Edgar Allan Poe :: essays research papers

Edgar Allan PoePoe, Edgar Allan, known as a poet and critic but most famous as the first masterof the short-story form, especially bilgewaters of the mysterious and macabre. Theliterary merits of Poes writings have been debated since his death, but hisworks have remained popular and many major American and European writers haveprofessed their artistic debt to him. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Poe wasorphaned in his early childhood and was raised by John Allan, a successfulbusinessman of Richmond, Virginia. interpreted by the Allan family to England at theage of six, Poe was placed in a secret school. Upon returning to the UnitedStates in 1820, he continued to study in private schools. He attended theUniversity of Virginia for a year, but in 1827 his foster father, displeased bythe young mans drinking and gambling, refused to pay his debts and forced himto work as a clerk. Poe, disliking his new duties intensely, quit the job, thusestranging Allan, and went to Boston. There his f irst book, Tamerlane and OtherPoems (1827), was published anonymously. Shortly afterward Poe enlisted in theU.S. Army and served a two-year term. In 1829 his second volume of verse, AlAaraaf, was published, and he effected a reconciliation with Allan, who securedhim an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy. After only a few months at the academy Poe was dismissed for neglect of duty, and his foster father disownedhim permanently. Poes third book, Poems, appeared in 1831, and the followingyear he moved to Baltimore, where he lived with his aunt and her 11-year-olddaughter, Virginia Clemm. The following year his tale A MS. Found in a Bottlewon a contest sponsored by the Baltimore Saturday Visitor. From 1835 to 1837 Poe