Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe was born at 33 Hollis Street, Boston, Massachusetts, on January 19, 1809. Poe’s parents were struggling actors. His father deserted him, and his mother died of tuberculosis when he was three years old. Young Edgar was taken in by a wealthy tobacco exporter by the name of John Allan, from whom he took his middle name. Most of his early life was lived in Richmond, Virginia, with the exception of a five-year period when the Allan family lived in England.

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of actress Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe and actor David Poe, Jr. His father abandoned the family in 1810, and his mother died of tuberculosis when he was only two, so Poe was taken into the home of John Allan, a successful tobacco merchant in Richmond, Virginia. Although his middle name is often misspelled as "Allen," it is actually "Allan" after this family. After attending the Misses Duborg boarding school in London and Manor School in Stoke Newington, London, England, Poe moved back to Richmond, Virginia, with the Allans in 1820. Poe registered at the University of Virginia in 1826, but only stayed there for one year. He was estranged from his foster father at some point in this period over gambling debts Poe had acquired while trying to get more spending money, and so Poe enlisted in the United States Army as a private using the name Edgar A. Perry on May 26, 1827.

After 6 months Poe apparently contrived to be dismissed from West Point for disobedience of orders (Kennedy 35). Poe next took up residence in Baltimore with his widowed aunt, Maria Clemm, and her daughter, Virginia, and turned to fiction as a way to support himself (Walker 2). In 1832 the Philadelphia Saturday Courier published five of his stories, and in 1833, MS. Found in a Bottle won a fifty dollar prize given by the Baltimore Saturday Visitor (Walker 125). Poe, his aunt, and Virginia moved to Richmond in 1835. Poe became editor of the Southern Literary Messenger and married Virginia, who was not yet 14 years old (Jacobs 61).

Before he left his training he got financial help from the other cadets to publish his third version of the book, although Poe called this book a second version. In this book there are famous poems as "To Helen" and "Israfel". These poems show the musical effect that has come to characterize Poe's poems. Later Poe moved to Baltimore to live with his ant. There he married his cousin who was only 13 years old.

Biography of Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allen Poe was born in Boston Massachusetts on January 19,1809. He was the second child of Elizabeth and David Poe. Both of his parents were actors traveling to perform in theatres from Massachusetts to South Carolina. David Poe abandoned his family while Edgar was still an infant. His Mother died in December of 1811, at which time the orphaned Poe was taken in by a prosperous Virginian Merchant and his wife, John and Frances Allan.

Before Edgar left West Point he received financial aid from his fellow cadets to publish a third edition of the book. Edgar called it a second edition though and it was entitled "Poems by Edgar A. Poe" in which his famous poems "To Helen" (another version was published in 1848) and "Israfel" appeared. These show of the musical effect that has come to characterize Edgar's poems. Later Poe moved to Baltimore to live with his aunt, Maria Clemm, and his first cousin Virginia. In 1832 he won a $50 prize for his story "MS. Found in a Bottle" in the Baltimore Saturday Visiter.

He attended the University of Virginia for a year, but in 1827 his foster father, displeased by the young man's drinking and gambling, refused to pay his debts and forced Poe to work as a bookkeeper. (Anderson, 9-22). Poe quit this job, which infuriated John Allan. Poe then left and moved to Boston. There he published his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems.

Edger Allen Poe was born on January 19th 1809 in Boston Massachusetts son to Elizabeth 

Arnold Hopkins Poe and David Poe, Jr. Both of Poe’s parent’s were actors and Poe was their 

second child and second son, they later had a daughter. In 1810 Poe’s father abandoned 

their family, and his mother died a year later from pulmonary tuberculosis. Poe was 

then taken into the home of John Allan, a merchant in Richmond, Virginia. The Allan’s 

served as a foster family and gave him the name "Edgar Allan Poe", though they never 

formally adopted him.

Edgar was sent to the best boarding schools and later on attended the University of Virginia where he was successfully academic. He was forced to leave due to refusement to pay his gambling debts. In 1827, he moved back to Boston and enlisted in the United States Army where his first poems titled Tamerlane, and Other Poems were published. In 1835 he began to sell short stories to magazines and became the editor of the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond. His brother Leonard Poe was a poet before his death, and Poe was thought as being morbid and mysterious.

(B-2) He returned to the U.S. in 1820 and continued his schooling in Richmond and in 1826 he went to the University of Virginia. (B-3) Poe showed remarkable scholastic ability in classical and romance languages but he was forced to leave the university after 8 months cause of quarrels with his godfather over his gambling debts. (B-4) John refused to pay Poe’s debts and forced him to work as a clerk. Edgar disliked his new duties as a clerk so he quit his job and estranging Allen and went to Boston where he wrote his first book Tamerlane and other poems (1827) it was published anomously. (C-2) Poverty from his gambling debts forced him to enlist into the army where he wrote his second volume of verse Al Aaraaf, was published.