An exceptional poem can move the reader to a new consciousness. It becomes more than words pieced together to make a rhyme, and evokes true emotion that is palpable. One of the most influential authors that contributed to this experience was Edgar Allan Poe. His work is almost immediately recognizable due to his common motif that is both melancholy and mysterious. Much of his writing concerns love and loss, such as in his poem “Annabel Lee.” The essence of this work is endless love and the death of a beautiful young girl. It is thought by many that most of his literature mirrors his actual life, which was riddled with heartbreak and sorrow. It is evident from the mood and setting of his writing that he dealt with a lot of grief during his short life. In his poem “Annabel Lee,” Edgar Allan Poe masters the use of symbolism, imagery, and rhyme, which arouses a sense of kinship when read, and takes the reader into his world.
Edgar Allan Poe has been deemed the, “Father of Mystery” by many of his admirers (Kelleghan 520). He became one of the most controversial authors of his time. In Kennedy’s book, “A Historical Guide to Edgar Allan Poe” he states, “Despite persisting disagreement about Edgar Allan Poe's literary achievement, no American writer of the antebellum period enjoys greater current popularity and recognizability” (3). Poe’s life could certainly set the canvas for most of his work considering all of the grief he encountered. His father abandoned the family when he was nine months old. His mother died of tuberculosis when he was two years old, leaving himself and two other siblings orphaned. He was taken in and reared by a family, but was never adopted. He did, however, form a very strong bond with h...
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Works Cited
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Kelleghan, Fiona. 100 Masters Of Mystery And Detective Fiction. Pasadena, Calif: Salem Press, 2001. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
Kennedy, J. Gerald. A Historical Guide To Edgar Allan Poe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
Poe, Edgar Allan. Annabel Lee. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 12th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013. 993. Print.
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Edgar Allan Poe's view on poetry is that all poems must be a "rhythmical creation of beauty". In his eyes, melancholy and sadness is beautful. He thinks that the death of a young beautiful woman is itself full of beauty. In both "Annabel Lee" and "The Raven", Poe writes about this so-called beauty.
Poe, Edgar Allan. The Cask of Amontillado. Mankato, MN : The Creative Company, 2008. Print.
Poe, Edgar Allan. Ligeia. 8th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. 692-701. Print.
New York: A.C. Armstrong & Son., 1884. xv-xxvi. EPUB file. Sova, Dawn B. "Poe, Edgar Allan.
Meyers, J. (1992). Edgar Allan Poe: his life and legacy. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons Frank, F. S. (1997). The Poe encyclopedia. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press..
Meyers, Jeffrey. Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1992.
Thomson, Gary Richard, and Poe Edgar. The selected writings of Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Norton & Company, 2004
Born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809, Edgar Allan Poe faced many hardships in his life beginning at nine months old, when his alcoholic father abandoned his mother and other two siblings. Once Poe had lost his wife Virginia to illnesses, his poems were noticeably growing darker and more gruesome, and her death “haunted Poe until the end of his life” (Erica). These are only a few hardships Poe faced throughout his life, and each one led him to become a more dramatic and disturbing person. Every suffering he faced was used as a prompt for his writings, and throughout his work he places his hurt and depression into each piece based off his own life. His famous poems are the results of his insanity based off his unfortunate life. Even though Poe lived a challenging and stressful life, his poems ...
Edgar Allan Poe is known for his many works that are dark and mysterious. He became known as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician. Poe had a dark, troubled life growing up. Both his biological parents died when he was a young boy and was separated from his siblings when another family adopted him. His foster father was in the tobacco industry, but Poe did not want to be involved in that business. He wanted to write. He went to college with very little money. He was so embarrassed by his poverty that he came back home, only to find that his fiancée got engaged to someone else in his absence. He left again, before finding out that the only mother he had ever known was dying of tuberculosis. By the time he returned she had already been buried. Allan, his foster father, helped Poe get into the United States Military Academy at West Point. Allan remarried and did not invite Poe. Poe was angry and wrote Allan detailing all the wrongs Allan had committed against him and threatened to get himself kicked out of the academy. Poe’s wife got tuberculosis, which had already taken the lives of his mother, brother, and foster mother.Because Poe had such a dark, difficult life, he used his poems to reflect his life.
Best known for his poems and short fiction, Edgar Allan Poe deserves more credit than any other writer for the transformation of the short story into a respected literary work. He virtually created the detective story and perfected the psychological thriller. He also produced some of the most influential literary criticism of his time. Although he contributed so much to the writing world, little is known about the Poe himself. Historians have been trying for years to piece together the life of this literary genius. In almost every biographical publication Poe’s life is divided into three sections: his early life, his career, and his death.
Kennedy, Gerald J. A Historical Guide to Edgar Allan Poe. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2001
Brookfield, CT: Twenty-First Century, 2003. 105. The Print. The. Poe, Edgar Allan (1809 - 1849) - Credo Reference Topic.
"Overview of Edgar Allan Poe." DISCovering Authors. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resources in Context. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 1941. Internet.
In this project, I will be discussing about my poet Edgar Allan Poe. Poe had written numerous of poems and stories but the one I chose was “Annabel Lee”. This poem was written in 1849 which was a long time ago. Even though this poem is centuries old, it is still a well known poem. This whole project includes a biography, literary movement, and a explication about the poem.