Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe ( born Edgar Poe ; January 19 , 1809 – October 7 , 1849 ) was an American author , poet , editor , and literary critic , considered part of the American Romantic Movement . Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre , Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre . He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction . He was the first well - known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone , resulting in a financially difficult life and career . He was born as Edgar Poe in Boston , Massachusetts ; he was orphaned at a young age when his mother died shortly after his father abandoned the family . Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan , of Richmond , Virginia , but they never formally adopted him . He attended the University of Virginia for one semester but left due to lack of money . After enlisting in the Army and later failing as an officer ' s cadet at West Point , Poe parted ways with the Allans . His publishing career began humbly , with an anonymous collection of poems , " Tamerlane and Other Poems " ( 1827 ) , credited only to " a Bostonian " . Poe switched his focus to prose and spent the next several years working for literary journals and periodicals , becoming known for his own style of literary criticism . His work forced him to move among several cities , including Baltimore , Philadelphia , and New York City . In Baltimore in 1835 , he married Virginia Clemm , his 13 - year - old cousin . In January 1845 Poe published his poem , " The Raven " , to instant success . His wife died of tuberculosis two years after its publication . He began planning to produce his own journal , " The Penn " ( later renamed " The Stylus " ) , though he died before it could be produced . On October 7 , 1849 , at age 40 , Poe died in Baltimore ; the cause of his death is unknown and has been variously attributed to alcohol , brain congestion , cholera , drugs , heart disease , rabies , suicide , tuberculosis , and other agents . Poe and his works influenced literature in the United States and around the world , as well as in specialized fields , such as cosmology and cryptography . Poe and his work appear throughout popular culture in literature , music , films , and television . A number of his homes are dedicated museums today . The Mystery Writers of America present an annual award known as the Edgar Award for distinguished work in the mystery genre . Life and career . Early life . He was born Edgar Poe in Boston , Massachusetts , on January 19 , 1809 , the second child of English - born actress Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe and actor David Poe , Jr . He had an elder brother , William Henry Leonard Poe , and a younger sister , Rosalie Poe . Their grandfather , David Poe , Sr . , had emigrated from Cavan , Ireland , to America around the year 1750 . Edgar may have been named after a character in William Shakespeare ' s " King Lear " , a play the couple was performing in 1809 . His father abandoned their family in 1810 , and his mother died a year later from consumption ( pulmonary tuberculosis ) . Poe was then taken into the home of John Allan , a successful Scottish merchant in Richmond , Virginia , who dealt in a variety of goods including tobacco , cloth , wheat , tombstones , and slaves . The Allans served as a foster family and gave him the name " Edgar Allan Poe " , though they never formally adopted him . The Allan family had Poe baptized in the Episcopal Church in 1812 . John Allan alternately spoiled and aggressively disciplined his foster son . The family , including Poe and Allan ' s wife , Frances Valentine Allan , sailed to Britain in 1815 . Poe attended the grammar school in Irvine , Scotland ( where John Allan was born ) for a short period in 1815 , before rejoining the family in London in 1816 . There he studied at a boarding school in Chelsea until summer 1817 . He was subsequently entered at the Reverend John Bransby ' s Manor House School at Stoke Newington , then a suburb four miles ( 6 km ) north of London . Poe moved back with the Allans to Richmond , Virginia in 1820 . In 1824 Poe served as the lieutenant of the Richmond youth honor guard as Richmond celebrated the visit of the Marquis de Lafayette . In March 1825 , John Allan ' s uncle and business benefactor William Galt , said to be one of the wealthiest men in Richmond , died and left Allan several acres of real estate . The inheritance was estimated at $ 750 , 000 . By summer 1825 , Allan celebrated his expansive wealth by purchasing a two - story brick home named Moldavia . Poe may have become engaged to Sarah Elmira Royster before he registered at the one - year - old University of Virginia in February 1826 to study ancient and modern languages . The university , in its infancy , was established on the ideals of its founder , Thomas Jefferson . It had strict rules against gambling , horses , guns , tobacco and alcohol , but these rules were generally ignored . Jefferson had enacted a system of student self - government , allowing students to choose their own studies , make their own arrangements for boarding , and report all wrongdoing to the faculty . The unique system was still in chaos , and there was a high dropout rate . During his time there , Poe lost touch with Royster and also became estranged from his foster father over gambling debts . Poe claimed that Allan had not given him sufficient money to register for classes , purchase texts , and procure and furnish a dormitory . Allan did send additional money and clothes , but Poe ' s debts increased . Poe gave up on the university after a year , and , not feeling welcome in Richmond , especially when he learned that his sweetheart Royster had married Alexander Shelton , he traveled to Boston in April 1827 , sustaining himself with odd jobs as a clerk and newspaper writer . At some point he started using the pseudonym Henri Le Rennet . Military career . Unable to support himself , on May 27 , 1827 , Poe enlisted in the United States Army as a private . Using the name " Edgar A . Perry " , he claimed he was even though he was 18 . He first served at Fort Independence in Boston Harbor for five dollars a month . That same year , he released his first book , a 40 - page collection of poetry , " Tamerlane and Other Poems " , attributed with the byline " by a Bostonian " . Only 50 copies were printed , and the book received virtually no attention . Poe ' s regiment was posted to Fort Moultrie in Charleston , South Carolina and traveled by ship on the brig " Waltham " on November 8 , 1827 . Poe was promoted to " artificer " , an enlisted tradesman who prepared shells for artillery , and had his monthly pay doubled . After serving for two years and attaining the rank of Sergeant Major for Artillery ( the highest rank a noncommissioned officer can achieve ) , Poe sought to end his five - year enlistment early . He revealed his real name and his circumstances to his commanding officer , Lieutenant Howard . Howard would only allow Poe to be discharged if he reconciled with John Allan and wrote a letter to Allan , who was unsympathetic . Several months passed and pleas to Allan were ignored ; Allan may not have written to Poe even to make him aware of his foster mother ' s illness . Frances Allan died on February 28 , 1829 , and Poe visited the day after her burial . Perhaps softened by his wife ' s death , John Allan agreed to support Poe ' s attempt to be discharged in order to receive an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point . Poe finally was discharged on April 15 , 1829 , after securing a replacement to finish his enlisted term for him . Before entering West Point , Poe moved back to Baltimore for a time , to stay with his widowed aunt Maria Clemm , her daughter , Virginia Eliza Clemm ( Poe ' s first cousin ) , his brother Henry , and his invalid grandmother Elizabeth Cairnes Poe . Meanwhile , Poe published his second book , " Al Aaraaf , Tamerlane and Minor Poems " , in Baltimore in 1829 . Poe traveled to West Point and matriculated as a cadet on July 1 , 1830 . In October 1830 , John Allan married his second wife , Louisa Patterson . The marriage , and bitter quarrels with Poe over the children born to Allan out of affairs , led to the foster father finally disowning Poe . Poe decided to leave West Point by purposely getting court - martial ed . On February 8 , 1831 , he was tried for gross neglect of duty and disobedience of orders for refusing to attend formations , classes , or church . Poe tactically pled not guilty to induce dismissal , knowing he would be found guilty . He left for New York in February 1831 , and released a third volume of poems , simply titled " Poems . " The book was financed with help from his fellow cadets at West Point , many of whom donated 75 cents to the cause , raising a total of $ 170 . They may have been expecting verses similar to the satirical ones Poe had been writing about commanding officers . Printed by Elam Bliss of New York , it was labeled as " Second Edition " and included a page saying , " To the U . S . Corps of Cadets this volume is respectfully dedicated . " The book once again reprinted the long poems " Tamerlane " and " Al Aaraaf " but also six previously unpublished poems including early versions of " To Helen " , " Israfel " , and " The City in the Sea " . He returned to Baltimore , to his aunt , brother and cousin , in March 1831 . His elder brother Henry , who had been in ill health in part due to problems with alcoholism , died on August 1 , 1831 . Publishing career . After his brother ' s death , Poe began more earnest attempts to start his career as a writer . He chose a difficult time in American publishing to do so . He was the first well - known American to try to live by writing alone and was hampered by the lack of an international copyright law . Publishers often pirated copies of British works rather than paying for new work by Americans . The industry was also particularly hurt by the Panic of 1837 . Despite a booming growth in American periodicals around this time period , fueled in part by new technology , many did not last beyond a few issues and publishers often refused to pay their writers or paid them much later than they promised . Poe , throughout his attempts to live as a writer , repeatedly had to resort to humiliating pleas for money and other assistance . After his early attempts at poetry , Poe had turned his attention to prose . He placed a few stories with a Philadelphia publication and began work on his only drama , " Politian " . The " Baltimore Saturday Visiter " awarded Poe a prize in October 1833 for his short story " MS . Found in a Bottle " . The story brought him to the attention of John P . Kennedy , a Baltimorean of considerable means . He helped Poe place some of his stories , and introduced him to Thomas W . White , editor of the " Southern Literary Messenger " in Richmond . Poe became assistant editor of the periodical in August 1835 , but was discharged within a few weeks for having been caught drunk by his boss . Returning to Baltimore , Poe secretly married Virginia , his cousin , on September 22 , 1835 . He was 26 and she was 13 , though she is listed on the marriage certificate as being 21 . Reinstated by White after promising good behavior , Poe went back to Richmond with Virginia and her mother . He remained at the " Messenger " until January 1837 . During this period , Poe claimed that its circulation increased from 700 to 3 , 500 . He published several poems , book reviews , critiques , and stories in the paper . On May 16 , 1836 , he had a second wedding ceremony in Richmond with Virginia Clemm , this time in public . " The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket " was published and widely reviewed in 1838 . In the summer of 1839 , Poe became assistant editor of " Burton ' s Gentleman ' s Magazine " . He published numerous articles , stories , and reviews , enhancing his reputation as a trenchant critic that he had established at the " Southern Literary Messenger " . Also in 1839 , the collection " Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque " was published in two volumes , though he made little money off of it and it received mixed reviews . Poe left " Burton ' s " after about a year and found a position as assistant at " Graham ' s Magazine " . In June 1840 , Poe published a prospectus announcing his intentions to start his own journal , " The Stylus " . Originally , Poe intended to call the journal " The Penn " , as it would have been based in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . In the June 6 , 1840 issue of Philadelphia ' s " Saturday Evening Post " , Poe bought advertising space for his prospectus : " " Prospectus of the Penn Magazine , a Monthly Literary journal to be edited and published in the city of Philadelphia by Edgar A . Poe . " " The journal was never produced before Poe ' s death . Around this time , he attempted to secure a position with the Tyler administration , claiming he was a member of the Whig Party . He hoped to be appointed to the Custom House in Philadelphia with help from president Tyler ' s son Robert , an acquaintance of Poe ' s friend Frederick Thomas . Poe failed to show up for a meeting with Thomas to discuss the appointment in mid - September 1842 , claiming to have been sick , though Thomas believed he had been drunk . Though he was promised an appointment , all positions were filled by others . The " Broadway Journal " failed in 1846 . Poe moved to a cottage in the Fordham section of The Bronx , New York . That home , known today as the " Poe Cottage " , is on the southeast corner of the Grand Concourse and Kingsbridge Road , where he befriended the Jesuits at St . John ' s College nearby ( now Fordham University ) . Virginia died there on January 30 , 1847 . Biographers and critics often suggest that Poe ' s frequent theme of the " death of a beautiful woman " stems from the repeated loss of women throughout his life , including his wife . Increasingly unstable after his wife ' s death , Poe attempted to court the poet Sarah Helen Whitman , who lived in Providence , Rhode Island . Their engagement failed , purportedly because of Poe ' s drinking and erratic behavior . However , there is also strong evidence that Whitman ' s mother intervened and did much to derail their relationship . Poe then returned to Richmond and resumed a relationship with his childhood sweetheart , Sarah Elmira Royster . Death . On October 3 , 1849 , Poe was found on the streets of Baltimore delirious , " in great distress , and . . . in need of immediate assistance " , according to the man who found him , Joseph W . Walker . He was taken to the Washington Medical College , where he died on Sunday , October 7 , 1849 , at 5 : 00 in the morning . Poe was never coherent long enough to explain how he came to be in his dire condition , and , oddly , was wearing clothes that were not his own . Poe is said to have repeatedly called out the name " Reynolds " on the night before his death , though it is unclear to whom he was referring . Some sources say Poe ' s final words were " Lord help my poor soul . " All medical records , including his death certificate , have been lost . Newspapers at the time reported Poe ' s death as " congestion of the brain " or " cerebral inflammation " , common euphemism s for deaths from disreputable causes such as alcoholism . The actual cause of death remains a mystery . Speculation has included " delirium tremens " , heart disease , epilepsy , syphilis , meningeal inflammation , cholera and rabies . One theory , dating from 1872 , indicates that cooping – in which unwilling citizens who were forced to vote for a particular candidate were occasionally killed – was the cause of Poe ' s death . Griswold ' s " Memoir " . The day Edgar Allan Poe was buried , a long obituary appeared in the " New York Tribune " signed " Ludwig " . It was soon published throughout the country . The piece began , " Edgar Allan Poe is dead . He died in Baltimore the day before yesterday . This announcement will startle many , but few will be grieved by it . " " Ludwig " was soon identified as Rufus Wilmot Griswold , an editor , critic and anthologist who had borne a grudge against Poe since 1842 . Griswold somehow became Poe ' s literary executor and attempted to destroy his enemy ' s reputation after his death . Rufus Griswold wrote a biographical article of Poe called " Memoir of the Author " , which he included in an 1850 volume of the collected works . Griswold depicted Poe as a depraved , drunk , drug - addled madman and included Poe ' s letters as evidence . Many of his claims were either lies or distorted half - truths . For example , it is now known that Poe was not a drug addict . Griswold ' s book was denounced by those who knew Poe well , but it became a popularly accepted one . This occurred in part because it was the only full biography available and was widely reprinted and in part because readers thrilled at the thought of reading works by an " evil " man . Letters that Griswold presented as proof of this depiction of Poe were later revealed as forgeries . Literary style and themes . Genres . Poe ' s best known fiction works are Gothic , a genre he followed to appease the public taste . 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 . Many of his works are generally considered part of the dark romanticism genre , a literary reaction to transcendentalism , which Poe strongly disliked . He referred to followers of the latter movement as " Frog - Pondians " , after the pond on Boston Common . and ridiculed their writings as " metaphor — run mad , " lapsing into " obscurity for obscurity ' s sake " or " mysticism for mysticism ' s sake " . Poe once wrote in a letter to Thomas Holley Chivers that he did not dislike Transcendentalists , " only the pretenders and sophists among them " . Beyond horror , Poe also wrote satires , humor tales , and hoax es . For comic effect , he used irony and ludicrous extravagance , often in an attempt to liberate the reader from cultural conformity . " Metzengerstein " , the first story that Poe is known to have published , and his first foray into horror , was originally intended as a burlesque satirizing the popular genre . Poe also reinvented science fiction , responding in his writing to emerging technologies such as hot air balloon s in " The Balloon - Hoax " . Poe wrote much of his work using themes aimed specifically at mass - market tastes . To that end , his fiction often included elements of popular pseudoscience s such as phrenology and physiognomy . Literary theory . Poe ' s writing reflects his literary theories , which he presented in his criticism and also in essays such as " The Poetic Principle " . He disliked didacticism and allegory , though he believed that meaning in literature should be an undercurrent just beneath the surface . Works with obvious meanings , he wrote , cease to be art . He believed that work of quality should be brief and focus on a specific single effect . To that end , he believed that the writer should carefully calculate every sentiment and idea . In " The Philosophy of Composition " , an essay in which Poe describes his method in writing " The Raven " , he claims to have strictly followed this method . It has been questioned , however , whether he really followed this system . T . S . Eliot said : " It is difficult for us to read that essay without reflecting that if Poe plotted out his poem with such calculation , he might have taken a little more pains over it : the result hardly does credit to the method . " Biographer Joseph Wood Krutch described the essay as " a rather highly ingenious exercise in the art of rationalization " . Legacy . Literary influence . During his lifetime , Poe was mostly recognized as a literary critic . Fellow critic James Russell Lowell called him " the most discriminating , philosophical , and fearless critic upon imaginative works who has written in America " , suggesting – rhetorically – that he occasionally used prussic acid instead of ink . Poe ' s caustic reviews earned him the epithet " Tomahawk Man " . A favorite target of Poe ' s criticism was Boston ' s then acclaimed poet , Henry Wadsworth Longfellow , who was often defended by his literary friends in what would later be called " The Longfellow War " . Poe accused Longfellow of " the heresy of the didactic " , writing poetry that was preachy , derivative , and thematically plagiarized . Poe correctly predicted that Longfellow ' s reputation and style of poetry would decline , concluding that " We grant him high qualities , but deny him the Future " . Poe was also known as a writer of fiction and became one of the first American authors of the 19th century to become more popular in Europe than in the United States . Poe is particularly respected in France , in part due to early translations by Charles Baudelaire . Baudelaire ' s translations became definitive renditions of Poe ' s work throughout Europe . Poe ' s early detective fiction tales featuring C . Auguste Dupin laid the groundwork for future detectives in literature . Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said , " Each [ of Poe ' s detective stories ] is a root from which a whole literature has developed . . . Where was the detective story until Poe breathed the breath of life into it ? " The Mystery Writers of America have named their awards for excellence in the genre the " Edgars " . Poe ' s work also influenced science fiction , notably Jules Verne , who wrote a sequel to Poe ' s novel " The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket " called " An Antarctic Mystery " , also known as " The Sphinx of the Ice Fields " . Science fiction author H . G . Wells noted , " " Pym " tells what a very intelligent mind could imagine about the south polar region a century ago . " Like many famous artists , Poe ' s works have spawned innumerable imitators . One interesting trend among imitators of Poe , however , has been claims by clairvoyants or psychics to be " channeling " poems from Poe ' s spirit . One of the most notable of these was Lizzie Doten , who in 1863 published " Poems from the Inner Life " , in which she claimed to have " received " new compositions by Poe ' s spirit . The compositions were re - workings of famous Poe poems such as " The Bells " , but which reflected a new , positive outlook . Even so , Poe has received not only praise , but criticism as well . This is partly because of the negative perception of his personal character and its influence upon his reputation . William Butler Yeats was occasionally critical of Poe and once called him " vulgar " . Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson reacted to " The Raven " by saying , " I see nothing in it " , and derisively referred to Poe as " the jingle man " . Aldous Huxley wrote that Poe ' s writing " falls into vulgarity " by being " too poetical " — the equivalent of wearing a diamond ring on every finger . It is believed that only 12 copies of Poe ' s first book , " Tamerlane and Other Poems " , have survived . In December 2009 , one copy sold at Christie ' s , New York for $ 662 , 500 , a record price paid for a work of American literature . Physics and cosmology . " " , an essay written in 1848 , included a cosmological theory that presaged the Big Bang theory by 80 years , as well as the first plausible solution to Olbers ' paradox . Poe eschewed the scientific method in " Eureka " and instead wrote from pure intuition . For this reason , he considered it a work of art , not science , but insisted that it was still true and considered it to be his career masterpiece . Even so , " Eureka " is full of scientific errors . In particular , Poe ' s suggestions ignored Newtonian principles regarding the density and rotation of planets . Cryptography . Poe had a keen interest in cryptography . He had placed a notice of his abilities in the Philadelphia paper " Alexander ' s Weekly ( Express ) Messenger " , inviting submissions of cipher s , which he proceeded to solve . In July 1841 , Poe had published an essay called " A Few Words on Secret Writing " in " Graham ' s Magazine " . Capitalizing on public interest in the topic , he wrote " The Gold - Bug " incorporating ciphers as an essential part of the story . Poe ' s success with cryptography relied not so much on his deep knowledge of that field ( his method was limited to the simple substitution cryptogram ) , as on his knowledge of the magazine and newspaper culture . His keen analytical abilities , which were so evident in his detective stories , allowed him to see that the general public was largely ignorant of the methods by which a simple substitution cryptogram can be solved , and he used this to his advantage . The sensation Poe created with his cryptography stunts played a major role in popularizing cryptograms in newspapers and magazines . Poe had an influence on cryptography beyond increasing public interest during his lifetime . William Friedman , America ' s foremost cryptologist , was heavily influenced by Poe . Friedman ' s initial interest in cryptography came from reading " The Gold - Bug " as a child , an interest he later put to use in deciphering Japan ' s PURPLE code during World War II . In popular culture . As a character . The historical Edgar Allan Poe has appeared as a fictionalized character , often representing the " mad genius " or " tormented artist " and exploiting his personal struggles . Many such depictions also blend in with characters from his stories , suggesting Poe and his characters share identities . Often , fictional depictions of Poe use his mystery - solving skills in such novels as " The Poe Shadow " by Matthew Pearl . Preserved homes , landmarks , and museums . No childhood home of Poe is still standing , including the Allan family ' s Moldavia estate . The oldest standing home in Richmond , the Old Stone House , is in use as the Edgar Allan Poe Museum , though Poe never lived there . The collection includes many items Poe used during his time with the Allan family and also features several rare first printings of Poe works . The dorm room Poe is believed to have used while studying at the University of Virginia in 1826 is preserved and available for visits . Its upkeep is now overseen by a group of students and staff known as the Raven Society . The earliest surviving home in which Poe lived is in Baltimore , preserved as the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum . Poe is believed to have lived in the home at the age of 23 when he first lived with Maria Clemm and Virginia ( as well as his grandmother and possibly his brother William Henry Leonard Poe ) . It is open to the public and is also the home of the Edgar Allan Poe Society . Of the several homes that Poe , his wife Virginia , and his mother - in - law Maria rented in Philadelphia , only the last house has survived . The Spring Garden home , where the author lived in 1843 – 1844 , is today preserved by the National Park Service as the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site . Poe ' s final home is preserved as the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage in the Bronx , New York . In Boston , a commemorative plaque on Boylston Street is several blocks away from the actual location of Poe ' s birth . The house which was his birthplace at 62 Carver Street no longer exists ; also , the street has since been renamed " Charles Street South " . A " square " at the intersection of Broadway , Fayette , and Carver Streets had once been named in his honor , but it disappeared when the streets were rearranged . In 2009 , the intersection of Charles and Boylston Streets ( two blocks north of his birthplace ) was newly designated " Edgar Allan Poe Square " . , fundraising is proceeding to construct a permanent memorial sculpture at this location . The winning design depicts a life - sized Poe striding against the wind , accompanied by a flying raven , and trailed by papers falling from his open suitcase . Other Poe landmarks include a building in the Upper West Side , where Poe temporarily lived when he first moved to New York . A plaque suggests that Poe wrote " The Raven " here . The bar where legend says Poe was last seen drinking before his death still stands in Fells Point in Baltimore , Maryland . The drinking establishment is now known as " The Horse You Came In On " , and local lore insists that a ghost they call " Edgar " haunts the rooms above . Poe Toaster . Adding to the mystery surrounding Poe ' s death , an unknown visitor affectionately referred to as the " Poe Toaster " paid homage at Poe ' s grave annually beginning in 1949 . As the tradition carried on for more than 60 years , it is likely that the " Poe Toaster " was actually several individuals , though the tribute was always the same . Every January 19 , in the early hours of the morning , the person made a toast of cognac to Poe ' s original grave marker and left three rose s . Members of the Edgar Allan Poe Society in Baltimore helped protect this tradition for decades . On August 15 , 2007 , Sam Porpora , a former historian at the Westminster Church in Baltimore where Poe is buried , claimed in the 1960s that he had started the tradition . Porpora said that the tradition began in 1949 in order to raise money and enhance the profile of the church . His story has not been confirmed , and some details he gave to the press have been pointed out as factually inaccurate . The Poe Toaster ' s last appearance was on January 19 , 2009 , the day of Poe ' s bicentennial . Selected list of works . Tales Poetry Other works