Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe--born Edgar Poe--was a 19th century American author and poet. He was born to considerably humble beginnings, a family that wasn't anything already particularly special and parents who left him and his siblings either willingly or by death. Poe was then adopted by John Allan, a family man who was also a trader of many different types of goods.

As he grew up, Poe went through periods of education (his highest academic achievement being one year at the University of Virginia) and enlisted in the United States Army. He was eventually discharged, though not long after, his brother died, resulting in Poe turning to literature as a career option. It was a difficult time to be a professional writer in America at the time as there was a lack of copyright laws; however, after several attempts, he eventually succeeded in making a decent name for himself.

His literature is categorized as Gothic, and often contain themes of mystery and supernatural events or beings. It also contains many big-as-life themes, including mourning, premature burial, and life and death themselves. A few of his well-known pieces include The Raven and The Tell-Tale Heart.

Along the way, he secretly married his cousin, Virginia, who so happened to be thirteen while he was twenty-six. Poe continued to write, but when Virginia fell ill with which we presume to have been tuberculosis and eventually died, he was reported to have become erratic and alcohol-dependent. About two years after Virginia died, Poe passed away as well, and the number of speculated causes are many. It is said that in the last few years of his life, his mental state slowly deteriorated to the point where he didn't want people to understand the true meanings of his work, but would become angry if they misunderstood. Yet, of course, dozens of decades later, it's interesting to note that we are still attempting to draw from his literature, though now, we'd have to wonder whether or not our analyzations are making Poe writhe in his grave or not...