Biography

__Edgar Allan Poe__ “I wish I could write as mysterious as a cat,” said Edgar Allan Poe (Edgar 1). With his thoughtful poems and horror stories, Poe really did mysteriously catch the eye of readers from all over the world. Poe’s journey to poetry started on January 19th, 1809, the day he was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents were David and Elizabeth Poe. Edgar was one of three children born to the English couple (Welcome 1). Before Edgar was two, his parents separated. Edgar, and his two siblings, Henry and Rosalie, went to live with their mother. When Edgar turned two, his mother died, sending her three children to live with foster families, except for Henry who went to live with his grandparents (Welcome 1). By the time Poe reached the age of six, he was sent to study in England until age eleven. He later returned to America where he continued to study language, math, and history at the University of Virginia in 1829. But because of lack of money, he dropped out of school and enlisted in the army (Allan 1). Edgar Allan Poe, who had now taken the last name Allan from his foster parents, left the army and went to live in New York City. There is where he got his first job as a newspaper editor because of an award given to him from a manuscript he wrote (Welcome 1). One year after, in 1836, he married his thirteen year old cousin, Virginia, when Poe was twenty-seven (Welcome 1). Poe quit his job in 1836 because of a poor salary and in 1838, he moved to Philadelphia to continue his writing career. “He wrote "[|Ligeia]" and "[|The Haunted Palace]". His first volume of short stories, "Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque" was published in 1839. Poe received the copyright and 20 copies of the book, but no money,” (Welcome 1). In 1840, Poe became co-editor of //Grahams Magazine//. “In 1843, he published some booklets containing a few of his short stories but they didn't sell well enough. He won a hundred dollars for his story, "[|The Gold Bug]" and sold a few other stories to magazines but he barely had enough money to support his family,” (Welcome 1). Poe became editor of the //Broadway Journal// in 1845. His wife died in 1847. Poe died in 1849 (Allan 1) The life experiences of Edgar Allan Poe have influenced his writing the most. During his life, he worked at numerous different literature companies such as //Southern Literary Messenger, Graham's Magazine, The Stylus,// and //The Broadway Journal// (Allan 1). He uses memories such as his mother dying, foster families, war, job and moneyless, and his wife dying to make his literature extraordinary. Poe published four different books, many short stories, and countless poems in his life time. “Poe's best known fiction works are [|Gothic],” (Allan 1). “His most recurring themes deal with questions of death, including its physical signs, the effects of decomposition, concerns of [|premature burial], the reanimation of the dead, and [|mourning].” Some of Poe’s most popular pieces of literature his most disturbing ones like //The Raven// and //The Black Cat// (Allan 1). Edgar Allan Poe is not just another writer or another poet, but he is a writer who shows how bad life can truly be from his own experiences.