EDGAR ALLAN POE
1809-1849
In the play-ground of an old-fashioned English school the boy Edgar
Allan Poe, then in his ninth year, first entered that world of
day-dreams, whose wonders he afterward transcribed so beautifully in
his prose and poetry. The school was situated in the old town of Stoke
Newington, and the quaint, sleepy village, with its avenues shaded
by ancient trees and bordered by fragrant shrubberies, and with its
country stillness broken only by the chime of the church-bell tolling
the hour, seemed to the boy hardly a part of the real world. In
describing it in after years he speaks of the dream-like and soothing
influence it had upon his early life. The school building, also the
village parsonage, as the master of the school was a clergyman, had
a similar effect; it was a large, rambling house, whose passages and
rooms had a labyrinthine irregularity which charmed the young student
and made him regard it almost as a place of enchantment. It had
many nooks and corners in which one might lose one's self and dream
day-dreams out of the books, poetry and history, with which it was
pretty well stocked. The school-room itself was low-walled and ceiled
with oak, and filled with desks and benches that had been hacked and
hewed by generations of boys. It was of great size, and seemed to Poe
the largest in the world. In this room he studied mathematics and the
classics, while in the play-ground outside, which was surrounded by
brick walls topped with mortar and broken glass, he spent many of his
leisure hours, taking part in those sports so loved by the English
school-boy. The boys were allowed beyond the grounds only three times
in a week; twice on Sunday, when they went to church, and once during
the week, when, guarded by two ushers, they were taken a solemn walk
through the neighboring fields. All the rest of life lay within the
walls that separated the school from the village streets. In this
quiet spot Poe spent five years of his life, speaking of them
afterward as most happy years and rich in those poetic influences
which formed his character.
In his thirteenth year he left England and returned to America with
his adopted parents, Mr. and Mrs. Allan, of Baltimore, spending the
next four or five years of his life partly in their beautiful home and
partly at school in Richmond.
The parents of Poe had died in his infancy. They had both possessed
talent, his mother having been an actress of considerable repute, and
from them he inherited gentle and winning manners and a talent for
declamation, which, combined with his remarkable personal beauty,
made him a favorite in the Allan home, where he was much petted and
caressed. The child returned the interest of his adopted parents,
and though he was sometimes wilful and obstinate he never failed in
affection. To Mrs. Allan especially he always showed a devotion and
gratitude that well repaid her for the love and care she had bestowed
upon the orphan child.
Though fond of books, especially books of poetry, and loving to be
alone in some quiet place where he could indulge in the day-dreams
that formed so large a part of his life, Poe yet had the fondness of a
healthy boy for athletic sports, and some of his feats of strength are
still found recorded in the old newspapers of Baltimore. Once on a
hot day he swam a distance of seven miles on the James River against a
swift tide; in a contest he leaped twenty-one feet on a level, and in
other feats of strength he also excelled.
He was very fond of animals, and was always surrounded by pets which
returned his affection with interest, and which, with the flowers he
loved to tend and care for, took up many of his leisure hours.
When he was seventeen Poe entered the University of Virginia, where he
remained not quite a year, distinguishing himself as a student of the
classics and modern languages. Upon his return to Baltimore he had a
disagreement with his foster-father because of some college debts,
and though Poe was very much in the wrong he refused to admit it, and,
leaving the house in a fit of anger, went to live with his aunt,
Mrs. Clemm. He had already published a volume of poems, and now being
forced to depend upon himself he issued a second edition. But this
brought him neither fame nor money, and after a two years' struggle
with poverty he was glad to accept a cadetship at West Point, obtained
for him through the influence of Mr. Allan. Mrs. Allan had in the
meantime died, and in her death Poe lost his best friend, one who had
been ever ready to forgive his faults, to believe in his repentance,
and to have faith in his promises of amendment.
Poe was charmed with the life at West Point, and in his first
enthusiasm decided that a soldier's career was the most glorious in
the world. The hard study, the strict discipline, the rigid law and
order of cadet life seemed only admirable, and he soon stood at the
head of his class. But it was impossible that this enthusiasm should
last long. Poe was endowed by nature with the dreamy and artistic
temperament of the poet, and discipline and routine could not fail
to become in a short time unbearable. When this period arrived the
prospective life of the soldier lost its charm, and he was seized with
a desire to leave the Academy and bid a final farewell to military
life. It was impossible to do this without the consent of his
guardian, and as Mr. Allan refused this, Poe was forced to carry his
point in his own way. This he did by lagging in his studies, writing
poetry when he should have been solving problems, and refusing point
blank to obey orders. Military discipline could not long brook this.
Poe was court-martialed, and, pleading guilty, was discharged from the
Academy, disgraced but happy. During his stay there he had published a
third edition of his poems, containing a number of pieces not included
in the other editions. It was dedicated to his fellow-cadets, and was
subscribed for by many of the students.
Almost immediately after his departure from West Point, Poe went
to live with his aunt, Mrs. Clemm, and her daughter Virginia, who
afterward became his wife; and from this time forward he never seems
to have had any serious idea of a career otherwise than literary. In
1832, when he was in his twenty-fourth year, prizes were offered by a
Baltimore paper for the best short story and best poem that should be
presented. Among the material offered in competition the judges found
a small collection of tales bound together, and written in neat Roman
characters. These stories were the last ones read by the committee
which had about decided that there had been nothing offered worthy the
prize; their unmistakable signs of genius were instantly recognized.
It was decided that the prize of one hundred dollars belonged to this
author, and out of the series the story entitled _A Manuscript Found
in a Bottle_ was selected as the prize tale, though all were so
excellent that it was difficult to determine which was best. This
little volume had been submitted by Poe, and when the poetry came to
be examined it was found also that the best poem in the collection
was his. He was not, however, awarded the prize for poetry, that being
given to another competitor, whose work the committee thought worthy
the second prize, in view of the fact that Poe had obtained the first.
It was in this manner that Poe was introduced to the world of
literature, his previous productions having excited no attention other
than that generally given to the work of a clever or erratic boy. The
workmanship of these stories was so fine and the genius so apparent as
to give them a distinct place in American fiction, a place to which at
that time the promise of Hawthorne pointed. Besides the reputation and
money thus earned, the story brought him a stanch friend in the person
of Mr. Kennedy, one of the members of the committee, who, from that
time, was devoted to the interests of the young author.
Poe now became busy with the composition of those beautiful tales
which appeared from time to time in the periodicals of the day, and
which speedily won him a reputation both in America and Europe. He was
also employed in editorial work for different magazines, and became
known as the first American critic who had made criticism an art. It
was his dream at this time to establish a magazine of his own, and
for many years one project after another with this object in view was
tried and abandoned. He was never able to start the magazine and felt
the disappointment keenly always. Through all his disappointments he
still lived much in that dream-world which had always been so real
to him, and much of his best work found there its inspiration. His
exquisite story of _Ligeia_ came to him first in a dream. This
world, so unreal to many, was to Poe as real as his actual life. Like
Coleridge in English literature, he had the power of presenting the
visions which came to him in sleep or in his waking dreams, surrounded
by their own atmosphere of mystery and unreality, thus producing an
effect which awed as well as fascinated. No other American writer
has ever brought from the dream-world such beautiful creations, which
charm and mystify at the same time, and force the most unimaginative
reader to believe for the time in the existence of this elusive realm
of faery.
Poe's poems have this same character, and found their inspiration in
the same source.
While engaged in editorial work in New York Poe wrote his first great
poem, _The Raven_, which was first published under an assumed name.
It was not until he recited the poem by request at a gathering of
the literary workers of New York that his authorship was suspected.
Immediately afterward the poem was published under his name. It was
regarded by critics in England and America as illustrating the highest
poetic genius. From this time Poe, who had hitherto been ranked among
the best prose writers of his native land, now took precedence among
the poets. It is, indeed, as a poet that he is always thought of
first. It was during the next five years after the publication of _The
Raven_ that he produced the series of remarkable poems that has given
him immortality. _The Bells_, the original draft of which consisted of
only eighteen lines, is, perhaps, next to _The Raven_, the poem that
has brought him the most fame. But the number of exquisite shorter
poems which he produced would in themselves give him the highest rank
as a poet. Chief among these is the little idyll, _Annabel Lee_, a
transcription of the ideal love which existed between Poe and his
young wife.
While engaged in literary work in New York Poe lived for the greater
part of the time in the suburb of Fordham, in an unpretentious but
charming cottage, bowered in trees and surrounded by the flower
garden, which was the especial pride of the poet and his wife. Perhaps
the happiest days of his life were spent in this quiet place, to which
he would retire after the business of the day was over, and occupy
himself with the care of the flowers and of the numerous pet birds and
animals, which were regarded as a part of the family.
Over this otherwise happy existence hung always the clouds of poverty
and sickness, his wife having been an invalid for many years. It was
in this little cottage, at a time when Poe's fortunes were at their
lowest ebb, that his wife died amid poverty so extreme that the family
could not even afford a fire to heat the room in which she lay dying.
Poe remained at Fordham a little over two years after his wife's
death, leaving it only a few months before his own death, in October,
1849.
Poe is undoubtedly to be ranked among the greatest writers of American
literature. His prose works would grace any literary period; his
poetry is alive with the fire and beauty of genius, and his criticisms
marked a new era in critical writing in America.
Twenty-six years after his death a monument was erected to his memory
in the city of Baltimore, mainly through the efforts of the teachers
of the public schools. Some of the most distinguished men of America
were present at the unveiling to do honor to the poet whose work was
such a noble contribution to the art of his native land.