Edgar Allan Poe is known to many as the writer and poet of dark and gothic themes, working with topics such as the supernatural and the spirits. However, what is lesser known about this renowned author is his life and the dark embodiment of his childhood and youth.
Edgar Allan Poe’s Life and Writing story must be thought about often.
Horror fiction, detective fiction, modern literature, short story writer, poet, and romanticist are some words that make Edgar Allan Poe what he is. However, what we don’t realize or pay attention to is that these words also describe his life.
Edgar Allan Poe had a tragic life, and his writings witnessed it. They draw a tapestry of all Poe suffered through in his mental state. They inspire the writers and poets of this era to release their turmoil and show how life affects their writing.
1. Biography
Born 19th January 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts, Poe was a short story writer and poet. He was much more than just a short story writer and a poet. Poe is known as the inventor of horror fiction to the level it stands now.
He is infamous for writing on the darker themes of life, such as death, rot, spirit, depression, and the hallow griefs of loneliness. Poe’s tendency to write on such topics comes from his personal experiences, which almost all writers and poets will relate to.
The tendency to base a piece of writing on something the writer or poet is going through is universally practiced. It is a common method of expressing feelings and getting rid of emotions without letting anyone else get involved.
Similarly, Poe’s life embodied loss, loneliness, and longing; it seemed normal for him to wait in such a childhood atmosphere.
Born to an actor and actress, Poe was constantly neglected. Due to his parents’ career expectancy and lifestyle, baby Poe was not given the attention he needed and deserved. Unfortunately, soon after his birth, when he was not more than two years old, his mother, Elizabeth Arnold Poe, died. The cause of her death was Tuberculosis.
Soon after, when little Poe turned approximately three years old, he was left to fend for himself. His father abandoned him and sent him to John and Frances Valentine Allan. John Allan worked in the tobacco industry. Edgar was taken for upbringing by his assumed godfather, John Allan, and his wife. This duo had no children and was supposed to bring Poe up well, at least financially.
Baby Edgar lived in Virginia with his foster parents until he was sent out of town for further studies. Edgar completed his formal education under the wing of his godfather, traveling to places such as Scotland and England for schooling.
As a student, Edgar was an excellent student, albeit somewhat reckless, and had gotten involved in gambling. This gambling habit led to his expulsion, and he was no longer allowed to continue his studies. His foster parent, John, had denied him any financial assistance to repay the debts he had collected because of his gambling habit.
Rejected and Dejected, Edgar returned to his godfather to live in Virginia again. Here, he was meant to assist his foster parent in his tobacco business, but only to meet his supposed soulmate, Elmira Royster.
Elmira Royster was Edgar’s neighbor in Virginia, and it would seem that Edgar found a lifelong infatuation with his first lady love, whom he could never forget, even in his dying moments.
Edgar had extensive traveling experience. He went to Boston and published some written works. He also got admitted into the army. However, after the death of his foster mother, Edgar resigned from the army in Boston and got himself accepted into the US Military Academy.
It would seem that this was where Edgar’s doom began.
Edgar wasn’t great in the military academy. In his first training week, Poe skipped all his drills and classes, resulting in another expulsion. Edgar’s only support seemed to be coming from his writing. He often wrote romances and other contemporary stories.
In 1833, Edgar returned to Baltimore and completely focused on his writing. He began to publish excessively, and his writings began to gain bandwidth and acknowledgment. People began to associate him with Keats and Coleridge.
He soon married his cousin, twelve years younger than him.
2. Death in Poe’s Life
Almost every close relative of Edgar Allan Poe has faced death. It had become a common problem that death was near and near to him. After the death of his foster mother, Edgar’s brother died. The fact that his father abandoned him at such a young age also greatly impacted his life. Edgar, by no means, was stable.
This, accompanied by his lifelike imagination, which left him sleepless and breathless, led to him taking out all his anguish in writing.
Soon afterward, his wife died as well.
This was the trigger point in his life which drove him to insanity. Authors and poets are influenced greatly by their lives to bring life to words. Allan’s insanity, along with his alcoholism and loneliness, was the perfect blend to create the genre it created.
There have been other authors and poets as well who have lived such depressive and melancholic lives that they have caved to suicide. One infamous example is Sylvia Plath, who committed suicide by putting her head inside an oven.
The cause of Edgar Allan Poe’s death remains unknown. It could have been suicide, it could have been substance abuse and alcoholism, it could be a natural death, a disease, or an accidental death. There is no way to know. He is now buried in a church in Baltimore.
3. Gothic Themes in Poe’s Writing
Poe is known as the master of Gothic. The goth themes in his poems and writings are largely evident in the atmosphere they create, in their characters, and their language. Numerous examples of Poe’s writings encapsulate the utter and sheer macabre of his mind.
The well-known poem The Raven is one of these works. The House of Usher, The Tell-Tale Heart, and Anbelle Lee are all works harboring intense horror and madness that a man can create. Edgar’s works are slow and insidious. They creep up on you slowly and slither into your mind and heart.
Fear, absurdity, dread, the conjuring nature of the supernatural, death and decay, rotting life, and unfinished misery are all prevalent themes in Poe’s life. Every aspect of Poe’s life cannot be determined as it is a thing of the past. However, one thing for certain is that Poe drew heavily from his real-life experiences.
He has faced unreleased situations, as shown in his characters and how their fate tangles them in his poems and stories.
In addition to his gothic themes, Poe was known for his unique writing style. He often used a technique called “the unity of effect,” where he carefully crafted every element of his writing to create a specific emotional response in the reader.
Poe believed that literature should elicit a strong emotional response, and he achieved this through his meticulous attention to detail and use of vivid, sensory language.
Despite his troubled life, Poe’s legacy as a writer has endured for over a century. His works continue to captivate readers with their haunting imagery and psychological depth. Today, he is considered one of the most influential American writers of the 19th century, and his impact on the horror and mystery genres can still be seen in modern literature, film, and television.
4. Some of Edgar Allan Poe’s Poems and Stories
- The Raven”
- “Annabel Lee”
- “The Bells”
- “Ulalume”
- “The Haunted Palace”
- “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”
- “The Mystery of Marie Rogêt”
- “The Purloined Letter”
- “The Gold Bug”
- “The Baloon Hoax”
- “The Bargain Lost”
- “To Hellen”
- “The Purloined Letter”
As the names of these books themselves suggest, almost all of them embroider a dark and murderous theme, Sometimes they border with lost love, sometimes they border around death and revenge, and sometimes they are about the supernatural, but what remains constant, is its gothic nature.
At The End
Poe believed that the goal of literature was to create a powerful emotional response in the reader, and his works are a testament to that belief.
His legacy as a master of Gothic literature and a pioneer of the short story form is still felt today, and his influence can be seen in the works of countless writers who came after him. Despite the darkness and tragedy that marked his life, Edgar Allan Poe left behind a body of work that continues to captivate and terrify readers today.
Want to know more about his love life, then check out Edgar Allan Poe’s the Love that did not Last
Last Updated on by Icy Tales Team