In the summer of 1849 he revisited Richmond, lectured, and was accepted anew by the fiancee he had lost in 1826. Virginia’s death in January 1847 was a heavy blow, but Poe continued to write and lecture.
The tale Poe considered his finest, The Fall of The House of Usher, which was to become ne of his most famous stories. He did succeed, however, in formulating influential literary theories and in demonstrating mastery of the forms he favored, highly musical poems and short prose narratives. In New York City, then in Philadelphia and again in New York Poe sought to establish himself as a force in literary journalism, but with only moderate success. His contributions undoubtedly increased the magazine’s circulation, but they offended its owner, who also took exception to Poe’s drinking. Poe, his aunt, and Virginia moved to Richmond in 1835, and he became editor of the Southern Literary Messenger and arried Virginia, who was not yet fourteen years old. In 1832 the Philadelphia Saturday Courier published five of his stories, all comic or satiric. 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. His fellow cadets, however, contributed the funds for the publication of Poems by Edgar A. After six months Poe apparently contrived to be dismissed from West Point for disobedience of orders. Temporarily approved, Allan secured Poe’s release from the army and his ppointment to West Point but refused to provide financial support. He had, however, already written and printed his first book at his own expense: Tamerlane and Other Poems, verses written in the manner of Byron. Having no where to turn, Poe enlisted in the army. Allan prevented his return to the university and broke off Poe’s engagement to Sarah Elmira Royster, his girlfriend. Although a good student, he ran up large gambling debts that Allan refused to pay. In 1826 he entered the University of Virginia, however, he only attended for a year. His childhood was uneventful, although he studied for ive years in England between the years of 1815 through 1920. Poe’s parents were touring actors both died before he was three years old, and he was taken into the home of John Allan, a wealthy merchant in Richmond, Va. He also produced some of the most influential literary criticism of his time. He for the most part created the detective story and perfected the psychological thriller. 19, 1809, deserves more credit than any other writer for the transformation of the short story from tale to art.
Best known for his poems and short fiction, Edgar Allan Poe, born in Boston on Jan.