| Adult years (1827-1849) |
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In 1827 Edgar published his first book, "Tamerlane and other poems" anonymously under the signature "A Bostonian". The poems were heavily influenced from Byron and showed of a youthful attitude.
Later in 1827 Edgar enlisted in the Army under the name Edgar A Perry where his quarrels with John Allan continued. Edgar did well in the army but in 1829 he left and decided to apply for a cadetship at West Point. Before he was able to enter West Point Edgar published a book entitled "Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and minor poems", this time the book was published, not anonymously, but under the name Edgar A. Poe, where the middle initial acknowledged John Allan's name. Edgar left the army on April 15, 1829, with letters of recommendation from Lieutenant Howard and two other officers. He went back to Richmond and set to work at becoming a cadet. John Allan helped him in getting recommendations. In May, Edgar brought his application to Washington and he was told that there were forty-seven people ahead of him on the waiting list, but drop-outs from the list was expected so Edgar still had some hope of joining in September. Instead of going back to Richmond, Edgar headed to his father's family in Baltimore. As time went by without Edgar getting admitted, John Allan grew impatient. John Allan found Edgar lazy and accused him of having misled him. Edgar of course denied all this and said that he had done all he could. The reviving quarrel was later fed by Edgar's problem with money. While in Baltimore Edgar continued his work with his poetry and he sent one of his poems to American Monthly, which published parts of it as an example of its "sickly rhymes". To Edgar's delight it was published again by the editor of The Yankee and Boston Literary Gazette, John Neal (sometimes nicknamed Jehu O'Cataract). He described Edgar's efforts as "though nonsense, rather exquisite nonsense" and he thought good of Edgar's future as a poet. Edgar was very pleased to read this and said that it was "the very first words of encouragement I ever remembered to have heard" and he began writing to Neal on a regular basis. Later on, in mid-November Edgar found a publisher for his new volume of poems in a Baltimore firm called Hatch and Dunning. The book appeared in December as "Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems". This time the book was not published anonymously but it was signed Edgar A. Poe, the middle initial acknowledging but disowning John Allan's name. From this day this would be the way he would sign all his works. In the Spring of 1830 Edgar gained admission to West Point. He was appointed to a cadetship beginning in June. He signed on for five years of duty to the United States unless sooner discharged. The barracks were located on the highlands looking down onto the Hudson River about fifty miles from New York City. At the end of August Edgar and the corps moved to the barracks to begin their academic education. They were advised to gain expertise in few subjects, so Edgar took only French and Mathematics. In October he was ranked as one of the "Best" in French and in November also in Maths. In the general examination in January he distinguished himself again - he placed himself as seventeenth in Maths and third in French. His classmates considered Edgar interesting and amusing. He drew a picture of himself as adventurous and cursed from birth and exaggerated heavily. He amused the cadets by performing acts of horror and making fun of their instructors. 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. In 1835 Poe brought his aunt and cousin to Richmond where he worked with Thomas Willis White at the Southern Litterary Messenger. He also married his cousin Virginia, only thirteen years old. Most of Edgar's work with the Messenger was of a critical nature but he also published some literary work such as "Berenice". His work increased the circulation of the magazine. But his drinking habits forced White to eventually let him go. Edgar moved around to New York and Philadelphia, trying to establish a name in literary journalism but without any major success. His theories on musical poems and short prose narratives which were to aim at "a certain unique or single effect" can be for example be seen in "Ligeia"(1838) and THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER(1839). "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1841) is sometimes considered the first detective story. Examples of his use of a rhythmic and flowing language are the poems "The Raven" (1845) and "The Bells" (1849). In January 1847 Virginia Died and Edgar took this very hard but he kept on writing until the day he died in Baltimore October 7, 1849. To get more information on Poe's biography click here |
