of the catacombs of the Montresors. 7
The gait of my friend was unsteady, and the bells upon his cap jingled
as he strode.
"The pipe," he said.
 "It is farther on," said I; "but observe the white web-work which
gleams from these cavern walls."
He turned towards me, and looked into my eyes with two filmy orbs
that distilled the rheum of intoxication. 8
"Nitre?" he asked, at length.
"Nitre," I replied. "How long have you had that cough?" "Ugh!
ugh! ugh! --ugh! ugh! ugh! --ugh! ugh! ugh! --ugh! ugh! ugh! --ugh! ugh!
ugh!" My poor friend found it impossible to reply for many minutes. "It is
nothing," he said, at last.
"Come," I said, with decision, "we will go back; your health is precious. 9

How Poe used poetic techniques to convey mood in his poetry:

(English SOL 7.5c and d)
In his essay “The Philosophy of Composition” Poe explained that he was attempting to create a melancholy mood
with his poem “The Raven.” He believed the long “o” sound in the word “nevermore” had a very sad sound, so he
repeated that sound at the end of each stanza. Poe also noted that the saddest subject in the world was the death of
a beautiful young woman, so he chose that as the subject of his poem. He then concluded that the narrator of the
poem should be the dead woman’s lover, the one, Poe believed, would be most deeply affected by her death.
Throughout the poem Poe uses imagery that conveys a sense of sorrow over the death of the narrator’s lover
Lenore. For example, he describes the dark night outside his room as a “Plutonian shore,” making an allusion to god
of the underworld Pluto. Poe also devotes a great deal of attention to the lyrical qualities of his poetry in order to
convey a sense of beauty, the contemplation of which, he believed, “invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears.”
From “The Raven”
1. Ryhme: “...dreary….weary.”
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,1
2. Alliteration: “...nodded, nearly napping…”
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, 3. Onomatopoeia: “tapping”
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, 3 4. Repetition: “...rapping, rapping…”
5. Stanza: “Once...more.” *This selection includes
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. 4
four stanzas from the poem. Each stanza ends with a
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door-
word that rhymes with “nevermore.”
Only this, and nothing more." 5 6. Personifaction:
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December, “..sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain…”
*The rustling of the curtains sounds sad as if the
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
curtains themselves share the misery of the narrator.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;- vainly I had sought to borrow
Later in the poem a raven will be given human
From my books surcease of sorrow- sorrow for the lost Lenore- attributes.
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore- 7. Assonance:
“...terrors never felt before…”
Nameless here for evermore.
8. Figurative Language: “...my soul grew
And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain 6
stronger…” *It means he overcame his fear.
Thrilled me- filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before; 7 Meter: octameter acatalectic, alternating with
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating, heptameter catalectic repeated in the refrain of the
fifth verse, and terminating with tetrameter catalectic
"'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door-
(a long syllable followed by a short one, the first line
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;-
consisting of sixteen syllables, the second line of
This it is, and nothing more." fifteen, the third of sixteen, the fourth of fifteen, the
Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer, 8 fifth of sixteen, and the sixth of seven).
"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you"- here I opened wide the door;-
Darkness there, and nothing more.