Edgar Allen Poe: Romanticism’s All-Star Poet

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Have you ever lost a dear love? Have you ever felt the presence of fear or loneliness? Have you ever needed a spiritual touch from heaven? A remedy that can help young Americans to help cope with these questions would be the reference of to the poetry written by Edgar Allan Poe. If EAP was a doctor he would recommend the patient to “Take this kiss upon the brow!” and call me in the morning (Thompson 52). The real-life hardships that this author endured have given substantial evidence that his pen was much more than ink (Poe 162-163). Authors like Hawthorne and Melville challenged Poe’s repertoire in this era, but did not have the same effect. While present and past American readers were introduced to poetic works of numerous authors in the Romantic Era, all experts and audiences can conclude after reading EAP’s poetry that he should be named “America’s All-Star Romanticism Poet”.

In order to title this author with a crown engraved “RAP”, Romanticism’s All-Star Poet, the audience must have vital information of his life’s history. Knowing these facts will help the audience identify with his personality and reasons for his published works (Pollin 213). He was the middle child from a poor family. EAP was born nine years into the turn of the 19th century which was still in the first 25 years of the nation’s existence. There were other authors that had already had an impact in the literary field, like Emerson and Irving. In the same decade of EAP’s birth, the colonies had built The Library of Congress, named Washington the Nation’s capitol, and Slavery had been abolished (Cormier). A nursery in Boston delivered him into the arms of his soon to die abandoned mother (Hoffman 23-24).

A constant thorn in the flesh for EAP ...

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...2001. 62. Print.

Poe, Edgar Allan. Collier’s Encyclopedia. 1984 ed. 19. New York: Cromwell, Collier, and Macmillan, 1984. 162-163. Print.

Poe, Edgar Allan. Top 50 Poems. Famous Poets and Poems.com. 2006. Famous Poets and Poems Inc. Web. 23 Nov 2011.

Pollin, Burton R. Discoveries in Poe. Norte Dame, Indiana: University of Norte Dame Press, 1970. 213. Print.

“Physiognomy.” The American Heritage Dictionary. Fourth Edition. 2004. 636.

Thompson, G.R. Ed. Great Short Works of Edgar Allen Poe: Poems, Tales, Criticism. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1970. 52, 62-63, 73-78. Print.

Wikipedia Contributors. “Edgar Allan Poe.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 23 Nov. 2011. Web. 23 Nov. 2011.

Wagenknecht, Edward. Edgar Allen Poe: The Man Behind the Legend. New York: Oxford University Press, 1970. 223-266. Print.
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