BIOGRAPHY:

A forerunner of decadence and modernism, whose creations were marked by boundless melancholy, the writer Edgar Allan Poe is familiar to many as the creator of iconic dark stories with mystical overtones. The writer, trying to take readers beyond trivial thinking, in his short stories, philosophical fiction and rationalizations, was engaged in an artistic study of the activities of the human intellect. The formation of the detective and psychological thriller genres is the direct merit of the prose writer. The best minds of the 19th century, including the symbolist writers Charles Baudelaire and Konstantin Balmont, admired the realism of the mental suffering described in the works of the “damned poet” and the professionalism with which Poe balanced between the horror of life and the joy of death. Even during Edgar’s lifetime, people who were not devoid of imagery of thought declared that the name of the creator, shrouded in a halo of a romantic sufferer, would go down in the history of world literature.

Childhood and adolescence:

The future spiritual mentor of Howard Lovecraft was born on January 19, 1809 in the northeastern United States in the capital of Massachusetts – the city of Boston. The poet’s parents, Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins and David Poe, were creatively gifted people. His mother is an English actress who emigrated to America, and his father is a law student from Baltimore who chose the path of acting instead of a well-paid legal profession. From the biography of the genius of literary arabesque, it is known that, in addition to him, two more children were raised in the family: older brother William Henry Leonard (1807–1831) and younger sister Rosalie (1810–1874).

The head of the family left his wife when Edgar was barely a year old. Nothing is known for certain about the man’s further fate. In 1811, the poet’s mother died of consumption. All three children officially found adoptive parents. Edgar ended up in the family of the co-owner of a trading company involved in the sale of cotton and tobacco – John Allan and his wife Frances. The couple, being highly respected individuals, had great influence in the elite circles of Richmond, where they lived before leaving for England.

In the Allan house, the boy, who knew neither warmth nor affection, found the care that he so lacked. Frances doted on Edgar and did not deny anything to the child whom she considered her own. John did not share his wife’s delight. The man did not understand why his beloved chose adoption over the natural process of childbearing. Despite some misunderstanding, the businessman also spoiled his adopted son. As a child, Edgar had at his disposal whatever he wanted. At that time, parents did not set a price limit on whims and needs.

Edgar showed early ability to learn, and at the age of 5 he was sent to school. In 1815, the Allan family left for Great Britain to work. There, Poe’s educators were exposed to the harsh climate and equally harsh customs of English educational institutions. He returned to America as a stronger, precocious teenager. The knowledge acquired by the future poet in the Old World allowed him to enter a local college in 1820 without much difficulty. However, the financial difficulties that the family faced upon returning to their homeland, and the conflicts that periodically arose between Francis and John, had a negative impact on Poe.

The once cheerful guy increasingly retired to his room, preferring the company of books to the noisy companies of his peers. During the period of voluntary seclusion, Edgar’s interest in poetry manifested itself. Allan did not understand the young man’s new hobby. In the opinion of a man devoid of creative thinking, the best occupation for Edgar would be to work hard in the family store, where in the future Poe could gain the right to a share in the business. During quarrels caused by different life priorities, John constantly reminded his adopted son that his life depended entirely on his guardian.

As a college student, Poe fell head over heels in love with his friend’s mother, Jane Stanard. Communication between an older lady and an ardent young man was reduced to behind-the-scenes meetings and conversations all night long. Subsequently, Edgar dedicated the poem “Elena” to his beloved (as the prose writer called his chosen one). For the first time in his life, Poe was happy. True, the prose writer did not enjoy the delights of mutual love for long.

In 1824, Jane contracted meningitis, lost her mind and died. Heartbroken, Edgar began to suffer from nightmares. The young man was most frightened when, in the pitch darkness of the night, it seemed to him that someone’s icy hand was resting on his face. A well-functioning imagination repeatedly pictured the terrible face of a hitherto unknown creature approaching him from the pre-dawn twilight.

According to biographers, it was at this time that the first symptoms of the writer’s mental disorder began to appear, which subsequently transformed into a frequently occurring apathetic state, persecution mania and thoughts of suicide. In the spring of 1825, the writer’s stepfather received an inheritance of $750 thousand from his deceased uncle and became one of the richest people in Richmond. Poe decided to take advantage of the opportunity and persuaded Allan to pay for his studies at the University of Virginia. True, John, who became greedy for money in his old age, decided to save money. Instead of the $350 required for payment, he gave the young man only $110.

Upon arrival at the educational institution founded by Thomas Jefferson, Edgar found himself in a bourgeois environment alien to him. In the company of wealthy young men and women, Poe tried in vain to fit in with them, but the handouts sent by his guardian were only enough to pay for housing. Edgar decided to earn money by playing cards, aggravating the already precarious state of affairs. In December 1826, John Allan received numerous bills from Edgar’s creditors. In terrible anger, the merchant arrived in Charlottesville and informed his adopted son that this was the end of his university epic, which had not yet really begun.

Despite Poe’s obvious success in his studies and successfully passing his exams, the young man could no longer remain at the university and left it after the end of the academic year on December 21, 1826. The aspiring poet felt his shame acutely. The stepfather added fuel to the fire and every day accused the former student of irresponsibility, and after another quarrel he kicked Po out of the house. Edgar settled in the Court-House tavern, from where he wrote letters to Allan, continuing the showdown in epistolary form. After spending a couple of days in a barroom room, Poe went to Norfolk and then to Boston.

Literature:

In his hometown, the writer by chance met the young typographer Calvin Thomas, who agreed to publish his first collection of poems, Tamerlane. The work was published in 1827. In the preface, Poe apologized to readers for the crudeness of the works published in the book and explained that he wrote these masterpieces at the age of 12–14 years. In 1829, the second poetry collection “Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Other Poems” was published; in April 1831, the poet’s third book, “Poems”, was published, which included previously unpublished works (“Israfel”, “Paean”, “The Condemned City” “, “To Elena”, “Sleeping”). The success of “The Raven” at the beginning of 1845 gave Edgar the opportunity to collect his new poems in a separate publication, “Stories”, which hit the shelves in the same year.

It is worth noting that the short story genre has always occupied the main place in Allan’s work. Poe’s short stories can be divided into several thematic groups: psychological (“The Black Cat”, “Ligeia”, “The Cask of Amontillado”, “The Oval Portrait”), logical (“The Gold Bug”, “Murder in the Rue Morgue”, “The Mystery of Marie Roget” “, “The Stolen Letter”), humorous (“Glasses”, “Breathless”, “The Thousand and Second Tale of Scheherazade”) and science fiction (“The Extraordinary Adventure of a Certain Hans Pfaal”, “Sphinx”, “The Story of the Balloon”) .

The era of detective literature began with four logical works of the writer, in which the main character was the detective Auguste Dupin. The detective born from Edgar’s imagination became the prototype of famous bloodhounds: Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Although it was stories that made Poe popular, it was only in poetry that the writer showed the world his true self. With the help of poems, Edgar established closer contact with readers.

Personal life:

The writer met his first and only wife the year his stepfather kicked him out of the house. Having learned that her nephew had nowhere to live, Aunt Klemm happily accepted Poe into her estate in Baltimore. It was then that love broke out between the melancholic Edgar and the good-natured Virginia. The wedding took place on September 12, 1835. The wedding was secret. Edgar was 26 years old at the time of his marriage, and his chosen one was only 13 years old. Mrs. Klemm’s relatives opposed the marriage.

In their opinion, depriving Virginia of her childhood by marrying her to a slacker (at that time, poetic work was not considered an occupation for a worthy man) was extremely unwise. The elderly woman thought differently: from the very beginning she saw a genius in Edgar and knew that she could not find a better match for her daughter.

Virginia became the guiding light of Poe’s life, inspiring him to create outstanding works. The young lady loved her Eddie so much that she put up with both the poverty that stubbornly haunted their family and the difficult character of the writer. It is worth noting that Edgar, in a strange way, depended on the well-being and mood of his wife. When Poe’s beloved died of tuberculosis in January 1847, the writer fell into a prolonged depression. The widower preferred strong drinks to work and the hugs of other women. Only alcohol allowed the creator to forget the horror that he had to endure.

Death Edgar Allan Poe died on October 7, 1849 in a Baltimore hospital. According to the testimony of a doctor who observed the writer’s condition in the last days of his life, the author of the story “Little Frog” was taken to the hospital on October 3, 1849. Disoriented in space and time, the writer was dressed in clothes from someone else’s shoulder and did not remember his last name or first name. The man, who had lost his mind, was placed in a room with barred windows. After a couple of days in the hospital, Poe never regained consciousness. He was tormented by hallucinations and convulsions, he mentioned his long-dead wife, and also repeatedly uttered the name of a certain Reynolds, whose identity could not be identified.

After four days in the medical institution, the poet died. His last words were: “Lord, accept my poor soul.” All medical records, including Poe’s death certificate, have disappeared. Newspapers of that time attributed the death of the writer to brain disease and inflammation of the central nervous system. In the 19th century, these diagnoses were often given to people who died from alcoholism. What actually caused the death of the legend of world literature is still unknown. The funeral procession, which was attended by only a couple of people, took place on October 8 of the same year. Poe was buried in Baltimore’s Westminster Cemetery in a cheap coffin without handles, a name tag, a blanket or a pillow under his head.

On October 1, 1875, the writer’s ashes were transferred to a grave located closer to the entrance. Also, at the expense of fans of the writer’s work, a monument was made and erected. The hoaxer’s literary heritage has been preserved in collections of poems, poems and stories. Among other things, the works “The Well and the Pendulum”, “The Fall of the House of Usher”, “The Masque of the Red Death”, “Berenice”, “Murder in the Rue Morgue” and “Metzengerstein” formed the basis for the plot of modern films and television series.

Bibliography:

“Spirits of Death” (1827);
“Dreams” (1827);
“Romance” (1829);
“Metzengerstein” (1832);
“Manuscript Found in a Bottle” (1833);
“The Fall of the House of Usher” (1839);
“Silence” (1840);
“The Well and the Pendulum” (1842);
“Linor” (1843);
“The Masque of the Red Death” (1843);
“Premature Burial” (1844);
“The Raven” (1845);
“Enigma” (1849);
“Annabel Lee” (1849);
“Jump-Skok” (“Little Frog”) (1849).